Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Bad Blood

Looking back, maybe it was only a matter of time before Rachel Berry snapped.

If she was being honest, Santana was a little impressed that Rachel had made it this far before she got all up in Quinn Fabray’s grill.

But the hobbit had a pathetic amount of forgiveness in her heart for every screw up in Glee Club, and a seemingly endless pile of second chances for cheerleader Barbie specifically.

Though, Santana supposed, maybe Berry felt at least some remorse for how she’d constantly tried to tempt Finnept away from the other girl.

But now that the diva finally had Frankenteen (again), and Quinn was maybe dating Sam (honestly Santana tried not to pay attention because all that commingling blonde hurt her eyes), things between the two girls had seemed to settle somewhat.

So it took everyone by surprise when the incident happened.

It was a seemingly normal Monday, and they were all in the choir room chatting and waiting for Mr. Schue to appear.

Rachel took the opportunity of his absence to stand up in front of everyone and start hounding them about their lack of work ethic.

It was all pretty standard and most people tuned her out within the first few seconds though Finn pretended to listen by nodding his head in a dopey way, and Kurt and Mercedes whispered to each other and rolled their eyes.

Santana stared at the ceiling and hoped that their errant teacher would show up soon and put a stop to this madness.

Instead, Quinn was the one to try and intervene. Though, of course, she did it in a way that definitely wasn’t helpful.

“Berry, I know you love hearing yourself speak, but maybe save all that energy for something more useful, like finding an outfit that doesn’t make you look like a colorblind grandmother.”

That immediately drew Santana’s attention and she quickly looked over to see what Rachel’s reaction would be.

As far as insults from Quinn, it wasn’t even that harsh, but still, they were all no doubt about to be graced by the tiny diva huffing and puffing and looking like someone stepped on her.

Everyone else had also stopped whispering, fidgeting, and zoning out and were awaiting whatever happened next with interest.
Finn looked nervous, but as usual made no attempt to defend his girlfriend.

For a moment, the room was silent, and they all watched as Rachel crossed her arms and scowled.
She tapped her foot impatiently against the floor and scowled some more.

Then, she was suddenly in motion, taking the entire club, including Quinn, by surprise as she marched over to the blonde girl and stood right in front of her, glaring.

She was silent for long enough that Quinn looked surprised, the smug look falling off her face as she stood up to face the other girl, clearly not wanting to be loomed over.

When Quinn stood, Rachel still didn’t react, but then one blonde eyebrow raised in cool contempt.

At that small gesture, the shorter brunette exploded.

“Quinn Fabray! I am sick and tired of all your unnecessary insults, especially when I have done my best to let them go and give you the benefit of the doubt. But they end now. I understand that you quite enjoy calling me a variety of unflattering names, but I am at a loss to see why you find them fitting when anyone with eyes can see that they are disgusting misrepresentations.”

“What?” someone muttered, probably Puck.

Santana ignored him and leaned forward a little, determined not to miss a moment of this interesting new development.
She kind of hoped Berry would bitch slap the blonde.

No one else said anything, and even Quinn seemed at a loss for words as Rachel continued.

“Some of your previous choice insults have included the following: man hands.”

Here, Rachel reached out and roughly grabbed one of Quinn’s wrists, forcing her hand up. Then, she pressed her own palm against Quinn’s, highlighting the fact that her hands were actually smaller than the cheerleader’s.

“Next,” Rachel said, her righteous anger only gaining momentum, “we have treasure trail.”

At those words, she pulled up her shirt to expose her stomach, and Santana only caught a partial view from her vantage point, but what she saw was a smooth, brown expanse all the way down to the surprisingly low slung waistband of Rachel’s ugly skirt.

Unwilling to accidentally find some part of the little hobbit attractive, she pulled her eyes away, and focused on Quinn’s face instead.

The blonde had her eyes glued to Rachel’s exposed skin and, wait, hang on…she looked…almost intrigued. Huh.

Sliding her sweater back down, Rachel growled out, “And finally, there’s midget. Though I am aware that I am not the most gifted in the height department, I think you will find that I fall well within the range of what is considered average with regards to vertical size.”

Having said that, she stepped forward, right into Quinn’s space as she emphasized that Quinn really wasn’t all that much taller than her.

Santana leaned back in her chair and waited for the inevitable end to this little outburst.
Either Quinn was going to shove Rachel away or she would sit down and revert back to her untouchable ice princess mode and totally blow Berry off.

But then…neither of those things happened.

There was still a charge in the air, like lightning waiting to strike, as Quinn and Rachel just stared at each other, unmoving.
Rachel’s last motion had brought her close enough to the other girl that their noses were practically touching.

There was an intense look in Quinn’s eyes that Santana had never seen before, which was surprising, because she thought she’d by now been witness to every variation of Quinn’s anger or disdain. This was something else.

And Berry, well, she was starting to look confused, but she was also…blushing? Maybe?

Santana stared even harder and then…holy shit…what in the actual fuck? What was even happening?

“Quinn? Rachel? What are you doing?”

The eyes of the entire room, minus the two who had been directly addressed, snapped forward towards Mr. Schuester, who had finally entered the room and was staring at the two girls, perplexed by what he was seeing.

They still hadn’t moved. Everyone looked at them again.

Santana finally had enough.

“Hey, putas, break it up.”

“Language Santana,” came Mr. Schue’s automatic response.

That verbal interaction was apparently enough to finally break whatever spell the two girls were under though, because Quinn abruptly sat down in her chair and commenced staring at the floor as if it held the answers to the secrets of the universe.

Rachel was left standing there blinking like she’d just awoken from a trance.

Finally, she turned and walked back over to her seat next to Finn, seemingly oblivious to his presence even when he rested one of his big, floppy hands on her knee.

Their teacher started the lesson, but Santana could tell that neither Quinn nor Rachel heard a word. In fact, they were both completely silent for the remainder of the period.

As they were wrapping up for the day, Santana took another moment to look at both of them. Eventually, she shook her head and turned to grab her bag off the floor, and as she did, she caught Kurt giving Quinn a very speculative look.

He noticed Santana watching him and when she raised an eyebrow, he merely shrugged before gathering his own things and leaving the room with Mercedes.

---------------------------------------------------

The next day, Kurt was walking down the hallway, keeping a careful eye out for any hands holding slushies. He was wearing a white sweater today and was hoping to avoid needing to do any extensive stain removal treatments.

He was also mulling over the interaction that had happened in Glee the day before.
Once rehearsal was over, Quinn had walked quickly out of the room without a word to anyone, leaving a confused Sam in the dust.

And Rachel had made it through an entire afternoon without offering unsolicited feedback on anyone’s singing or demanding any future solos.

This uncharacteristic behavior had thrown everyone else off, and by the end of the period, Mr. Schue was openly expressing frustration at their lack of focus.

Kurt wasn’t about to have a heart to heart with Quinn Fabray, as most days she merely ignored him, which he was grateful for.
So he was going to have to talk to Rachel about whatever was happening.

It must have been those thoughts whirling through his head that prevented him from noticing Santana approaching until the girl was standing right in front of him. Her hands were empty, which was a good sign, but the serious look she leveled at him was not.

To his surprise, she said nothing, merely gestured at the open door of a nearby classroom with the impatient sweep of her arm.

Knowing that refusing simply wouldn’t work, he lifted his head high and marched into the unoccupied room.
Santana followed and closed the door, then walked over to face him and crossed her arms.

Deciding that showing fear would be a bad move, he took a few steps away and leaned a hip casually against a table.

“Is there something I can help you with Santana?”

“Listen Lady Hummel, we aren’t friends or anything, but as members of the same family I trust your judgment when it comes to certain things.”

Kurt caught the emphasis and his eyes widened. To his knowledge, Santana wasn’t officially out to anybody, except maybe Brittany.

He opened his mouth to try and say something supportive, but the girl’s eyes flashed and she quickly cut him off.

“Before you go planning a two person pride parade for us, let me just say that if you tell anyone about my sapphic leanings I will go Lima Heights on you and neither your baby soft skin or your designer imposter men’s wear will ever be the same.”

Kurt’s mouth snapped shut and he nodded.

After another moment he asked, tentatively, “Then perhaps you can tell me exactly what we’re doing in here?”.

In typical Santana fashion, she got right to the point.

“Quinn and Berry. Their little moment yesterday. Watching that whole…situation gave me some ideas. And I saw your face, so I know you had some too. So spill.”

He looked around the room to buy some time, feeling uncomfortable about this conversation.

“May I ask why you want to know my thoughts? I’d really rather not be part of some twisted plan to embarrass Rachel or help you defeat Quinn in some Cheerios mind game.”

Santana’s expression softened slightly.

“Look, I know I’m a grade A bitch and all, but I’m not out to cause trouble, at least not about this. I just want a second opinion from someone who I know was paying attention to see if I’m onto something or totally off base. And I already told you my secret, so you know I'm serious.”

He watched her carefully for a moment, but didn’t see any sign that she wasn’t sincere.
After one sharp indrawn breath he made his decision.

“Fine. Whatever was happening between Quinn and Rachel yesterday was seriously pinging my gaydar.”

Santana smiled a satisfied smile.

“I knew it. Barbie was looking at Yentl like she wanted to eat her and Berry was so thrown off that she forgot to be a diva for almost an hour.”

Despite his misgivings at talking about this with Santana of all people, Kurt couldn’t help but be drawn into the drama of it all.

“And I kept an eye on Quinn for the rest of Glee. Whatever she was thinking about, she was thinking hard.”

“I can tell you what she was thinking about, Berry’s surprisingly hot bod that she got an up close and personal sneak peek of.”

“It looks like she’s not the only one who noticed Rachel’s “hot bod”,” Kurt replied in a dry tone.

Instead of getting angry, Santana just grinned at him.

“I have eyes. And despite Berry’s horrendous personality and deranged schoolgirl style, she’s kind of sneaky hot.”

“Oh my god. I can’t believe this is a conversation I’m having with you.”

“Believe it buttercup,” Santana said, but it was clear that she was distracted.

Catching the look on her face, Kurt quickly asked, a little panicked, “What are you scheming about?”

“We need a plan.”

“Plan? No, no, we don’t need a plan. We need to forget this whole conversation ever happened. Quinn and Rachel will go back to their weird, borderline obsessive frenemy relationship and we can all move on with our lives.”

“What if they don’t?”

“What?”

“What if they don’t,” Santana repeated, this time in a sharper tone.
“You saw them yesterday, they were completely checked out. If we want any chance of going all the way to Nationals this year, we need Berry back in diva mode and Quinn smiling and looking pretty so whatever creepy male judge we end up with at the next competition can get his jollies.”

“I hate everything you just said, but you’re not wrong.”

“Obviously.”

Kurt chewed his lip. Quinn and Rachel had a lot of drama and history between them.
So surely they’d get over this latest, admittedly odd interaction and move on like they always did.
Though, if they didn’t…

Against his better judgment, he looked at Santana and nodded.

“Alright…if, and only if this weird tension between them continues, I will consider participating in some sort of plan to fix it. But until then, no antagonizing either of them, or talking about this to anyone else.”

“Fine.”

He didn’t like the smug look on her face, but there was nothing to be done at the moment.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get to class.”

She didn’t say anything further, and he walked out of the room hoping that everything would soon be back to normal and he could avoid having to participate in some unholy gay alliance with Santana.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

This is Why We Can’t have Nice Things

It didn’t take long for Kurt’s hopes to be dashed.

Tuesday and Wednesday passed, and though everyone else in Glee club seemed to have forgotten the incident, Rachel had yet to bounce back.

She hadn’t done any impromptu performances, fought anyone for a solo, or launched into any monologues about Broadway stars. It was all extremely concerning.

For her part, Quinn had been moodier and more silent than usual.
She still sat next to Sam, but any time he attempted even the most casual physical contact, she either flinched away or did an excellent impression of a block of wood.

And though he tried to ignore her, Kurt could feel Santana’s eyes on him, and he caught her smirking at him and nodding subtly in either Quinn or Rachel’s direction on several occasions.

By Thursday, both Tina and Mercedes were cornering him at his locker and asking if he knew what was going on with Rachel.

“Seriously, I never thought I’d miss her loud mouth, but something is off. Did she say anything to you? Is this Finn’s fault?”

“I don’t know Mercedes,” he answered, but before he could attempt to change the subject, Tina chimed in.

“Mr. Schue suggested that I get a solo at the next competition…and she said nothing. It was kind of disturbing.”

He sighed and slammed his locker shut.

“I’ll talk to her okay? Maybe away from Glee and away from Finn she’ll be willing to tell me what’s going on.”

That seemed to pacify the two girls, and they smiled and walked away.

Kurt got out his phone and texted Rachel.

Girls night tomorrow night? I’ll come over and we can watch a musical.

He didn’t get a response until after his next class.

That sounds good. My dads can order pizza.

Kurt breathed a sigh of relief and tucked his phone away.
He would talk to Rachel and get this all figured out and she’d be back to fighting for solos in no time.

As long as he could keep everyone else, especially Santana, out of it everything would be okay.

---------------------------------------------------

He sat on Rachel’s bed watching as she rummaged through her cabinet of DVDs.

Through dinner, she’d been a bit subdued, and he’d avoided bringing up any potentially sensitive topics, though given that the list now included Finn, Quinn, and Glee in general, he was left struggling with what to talk about.

Her dads had both been home, so they had proved to be a good distraction, and Kurt was pretty certain from their behavior that they didn’t think anything was amiss.

Once they’d finished their pizza and retreated to Rachel’s room though, her mood seemed to dip.

Kurt had rehearsed how best to initiate this conversation with her, but in the end, he decided that a direct approach was best.

Rachel was sitting on the floor chewing on her lip, staring intently at the titles of the movies in front of her, even though Kurt was pretty sure she’d memorized her entire collection.

“Is everything okay?”

She swiveled towards him, and her expression was troubled.
After a glance towards her bedroom door, as if to reassure herself that it was still closed, she got up and came over to sit next to him on the bed.

When she spoke, it was with more hesitation than was usual for her.

“Have you ever had…confusing feelings about someone?”

“Um, hello, you have met me, right? Remember my insane crush on Finn?”

He smiled at her to soften the sharpness of his words.

She smiled back, just a little, and when she didn’t say anything further, he asked, “Does this have something to do with him?”

Her emphatic head shake was followed just a moment later by the words, “No. Not really. Maybe.”

Kurt turned to face her more fully, and the look on her face made him feel a sympathetic twinge in the vicinity of his heart.

He consciously gentled his tone and said, “Sweetie, you can talk to me, okay?”

Rachel took a breath and sat up straighter, folding her hands in her lap.

“I’m worried that I’m developing feelings for someone. Someone who isn’t Finn. And I’m not sure what to do because I can assure you that even if I wanted something to happen with…this person...there’s absolutely no chance. And I don’t. I don’t want anything to happen, I mean.”

She let out a frustrated groan and flopped back against her pillows, flinging an arm across her face.

“I don’t know what to do,” she added with a huff, flopping around a little more.

Though seeing this dramatic behavior was better than watching her acting all distracted and dazed, Kurt was now increasingly worried.
Things were more serious than he’d imagined.

If Rachel was talking about “feelings”, then this wasn’t just about some unexpected but fleeting attraction causing her mild gay panic.

Hopefully, some reassurance would make her feel like it was okay for her to share more.

“Rachel, there’s nothing wrong with being attracted to someone else. It’s very common, even for people who are in relationships.”

He was going to follow-up with a question about how she was feeling about Finn, but she unexpectedly shot up into a sitting position, almost catching him in the cheek with one wildly flailing arm.

“Attracted? No, no, I’m not attracted to…um, this person.”

Not sure what to do with this response, he asked, tentatively, “But you said feelings…I’m sorry, what are we talking about here?”

But Rachel’s desire to talk about this topic seemed to suddenly come to an end.

“It’s nothing Kurt. I was just feeling a little confused, but everything is fine.”

“Okay, but…”.

She quickly cut him off and rolled off the bed.

“Let’s just watch a movie.”

At a loss on how to deal with any of this, he just sighed.

“Sure Rachel, whatever you want.”

For the rest of the evening, they didn’t talk much, and Rachel studiously avoided any mention of feelings or relationships.

Before he left, Kurt pulled her into a hug and said, “If you do want to talk, about anything, I’m here okay?”

Rachel nodded.

“Thank you Kurt. And thanks for coming over.”

“Of course. Goodnight Rachel.”

---------------------------------------------------

Monday morning, Kurt found Santana at her locker.
She and Brittany were talking together in low voices, punctuated by occasional laughter.

When she saw him standing there, Santana’s eyes widened and a slightly mocking smile curved at her lips.

“Hey there Hummelina. Is there something I can do for you?”

Kurt looked over at Brittany and she smiled at him.
“Hi Kurt. I like your jacket. You look like a less gay Frog…or maybe Toad.”

Before he could respond, or even fully comprehend what she’d just said, she darted forward to press a kiss to Santana’s cheek and then skipped off.

Santana had turned to watch her go with a fond look on her face, but that quickly melted away into something sharp and speculative when she redirected her attention to Kurt.

“So, did you finally realize that you need my help and we should join forces?”

“I will admit…I believe that this problem is bigger than I originally thought.”

“What happened? Oh wait, did you talk to Berry and realize that she’s deep in denial and torturing herself about her confusing feelings for a pretty girl?”

This insightful question caught him off guard and he gaped at her for a moment before attempting to recover by saying, in a haughty tone, “I will not be talking about my friend behind her back. But I will say…it’s possible that some outside intervention will be required to remedy the situation.”

Santana gave him a knowing smirk.
“I’m actually a little impressed that you made it a whole week without admitting how much you needed my help.”

“I never said I needed your help.”

Now, she rolled her eyes.

“Here,” she said, handing him a piece of paper, “text me when you feel like getting real.”

With that, she walked away, flouncing down the hallway as if she owned it as students scrambled to get out of her path.

Kurt unfolded the paper and found a phone number written on it.
He frowned and stuck it in his jacket pocket, silently assuring himself that things were not yet desperate enough that he needed to align himself with Santana Lopez of all people.

---------------------------------------------------

That afternoon’s Glee rehearsal was off again.

Rachel was still uncharacteristically subdued, Quinn seemed to barely be mentally present, and Finn looked more confused than usual.

The atmosphere was now also affecting Mercedes, Tina (and therefore Mike), as well.
Plus Sam was a little sulky, Kurt was distracted by trying to keep an eye on both Quinn and Rachel at the same time, and Santana was silent and smug.

The only person who was being their normal self was Brittany, but as she only knew what was going on about 50% of the time, this didn’t comfort Kurt at all.

Mr. Schuester seemed bewildered by the lack of energy in the room, especially as he was unaware of any recent breakups or new relationships that could be shifting the dynamic.

He led them through one of the songs he was considering for their competition setlist, and while they didn’t sound bad exactly, there was something lackluster about the performance.

“Guys, I don’t know exactly what’s going on here, but we’re going to need a lot more intensity than that if we’re going to have any chance of winning at Sectionals.”

He looked around the room, frowning, as if hoping that he could figure out what was happening if he paid a little more attention.

While normally Rachel would be the one to chime in with some obnoxiously chipper but still somehow insulting words, this time, quite surprisingly, it was Puck who stomped to the front of the room and glared at all of them.

“I’m feeling a distinct lack of mojo in this room right now. What gives?”

Kurt sneaked a glance at Quinn, who was staring off into the middle distance, and then he looked over at Rachel, which is what almost everyone else including Mr. Schue was doing.

Under the weight of their combined stares, she hunched a little, but at least when she spoke there was some of her familiar energy behind it.
Unfortunately though, her actual words weren’t all that reassuring.

“As usual, my pitch was perfect. If there is some lack of…mojo, as Noah so crudely put it, then I’ll have to ask everyone else in this club to put in a little more effort.”

From his spot next to her, Finn said, “But Rachel, you’re our team captain. And I kinda feel like you’ve been a little…off lately.”

This comment was the thing that finally snapped Rachel back into diva mode.
Her eyes flashed as she looked up at him.

“Oh, I’ve been off? What about everyone else, Finn? Am I supposed to carry this entire team on my back? If you recall, you and I are co-captains, so any responsibilities that exist are ones that we share. Maybe you should worry more about that and what you can do to support this club.”

“But Rach,” he whined, but was abruptly cut off by a slash of her finger.

“No Finn. I need a leading man with some backbone, someone capable of true leadership. If you find yourself unable to meet those requirements, then perhaps it’s time for me to begin looking elsewhere.”

The tall boy stood there gaping at her, too surprised to be angry.

Taking advantage of his lack of response, she spun on her heel and executed a perfect diva storm out.

Kurt’s eyes cut over to the other side of the room where Quinn was standing, and he saw that she was watching Rachel’s progress out the door, a small, pleased smile on her face.
As he watched, her expression smoothed out into her usual neutral disinterest.

From the front of the room, Puck muttered, “That wasn’t exactly the kind of mojo that I meant.”

Mr. Schue briefly rested a hand on Puck’s shoulder and sighed.

“I guess we’re done for the day guys. Let’s try and do better tomorrow.”

Everyone started to slowly filter out of the room, looking a little dejected, but Kurt lingered, slowly gathering his things.
As she walked past, Santana caught his eye and raised an eyebrow. He gave her a stony look in return.

Once everyone had left the room, Kurt pulled out his phone and sent a text.

Okay Satan. What’s your plan?

It only took a few seconds for her to respond.

Lima Bean. Tonight at 6.

He sighed and sent back a thumbs up emoji.
Hopefully he wasn't making a terrible mistake.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Vigilante Shit

It was 6:05 and Kurt was sitting at a table in the corner, tapping his fingers impatiently as he waited for his hot chocolate to cool off enough to take a sip.

A part of him was a little worried that this was all some sort of elaborate plan to torment him, but he couldn’t think of any reason why Santana would go to so much trouble when a slushie was a much easier and more direct option.

Thankfully, it was only another two minutes before Santana came sailing through the door, nearly taking out a boy in a Dalton blazer as she made a beeline for the counter.

She was dressed in her Cheerios warmups, her hair pulled back into its usual tight high pony.

Her drink was ready quickly, and even though she hadn’t so much as glanced his way since she’d entered the coffee shop, once she had her drink in hand, she spun around and headed right for him.

It was a little unnerving, like being targeted by a missile, or a beautiful shark, and he had to resist the urge to flinch as she seated herself across from him.

“Hello Santana.”

“Hummel.”

Her dark eyes studied him for a moment and he resisted the urge to squirm.

“So,” she finally said, “I’m glad you finally realized that I was right.”

He couldn’t help but huff, just a little, at that.

“I’m not ready to go that far, but I will admit that the…tension…has clearly not resolved. And it does seem to be continuing to affect Glee.”

“There’s only one thing that’s going to resolve that tension, but I don’t know if Quinn can unbend enough to go there, even if she does somehow figure out how to pull that stick out of her ass first.”

“Must you always be so vulgar?”

“I’m just keeping it real.”

Kurt took a sip of his hot chocolate and leaned back in his chair.
“Why don’t you keep it real by telling me your plan?”

After taking a long and ostentatious sip of her drink she leaned forward on her elbows.

“What we need to do is combine our understanding of how Quinn and Rachel operate and figure out how to push them together without making either of them freak out.”

He frowned.

“That’s not a plan. Plus it sounds impossible. Quinn is a master of hiding her feelings and seems to barely tolerate Rachel most days, and Rachel is a terrible liar who’s prone to diva meltdowns if she doesn’t get her way.”

For some reason, this made Santana look smug instead of completely demoralized.
She snapped her fingers sharply and pointed at him.

“See. That’s it.”

“What’s it? Are you trying to drive me insane with how vague you’re being?”

“You know what they’re both like, and Berry is one of your best friends. I also know what they’re like, and I’m one of Quinn’s best friends. There’s no way either of them would expect you and I to be playing gay matchmakers together. We’ve got the inside info and they’ll never suspect a thing.”

Kurt tipped his head back to stare at the ceiling, tempted to pray to some higher power for the fortitude to get through this conversation.
When he looked back at her, he was slightly more composed.

“It’s true that the two of us are…uniquely poised to pull something like this off. But the most likely outcome is that this blows up in our faces and everything gets worse. Possibly much worse.”

He shuddered at the thought of Rachel and Quinn truly at war, fueled by a potent combination of their antagonistic history and unresolved sexual tension.

But Santana was shaking her head.
“No, see I’ve thought about this. Worst case scenario, Quinn can’t handle her pesky feelings anymore and quits Glee. Yeah, the hobbit is sad about it, but with blondie out of sight and out of mind, she gets her focus back. Maybe she even channels all that unrequited lust into a show stopping ballad that gets us the win at Nationals.”

She seemed cheerful enough about this that Kurt stared at her skeptically.

“This isn’t all just some plot to get Quinn out of Glee right? Or screw her over in some other way?”

Instead of looking offended by the accusation, Santana merely patted his hand and said condescendingly, “Listen baby face, I said that’s the worst case scenario, therefore implying that I don’t want that to happen. If this was all about watching Quinn fall on her perfect little face, would I be sitting here with you trying to figure out how to fix this mess?”

“You make some good points,” he conceded, snatching his hand away.
“But that still doesn’t explain how we’re going to pull this off.”

“Step one, we need to force them into a low pressure social situation. Let them get to know each other and see how that goes.”

Kurt was surprised at how not unhinged this was sounding so far.

“Okay, so we’re basically setting up a blind date of sorts to see how they react?”

“Yip. But with us there to help nudge things along. And get an up close and personal look at how much these two clueless bitches are pining for each other.”

He already knew he was going to agree to this plan, but there was something else they needed to discuss.

“I am on board with this so far, but we need to talk about the elephant in the room.”

“What? Berry’s remarkably bad fashion sense?”

“No, Finn.”

“Oh, you meant elephant in the literal sense,” came her quick reply.

A small, wicked grin played around her mouth, and Kurt couldn’t help but smile, just a little.
Finn might be his almost step-brother, but he could still be an idiot.

“Forget about Finn for now,” Santana told him. “If all goes according to plan, we won’t have to worry about him.”

After one long, agonized groan, Kurt stuck his hand out.

“Alright. I’m in.”

Santana shook his hand firmly.

“This is gonna be epic.”

---------------------------------------------------

When she got to school the next day, Santana sent Kurt a text.

Meet in the choir room at lunch.

She got back an eye roll emoji followed by, Fine.

Now that she and Hummel had agreed to work together, she wanted to get the plan in motion as quickly as possible.
The sooner those clueless bitches got their shit together, the better off everyone would be.

Kurt wasn’t totally off base when he accused her of being out for twisted revenge, because yeah, duh, she could be a totally loca bitch.
Twisted revenge was one of her middle names.

But in this case, she actually had good intentions.
She’d been watching Quinn tie herself up in knots trying to meet everyone else’s expectations since freshman year, then her teen pregnancy and all the Finn and Puck drama that came along with it had only made things worse.

Maybe she and Quinn were rivals, but they were also friends. She wasn’t exactly going to shout it from the rooftops, but she did care about the girl. She also cared about Glee. And she wasn’t going to let the people and things she cared about fall apart if there was something she could do to stop it.

Besides that, having Quinn at the top of her game made the Cheerios better, which led to a noticeable reigning in of Sue Sylvester’s most aggressive tendencies.

So if she could help Quinn get more comfortable in her own skin, it was really a win/win.
Or maybe a win/win/win, because if Quinn was settled, it meant she wasn’t sniping at Berry, and that led to a much better vibe when it came to Glee.

Though, now that she thought about it, was it a win/win/win/win?
Because if Quinn came out of the closet, maybe she could follow suit, and she knew Brittany would be on board.
The Unholy Trinity ruling the school as a trio of queer queens sounded pretty damn good to her.

She was so invested in imagining all the potential benefits to her and Hummel pulling off their plan, that she was startled when Brittany sat down next to her and rested a hand on her forehead.

She smiled at the blonde and asked, “What are you doing?”

“You looked like you were thinking really hard, so I wanted to see if your head was hot?”

“And is it?”

“Every part of you is hot. Always.”

That made her really want to break out into a dopey smile, but there were other people around and she had a badass reputation to maintain.
So she settled with leaning her shoulder against the other girl.

“Thanks Britt. So are you.”

“Duh. Hey, do you want to meet up in the 2nd floor janitor’s closet during lunch? We can get our lady kisses on.”

“That sounds great, but I can’t. I’m meeting Kurt.”

“Kurt? Why? I know he has lady lips, but they can’t give lady kisses.”

That made Santana grin, and she leaned against Brittany more fully.

“There will definitely not be any kisses. We just have something to work on for Glee.”

“Oh, ok. I hope it’s something good, because Glee has not been good lately.”

“If all goes according to plan, it will be a good surprise for everyone.”

“Great! I love surprises.”

They sat there silently for a few moments.

“Hey Britt?”

“Yeah?”

“Lady kisses at your house tonight?”

Brittany smiled her sweetest smile, the one that was only for Santana.

“Definitely.”

---------------------------------------------------

Kurt was already waiting in the choir room when she got there, sitting on the piano bench with his legs crossed and one foot tapping idly against the floor.

He looked a little nervous, so she quickly went to close both of the doors before walking over to perch on top of the piano.

As soon as she’d seated herself, he spun on the bench to face her and raised a dramatic eyebrow.

“Alright, why have you summoned me here?”

"We need to figure out phase one of our plan, like now. There’s no time to waste.”

“Surprisingly, I agree with this sense of urgency. Last night Finn told me that Rachel has been ignoring him and he doesn’t know why. Which is quite a shift from her previously relentless pursuit of the boy.”

Santana examined her fingernails as she took this information in. This seemed like good news.

“If Berry is getting bored of the jolly green giant, then our timing is perfect. We need to get up in there and give her a better option to focus on before she has time to backtrack.”

“And your plan is still to force them to somehow cross paths in a situation that won’t result in insults or crying?”

“That’s right, Porcelain. Thoughts on how to do this?”

He took a moment to think it over.

“Well obviously you’ll have to arrange getting Quinn there, but I suppose I could invite Rachel on a shopping trip. Christmas and Hanukkah are coming up, and if I imply that I want to share some girl talk about what’s going on with Finn, it should be an easy sell.”

“So we “accidentally” meet at the mall. Maybe you can get Berry into an outfit that makes her look less like jailbait, and we can insist on getting food together in the food court.”

Santana knew that it wasn’t the most elegant or elaborate plan, but if she didn’t keep it simple, Quinn would surely be suspicious.

“I still don’t know if we can pull this off,” Kurt admitted. “Aren’t they both going to find it odd that you and I want to force all of us to share a meal together?”

“You’re not wrong,” she admitted. “Maybe at first I can act like I hate the idea and then pretend to give in for the sake of Glee unity?”

As they both sat there quietly trying to figure out the best way to play this, Brittany suddenly popped out from behind a stack of chairs.

“Oh my god!” Kurt yelped and nearly fell over.

Santana jumped off the piano ready to fight whoever was eavesdropping, but relaxed when she saw who it was.

“Brittany? What are you doing here?”

The blonde girl stood there looking back and forth between the two of them with a smile on her face.

“You said that you were working on a surprise for Glee and I love surprises, so I hid in here so I could find out what it was. Just like I hide behind the armchair in the living room every year to try and catch Santa coming down the chimney.”

By this time, Kurt had stood up and was carefully smoothing down his sweater.
Upon hearing Brittany’s final sentence, his mouth dropped open, then quickly closed again as Santana hit him with a warning glare.

He settled for saying, in as calm a tone as he could muster, “Okay, well hello Britt.”

“Hi Kurt. What’s the surprise?”

Again, Kurt was at a loss about what to say, so he turned to Santana with a pleading look in his eyes.

In a softer than normal tone, Santana asked, “Well, you know how Glee has been super out of whack lately?”

This made Brittany frown.

“Yeah, Rachel isn’t bossy which is a bad sign, Quinn forgot how to sing, the other blonde girl with the big lips looks sad all the time, and Finn looks extra lumpy.”

It took a moment for the other two to piece together what she was saying, and by mutual unspoken consent, they decided just to nod and move on.

“Right,” Santana finally said. “So we’re trying to fix things by helping Quinn and Berry…um… like each other better.”

At that, Brittany’s eyes lit up.
“Oh! You mean you realized that Quinn and Rachel are super gay for each other and you’re trying to get them together so they can stop being so mad and be happy instead?”

Kurt’s mouth fell open in shock, and Santana just stared, at a loss for how to respond.

Eventually she managed to ask, “What do you mean Britt?”

Brittany just smiled and looked at the two of them as if they were all in on the same secret.

“You know…ever since freshman year Quinn has liked Rachel, but she’s scared to actually like her, so she’s just mean to her all the time. And Rachel totally likes Quinn too, but she’s confused about it because Quinn is so mean to her.”

“That’s…that’s totally ridiculous, right?” Kurt asked, looking to Santana for clarification.

But the Latina girl was looking thoughtful.

“Huh, you might be right Britt-Britt. I always suspected that Quinn was a pressed lemon, but I didn’t realize that Berry was the one she had her eye on.”

She thought for another moment and then added, “That would explain a lot of things though.”

“Oh my god, this is so much more complicated than I thought,” came Kurt’s disbelieving mutter.

Santana rounded on him and pointed an aggressive finger.
“Don’t even think about backing out now. The plan is still the same. And actually, this is perfect, because if Brittany is there, she can be our buffer.”

“I would totally be a great buffer. I’ve already killed two vampires.”

“What?”

Wanting to keep them on track, Santana waved a hand impatiently.

“Never mind that Hummel. Brittany is actually a nice person, so Berry won’t want to tell her no, and if she says she wants us to all hang out, Quinn won’t be suspicious if I agree to her idea.”

“I can totally be your secret weapon,” Brittany added. “I’ll just tell everyone that we should be friends and then they’ll have to do it.”

Kurt sighed, but looked a little more settled.
“This…might actually work.”

“Just make sure you get Berry to the mall tomorrow night. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Alright. I guess this is happening.”

Brittany clapped her hands together gleefully.

“I’m so excited for us all to be unicorn cupids together!”

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Shake It Off

Rachel Berry was not having a good day.

Although to be more accurate, she was not having a good week.

Ever since her disagreement with Quinn, things had felt off.
It wasn’t just Glee, though that was the space that made things the most obvious as the entire club dynamic left something to be desired recently.

Though literally no one would call her a humble person, she was self-aware enough to realize that it wasn’t solely her inner turmoil that was causing the bad energy (or lack of mojo as Noah might say) that everyone in Glee seemed to be suffering from at the moment.

But she wasn’t sure exactly what to do to fix it.
After she’d confronted Quinn, she’d expected some kind of retaliation, maybe an increase in insults from the head Cheerio, or to get slushied every single day for the foreseeable future.

So far though, nothing, which was…disconcerting to say the least.

Quinn had always kept her true feelings close to the chest, and had proven in the past that she was capable of being both manipulative and devious. But when it came to Rachel, she usually seemed to favor a more direct approach.

It had been over a week though, and Quinn had barely even looked at her.
As far as Rachel could remember, she hadn’t spoken a single word to her either.

While she should have been relieved at this lack of negative attention, mostly she just felt…disappointed.

Her conversation with Kurt when he had come over for movie night had only made things feel more complicated.

She prided herself on being in touch with her emotions, and there had been a moment in the choir room on that now infamous day when she had finished saying what she’d needed to say and she and Quinn were left silently staring at each other.

They had been so close that she could see the little flecks of green in those lovely hazel eyes, and felt the warm puff of Quinn’s breath across her face.

The blonde girl had been looking at her so intently, like she was seeing her for the first time, and there hadn’t been anger or disdain in her eyes, it was…something else.

But whenever Rachel tried to identify what that something else was, or reflected on how it had felt to be the sole object of Quinn’s focus, her thoughts came grinding to a halt.

It was all too much.

Instead, she had tried to focus on other things, but despite Quinn being so withdrawn in Glee, Rachel was now so aware of her presence.

Even Finn had faded into the background, whether he was sitting right next to her or sending her grammatically imperfect text messages that she kept failing to respond to.

And that of course had caused another set of issues. Finn was so used to her normal (extreme) level of overattentiveness that her sudden lack of interest was sending him into a confused and resentful tailspin.

But she didn’t know what to say to him.

Sorry that an extended moment of direct eye contact with Quinn Fabray made me feel things that you never have?

By the way, I’m having very confusing feelings about your ex-girlfriend who also happens to have tormented me on multiple occasions?

Obviously she could not share anything like that with Finn. Her boyfriend, who was a boy.

It wasn’t that she had never thought about her own sexuality, because duh, two gay dads.
It was just that being something other than straight was an abstract idea, maybe something to explore when she was older and living in New York City. Certainly not a topic that needed to be examined while she was a high schooler trapped in Lima, Ohio.

With a sigh, she focused her attention back on the teacher at the front of the room.
The self-examination and general malaise would need to wait until after pre-calc.

Later that day, she was at her locker switching out some books when Kurt sauntered up and gave her a smile.

She did her best to smile back, but could feel that it wasn’t up to her usual standard.

“Hello Kurt.”

He dove in without preamble.

“Rachel, I know things have been a little…strained lately. But I’m here as your fairy godmother to tell you that we’re going shopping tonight.”

“Kurt, I appreciate the invitation, but unfortunately I will need to…”.

He cut her off with the sharp wave of one hand.

“I know you don't have dance class tonight, and Finn told me you don’t have plans, so no excuses. I’ll pick you up at six.”

Grudgingly, she replied, “I suppose you leave me no choice but to accept.”

“Great! I’ll see you tonight.”

Then he was off, leaving Rachel to continue with her task.
As soon as he was out of view, Kurt stopped and sent Santana a quick text.

We’re on for tonight. We’ll be at the mall by 6:30.

---------------------------------------------------

On her way out the door that evening, Rachel called out in the direction of the kitchen, “Bye dads! I’m heading to the mall with Kurt!”

They called back their goodbyes in response and she hurried out the door to where Kurt was waiting in the driveway.

Neither of them noticed her daddy quickly peeking out the window.
When he was satisfied that she was in fact getting into Kurt’s car, he hustled back to the kitchen where his husband was waiting.

Hiram gave him a light slap on the arm for being nosy, but unable to help himself, promptly asked, “So?”

Leroy leaned against the counter and shrugged.
“She wasn’t lying. It was Kurt, and he was alone in his car.”

“It’s been a week since Finn has picked her up, and I’ve barely heard his name come out of her mouth lately.”

“Maybe they broke up?”

“I doubt that,” Hiram said with a shake of his head. “I haven’t heard her belting out any sad ballads, or playing her breakup playlist.”

But then he frowned and added, “Though her music choices lately have been a little…”

“Emo?”

“I was going to say atypical for her, especially given that Sectionals is coming up.”

Leroy fiddled with his glasses for a moment.

“Well something is going on with our baby girl, and I have to say, I think it has to do with Finn Hudson.”

Hiram scoffed at that.
“You’ve never liked the boy, even though he’s been perfectly polite every time he’s been over.”

“I never said I didn’t like him,” Leroy protested, “I’ve just never thought he was good enough for our little star. For Lima, maybe he’s above average, but Rachel is going places, and she needs someone with a little more…style…a little more panache.”

“It’s her junior year, Lee. I agree that he isn’t necessarily forever material, but this is high school. Besides, you have no evidence that Rachel’s downward shift in mood has anything to do with him.”

“I don’t have any evidence yet.”

Hiram reached over and patted his husband’s arm.
“How about we just talk to our daughter? Isn’t that what we do in this family? Talk about things?”

Leroy grumbled a little but eventually nodded.

“Great. Then for now, why don’t we open some wine and watch a movie?”

“That sounds like an excellent plan.”

---------------------------------------------------

On the way to the mall, after a fairly standard exchange of greetings, Rachel was silent for an entire minute, which was long enough for Kurt to shoot her a look.

“What?” she asked, a bit exasperated.

He raised an eyebrow.
“What’s going on with you and Finn? And don’t tell me that it’s nothing, because the boy is so out of it that he’s resorted to asking me if I know something.”

“And what did you tell him?” Rachel asked, a bit anxiously.

“I told him to grow up and ask you himself. I’m not his messenger. And besides, it would go against our diva code for me to break your confidence.”

He gave her another sideways glance and added, pointedly, “Of course…it’s not as if I actually know anything that I could pass along, even if I wanted to.”

Rachel crossed her arms a bit petulantly, but her response was sincere enough.
“I find myself at a loss about what to tell Finn. Nothing has happened, but things don’t feel right. However, it would sound extremely vague to tell him that.”

When he spoke again, Kurt’s tone was more gentle.
“Wouldn’t it help to at least try and talk to him?”

The response he got was extremely subdued, especially for Rachel Berry.
“He won’t like what I have to say.”

For now, Kurt decided to leave it at that. It wouldn't be helpful to have Rachel brooding right before throwing her into the midst of Santana’s devious plan.

“Alright,” he said, infusing his voice with a note of cheerfulness, “let’s talk fashion. Maybe a new look will help get you out of this slump.”

Whether she was actually excited about a potential new look, or just relieved that he’d changed the subject, Kurt didn’t know.

But, she at least smiled as she asked, “Alright, what did you have in mind?”

Kurt was of course still hoping that this “accidental” Quinn and Rachel meeting would go well (or at least not end in catastrophe), but he was also pretty excited about potentially exploiting this opportunity to give his friend a much needed update to her style.

---------------------------------------------------

They made it to the mall without issue and so far he’d convinced Rachel to purchase a navy blue v-neck sweater in a flattering cut.
It was blessedly free of any animals or argyle.

He was about to attempt to convince her to try on some jeans, perhaps a dark wash to match the sweater, when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

Rachel was occupied with perusing a rack of skirts, which he definitely needed to pull her away from as soon as possible, so he took the opportunity to check his phone.

Claire’s in the wing near the food court. Ten minutes.

Walking over to Rachel, he gave the skirt she was holding up a disdainful stare.

“We’re going for something new, not more of the same schoolgirl-esque apparel.”

With a sigh, she put it back on the rack.

“Alright, what do you suggest then?”

“I have several ideas. But first, let’s go to Claire’s. I want to see if they have any jewelry on sale that I can deconstruct and make into much more stylish pieces.”

“Fine, but then you have to find me something to go with this sweater.”

He tucked his arm around hers.
“I promise.”

Then he whisked her away in the direction of the appointed meeting spot and prayed to the fashion gods that the night wasn’t about to take a horrible turn.

---------------------------------------------------

Right at the appointed time, they were walking into Claire’s. Kurt looked around quickly, and didn’t see anyone familiar, so he pulled Rachel along with him towards the back of the store.

He started looking through a rack of mostly horrendous earrings, careful to stay facing the store’s entrance.
Rachel quickly got distracted by some necklaces, and when she held one up for his approval, he took a moment to look at it critically.

That of course was the moment that Santana showed up, with Brittany on one side, and Quinn next to Brittany, just a half-step behind.

As soon as she noticed them, Rachel froze, her eyes going wide as she quickly put the necklace back on the shelf.

She was probably preparing to flee, Kurt thought to himself, and he didn’t blame her one bit.

“Well, well, look who it is,” Santana said, and then, catching sight of the Gap bag that Rachel was holding added, “Picking up a new toddler sweater to pair with your Catholic grade school skirts?”

Rachel looked at Kurt pleadingly, and he opened his mouth to say…something, when Brittany cut in.

“Be nice San. I like Rachel’s skirts. She has great legs.”

As if that wasn’t already enough to make Santana’s mouth drop open, Brittany turned her head purposefully towards the girl on her other side and asked, “Don’t you think so Quinn?”

Now Kurt’s mouth dropped open as well and Rachel stood there, stunned and speechless.

At first, she just stared at Brittany as if waiting for her to take it back, or add an insult of some kind, but the taller blonde girl just smiled at her kindly.

Kurt and Santana were both looking at Quinn now, trying not to be obvious, but wanting to catch her reaction to this turn of events.
Their scrutiny went unrewarded though, because Quinn was looking at the ground like she found the boring tile utterly captivating.

Brittany just continued to smile pleasantly at everyone, so Rachel’s attention went to Santana next, expecting her to be the one to break the silence. But when the Latina said nothing, her gaze went inevitably to Quinn.

As if sensing that gaze, Quinn looked up and was caught in Rachel’s eyes.
At least that’s how it looked to Kurt who was now unabashedly staring at the two of them.

Quinn’s lips twitched, not into a smile, but like she was holding in an expression. But what she was really feeling, Kurt had no idea.
She blinked slowly, but still, her gaze didn’t waver.

Rachel didn’t look away either, though her eyes widened a little. The look on her face was something more readily apparent to Kurt, knowing her as well as he did. It was something akin to fascination.

The tableau lasted a moment longer, and then finally Quinn’s eyes dropped and she shifted her feet uncomfortably.

Looking extremely pleased, Brittany announced, “I have a great idea, let’s all go to the food court.”

No one was quick enough to object before she grabbed Santana’s arm and started pulling her away.
Quinn watched them helplessly for a moment, but had no choice but to follow unless she wanted to be left alone with Rachel and Kurt.

Worried that Rachel might try to bolt, Kurt took hold of her elbow and started steering her along after them.

“Kurt,” she hissed, “what are you doing? We can’t eat with them!”

“While normally I would agree with you, the mall is neutral territory and we were invited. And since Britt was the one to invite us, Santana has no choice but to go along.”

“And what about Quinn?”

He continued marching them after the other three, but maintained a reasonable distance.

“Well considering Quinn has yet to speak to us, maybe it will be fine.”

“But…”.

Here he stopped and turned slightly to face her.

“Do you have some specific issue with attempting to eat a meal with Quinn?”

“Specific issue…no…that’s not…”.

Satisfied that she would be unwilling to voice any feelings about Quinn, he started pulling her along again.

“Excellent. If they start insulting us, we can leave and go purchase you some fashionable jeans. Otherwise, for the sake of Glee, let’s try to get along.”

It seemed that “Glee” was the magic word. The expression on her face shifted from panic to determination.

“Very well. For the sake of Glee.”

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

This Is Me Trying

She was sprawled on her back on her bed, doing nothing except stare at the ceiling.

No, that wasn’t true. She was trying to do nothing except stare at the ceiling, but even that utterly boring and unstimulating activity was not enough to make her brain just…stop.

After the grueling Cheerio’s practice she’d had that morning, it was a wonder her brain could think of anything other than how tired and sore she was.

Saturday practices had always been especially brutal, but today she’d run the squad through a series of intense tumbling combinations interspersed with wind sprints that had led to one girl collapsing and two others throwing up on the sidelines.

Sue had yelled some difficult to understand praise through her megaphone that had ended with, “That’s the kind of crushing intensity I want to see Fabray!”

When they finally finished for the day, gasping and chugging water, most everyone was giving Quinn wary looks or scowls.
Santana just stared at her and raised one eyebrow, but Quinn didn’t know how to respond.

If she couldn’t avoid her thoughts, maybe she could purge them through near debilitating physical activity.

For a while, that plan had worked.
But once she was back home and showered and lying on her bed with nothing else on her agenda besides catching up on some homework, her brain kicked back into high gear.

It had been almost two weeks since her…whatever…with Rachel.
She honestly had no idea what to even call it.

It hadn’t been a confrontation really, because once Rachel had gotten in her face and said her piece, Quinn had just been…silent.

She’d replayed that situation in her head so many times now, trying to figure out why it felt so significant compared to every other adversarial exchange they’d had in the past.

Something about the way the other girl had stood up for herself, and the sharpness in those usually soft brown eyes made her feel strange, like her chest was too tight, or she was about to shiver.

Then there had been the physical contact when Rachel had practically been holding her hand, and the complete invasion of her personal space when they’d been standing so, so close.

But the most confusing part was how everything had ended as they just gazed at each other in a moment that felt suspended, and somehow private even though she knew that everyone else in the room had been staring at them.

In that moment, the sharpness in Rachel’s eyes had melted away into something else, something almost reverent.

She had been close enough to hear the other girl’s breath hitch, see her throat move as she swallowed.

And in that moment, Quinn had felt a sudden impulse to...

She slammed that thought away and flipped over violently to cram her face into a pillow.
This was why she needed to be distracted.

The last thing she wanted to obsessively think about was Rachel Berry’s lips.

---------------------------------------------------

Thankfully, she found some distraction later that evening in the form of a bored Santana.
Brittany apparently had a family dinner and was unavailable, and Mr. and Mrs. Lopez were out for the night.

Santana had texted her earlier and demanded both her company and fast food, telling Quinn that they’d earned it after the hellish practice she’d subjected them to that morning.

So she pulled up to Santana’s house at 6 with a Burger King bag in hand, hoping that her friend would be able to keep her mind off everything that she didn’t want to think about for at least a few hours.

She knocked on the front door and then immediately went inside, as was her habit at the Lopez home.

From the kitchen, Santana shouted, “Get your ass in here Fabray! Mama needs her Whopper!”

When she entered the room, her friend was perched on a stool at the counter, clad in faded Cheerios sweatpants and a T-shirt with a picture of a cat on the front.

Quinn set the slightly greasy paper bag down, and Santana immediately reached in to grab a handful of fries.

“Hello, nice to see you Quinn, thank you so much for bringing me this contraband food,” she said to Santana in a mocking tone.

“Yeah, yeah, thanks Q. Wait, where’s my Dr. Pepper?”

“You know that coach would already kill us for eating this, and I draw the line at high fructose corn syrup.”

The other girl rolled her eyes and mumbled, through a mouthful of french fries.
“Maybe you’d chill out if you finally got laid.”

Quinn narrowed her eyes and snatched a few fries from her friend’s pile.
“In case you’d forgotten, that didn’t go so well for me last time. Totally not worth it.”

She’d expected some snarky retort about her prudishness or her bad decision to have a tipsy quickie with a man slut like Puckerman.

Instead, Santana stood up and got them both a glass of water, then sat back down across from Quinn and unwrapped her burger in an almost thoughtful way.

After she’d taken a bite, chewed, and swallowed, she finally spoke.

“Maybe you need to find someone who isn’t a moron that will knock you up. Someone who is worth it.”

It sounded casual, but also like she actually cared, which was a little surprising.

Confused, Quinn responded, “Since when do we actually talk about this stuff? Usually our conversations about relationships consist of you insulting my romantic partners or making fun of me for being in the Celibacy Club.”

That comment led to a bit of Santana’s usual fire coming back out.

“Okay, first off, when you date dopey ogres like Finnocence, yeah I’m gonna call your ass out. You’re McKinley royalty Quinn, you can aim higher. And second, the fact that the celibacy club even exists and receives school funding is a freaking joke in itself.”

She paused to take a savage bite of her burger and then stuff a couple more fries in her mouth.
Before speaking again, she set her food down and forced Quinn to make eye contact.

“I’m serious though Q. I know that last year pretty much sucked for you, and your parents have always tried to keep you locked in some perfect and super fake little box, but that doesn’t mean you have to make yourself unhappy.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The sharp defensiveness in Quinn's tone made Santana sigh.

“Look, I’m actually not trying to be a bitch right now. If walking down the hall hand in hand with Blondie McLips really makes you happy, then go for it. But if it doesn’t…maybe think about what would.”

This was all too much to handle.
Santana seemed like she was trying to be supportive, but what was her angle?

“Why are you saying all of this?”

The other girl shrugged.

“You’ve seemed off lately, totally lacking that head bitch energy that everyone loves and fears. And then at practice today you seemed determined to push us until we toppled over and passed out. Trust me, I much prefer the other Quinn Fabray, my friend and greatest rival to this weird mopey and self-destructive version.”

Again, Quinn had no idea what to say.
Santana was one of her best friends, yes, but half the time they were also trying to stab each other in the back. This amount of honesty, this whole conversation really, was throwing her for a loop.

“Santana…I don’t know what to say to all of this. I don’t…”.

She trailed off, not sure how to finish that sentence, and not really trusting herself to try and explain how she’d been feeling without unloading everything.

There was something akin to pity on the other girl’s face, and in the end, she just shrugged.

“Don’t worry about it Q. I’m just trying to keep it real, no response required. You can talk to me though, you know…if you ever want to. I am capable of keeping shit to myself when necessary.”

“Yeah, okay,” Quinn managed to say, realizing that she sounded a little breathless.

She decided to focus on finishing her food. They both stayed silent for another minute or so, and then Santana spoke, the lighter tone of her voice suggesting that she was trying to change the subject away from Quinn’s feelings or recent mood.

“Speaking of keeping it real, when are you going to wear those new clothes we got at the mall? Because I think everyone’s moods will improve if you stop dressing like a church lady.”

“And there she is,” Quinn muttered, honestly a little relieved to hear something snarky coming out of Santana’s mouth.

Unfortunately though, the comment also made her think about that trip to the mall and what a strange and confusing experience it had been.

---------------------------------------------------

It hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary when Santana suggested they all go to the mall.

She, Brittany, and Santana had gone on plenty of shopping trips together, starting back in middle school once her parents had deemed her old enough to be out in public without adult supervision.

Something about this particular experience had felt odd from the beginning though.

For starters, Santana had offered to drive, which was unusual. Generally, she preferred to ride shotgun in Quinn’s car so she could kick her feet up on the dash and commandeer the radio.

Then she kept catching Brittany smiling at her, which wasn’t totally strange, except she couldn’t figure out why it was happening.
Though, to be fair, figuring out what was going on in Brittany’s head was generally an exercise in futility.

Things had seemed to get a little more normal after that as they wandered through several of their favorite stores with Santana bullying Quinn to try on different clothes and Brittany giving an honest appraisal of how she looked in them.

She had surprised herself a little by actually buying a few things that she wouldn’t normally wear, including a couple pairs of jeans, a light blue button down, a new jacket, and a sweater that Santana had assured her did not make her look homeschooled.

Maybe it was because she felt like she was in a slump and needed the retail therapy, but a comment that Santana had made after critically eyeing a dress she’d initially pulled off the rack had also made an impact.

“Q, you’re a pretty girl and you know that, but you could be hot. You just need to ditch the weird youth group chaperone style you’ve got going on and flaunt a little more.”

Brittany had nodded emphatically at that.

“You’re a total badass,” she told Quinn, “but people can’t tell because your clothes look like you got confused about how old you are.”

Exasperated, she’d shot back with, “Okay, fine. What do you think I should wear then?”

Brittany clapped her hands excitedly, and then grabbed onto Quinn’s wrist, dragging her away from the selection of prim looking dresses and over to another section of the store.

That had led to her trying on a bunch of different things and buying several of them.

She’d been about to ask where they were heading next when Santana looked up from her phone and announced, “Let’s go check out Claire’s. Maybe we can find you some non-Jesus related jewelry.”

Quinn rolled her eyes.
“Fine.”

They’d barely made it into the store when they stumbled across Rachel and Kurt.
Quinn had been torn between spinning on her heel and making her escape and wanting to stay and see how Rachel reacted.

The other girl was looking at them quite warily, and Quinn didn’t blame her.
Facing down the Unholy Trinity was no joke.

Santana looked Rachel over and made a predictable, but not totally untrue crack about her taste in clothes, and then Brittany shocked everyone when she said, “Be nice San. I like Rachel’s skirts. She has great legs.”

At that, Quinn couldn’t help but let her eyes flicker over Rachel’s legs, which yes, were great. Not that she’d ever noticed before or anything.

And then, as if she was reading Quinn’s mind, Brittany asked, “Don’t you think so Quinn?”

She tore her eyes away quickly, hoping that her cheeks weren’t flushed, and glanced up to gauge Rachel’s reaction.
Had she been caught staring?

But no, Rachel was looking at Brittany, completely shocked.

Her first reaction was to be annoyed that the shorter girl hadn’t even noticed her looking, and when she processed that emotion a second later, her next move was to stare at the floor because she had no idea what her face looked like right now.

Kurt and Santana were two nosy, gossipy people, and you never quite knew what Brittany would pick up on. She could be unusually perceptive at times.

Given how off-balance she felt, paying attention to Rachel right now with the other three standing right there seemed a bit unsafe.

But then, she swore she could feel eyes on her, and even though she knew it was a bad idea, she couldn’t resist looking up again.

As soon as she did, she was caught by those big, brown eyes.
They had always had some kind of power over her.

Being the object of Rachel’s attention had always made her feel…something.
At times annoyed, at times uncomfortable in a wriggling way that was partly guilt at having caused her pain and partly a desire for more of her regard. More of those eyes on her.

And now they were. The expression she saw there wasn’t anger, or even wariness. It looked like Rachel was trying to figure something out, or maybe she was trying to figure Quinn out.

Either way, it felt dangerous and compelling, so with effort, she looked away again, shuffling a little as she tried to decide if making an excuse to leave would make things more or less awkward.

But before she could come to a decision, Brittany said, excitedly, “I have a great idea, let’s all go to the food court!”

Quinn’s head shot up and she looked wildly over to Santana, hoping that she would quickly shut the situation down, but the other girl looked surprisingly unphased, and when Brittany grabbed her arm, she allowed herself to be pulled away.

Suddenly terrified of being left alone with Kurt and Rachel, who were now both staring at her, she hurried after her two friends.

Once she’d caught up to them, she hissed, “What the hell? You invited them to eat with us?”

Brittany shrugged.
“Why not? We’re all in Glee together, and everyone likes the food court.”

Quinn looked helplessly at Santana.
“Well, surely you think this is a terrible idea?”

Santana responded quietly, “Look, I normally wouldn’t be up for socializing with Hummelina and the hobbit, but Britt’s right, we’re all in Glee together. And if Berry starts squawking, I’ll shove a corn dog in her mouth.”

Distracted by this turn of events, Quinn murmured, “But isn’t she vegan?”

She completely missed the triumphant look that her two friends exchanged upon hearing her express that concern.

Santana said, reasonably, “It will be fine Q. What’s the point of being head bitches if we can’t eat crappy Chinese food with whoever we want?”

Realizing that there was no getting out of this situation, Quinn stopped protesting.

When they made it to the food court, Rachel had offered to stay at the table and save it for them, and she gave Kurt some money along with detailed instructions on what food to get for her.

Quinn had walked away quickly, and she took her time perusing the different menus to give herself some space to collect her thoughts.

Unbeknownst to her, Santana and Brittany had hidden themselves behind a planter and waved Kurt over for a secret conference.

He cast a wild look around to assure himself that Quinn was nowhere near and then hissed, “What’s this about? We can’t blow our cover!”

“Relax,” Santana said, “we just wanted to tell you to take your time.”

“What?”

“Just…take your time getting the food. Then Quinn will make it back to the table before all of us.”

Kurt gave her an impressed look.
“Alright, I support this devious little subplot. Though I’m not sure how well this plan is working. While it is a refreshing change of pace to have Quinn not slinging insults at Rachel, at the moment, she seems unable to speak at all.”

Santana frowned.
“Look, I’m sorry I don’t have any magic fairy dust….”.

“Maybe Kurt does,” Brittany said, helpfully.

Santana paused, looked at her, looked away, and continued.
“But on one side you have a deeply closeted ice queen and on the other you have a tiny, often obnoxious diva who has a habit of trying to steal other people’s boyfriends. I’m not sure why you thought this was going to be easy, but I promise you, this is progress.”

“Don’t worry Kurt,” Brittany added with a smile, “Santana is great at plans. And super hot.”

He sighed, deeply.
“Fine. I’ll…take my time. But if I get back to the table and Rachel is crying, this whole thing is over.”

It turned out that he had nothing to worry about.

Quinn had procured her food, and felt more settled after having a few minutes alone.
But when she approached the table, she only saw Rachel sitting there. She looked around, but the other three were nowhere to be seen.

She paused for a moment and tried to figure out how to proceed.

As she was contemplating whether to linger at a distance and wait for someone else to show up, Rachel looked over and saw her, offering a small smile.

And, as always, Rachel Berry smiling at her pulled her in. Usually, she resisted the compulsion, but not this time.

She walked over and carefully set down her tray in the spot across from the other girl, as it would be awkward for her to seat herself at the other end of the otherwise empty table.

Once she was settled in the uncomfortable plastic chair, Rachel said, tentatively, “That looks good. Is that a gyro?”

“Yeah. It’s what I usually get if I’m forced to eat at the food court.”

It felt weird to start eating, so she busied herself by opening the plastic wrapped package of disposable utensils.

The other girl was looking around, distracted, perhaps searching for Kurt to come and save her.

Something about that idea bothered Quinn. She wanted Rachel to pay attention to her.

“So, are you having a good shopping trip?”

As soon as she said it, she mentally smacked herself in the forehead for sounding like a boring parent.

Rachel’s brown eyes swiveled back and her brow furrowed as she said, “There’s no need to humor me with small talk Quinn. I am perfectly capable of sitting here in amicable silence until our friends return.”

“I’m just trying to be nice,” she snapped.
And, shit, there was a flicker of hurt in those eyes.

She huffed out a breath and said, as sincerely as she could, “I’m sorry. I just…I’m trying, ok? I’m trying not to be a bitch to you…not anymore at least.”

Rachel seemed as surprised by this stuttered apology as she’d been by Quinn’s sudden appearance in Claire’s earlier.

“Why not?” she asked, sounding more curious than confrontational.

Quinn chewed her lip. There was no way that she was going to actually talk about her feelings in the food court of a mall, but she could at least try to be honest.

“That’s a complicated question to answer,” she finally responded.

That intent expression from earlier was back in Rachel’s eyes.
Quinn had no idea what she was going to say next, and would definitely not have anticipated what ended up coming out of the diva’s mouth.

“Maybe we could hang out sometime, as friends. If you are truly serious about turning over a new leaf in regards to your behavior towards me.”

“Um, yeah, okay,” Quinn said, all eloquence deserting her as she thought about the opportunity to be alone with Rachel while simultaneously trying not to think about that scenario.

When the other three eventually made it back to the table, they were relieved by the lack of tears, shouting, or icy tension.

Though it was a bit awkward, they made it through their meal with a minimum of snarky comments, which all of them deemed as successful.

They parted ways after that, and Quinn remained quieter than usual for the rest of the evening.

Amazingly, Santana didn’t give her any more shit about her fashion sense or bring up Rachel Berry for the remainder of the outing.

---------------------------------------------------

Back in the present, Santana eventually snapped her out of her reverie.

“So, new clothes? When will the world get to see them? Me and Britt did some good work picking them out, and I’d hate to see that go to waste”

Shaking her head to try and help regain her focus, she replied, “Well, since we wear our Cheerios uniforms every day, there’s not a lot of opportunity to show off a new look.”

“You’ve got a point there,” Santana mused. “I like the sense of power that our uniforms give us, but they also don’t give us the chance to flaunt anything else.”

The conversation turned to other topics, and Quinn was spared from having to think about the mall (or Rachel Berry) for the rest of the night.

But then on Sunday, Quinn got a text from an unknown number.

Hello Quinn. This is Rachel Berry. I got your phone number from Brittany, which I hope was alright. Have a pleasant evening.

Her heart rate increased, and she carefully saved the number to her contacts before tapping her thumb on the screen as she thought about how to respond.

It took a few minutes for her to decide what to say, but in the end, she sent a single sentence.

Were you serious about wanting to hang out?

Then, she immediately turned off her phone and went to bed.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Delicate

When Quinn woke up the next morning and saw her phone sitting on the nightstand, a quick wave of anticipation rippled through her stomach.

But she decided not to look at her phone just yet. Instead, she went through her normal Monday morning routine as the rest of the house remained quiet.

The house was almost always quiet now.
Her mother had gotten a job in real estate and seemed to be doing fairly well, but the hours were irregular, and now that she wasn’t expected to be up to make her husband breakfast every morning, she allowed herself the luxury of sleeping in.

Quinn couldn’t begrudge her that, and it meant that mornings could be a sacred time for her now.

Without her father sucking up all the air in the room as he complained about the state of the world while he read the newspaper, she could sit at the kitchen island and eat a fairly leisurely breakfast.

And with her mother still sleeping, Quinn could eat bacon and put cream in her coffee without any concerned looks or comments about her “health” that were really just thinly veiled fatphobia.

Though their mother/daughter relationship had improved, it still left a lot to be desired, and Quinn was just hoping to keep things civil while she finished high school.

Her phone was sitting next to her, and there was a message notification on the screen, taunting her.

Once she’d put her dirty dishes in the dishwasher, she refilled her coffee mug and opened her messages.

There were a couple messages from Sam that she ignored for the moment, and one new message from Rachel.

Yes, I was. Please let me know if you are available this week and we can make plans accordingly.

The message had been sent before she’d even woken up, confirming her belief that Rachel was an overly chipper morning person.

She spun her phone around on the countertop a few times, debating how to reply.
As a stalling tactic, she opened the message thread with Sam.

The first message was from the night before.

sweet dreams

Then there was another from this morning that said: meet in science classroom at lunch

With a sigh, she replied to that message.

Ok. See you then.

Sam was sweet and more attentive than Finn ever had been, but she’d realized pretty quickly that she didn’t feel anything more than friendship for him.

Because he hadn’t done anything wrong, and her own feelings about…other people…had been so complicated and confusing lately, she hadn’t officially ended things with him.

But now she was regretting not breaking things off sooner, because despite her lukewarm behavior, he was still really trying to be her boyfriend.

He replied almost immediately with a smiley face, and she felt a twinge of guilt.

But then she opened the message thread with Rachel and stared at the words again.

The thought of a potentially awkward hangout with a girl who probably thought she was a horrible human being was still more tempting than a date with a boy who treated her like a princess.

Before she could lose her nerve, she texted Rachel back.

I’m free Saturday by 2pm if that works for you.

Then, she put her phone down again and hurried to finish getting ready for school.

---------------------------------------------------

At the Berry house, Rachel had finished the majority of her morning routine, and was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast with her dads.

A vigorous workout on her elliptical and belting out some Celine Dion in the shower had helped settle the nerves that had plagued her as soon as she’d sent her earlier text response to Quinn’s message from the night before.

She couldn’t quite believe that she was trying to make plans with Quinn Fabray of all people, though perhaps she should wait and see if those plans actually came to fruition.

Her dads had noticed that she seemed unusually distracted, and also noted the fact that she kept looking at her phone.

Eventually, it let out a ding, and she almost knocked over her glass of orange juice as she quickly snatched it up.

She had to read through the short sentence several times before she could actually believe what she was seeing.

I’m free Saturday by 2pm if that works for you.

Were they actually going to hang out??

“Is everything alright honey?”

She looked up into her dad Hiram’s concerned brown eyes. A glance to the side showed that her daddy was also staring at her now.

To buy herself some time, she looked down at her phone again.

Why was it that one text from Quinn about potential plans filled her with more excitement than spending time with her boyfriend?

She quickly typed out a reply.

That does work for me! Would you like to come over and watch a movie?

After hitting send, she set the phone down again, already second guessing that exclamation point.

Then, she looked up at her parents, who had continued with their own breakfasts, but were clearly also waiting for her to respond.

“Dads…have you ever developed feelings for someone while you were dating someone else?”

The two men exchanged a look.

Then Hiram cleared his throat and said, “I think that’s a pretty common thing honey.”

Leroy added, “When I first met your father, I was dating someone else. If I’m being honest, my feelings for him did start to develop before that other relationship ended.”

“It all turned out for the best,” Hiram told him, with a smile.

His husband returned the smile saying, “Yes it did.”

After a moment of exchanging a sweet look, they turned back to their daughter.

“Is there something you wanted to discuss with us sweetheart? Or do you need some advice?”

Rachel gave her daddy a troubled smile.

“Do you think that having feelings for another person means that you should break up?”

“Well,” Leroy said, in what he hoped was a reassuring tone, “even if I hadn’t met your father, I wouldn’t have stayed with that other guy. I knew he wasn’t my forever person, so in the end, the choice wasn’t that difficult.”

“Not to say that you need to be worrying about a forever person,” Hiram quickly added. “You’re young, and you have plenty of time to date.”

“And we didn’t raise you to be tied to heteronormative ideas of relationships anyway.”

Though she appreciated the information, it wasn’t really helping Rachel figure out what to do.

Maybe spending some time with Finn would help bring things into perspective.
Admittedly, she had been neglecting him in favor of hiding in her room to obsess over every interaction she’d ever had with Quinn.

Decision made, she picked up her phone again and sent him a text to ask if they could go on a date soon.

Then, she stood and smoothed down her skirt in a practiced motion.

“Thank you both for your insight. I'll finish getting ready for school.”

With that she marched off towards the staircase.

Once she’d ascended to the second floor and he was certain she was out of earshot, Hiram said, “So it sounds like Finn might be getting kicked to the curb.”

“I for one won’t be terribly sorry to see him go. But I can only hope that whoever Rachel has her eye on is an upgrade. Though, this is Lima, so…”.

“Do you think it’s another one of the Glee boys? There aren’t too many heterosexual ones left that she hasn’t dated. Maybe that blonde one?”

Leroy looked thoughtful.
“I’ve never heard her talk about him. I don’t think I even know his name.”

He paused, and tapped his fingers on the table.

“Hiram…”.

“Hm?”

“What if it’s not a boy?”

His husband’s eyes widened.
“Well, we certainly have tried to impart very expansive ideas about sexuality. But I don’t know Lee…she’s been pretty boy crazy lately. It’s probably another jock who she’s going to try and mold into her next leading man.”

“I suppose time will tell.”

Having said that, Leroy placed a kiss on the top of Hiram’s head and left the kitchen.

“I suppose it will,” Hiram muttered.

---------------------------------------------------

That same morning, Santana walked down the hall with a little extra oomph on top of her normal swagger. It made people give her a respectful berth, and noting this, she smirked.

However, after a cluster of freshmen Cheerios scrambled out of her path, she had a clear view of Kurt standing at his locker, and the situation in front of her made the smirk evaporate and a dark look appear.

Karofsky, one of the oversized meatheads from the football team, was looming over Kurt, forcing the smaller boy to press back into the lockers. Santana watched Karofsky give Kurt a shove in the shoulder with one hand, and she started moving towards them at almost a run.

As she closed the distance she shouted out, “Oh hell no!”

At the sound, both boys looked at her, and Karofsky quickly leaned back and gave her a nervous smile.

“What’s up Santana?” he said, trying to sound cool, but sounding like a guilty shitbag.

She used her forward momentum to shove him hard with both hands, which he wasn’t expecting. The motion sent him staggering back a few steps and his eyes widened.

“What’s up is that you seem to be messing with my boy Kurt. I don’t care what homophobic thoughts are swirling in your tiny little brain, but if ever see you touch him again, or harass him in any way, I will personally cut your junk off.”

She finished that warning off with a tirade of angry Spanish to drive the point home.

Karofsky was gaping at her, trying to stutter out some excuse, but she took a step closer and cut him off.

Her words were quiet, but her tone was dripping with menace.

“Are we clear?”

He looked around at the crowd that was starting to gather and mumbled, “We’re clear.”

Without another word, he slunk away.

Santana spun around to glare at anyone who was still observing the scene, and the remaining onlookers skittered away.

Then she turned back to Kurt who looked a little shell-shocked.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m…”.
His words trailed off and he looked away, but not before she saw tears in his eyes.

After a moment, he cleared his throat and continued.
“No, I’m not alright. He’s been bullying me for a while now, and no one else has noticed or said anything. Not the teachers, not Finn, no one. So…thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she answered gruffly, “If he so much as looks at you the wrong way again, you let me know. I’ll have Puckerman hold him down while me and Britt do a tap dance on his nut sack.”

That drew out a small smile.

“How very colorful.”

“I mean it.”

He looked at her for a long moment and then nodded.
“Okay.”

Trusting that he took her seriously, Santana relaxed and said, “Walk with me.”
Kurt fell into step next to her.

“So, I have some news,” she told him, giving him a small smile.

“Faberry news?”

That made Santana literally stop in her tracks for a second.
Then, she shook her head and chuckled.

“That’s perfect. And yes, it is Faberry news. It seems that after our trip to the mall, Berry asked Brittany for Quinn’s phone number. Which Britt of course gave to her.”

Kurt looked impressed.
“Well well, it seems that Rachel is making the first move. And that sneaky little minx didn’t say anything to me about it.”

“Q didn’t say anything to me about it either, which I think is a good sign.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because,” she replied, with a smug smile, “if dear little Quinnie thinks that no one will know about it, she’s more likely to try and spend time with Berry.”

“Given Rachel’s incredible persistence, I think it’s safe to assume that she’s already communicated with Quinn.”

“Exactly. And if Quinn was planning on being a bitch about Berry texting her or whatever, she definitely would have already complained to me about it.”

Kurt gave her a conspiratorial sideways look.
“It seems that things are getting interesting.”

She just gave him a quick, sharp grin and spun away to head to her next class.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Begin Again

Quinn stared at the clock, unsure of whether she was dreading the end of class, or looking forward to it so she could get this conversation with Sam over with.

Once the bell rang, she hurried through the halls to a particular science classroom.
It was always empty at this point in the day, and she and Sam had met there a few times before because he thought that secret make out sessions were romantic.

She really hoped that wasn’t what he had in mind today.
Because, though he was a pretty good kisser, and did have very soft lips, she didn’t think she could bring herself to kiss him anymore.

Thankfully, when she entered the classroom to find him standing there, he didn’t make any move to try to kiss her.
Instead, he reached out to take her hands, and gazed into her eyes.

She was still trying to figure out whether she should interrupt him or not when he pulled out a ring.

That did make her take an alarmed step back.

“What is that?”

Her tone was not encouraging in the slightest, but he forged ahead.

“It’s a promise ring.”

As stunned as she was by this completely bonkers turn of events, she still somehow found the presence of mind to throw up her hands and say, “Sam, wait. Stop. I need to tell you something.”

Whatever he had been saying trailed off uncomfortably, and he lowered the ring that he’d been holding out.

Now that she was in a much more awkward situation than she’d predicted, it was hard to know what to say.
But she wanted to let him down as easily as possible, because as misguided as this quasi-proposal was, he had always been good to her.

She cleared her throat and did the best she could considering how off-balance she was.

“Sam, you’ve been really sweet, and I think that you’re a great guy. But I’ve realized that I don’t want to be your girlfriend. I’m sorry that it had to happen like this because I really don’t want to hurt you.”

He stood there, looking at her blankly for a second, as if the words didn’t initially register.

After swallowing a few times, he quietly asked, “Is there another guy?”

With no hesitation whatsoever, she assured him, “No, there’s definitely no other guy.”

That seemed to make him feel a little better at least, and then he tucked the ring into his pocket and sighed.

“I probably should have seen this coming, I just didn’t want to believe it.”

She gave him the kindest smile she could manage and he gave her a lopsided one back before asking, “Will you…um, will you still be my date for Kurt’s dad’s wedding?”

At her lack of immediate response, he quickly added, “Just as friends, okay?”

“Okay, just as friends.”

He looked at her for another long moment before opening his arms slightly.

“One last hug?”

“Sure.”

Quinn stepped forward and he pulled her into a gentle embrace, which felt surprisingly nice.

“Thank you,” she mumbled against his shirt.

“For what?”

“For not being a jerk about this.”

“I care about you Quinn. And I do want to be your friend. It might take me a little bit to get there, but I want to.”

“Me too.”

---------------------------------------------------

At the same time that Quinn was trying to let Sam down gently, Kurt was trying to pry some information out of Rachel.
Thanks to Santana’s intel, he knew that she’d gotten Quinn’s number. But astonishingly, she had yet to bring that up.

They had talked about many other things, but not Quinn, not the mall trip, and, quite surprisingly, not Finn.

Given Rachel’s normal propensity to dissect her relationship with Finn to the point that Kurt usually felt the urge to slam his head against something, it was a big red flag that she’d only mentioned his name once in the last 15 minutes.

And since the social time they’d spent at the mall with the Unholy Trinity was unprecedented, he was also flabbergasted that she seemed to have no interest in discussing that either.

He was about to bring up the topic directly when Mercedes and Tina walked up to the table and set down their trays.
The two of them had been in mid conversation when they approached, but once they’d settled into their seats next to Kurt and Rachel, they stopped talking and gave each other a conspiratorial glance.

Then Mercedes leaned forward to say, “I heard a rumor that you were at the mall with our three favorite Cheerios. How in the world did that happen?”

“They weren’t playing some prank on you were they?” Tina asked, looking legitimately concerned, “Or making you follow them around and carry their bags?”

This at least seemed to spark some energy in Rachel.

“What? Carry their bags as if we were Cheerios servants? Is someone spreading that rumor?”

Kurt was both amused that the gossip was already spreading and affronted that Tina still considered his popularity level to be so low that it was more plausible that he was being pranked than part of a legitimate social experience.

Still, considering he hadn’t let either Mercedes or Tina in on his secret plan with Santana, he needed to make sure neither of them got too suspicious, especially given that they were known as two of the biggest gossips at the school.

“We simply ran into them while we were shopping and Brittany, being the sweetheart that she is, invited us to eat with them.”

“Wow, how did that go?” Mercedes asked, looking both shocked and impressed.

As Kurt tried to think of a non-committal answer that wouldn’t invite additional further questions, Rachel jumped in to say, “It was fine. A bit unexpected, but fine.”

Then she took an aggressive bite of her veggie sandwich and stared pointedly at the table as if to make it clear that she was finished speaking about the topic.

Tina and Mercedes both seemed taken aback by this response, and looked over to Kurt, but he just shrugged and mouthed, “Later”.

Thankfully, this seemed to mollify the other two girls and neither of them protested when Kurt changed the subject.

“I hope you’re both prepared for my father’s wedding this weekend. As the unofficial wedding planner, I need everything to go perfectly.”

“Oh, we’re ready,” Mercedes said with a smile. “Obviously I should have had a larger part in the singing, but I guess that since it’s Finn’s mom getting married it’s only fair that he and Rachel get to lead the number.”

Kurt rolled his eyes, but gave his friend a smile in response to her cheeky look.

“Are you excited about the wedding?” Tina then asked Rachel.

The question seemed to jolt the other girl out of whatever thoughts she’d been lost in.

“Oh, yes, of course. Finn and I spent several hours rehearsing last week, and I’m confident that we’re more than prepared.”

Talking about an upcoming performance did at least seem to get Rachel out of her funk, and she contributed to the conversation with close to her usual amount of pep for the rest of the lunch period.

As they were all throwing away their trash and dropping off their trays, Mercedes gave Kurt a significant look, and he knew that he was going to have some explaining to do later.

Both about the social time that he and Rachel had spent with the most popular girls in school and Rachel’s overall mood.

At least he had a little time to think of a reasonable explanation.

---------------------------------------------------

He didn’t see Rachel again until Glee, when she slid into the seat next to him.

Except for a brief greeting to him, and another to Finn when he sat down beside her, she was silent until everyone else had settled into their seats.

Then, a few minutes later, she abruptly leaned over and hissed into his ear, “What’s going on with them?”

Startled, he glanced over at her, and she jerked her head violently to the side.
When he followed the motion, he noted that Quinn was sitting at one end of the front row, and Sam was sitting in the middle of the top row.
Upon noting his interested gaze, Santana caught his eye and smirked, but he quickly looked away before the other two could catch him staring.

Then, he turned to Rachel and said in a low tone, “I’m not sure, but I will definitely find out.”

Finn remained oblivious to this exchange, and also didn’t seem to have noticed the space between Quinn and her supposed boyfriend which was a blessing.

He merely put an arm around the back of Rachel’s chair as Mr. Schue entered the room, already talking about their next lesson.

To everyone’s relief, rehearsal went a lot better as Rachel seemed to have been lit with a new fire of motivation, and Quinn was actually paying attention to what was happening in the room.

This lulled Kurt into thinking that maybe the initial part of the plan had solved things, and perhaps everything would be alright without further intervention.
That false sense of security was shattered at the end of Glee.

While Kurt was collecting his things, Finn turned to Rachel and said, “I got your text. Do you want to go out tonight?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Kurt watched the diva’s face as it shifted through a series of expressions and settled on something pleasant but a little detached.

“I’m so sorry Finn, but I can’t tonight.”

The smile on her boyfriend's face dimmed a bit.

“Oh, okay. What about tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow I have dance class.”

Finn paused at that, likely wondering if he was about to get reprimanded for, yet again, forgetting the schedule that Rachel had attempted to drill into his head.

But instead of another reminder for him to refer to the couple’s calendar she’d made for him, she only said, “Perhaps it’s best if we just use the wedding this weekend as our next date.”

“What? Really?”

Rachel didn’t give him a chance to recover from his confusion, and said in a brisk tone, “Yes, I think that would work best for my schedule.”

Then she stood and started to stride out of the room leaving Finn to scramble after her.

She whisked around the corner and he followed after her calling out, “Hey, Rach…wait up…”.

Kurt shook his head at this turn of events, and left the room, wondering if this was the beginning of the end of Finchel.
If so, whatever equilibrium had been reached in Glee today was likely about to be thrown completely off.

---------------------------------------------------

After school, Santana and Brittany were chatting in the locker room when Quinn walked up and gave them both a small smile.

“Are you girls ready for Hurricane Sue?”

Santana scowled.
“I thought she was in a better mood this week with how hard you've been pushing us in practice.”

“She was,” Quinn replied, “but apparently her mother is in town and it’s stressing her out.”

“Sue Sylvester has mommy issues,” the Latina girl mused, “who would have thought.”

Brittany finished stuffing her backpack into her locker and looked over at Quinn.

“Why didn’t you sit with Sam in Glee today? He sat next to Santana and it was confusing when I looked over and saw blonde hair, because usually that’s where Mike Chang sits.”

Quinn took a quick look around to make sure no one appeared to be within earshot and then said, quietly, “I broke up with him today.”

That definitely took Santana by surprise. She looked away and stared into her locker as she tried to calculate how this news potentially impacted her master plan.

Her silence gave Brittany the opportunity to ask, “Is it because he was so blond that everyone thought he was your brother?”

Her comment made Quinn chuckle a little.
“No Britt. I just…wasn’t serious about him and he was getting a little too serious about me.”

“Oh, well, I bet there’s someone better for you to date,” Brittany said kindly.

Santana shot her a quick warning glance to make sure she didn’t say anything else.
It certainly wouldn’t do for Quinn to know that anyone was thinking about her and Rachel.
That revelation was likely to drive her so deep into the closet that she wouldn’t come out until at least college.

“Well,” she responded, “I agree with Britt. Plenty of other fish in the sea besides Trouty Mouth.”
As if to emphasize that point, she slammed her locker closed and gestured for Brittany to follow her out to the field.

“See you out there Fabray.”

Quinn nodded as she took a long drink from her water bottle, now looking pensive.

Santana gave her a backwards glance right before she stepped out the door.
She needed to check in with Kurt and figure out the next phase of their plan.

---------------------------------------------------

That evening, Kurt was at Breadstix with Mercedes, and as they waited for their food to arrive, he chewed on his straw and tried to figure out what he could reveal to sate his friend's curiosity without making her suspect that there was anything happening between Rachel and Quinn.

Tina had tutoring that evening and couldn’t make it, but Mercedes had promised to fill her in on whatever Kurt had to say as both of the girls assumed that he had the inside scoop.

His phone chimed, and he quickly checked it to see a text from Santana.

Quinn broke up with Sam. We need to meet soon to plan phase 2.

This was a very interesting development, but he forced his expression to stay neutral as he read the message and tucked his phone away again.

“So…,” Mercedes said, leaning forward impatiently, “I know you have some idea of what’s been going on with Berry, so spill.”

“As much as I normally love a good-natured gossip session, this feels a little more personal.”

Mercedes’ next question was asked more quietly, “Because it has to do with Finn and he’s like your brother now?”

Kurt decided that it was a good excuse to use for his unusual reticence in talking about Rachel’s business.

“Yes. Right now, Finn is at home moping and playing video games instead of going out with Rachel, despite the fact that he actually tried to make plans with her.”

That definitely took his friend by surprise.

“She willingly turned down a date with her boyfriend. Why?”

“That seems to be the million dollar question.”

Mercedes sipped on her soda as she mulled that over.

Eventually, she said, “It seems like Quinn and Sam are on the outs too. You don’t think Finn had something to do with that do you? The last thing we need in Glee is more cheating and fighting.”

“From everything he’s said to me, it seems like Finn is just as confused by Rachel’s sudden lack of interest as you are.”

“Hm. Maybe now that she has him, she realized that he doesn’t actually meet her standards for the perfect leading man. I mean, I love Finn, but can he really keep up with Rachel Berry in the long term?”

It was a question that Kurt had been asking himself for a while now, and in his heart, he knew that the answer was no.
But he still felt enough loyalty to Finn that he didn’t want to voice that thought out loud.

Thankfully, he was saved from having to respond by their server appearing with their food.

The rest of the meal was spent discussing other topics and to Kurt’s great relief, it seemed like Mercedes was willing to chalk Rachel’s recent behavior up to the diva having conflicted feelings about her relationship with Finn.

After he dropped Mercedes off that evening, he texted Santana back.

Let’s talk about phase 2.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Fearless

Their schedules hadn’t allowed them to meet again until Thursday, but now they were back at the Lima Bean at an inconspicuous corner table.

Kurt had no new details from either Rachel or Finn regarding the status of their relationship, though Rachel had seemed preoccupied all week and Finn had been sulky.

He relayed that minimal update to Santana and she nodded seriously as if it were juicy information.

“If Berry isn’t running back into Finn’s extra long arms after blowing him off for the last few days, that’s a good thing,” she eventually said. “And also a great starting point for my next phase of the plan.”

“And what is this mysterious next phase?”

Santana clasped her hands together and rested them on the table as if she were about to present him with a business opportunity.

“Well, now that the blonde twins are no more, the next step is to break up Finchel.”

Kurt looked a little guilty as he nodded.

“I agree that Rachel needs to be single before anything can happen with Quinn. Can you imagine if Finn’s girlfriend cheated on him with his ex-girlfriend?”

He shuddered at the thought while Santana just looked vaguely amused.
Then he seemed to realize the implication of what she’d said.

“Wait, you want to do something to push them to break up? What are you suggesting?”

Now she leaned forward a little to say, “Last year I slept with Finn, and I know for a fact that he lied to Rachel and told her that nothing happened.”

Kurt was caught somewhere between surprise, disgust, and intrigue, so his lip curled even as his eyebrows raised.

The resulting mismatched expression almost made Santana laugh, but she pushed through so she could finish making her point.

“Anyway, I drop that bomb at Glee rehearsal, Finn gets caught in a lie, Berry gets pissed, and voila…the shaky ground they’re currently standing on crumbles away entirely.”

Having said her piece, she leaned back in her chair and waited for Kurt to finish processing and figure out a response.

Eventually he sighed and said, “While I do want our plan to succeed, we need to try not to hurt everyone along the way. If we do it your way, we’ll be making a big mess and everyone’s feelings will be hurt.”

Santana looked a little uncomfortable, but she tried to play it off with a shrug and a flippant comment.

“You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.”

Now Kurt crossed his arms and let some of his frustration seep into his words.

“Santana, I’m not attempting to deny any of your…toughness when I say this, but I know that underneath all this nonchalance…you do care about Quinn and everyone else in Glee.”

It was a testament to their budding friendship that all she did was scowl.

Undeterred, he continued.
“If I didn’t think that Quinn had good qualities hidden under her repression and conservative upbringing, I would never try to facilitate a relationship between her and one of my friends. And if I didn’t have similar feelings about you having a soft center, I certainly wouldn’t be involved in this scheme with you.”

His words appeared to have taken her off guard, because her scowl melted away.
But instead of responding verbally, she just gave him a wary look.

Kurt decided to press his advantage by asking her a question.
“Why did you sleep with Finn?”

From her indrawn breath, it was clear that she wasn’t expecting that.
After looking away for a moment, she returned her attention to him.

“Having a reputation for sleeping around was a good cover, especially when Brittany and I first started…hanging out. Nothing I did with guys ever really mattered. I didn’t hate it, and it helped keep my mind off what I really wanted. Who I really wanted.”

Santana paused and now looked almost guilty.
“The thing with Finn…it was a stupid idea. I was trying to prove to myself that I didn’t want only Brittany, and Finn was an easy target.”

She shook her head a little.
“I don’t really have a better explanation than that. I wouldn’t do something like that again though, I don’t need to.”

Kurt’s voice was soft and sympathetic.

“So you’ve accepted it then? Being gay?”

Her response was stated with more certainty than he’d expected.

“I’d say I’ve accepted it, yeah. I’m not ready to pop out of the closet in a rainbow crown or anything, but maybe someday.”

He nodded and she managed a small smile.

While Santana sipped her drink, he thought more about their plan.

Eventually he said, “I don’t think we should force the breakup. It seems like Rachel is already on the brink of making that decision on her own, and I’d rather avoid creating even more drama in Glee. If she’s pissed at you and Finn it won’t help things, but if she’s the one to break up with him, she’ll probably want to try and stay friends, which will make things more pleasant for everyone.”

“That makes sense,” Santana admitted.
Then, she added, “If we just let things play out with them though, what should we do for phase two? I don’t want to just sit back and hope everything works out the way we want it to.”

“What if we work on making McKinley a safer place for queer kids? If we want to help pull our friends out of the closet, it might help if the process is easier.”

Now Santana frowned.
“How do you propose we do that?”

Kurt was getting excited now.
“We start a GSA at school. If we get some of the popular kids to join, like you and Brittany, maybe others will follow suit. I bet Rachel will join, which means Quinn might be persuaded to as well.”

Santana was mirroring some of his excitement now.
“I can probably get Puck on board too, and we can both put pressure on Finn. If we’re all in it, he’ll have to join unless he wants to look like a total jackass.”

“Exactly. We make supporting gay people a popular new trend.”

Santana looked impressed.
“This could work.”

Then she gave him a careful look.
“Karofsky hasn’t been messing with you anymore has he?”

“No, not since you talked to him.”

“Good,” she said decisively. “I have an idea to make sure he never messes with you again. And maybe it will also help us with your plan.”

Kurt looked intrigued.
“What are you plotting now?”

Her smile was sharp.
“You’ll just have to wait and see.”

---------------------------------------------------

It turned out that he didn’t have to wait for long.

The next day, Santana found him at his locker and leaned up next to him.
There was a devious sparkle in her eye that made him wary.

“What happened?”

The corner of her mouth lifted in a small smirk.

“More like…what’s about to happen.”

At his confused look, she nudged his shoulder and gestured towards the hallway.

There was nothing of note that he could see, just students going about their business between classes.

Then, Karofsky came around the corner.
Even though he had barely looked at Kurt since Santana’s intervention, the sight of the larger boy still made his heart rate increase, an echo of remembered fear.

Karofsky walked right past them though and continued on his way.
Kurt’s eyes followed his progress, so he saw the football player stop abruptly in his tracks as his way was barred by a collection of hockey players, several of whom were holding slushies.

Rick the Stick was standing in the middle of this formation, arms crossed against his chest as he stared Karofsky down with a distinctly unfriendly look on his face.

The football player took a step forward as if trying to slide past them, but the hockey players didn’t budge.

“What's the deal guys?” he eventually asked, sounding both angry and confused.

None of them responded. Then Rick gave a nod and the colorful contents of several cups were flying through the air right for Karofsky.

Kurt flinched in automatic sympathy as he was aware just how shockingly cold that first moment of impact was.

The football player sputtered as he attempted to scrub slushie off of his face.

“What the hell was that for?”

Rick watched him dripping colorful ice for a few moments before responding.
“I heard you like picking on gay kids.”

The football player was immediately defensive.
“What do you care? Pretty sure I’ve heard you call a kid a fag right before tossing him into the dumpster.”

A muscle in Rick’s jaw jumped.
“Yeah, well, that was before my little cousin came out to me. Turns out he was getting bullied at his school, by dumb jocks like me. The kid’s a fighter though and turning into a badass hockey player. And when he shows up at McKinley as a freshman next year I want everyone to know he’s off limits.”

The football player across from him looked stunned.

When he failed to respond, Rick said, “I hear about you harassing any gay kids again and you’re the one who goes in the dumpster. But not until after me and my buddies rearrange your face. Understood?”

“Yeah. Understood.”

The hockey player and his crew turned and disappeared down the hallway leaving Karofsky to skid slightly on the wet, sticky floor as he quickly stalked off towards the nearest bathroom.

Kurt turned to the girl next to him with wide eyes.

“I can’t believe you pulled that off. Rick Nelson just bullied someone for being homophobic? Have I fallen into an alternate reality?”

“Not to take away from my criminal genius, but it wasn’t as hard as you’d think. Ricky just needed a little push. And, when we start our GSA, he’s joining.”

Kurt still looked a little shocked.

“I’m amazed. And impressed.”

Then he turned back to her.
“Thank you. I know that wasn’t just for me, but thank you anyway.”

She gave him an almost fond look.

“We’re friends now or whatever. And you know that Auntie Tana always has her friend’s backs.”

With that, she pushed off from the locker and headed off down the hallway, carefully avoiding the spreading puddle of melting slushie.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

I Just Wanna Know You Better

Quinn was more nervous than she could remember being in a long time.

She parked her car on the street outside Rachel’s house, worried that parking in the driveway would somehow be overstepping.

In the final text that had included her address, and a set of unnecessarily detailed directions (Lima wasn’t that big after all), Rachel had made it clear that her dads would be gone all day.

That had brought Quinn a little relief at least, as she didn’t really know how to interact with Rachel, much less her hypothetically imposing parents.

She walked up to the front door, and before knocking, took a deep breath and fixed her posture as she tried to channel some of her normal appearance of confidence.

It didn’t take long for the door to open and reveal Rachel, who looked more casual than usual in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
Her expression was a little wary, and there was a bit of lingering surprise in her eyes, as if she hadn’t fully expected Quinn to show up.

As was becoming a bit of a habit for them, they stood and stared at each other for a long, silent moment.
Eventually, Rachel seemed to recollect herself, and she opened the door wider and gestured for her guest to enter.

“Please, come in.”

Quinn walked through the door and looked around curiously. She had never really imagined what the inside of the Berry’s house would look like, but her first impression was one of warmth.

The space was clean and organized, and had been decorated with obvious intention, but it still looked lived in.
Instead of the austere and imposing rooms of her own home, this place looked ready for entertaining, or a joyful family dinner.

Across from the entryway, there were a pair of cozy looking armchairs near a large window that looked out into the backyard, and they made her long to curl up with a book and a cup of coffee.

In front of her, Rachel was nervously gesturing around the space.

“So, the kitchen and dining room are over there, that is obviously the living room…and back that way is my dad’s office and a half-bath.”

Having finished that brief tour, Rachel stood with her hands clasped in front of her.

Falling into her deeply ingrained manners, Quinn replied, “Thank you for having me. You have a lovely home.”
Internally, she winced at how awkward this all was and hoped that it would get better.

The other girl acknowledged the compliment with a brief, “Thank you,” and then bounced on her toes a few times before adding, “I thought maybe we could watch a movie?”

“Yeah, sure, that sounds good,” Quinn answered, thankful for an excuse to stop standing uncomfortably by Rachel’s front door.

Her hostess led her into the living room where Quinn gratefully settled on one end of the couch.
After grabbing the remote, Rachel sat down on the other end, leaving an entire, fairly wide cushion between them.

Seemingly remembering her own manners, Rachel suddenly said, “Can I get you something to eat or drink?”

“I’m fine for the moment, thank you.”

The brunette nodded and switched on the television.

“Are there any particular genres of film that you like?”

A part of Quinn wanted to scream at this weird formality they’d fallen into but given that they had very little history when it came to a friendly dynamic, she supposed it was better than nothing.

“Whatever you want to watch is fine with me,” she quietly replied.

Rachel flipped through some channels, eventually settling on an old movie that had just started. After a few minutes, Quinn realized that it was To Catch a Thief.

They watched in silence for a while, until Rachel murmured, “You know, I’ve always thought that you resemble Grace Kelly.”

Quinn’s eyes darted between Rachel and the screen, taking in the actress’s pretty face.
She realized belatedly that she hadn’t responded, and stuttered out, “Oh, um thank you.”

She must have sounded unsure, because Rachel said, “It was a compliment.”

“Right. Thank you.”

This whole situation was feeling more and more like a fever dream.

Was she really sitting on Rachel Berry’s couch while the other girl compared her to a classically beautiful actress who’d become a real-life princess?

She wanted to do something to bridge this chasm between them, both in the sense of the physical space separating them, and the stilted attempts at conversation. But she couldn’t think of anything that wouldn’t potentially make the situation even more awkward.

A few minutes later, Rachel suddenly muted the television and swiveled on the couch to face her guest, a very serious look on her face.

“While I admit that making polite conversation and spending intentional time together outside the requirements of school and Glee can be seen as excellent progress, until we address the elephant in the room, it seems unlikely that we’ll be able to get past this…awkwardness.”

She waved her hand between them as if to physically demonstrate the awkwardness before looking at her guest expectantly.

Quinn’s initial thought was to ask if by the elephant in the room, Rachel meant Finn, but she wasn’t sure that joke would be well-received.

Instead, she asked, “What do you propose?”

“I’m going to ask you a question, and I hope you can offer an honest response.”

Quinn’s shoulders tensed, and Rachel continued, “Why were you so mean to me? I know it’s been better recently, but all the insults, and those awful comments on my MySpace, which I know that you eventually deleted, so thank you for that…but what did I ever do to you to deserve that treatment?”

Thankfully, Rachel appeared to be curious more than emotional, which was a blessing.
She didn’t think she could handle being alone with a crying Rachel, especially knowing that she was the cause of those tears.

“You mean besides the fact that you tried to steal my boyfriend?” Quinn said, but with a small smile to make the words less antagonistic.

The brunette gave her a very small smile back.
“Yes, besides that lamentable lapse in judgment on my part.”

That answer intrigued her guest, who was dying to know if Rachel was referring only to her choice to try and steal Finn, or the fact that she had been interested in him in the first place.

The tension between Rachel and her ostensible leading man had been noticeably increasing, much to Quinn’s secret delight.

But Rachel had asked her a question, and she knew that she needed to answer it honestly if they were ever going to move beyond classmates and acquaintances.

“Okay, so besides that legitimate reason I had to dislike you…I think…part of it was that no matter how confident or strong people thought I was, on the inside I never felt that way. So, your outrageous and seemingly unearned self-confidence was hard for me to be around. I took my insecurities out on you. I’m not proud of it, and in the end, it only made me feel worse.”

She paused and made sure to hold eye contact.
“I’m sorry, I really, really am. If I could do everything over again…I would have never bullied you or anyone else. I probably never would have dated Finn in the first place. Obviously, I never would have slept with Puck. But I would have joined Glee. And maybe without me being a bitch, and without there being some stupid boy for us to fight over…we could have actually been friends.”

Despite the fact that Rachel had asked for an honest response, she seemed taken aback by this level of honesty.

“It is a lot to process but thank you for saying all that. We can still be friends Quinn. I’d like to.”

The last sentence was said in a shy tone that Quinn found endearing. She also felt lighter now that she’d said her piece, and a band of tension that she’d hadn’t even realized was there suddenly loosened in her neck.

After a few seconds of silence, Rachel spoke again.
“There is something I don’t understand.”

“Hm?”

“Why in the world don’t you feel confident? You’re smart, you’re pretty, you’re popular…and while you aren’t blessed with either my vocal power or perfect pitch…you are still talented. And you’re an excellent addition to Glee.”

“Thanks, I think,” she said, with a smile and a roll of her eyes.

“I mean it Quinn. You really are the prettiest girl I’ve even seen.”

Considering how often she was complimented on her looks, it shouldn’t have caught her so off guard, but something about Rachel saying it to her with such sincerity in her tone, and with a hint of that look back in her brown eyes…she blushed.

Her reaction made Rachel duck her head sheepishly, and as she turned away, Quinn swore she could see a flush on the other girl’s cheeks too.

Once Quinn had recovered slightly, she said, a little breathlessly, “Could we maybe just…keep watching the movie now? Or watch something else? Don’t you have some musical that you’re just dying to subject me to?”

Rachel’s eyes immediately lit up, and she looked like she was going to launch into a detailed list of every musical she owned on DVD, but then she settled back down and frowned slightly.

“Are we okay?” she eventually asked.

Surprised, Quinn quickly said, “I think that’s up to you.”

The girl across from her nodded decisively.

“We’re okay.”

“Okay.”

“Now that we’ve established how extremely okay everything is, I propose that we take your excellent suggestion and watch a musical. Do you have any preferences?”

Seeing Rachel revert back to her normal level of bright enthusiasm helped Quinn relax a few more degrees.

“I’m going to defer to your far greater experience and let you pick.”

At this the brunette looked delighted and overwhelmed.
“I never get to pick when…when I have guests over.”

The pause in the middle of her sentence likely referred to Finn, and Quinn was well aware of his proclivities for insisting on watching action movies or dumbed down comedies on dates.

Something inside her chest gave a pleased little purr at the thought that she was already a better date than Rachel’s actual boyfriend.
And then her mind skittered away from that thought, especially the word “date”.

Rachel had gotten off the couch and begun rummaging around in the entertainment center, eventually emerging with a movie clutched in her hand.

“While there are many, many options I think we can start with something a bit more recent. Have you seen Hairspray?”

Quinn shook her head.

“Though the movie version does not quite achieve the caliber of singing that the stage production did, the musical won eight Tony’s after all, it is enjoyable and a good gateway to other more modern musicals.”

“You don’t have to sell me on it Rachel, I’m at your mercy.”

Whatever else the diva had been about to say, at that comment her mouth abruptly snapped shut.

The reaction prompted Quinn to raise a curious eyebrow, and when her eyes met Rachel’s again, there was that now almost familiar sense of suspension.

Now that it had happened several times, instead of making her feel confused, she felt a pleasant sort of anticipation. The moment ended when Rachel turned away to put the movie in the DVD player.

She took the opportunity to settle into the couch more comfortably, glancing at the empty space in the middle and wishing she had an excuse to shift closer to the other end. When she was done resettling herself, she was a few inches farther towards the center, but any more of a movement would be noticeable.

It didn’t escape her notice that when the other girl sat back down, she also shifted her position a bit closer to the middle. Given the size of the couch, they still weren’t anywhere near touching distance, but now the silence between them felt companionable as opposed to fraught.

They didn’t talk much during the movie, but Quinn enjoyed the experience and told Rachel as much once the end credits were rolling.

That got her one of those high wattage smiles that she’d seen directed at other people before, but never at her.
It hit her unexpectedly hard, and she automatically smiled back in response before she had to look away.

To give herself a little space, she asked the first question that came to mind.

“Could I get a glass of water?”

Her question threw Rachel back into hostess mode.

“Of course. There are glasses in the cabinet over the sink, and you’re welcome to anything in the fridge. I’m going to run upstairs and grab a sweatshirt. Do you need anything?”

“I’m good.”

Once Rachel had disappeared up the stairs, Quinn headed towards the kitchen.
On the way, she passed a room with the door open to reveal a shiny baby grand piano.

She was about to keep walking, but something drew her into the room, and she walked over to the piano and ran a hand gently across the keys, lightly enough that they didn’t make a sound.

Her parents owned a very nice piano, and she’d taken lessons for years, but she rarely played anymore. A lot of the joy had been taken out of it by her parent’s insistence that she play only prim and proper classical music as opposed to the kind of music she actually enjoyed.

Even now that her father was gone, it felt odd to play in her home. The echoes against the tile floor of the room where their piano was housed sounded judgmental somehow.

But this room felt warm, with cheerful curtains and a shelf crammed full of sheet music.

She sat down on the piano bench and ran through a few scales, hesitantly at first, and then with more confidence. She paused, and listened, but heard no sign of Rachel returning.

So, she started playing one of her favorites, the Maple Leaf Rag. She loved ragtime music, the jauntiness, and the beat of it, but it had certainly not been acceptable to play around her father.

But on the rare occasions when she’d been at home alone, she’d played Scott Joplin, early rock and roll, and artists like Elton John and Billy Joel.

Muscle memory brought her through the song, and once she’d finished, she shifted gears and started in on the intro to Brick by Ben Fold’s Five.

When she got to the first verse, she started to hum along, and somehow wasn’t surprised when she heard a voice from behind her start singing.
Her playing continued without faltering as Rachel walked into the room and came to stand next to the piano continuing to sing as she moved into the room.

On the bridge, Quinn joined in, her voice swollen with emotion as she sang the lines,
“And she broke down, and I broke down
'Cause I was tired of lying”

Rachel sang the last verse alone, and Quinn came back in for the final chorus, their voices blending perfectly as the last piano notes faded out.

When her hands stilled, she looked up, and Rachel was standing right there, her eyes looking larger than usual and damp with unshed tears that mirrored the ones that Quinn knew were waiting to fall from her own eyes.

What would have happened next, she wasn’t exactly sure, but the moment was interrupted by a hearty, “Brava!” from the doorway, followed by the sound of applause.

Startled, Quinn nearly fell off the piano bench, and Rachel spun around with a yelp.

“Daddy! You scared us!”

After carefully standing up from her now precarious position, she turned to see a tall man with dark hair and glasses smiling at them.

“Rach, you didn’t tell me you were having a friend over. Especially one so lovely and talented.”

He stepped forward and offered Quinn his hand.

“Leroy Berry.”

She gave him a firm handshake in return.
“Quinn Fabray. It’s very nice to meet you.”

Rachel still wasn’t saying anything, which made Quinn nervous, so she added, “I hope it’s alright that I’m here Mr. Berry, and that I was playing the piano.”

Leroy took a step back and his smile grew wider.
“Well first off, call me Leroy. Mr. Berry is my husband.”

He chuckled at his own joke and Quinn smiled politely while Rachel just let out a strangled groan.

“You’re very welcome here Quinn. Feel free to play the piano as much as you like, that’s what it’s there for.”

“Thank you,” she managed to say, and then looked over at Rachel for guidance.

The other girl was staring at her, with an almost stunned look on her face.

“I didn’t know you could play piano. You’re very good.”

That nearly made Quinn blush, but she did her best to remain poised as she replied, “I took lessons for a long time, but I don’t play much anymore.”

Rachel was still being uncharacteristically quiet, which was rather alarming.

Her father jumped in and asked, “Quinn, would you like to stay for dinner? Hiram is planning to make some pasta, and there will be plenty to share.”

While Quinn really wanted to say yes and get the chance to spend more time with Rachel, she was feeling way too flustered at the moment, so she politely declined.

“I appreciate the invitation, but I need to head home soon.”

Leroy smiled.
“A rain check then. It was lovely to meet you. I hope to see you again soon.”

“Thank you, Mr. Berry, I mean…Leroy.”

He gave a nod and left the room.

When she turned back to Rachel, the shorter girl was staring absently at the piano.

“I should head out,” she said, softly.

At that, Rachel looked up at her, with a small smile.

“I’ll walk you to the door.”

In the entryway, Quinn stood and fiddled with her car keys, not sure what the protocol was for the end of a social visit with someone who maybe wasn’t quite her friend yet.

She was saved from coming up with something when Rachel said, “I think this was a successful inaugural hangout.”

That made Quinn smile involuntarily.
“I think so too. Thank you for inviting me.”

But after making that statement, she didn’t make a move for the door.

Then Rachel said, bravely, “I’m going to hug you now.”

She paused for long enough for Quinn to decline the contact or step away, and when neither of those things happened, she moved forward and wrapped her arms solidly around the taller girl’s waist.

The hug wasn’t tight, but it still made Quinn lose her breath.
She wrapped her arms around Rachel, and just for a moment, rested her head against the other girl’s. The scent of her shampoo surrounded Quinn and made her feel almost giddy.

Eventually, they both loosened their arms and stepped back.

Not knowing what else to say, Quinn just whispered, “Bye,” and headed out the door and back to her car.

She didn’t allow herself the luxury of looking back to see if Rachel was watching her go.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

So It Goes…

The wedding the next day went off without any issues, and the New Directions managed a fun, high-energy performance before the ceremony itself.

Now that they’d made it to the reception, the stress that Kurt had been feeling regarding the day had mostly dissipated.

After Finn had surprised him with a song dedication and a dance, he was feeling grateful and emotional, and had taken a break to walk around the room under the guise of getting another glass of sparkling cider. Really he just needed a moment to collect himself.

As he stood sipping from his glass, Santana approached. She nodded to him before refilling her own drink, and then, to his surprise, stayed standing next to him.

For a minute, neither of them spoke, just gazed out across the room.

Then Kurt said softly, “I almost transferred to Dalton Academy.”

That earned him a sharp look and Santana’s full attention.

“With the way things were going with Karofsky, I was scared. But I heard about Dalton and their zero-tolerance bullying policy, so I secretly went there to see what it was like. It was really different, but it felt…safer. The straight kids in their show choir didn’t have any issue with the gay kids, and at Dalton, The Warblers are actually popular. It felt like a place where I could be myself without getting hit with a slushie every other day.”

When he paused, Santana asked, in an equally soft tone, “Why are you telling me this?”

At her question, he turned to face her, his expression serious and sincere.

“Because, if you hadn’t stepped in with Karofsky I would have left McKinley. I talked about it with my dad, and he even went so far as submitting the application paperwork. But now we’re talking about starting a GSA, and even the mulleted hockey captain is standing up for gay kids…so I want to say thank you. I didn’t want to abandon Glee and all my friends, and thanks to you, I don’t have to.”

Something in the lines of her face softened, and for a moment, he swore he saw a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

That suspicion was confirmed when she impatiently swiped at that eye and said, “You’re welcome. And I’m sorry I’ve been such a bitch to you and your friends. I’m really trying not to be an asshole anymore.”

Then she cleared her throat and added, gruffly, “Though if you tell anyone that I got weepy at a wedding, I might rethink that.”

With a small half-smile, Kurt replied, “Of course.”

They stood there for another moment, and then Santana asked, “So, did you get any good intel on The Warblers?” Anything we can exploit at Sectionals?”

He rolled his eyes, but did say, “They’re good, but they perform in their school uniforms and overall I don’t think they have the potential to engage with the audience the same way we do when we really band together and showcase our diverse talents.”

After a brief hesitation, his cheeks got faintly pink and he added, “Their main soloist is very talented.”

“Oh really?” Santana asked knowingly.

Kurt got a little flustered, but carried on.
“His name is Blaine and we’ve been texting a bit. He’s gay too and has been really supportive about the whole bullying situation.”

The smile Santana gave him was genuine.

“Good for you Hummel. And who knows, maybe if Quinn and Rachel ever get their shit together, we can all go on a triple date.”

“Can you imagine?”

“Maybe I don’t have to imagine,” she said, and nudged him to draw his attention to the other side of the room.

When he saw Quinn tentatively approaching Rachel, who at the moment was sitting on her own, his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

Without looking, Santana tapped her glass gently against his and then walked away.

---------------------------------------------------

Quinn had been trying to work up the courage to talk to Rachel since before the wedding ceremony had even started.

But between Finn hovering around and her own guilt-driven desire to give Sam some of her attention since he was being really decent about the whole breakup, there hadn’t been a good opportunity.

Now seemed like the perfect moment though as Finn was dancing with his mom, Rachel was sitting at her table alone, and Sam had wandered off towards a group of other Glee kids.

She walked over, and pulled out the chair next to Rachel, before seating herself as gracefully as she could.
As soon as she’d entered the other girl’s proximity, her nerves had fluttered to life in a very distracting way.

Rachel looked up, and it was clear from her expression that she was both surprised and pleased.

“Hello Quinn. You look lovely.”

It was extremely annoying that a simple compliment made her feel so flustered.

She tried to keep her expression as neutral as possible.

“Thank you. You look really nice too.”

Her compliment seemed to catch Rachel off-guard, but then she smiled.

“Are you enjoying the wedding?”

Quinn didn’t want to sit and make awkward small talk, plus she was worried that Finn could show up at any minute, so she ignored that question and blurted out, “Do you want to hang out again?”

When the other girl didn’t immediately respond, she added, her words coming out in a rush, “Maybe you could come over to my house this time? My mom is going out of town for some conference, so it will just be me, and I could cook? I can look up some vegan recipes, but we could also do something else…”.

She abruptly stopped speaking as a warm hand came to rest lightly on her shoulder.

“I’d love to.”

“Okay,” she managed to say, even as she tried to ignore the feeling of Rachel’s fingers on her bare skin.

After she realized that, yet again, they were wordlessly staring at each other, she quickly stood up and said, “I’ll text you.”

As she walked away from the table, she caught sight of Finn moving in Rachel’s direction, and sped up, making a beeline to where Sam was now dancing with Mercedes, Tina, and Mike.

Had she just asked Rachel Berry on a date?

---------------------------------------------------

It was Monday just before Glee rehearsal and the club members had almost finished filtering in.

As the last person got to the choir room and slid into a seat, Santana nudged Kurt with her elbow.

The two of them had been standing by the piano waiting for everyone to arrive.
Mr. Schue hadn’t shown up yet, but Kurt was fine to open the conversation without him present.

Even though Santana had given him a pep talk less than an hour before, Kurt was still feeling nervous as he and Santana stood in front of the rest of Glee Club ready to make their big, gay announcement.

Granted, given that her pep talk consisted of her telling him, “Don’t worry, we’ve got this shit,” and then punching him on the shoulder, maybe it was no surprise that he hadn’t felt fully reassured.

But the eyes of Glee were upon them and there was no going back now.
He took a deep breath and began.

“In light of recent homophobic bullying, Santana and I have decided to start McKinley’s first GSA. That stands for Gay Straight Alliance, and we want it to be a club that helps bring people together so we can stop bullying and provide support for anyone who needs it. I hope that you will all consider joining.”

Next to him, Santana had her arms crossed and was giving everyone an intent glare before announcing, “If any of you aren’t down with the gays, then I don’t know what the hell you’re doing in this room.”

Kurt gave her a look and she sighed and added, “I hope you’ll all be willing to support us.”

Mercedes was the first one to respond, “Kurt, you’re my boy, of course I’ll join.”

“Yeah, absolutely,” Tina said with a smile, and from his spot next to her, Mike nodded encouragingly.

Surprisingly, Puck was the next one to speak up.
“Hell yeah, I’m down with the gays. One of my life goals is to become a lezbro.”

Unsurprisingly, Rachel jumped in, her voice quite loud and decisive as she said, “I commend you for this idea and wholeheartedly support this new club. As I am sure you anticipated, I will absolutely be joining.”

She looked over at Finn, expecting him to chime in, but he only slouched in his seat a bit and said noncommittally, “I mean, yeah I support you Kurt, and that sounds super cool, I’m just really busy with football and everything right now, so I need to think about it.”

This response was enough to earn him disapproving looks from nearly everyone in the room.

“Really dude?” Puck asked, disbelieving.

Rachel’s face made it clear that she was going through a series of negative emotions, but before she could unleash her feelings on her boyfriend, Quinn spoke up.

“Weren’t you just making a big deal at the reception yesterday about how Kurt is your brother and you love and support him? Or did I imagine that?”

Her cold, critical tone immediately put Finn on the defensive and he spun in his seat.

“I do support Kurt. What, are you telling me that the perfect little church girl is going to join a gay club?”

The temperature of the room dropped about twenty degrees.
Rachel’s face went from disappointed to livid and Santana took an aggressive step towards Finn before Kurt grabbed her by the arm.

Quinn raised an eyebrow and looked at the red-faced boy across from her like he was a piece of gum on her shoe.

“If you knew anything about me, you’d know that I haven’t even set foot in a church since last year. Santana and Kurt are trying to do something to change this school for the better, and yes, I’m going to support them. Grow up Finn.”

The last sentence was said so dismissively that he flinched, but wisely kept silent.

After a moment of silence to let Quinn’s words really settle, Sam quietly said, “I’m with you guys.”

“Me too yo,” Artie added.

Brittany smiled at him and then announced, “Since I’m a bicorn I should totally be in the club.”

“That’s everyone then,” Santana said, then continued, in a sharp and mocking tone, “well, everyone who matters at least.”

At that comment, Finn looked even more sulky and red-faced, while next to him, Rachel was sitting stiffly in her seat, arms crossed tightly as she completely ignored him.

Of course, that was the moment that Mr. Schue chose to enter the room, and he nearly stopped in his tracks as he was hit with a wall of palpable tension.

He looked at Kurt and Santana who were still standing at the front of the room, confused to see them presenting as a united front.

Unsure of how to deal with whatever unknown situation had just happened, he injected a cheerful note into his voice and said, “I’ve made some decisions about the set list for Sectionals. Santana, Kurt, could you both take a seat please.”

They complied without comment and once they were in their chairs, their teacher said, “If we want to beat The Warblers and their polished uniformity, we need to mix things up and showcase some of the talent in our group that doesn’t always get a chance to shine. Two of our lead vocalists will be our recent duets competition winners, and our second song will feature the dancing talents of Brittany and Mike Chang.”

After what had just happened, it took longer than usual for everyone to react.

Once they’d all comprehended his words though, Sam looked over to Quinn with a smile and she smiled back, while Brittany reached across Artie’s lap to fist bump Mike.

Then, almost simultaneously, everyone turned to Rachel.

It seemed as if Mr. Schuester’s words were still registering with her, but the moment they did, a somewhat shocked and not entirely pleased expression settled on her face.

Kurt braced himself for a diva meltdown that would likely jeopardize everything that he and Santana had been working for, and a sideways glance showed that his partner in crime was tightly gripping the edges of her chair, clearly sharing his fears.

Rachel took in a breath and looked at Mr. Schue.

“The duet competition winners?” she asked, her inflection flat enough that it barely sounded like a question.

“Yes, I think Quinn and Sam demonstrated that they’re up to the task,”Mr. Schue replied.
He was trying to sound confident, but everyone could hear the hint of nervous tension in his voice.

Next, the diva looked over at Finn, who seemed to be trying to make himself as small as possible, but then she quickly swiveled in her chair so her back was mostly to him.

Her eyes met Quinn’s, and the blonde girl looked back at her a bit challengingly, raising one eyebrow.

“Congratulations, I’m sure you’ll do very well,” Rachel finally said, managing to sound only slightly like she swallowed a lemon peel.

It was clear that she was talking directly to Quinn, but then she added, a bit belatedly, “Both of you.” And gave Sam a nod.

The room let out a collective breath as she faced forward again and folded her hands in her lap.

“Now, Mr. Schue, did you have thoughts on the song selections? Because I would be happy to come up with some options that will suit Quinn and Sam’s combined voices and aesthetic.”

Their teacher was looking, honestly, quite flabbergasted at this turn of events.

He managed to say, a bit haltingly, “I have a few ideas, but by all means Rachel, I’d be happy to take whatever you come up with into consideration.”

From behind him, Kurt heard Mercedes mutter, “Is she on some new drugs, because if so, I want some.”

Santana’s leg shifted to bump his, and when he looked over at her, the smile she gave him was extremely smug.

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, “now we just need to see if this lasts.”

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Epiphany

Quinn was still getting used to the fact that Rachel Berry texted her sometimes.

After they’d arranged their initial hang out, the next message she’d received had been the morning of the wedding.

Good morning Quinn. Thank you for coming over yesterday. My father wanted me to let you know that you are welcome back anytime.

After deliberating for a few minutes, she eventually replied.

I’m glad we got to hang out. Tell him thank you.

Then Monday morning, another message was waiting for her when she woke up.

If you would still like to spend time together this week, my schedule is fairly open. Also, I appreciate your offer to cook, but please do not feel obligated as I know vegan food can be challenging.

That brought a quick flutter of nerves as her mom was leaving for her work trip that evening, which meant that Quinn would have the house to herself until Friday.

Something about the thought of Rachel in her house with no chance of any parental interference felt exciting, even a little illicit.

I would never take back an invitation. Besides, I like cooking and I like a challenge.

She got a reply back not long after, probably as Rachel was getting ready to head to school.

I would expect nothing less from the head cheerleader.

It brought an involuntary grin to her face.
Maybe being ruthless to get to the top of the (literal) pyramid was a quality that not everyone admired, but she had a feeling that Rachel Berry did.

She got another text from Rachel after dinner that evening.

I appreciate you embracing the idea of the GSA. As someone with two gay dads, it means a lot to know that almost everyone in Glee is supportive.

This made Quinn chew on her lip for a moment. Though Rachel hadn’t mentioned Finn by name, clearly she was referring to him as every other member of the club had expressed their support of Kurt and Santana’s idea.

While she was tempted to trash him (again) for being such a moron, she also didn’t want to put Rachel in a position where she felt like she had to defend him. Finn Hudson had come between them more than enough times already.

It took her a few minutes to figure out what she wanted to say.

I admire Kurt and Santana for what they want to do. I know I’ve been part of the bullying problem in the past, and I don’t want to be that person anymore.

The response she got was surprisingly short.

I’m very glad to hear that.

---------------------------------------------------

That had been the last text exchange they’d had, and Quinn was relieved that Rachel hadn’t brought up anything else about Glee or Sectionals.

It was Tuesday afternoon, and Quinn sat down in her normal seat in history class, which was one of several classes she was in with Rachel, since they were both on the advanced track for most subjects.

Normally, they sat as far away from each other as possible, but today, to her surprise, she looked up and saw Rachel standing next to her and giving her a tentative smile.

Almost without thinking, she turned to the boy in the desk beside her and glared at him, giving a quick snap of her head to indicate that he should find somewhere else to be.

His eyes widened as he got the message, and he quickly scrambled out of the seat.

As she sat down in the vacated space, Rachel murmured, “That wasn’t necessary.”

Quinn gave her a small, saucy smile but otherwise didn’t respond.

It took about two seconds for Rachel to start rambling out an apology for not being more supportive about Quinn’s opportunity to be featured at Sectionals.

Quinn let her get out a couple sentences before she gently interrupted.

“It’s really okay. God knows I’ve rarely been supportive of you in the past.”

Rachel just nodded a little, and then gave Quinn a hesitant look.

“Quinn, could we just…start over? I would much rather get to know this version of you than have either of us continue to apologize for past misdeeds.”

The blonde girl seemed to consider that question before sticking out a hand.

“Hi, I’m Quinn Fabray.”

Rachel extended her hand and shook Quinn’s solemnly.

“Rachel Berry. I’m very pleased to meet you.”

“Well Rachel Berry, now that we’ve been properly introduced, I can invite you to dinner. Would Wednesday or Thursday work for you?”

It took a moment for Rachel to respond verbally, though a smile did cross her face at Quinn’s question.
Then those big brown eyes were looking at her with a soft expression.
Belatedly, she realized that she was still holding Rachel’s hand.

“Thursday would work for me,” Rachel finally said.

Something in the tone of her voice sent a lone butterfly fluttering through Quinn’s stomach.
She gently released the other girl’s hand and said, “Thursday it is.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Their conversation was forced to end as the bell rang and the teacher drew their attention to the front of the room.

After class, Rachel stood and waited as Quinn carefully tucked her notes into her meticulously organized binder.

They ended up having to part ways almost immediately after leaving the classroom, and she gave the brunette a wave and watched for a second as she walked away.

A few steps later, Santana was sliding up to her, matching her pace.
“Hey Q. Was Berry trying to convince you to give up your song for Sectionals?”

“No actually. She even apologized for not being more supportive.”

At that news, Santana had to hold back a smile.
This kind of atypical Berry behavior meant that the plan was going well.
But it certainly wouldn’t do for Quinn to pick up on her vested interest in the situation.

“Huh. Maybe she’s finally starting to mellow out. Or maybe she’s planning to knock you down the stairs so she can jump in on that duet.”

Quinn’s expression remained neutral.

“Maybe,” she murmured noncommittally.

Santana couldn’t resist throwing in one last comment.

“Well I bet if Frankenteen hadn’t been totally blowing it lately, she might be fighting a little harder to steal that duet from you and lady lips.”

That seemed to get Quinn’s attention at least, and a slightly calculating look crossed her face.

“They have seemed pretty shaky lately, haven’t they. Not surprising because Finn is an idiot.”

“That's for damn sure. Berry can definitely do better.”

Quinn’s head whipped around and she stared at Santana in surprise.

The other girl shrugged.

“What? Just keeping it real.”

Then she flashed a smile and sauntered off, leaving the blonde girl to gaze absently into the distance as she made her way to her next class.

---------------------------------------------------

Before the end of the day, Santana managed to catch up with Kurt, and sat down next to him at the table in the library where he was putting together an agenda for their first GSA meeting.

“I know that the initial meeting doesn’t need to be completely planned out, but I wanted to have at least a little structure,” he told her, handing over the piece of paper for her to peruse.

She read through it and then handed it back to him.
“Seems fine to me. Now, I have an interesting little tidbit to share.”

Kurt tucked the paper carefully away and looked up at her.
“I assume this has to do with our little pet project?”

“Of course. I happened to see them walking out of class together, which has to be a first. Plus, I swear to baby Jesus that Q was making moon eyes at Berry as she walked away. When I asked her about the conversation, she told me that the hobbit actually apologized to her about not being more supportive about her getting that duet.”

This news brought a pleased and slightly surprised look to Kurt’s face.

“Rachel Berry apologizing for being neutral about someone else getting the limelight in a singing competition? I wonder if hell has frozen over?”

“I know,” Santana said, sounding extremely gratified, “but if we’ve fallen into some alternate universe, I’m kind of okay with it.”

Kurt looked at her questioningly, “Oh really?”

“Yeah,” she added, sounding a little more serious now, “look, I was already hot shit at this school, but part of how I’ve stayed on top is hiding a big part of who I am and what I really want. But if we can actually pull this off with the GSA and make Faberry a real thing…we can all be ourselves without dicks like Karofsky harassing us or random jocks tossing slushies in our faces. Progress, am I right?”

“Progress,” Kurt agreed with a nod and a smile. “I think we’re ready for tomorrow.”

Wednesday was going to be their inaugural meeting. They had spread the details about that meeting through word of mouth, wanting to see who would show up based on that alone.

Plus, Kurt had been hesitant about posting flyers, just in case they attracted unwanted attention before they even had a chance to get the club off the ground.

Santana had insisted that she would “go ape shit” on anyone who tried to cause problems at the meeting, which was less reassuring to Kurt than she thought it should be.

But, he had to admit, having Santana on his side did make him feel a lot safer.
That night he said a prayer to the queer gods that their first meeting would go well.

---------------------------------------------------

It turned out that his prayers were fulfilled and his expectations wildly exceeded.

He had been anticipating the Glee kids plus a few other folks if they were lucky, but as he and Santana stood at the front of the classroom and looked at the assembled crowd, he felt overwhelmed and a little like he might burst into tears.

As unflappable as Santana was, he could tell that she was also a little stunned by this turnout.

All the Glee kids were there, with the exception of Finn, which sent a stab of disappointment through Kurt’s chest.

In noting Finn’s absence however, he also saw that Quinn and Rachel were sitting next to each other. Based on the little smirk playing at the corner of Santana’s mouth, she’d also clocked that.

Besides Glee, Rick the Stick was there with some hockey guys, and there were several theater kids, some other Cheerios, a couple students who he recognized from the hallways, a few girls in track warm ups, and Lauren Zizes, the only girl on the school wrestling team.

Coach Beiste was also there, sitting in a chair near the corner of the room. She had agreed to be their faculty advisor as well as to keep any of the jocks in line as needed.

The meeting ended up going completely according to plan.

Kurt gave his opening spiel about the new club being a safe space and that their main goal was to make the entire school a safe place for everyone who was different.
He encouraged them to recruit anyone they knew who might be interested, and said that they would be taking suggestions for future topics of discussion and activities they could participate in together.

When it was her turn to speak, Santana, predictably, tossed around a few threats directed at anyone who might be thinking about making trouble.

To Kurt’s surprise, she also admitted to her past bullying and said that this was part of how she was making amends and that being an asshole was setting you up to be a Lima loser forever and she wanted no part of that shit life path.

After she finished speaking, she shot a sidelong glance at Coach Beiste, likely worried that her use of profanity would earn her a reprimand.

But all the coach said was, “Preach sister.”

They’d gone through introductions, with several people admitting that they had a gay friend or family member and that they wanted to learn how to be a better ally. No one directly came out, but several people did at least imply it.

The last person to speak was Lauren Zizes who said that she wasn’t gay, but since everyone called her a lesbian for being such a badass anyway, she might as well join.

Kurt then shared some resources for anyone who wanted to educate themselves further, and let everyone know that they’d be meeting at the same time next week.

Before the meeting adjourned, Santana gave them all an assignment.

“Come up with an idea on how we can make the school a safer place. We’ll talk about it next time.”

Everyone nodded, seeming to take this idea quite seriously. Most people started to filter out of the room, though a few stayed behind to talk with either Kurt or Santana.

Quinn and Rachel ended up walking out of the room together, and Rachel stood and waited as Quinn rummaged through her bag and pulled out her keys.

Once she had them in her hand, she looked up at Rachel and asked, “Do you need a ride?”

“I appreciate the offer, but my dad should be here in a few minutes.”

They started walking again, this time towards the back of the school where student parking was.

When Rachel continued to stay silent, Quinn snuck a sideways glance at her. The shorter girl’s eyes were distant and she had a slight frown on her face.

“Are you alright?”

The question seemed to startle Rachel, and she gave a little sigh before scuffing her shoe on the floor in motion that Quinn found, frankly, quite adorable.

“I just…in spite of his disappointing initial response, I really thought that Finn would show up.”

As was always the case when Rachel said something negative about Finn, she wasn’t really sure how to respond.

In that silence, Rachel continued, “Every other member of Glee was there, and he…wasn’t.”

Again, Quinn held her tongue, but her face must have been doing something, because when the other girl looked at her, she said, “I can tell that you have some thoughts on this.”

Quinn stopped walking so she could turn and see Rachel’s face properly.

“I really don’t want to argue with you about Finn Hudson.”
Her tone was soft and had a hint of pleading in it.

Rachel reached out and touched her arm lightly before saying, “We’re friends now, right? So what would you say as my friend?”

When the blonde girl merely chewed her lip and looked conflicted, Rachel added, “Forget about our past history regarding Finn. Just…please tell me what you think.”

This time, when Quinn spoke, her tone was even, but something in her eyes seemed deeply sympathetic.

“I think you can do better Rachel. Finn isn’t a bad guy, but you should be with someone….”.

As she waited for Quinn’s final thoughts, Rachel realized she was unconsciously holding her breath.
Her sense of anticipation felt a little disproportionate given that she didn’t even know what she was hoping to hear Quinn say, but nevertheless, something about the moment and the way the blonde girl was looking at her was making her pulse flutter in her throat.

“Someone whose dreams are as big as yours are,” Quinn eventually said.

The way those hazel eyes were still locked on her made Rachel ask, so quietly that it was almost a whisper, “And what are your dreams Quinn?”

She wasn’t sure exactly what would have happened next if her cell phone hadn’t started to vibrate violently in her pocket. It startled her enough that she actually jumped.

Once she managed to answer it, she said, “Hi dad. Yeah, I’ll be right there.”

When she hung up, Quinn was gazing off down the hall and fiddling with her keys.

“I have to go.”

The cheerleader turned and gave her a distracted smile.

“Yeah, me too. I’ll see you tomorrow Rachel.”

“Bye Quinn.”

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Call It What You Want

Rachel was standing at Quinn’s front door exactly on time.

She rang the doorbell, then waited expectantly for the door to open.
When it did, Quinn was standing there with a shy smile on her face and an apron tied neatly around her neck.

Seeing her made Rachel’s mind go completely blank for a moment, and all she could think was the word “adorable”.

Suddenly, she remembered that her dad was still sitting in his car in the driveway, so she turned and gave him a quick wave goodbye.
He waved back, and then she followed Quinn into the house.

She was going to say hello or some other basic greeting, but Quinn spoke first.

“It’s good to see you.”

The sincerity in the statement and the slight flush on Quinn’s cheeks caught her off guard, and again, her normal verbosity deserted her.

“Uh…”.

Thankfully, Quinn seemed amused rather than offended at her apparent inability to speak properly, and after another second, she turned away merely saying, “I’ll give you a tour.”

Rachel followed after her hostess, internally giving herself a stern talking to as Quinn showed her the living room, formal dining room, downstairs bathroom, and guest bedroom.

As they passed one of the final two doors at the back of the house, the blonde hesitated for a moment before saying, “That was my father’s office.”
The tightness in her voice was apparent, but then she shook her head and they continued to the last room.

Quinn stepped through the doorway and flicked on the light to reveal a spacious but rather bare music room with a shiny black piano as the centerpiece.

Before Rachel could say anything though, Quinn was gesturing back towards the front of the house, and she had no choice but to comply.

They ended up in the kitchen where Rachel seated herself on a stool at a marble topped kitchen island while Quinn walked around to the other side to continue her food prep.

“Your house is lovely,” Rachel said, finally regaining the ability to speak.

“Thanks,” Quinn replied, giving her a wry smile before turning to stir something on the stove.
“It’s way too big for just me and my mom, and to be honest, it was too big even before my sister went to college and it was the four of us.”

Then she turned back around and looked up through her lashes in a way that made Rachel’s pulse start to flutter.

“I like your house better,” she then confessed.

“Thanks,” Rachel managed to say, barely louder than a whisper.

Before their eye contact could extend for too long, Quinn turned back around again.

After clearing her throat a little, Rachel was able to say, at a normal speaking volume, “What are you making?”

“Just finishing up some homemade pasta sauce, and there’s also a salad.”

“It smells delicious.”

Quinn just ducked her head in a slight nod before turning to ask over her shoulder, “Would you like something to drink? We have water and juice, plus I got a bottle of sparkling wine.”

At Rachel’s raised eyebrow, she added, “Don’t worry, it’s non-alcoholic. But, I could sneak us some real wine. My mom would never notice.”

Her expression was teasing, so Rachel felt confident enough to tease back.

“You’re trouble Fabray.”

Quinn just chuckled a little and said, “Not usually.”
After a pause, she added, “But maybe something about you makes me want to be a little bad.”

At that completely unexpected comment, Rachel choked on air and was again rendered unable to speak.

Her reaction brought a look of wicked delight to the blonde’s face, but she turned back to the stove without further comment.

That gave Rachel a moment to try and compose herself as she wondered wildly if Quinn was flirting with her.

The idea wasn’t remotely unpleasant, and as she looked over at the table in the alcove by the kitchen windows and saw several candles and a vase of fresh flowers, her heart rate kicked up.

If she allowed herself to think of this as a date…then…

She took a deep breath and folded her hands tightly together, determined not to ruin the evening by saying anything that might make things awkward.

The evening could unfold however it was meant to, and then once she was back home in her room she could freak out and deconstruct every moment.

With that in mind, she relaxed again, and allowed herself to study the graceful lines of Quinn’s neck. Her hostess had her hair up in a messy bun, and Rachel had to admit that the look really worked for her.

Though honestly, it was impossible to think of a time when Quinn hadn’t looked good. She was also in jeans and a dark blue sweater with the sleeves rolled up, and the outfit was a departure from her usual dresses and cheerleading uniform that Rachel found herself appreciating very much.

Her intense scrutiny was interrupted by Quinn’s voice.

“I think everything is ready.”

“Can I help bring anything over to the table?”

With one hand, Quinna gestured over to the other side of the kitchen island.

“You could grab the salad bowl. I made a vinaigrette to go with it, if that sounds okay to you. It’s in that bottle there.”

Rachel grabbed the items as instructed and brought them over to the table, then sat down in one of the chairs that had a place setting in front of it.

Quinn followed shortly after with a bowl of pasta and another of sauce. She set those down, then went to the fridge and grabbed a pitcher of water and the bottle of sparkling wine.

Once that had all been arranged on the table, she sat down in the chair across from Rachel.

For a moment, they were both silent, absorbing this domestic scene which would have seemed like a wild dream only a few weeks ago.

Then, Quinn gestured to the food.

“Please, you first.”

As soon as she’d tasted everything, Rachel delivered several compliments on the food that Quinn accepted with a self-deprecating smile

The meal progressed, and they kept their conversation light as they both tried to navigate this new atmosphere between them.

When dinner was mostly finished, Rachel turned the topic of conversation to Glee, which was probably inevitable.

“Do you know what duet you and Sam will be singing at Sectionals? I know Mr. Schue had some ideas, but between you and me, his musical tastes don’t always align with mine.”

That comment brought a smile to Quinn’s face and she said, teasingly, “Oh really? I never would have guessed.”

Rachel admitted to herself that this new side of Quinn was very, very appealing.
The low register of her voice added an extra edge to anything sarcastic she said, making it sound almost sexy.

But thinking the word “sexy” in association with Quinn made Rachel inhale the sip of water she’d been in the process of drinking, and she coughed a few times before setting down the glass abruptly.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine, yes, totally fine. So, about the song?”

Quinn looked at her for another moment, a mix of suspicion and concern, but Rachel kept a bland expression on her face, and ultimately, the blonde girl let it go and answered the question.
“No, there hasn’t been a final decision on the song yet. Sam suggested that we sing Lucky like we did for the duets competition, but I think that it’s too simple.”

“I agree,” Rachel said with a firm nod. “The two of you should sing something recognizable that will appeal to the judges while also being sweet and charming to go with your combined aesthetic.”

The blonde girl opened her mouth and then closed it again, before shaking her head lightly and saying, “Did you have any ideas?”

Rachel smiled.
“As a matter of fact, I do.”

---------------------------------------------------

Quinn was very pleased with how the evening was going.

She had admittedly been a nervous wreck while she’d waited for Rachel to show up. She still wasn’t sure exactly how to think about her dynamic with the other girl, as it seemed to shift with each interaction that they had.

But, she had at least come to terms with the fact that she was attracted to Rachel Berry, and possibly even more surprising, she felt comfortable around her.

If they were destined to only be friends, she could live with that, but the stubborn part of her refused to give up the idea of at least testing the waters to see if there was the possibility of something more.

With that in mind, she had intentionally set the evening up to feel more like a date that she would have for any of her other friends, in hopes that how Rachel responded would give her a better idea of how the other girl felt about her.

That part of her plan seemed to be working, because Rachel was by turns flustered and appreciative, and the expression in her eyes when she thought Quinn wasn’t looking was giving her hostess a feeling of creeping hope.

Maybe this hope translated into some giddiness, and that’s what was driving her to actually flirt with Rachel, but she got such cute reactions in response that it was hard to stop.

Getting these reactions was making her feel powerful, especially given that she was dealing with Rachel Berry, a girl notorious for her ability to talk non-stop.

And yet, here Quinn was, rendering her incapable of speech for several seconds at a time.

In the back of her mind, she knew that the brunette still had a boyfriend, and she certainly wasn’t going to cross into territory that could be considered cheating. But she couldn’t help but hope that this evening together would help Rachel see that it was time to finally ditch the dead weight.

Once they’d finished eating, she started to clear the dishes and was unable to convince Rachel to just sit down and relax.
Together, they loaded the dishwasher and put away the leftovers, and Quinn enjoyed the way they worked together, helped by the fact that Rachel had the agility of a trained dancer and didn’t take up much space.

It was something else that Quinn wasn’t used to after exclusively dating tall jocks, but when she turned and realized that she was actually looking down a little to meet Rachel’s eyes, she found that she liked it.

Having finished their clean-up, Rachel excused herself to use the bathroom and when she returned, there was an intent look on her face.

“Will you show me your piano?”

Quinn chuckled a little at the request.

“I assume by “show” you, you mean you want to play it?”

Rachel just shook her head a little and said, with a smile, “No, I want you to play. Maybe we can figure out a song for you for Sectionals.”
Then she shrugged and added, “Besides, you’re a better piano player than me.”

That was a compliment that got Quinn feeling a bit nervous, because she was well aware that the other girl had high standards when it came to all things musical.

But she realized this was a rare opportunity to impress Rachel, and she certainly didn’t want to pass that up.

“Alright. We can make that happen.”

They made their way to the piano, and Quinn was both thankful and disappointed that Rachel chose to stay standing next to the piano rather than sitting next to her on the piano bench.

She pressed a few keys at random, and then ran through a few sets of scales and chord progressions to warm up her fingers.

Ever since her visit to the Berry’s house, she’d started practicing again.
Partly because interacting with a piano again had made her realize that she’d missed playing, and partly because she wanted another opportunity to see that admiring look in Rachel's eyes.

Once she felt sufficiently warmed up, she turned to the silent girl next to her and said, “You probably know this one.”

Without further ado, she launched into a piano version of “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry.

It took Rachel a few seconds to hear the melody, but she caught on in time to hit the first verse with perfect timing.

When they got to the chorus, Quinn joined in, her voice melding perfectly with Rachel’s.
By the time they made it to the last verse, they were harmonizing in a way that was actually making goosebumps rise up on her arms, which was something that had never happened to her before while singing.

She played the outro, letting the last note ring out and fade away before slowly raising her hands away from the keys and resting them in her lap.

There was a moment of silence and a few calming breaths later, she felt capable of turning to Rachel.

The brunette was smiling an almost dreamy smile, and when she spoke, she was clearly excited, but her voice was more hushed than usual.

“We sounded really good together. We should sing together more.”

Under the warm regard of those brown eyes, Quinn felt a little bashful.

“Yeah we did sound good, and I agree. I liked singing with you. I mean, I know I’m not nearly as good a singer as you, but that was fun.”

“You’re better than you know. And you could always improve. I could even give you some voice lessons if you’d like.”

The thought of that made Quinn chuckle a little.
“I’m not sure that would help our friendship.”

Rachel laughed a light, airy laugh.

“You’re probably right.”

The sparkle in her eyes made Quinn feel unsettled, and like she wanted to reach out and touch the other girl’s face.

Instead of giving into that wild impulse, she stood and walked over to a small closet in the corner of the room.
Opening the door revealed a shelf stacked with various piano books and folders of sheet music. She grabbed a stack of the books and walked back over to where Rachel was standing.

Extending her hands, she offered the stack to Rachel, who wordlessly took them and walked a few steps to set them on the top piano for easier perusal.

She flipped through them, looking increasingly excited, and then stopped on a page, seemed to consider the song for a moment, and then passed the book back to Quinn.

When she looked at the page the book was open to, she saw that it was “Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing.

“I think this one might work for your duet. The judges are sure to recognize it, it’s conducive to fun choreography, and it’s well within your vocal range.”

Quinn thought that over for a moment, and she had to agree with Rachel.
But she couldn’t resist another teasing comment.

“Would you also say that this song counts as “sweet and charming”?”

A quick bubble of laughter was Rachel’s immediate response, and then a more serious look settled on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked, suddenly worried that she’d somehow overstepped.

“It’s just…you were actually listening to me earlier when I was talking about Glee and my idea for your duet. Sometimes it feels like everyone just tunes me out as soon as I start talking about music.”

It was certainly true that she herself had been guilty of that on multiple occasions, which was a little uncomfortable to reflect on.
Not sure what to say, she just gave Rachel a small smile and then sat down on the piano bench and settled the music book in its place.

“Should we try it out?”

That brought out a brighter expression, and Rachel nodded before taking a few steps closer.

Quinn spent a few seconds looking over the music to gain at least a cursory familiarity with it, and then she started to play.

Rachel took the male part, which left Quinn to sing the part that she might end up performing at the competition.
They sounded good with this song as well, and by the time it was over, they both had somewhat bashful smiles on their faces.

“I think that will work excellently for the competition,” Rachel pronounced, sitting down on the bench next to Quinn. “Your voice sounded lovely.”

The other girl’s sudden close proximity combined with the compliment made Quinn flush, and she didn’t dare look up, so she merely replied, agreeably, “We can pitch the idea to the club at our next meeting.”

Still focused on not looking at Rachel, she kept her eyes on the piano keys and idly played a few notes of Brick.
When she realized what she was doing, she stopped abruptly, and wasn’t surprised when the silence was broken by Rachel's voice, now sounding quite tentative.

“When you played that song at my house…it seemed like a very emotional experience for you.”

Quinn was slightly shocked when she heard herself say, “After I found out that I was pregnant, I used to listen to that song over and over. And then one day, when no one was home, I sat down at the piano and played it from memory. I cried, and for the first time in a long time, it felt cathartic instead of bitter. So I kept doing it. It was like my therapy.”

Her fingers slowly played through the intro, and then she stopped again, this time risking a glance at the girl next to her.

It was a mistake, because she was instantly caught up in big brown eyes, framed by lashes now wet with tears.
The softness in the look she was getting was somehow so intense and all encompassing that she couldn’t breathe.

In that moment, she wanted to kiss Rachel with a certainty that she’d never felt about anything before.

Instead, she settled for reaching out and gently tucking a strand of hair behind the other girl’s ear.
Her fingers barely grazed the side of Rachel’s face as she lowered her hand, but even that light touch elicited a tremble that she could both see and feel.

Feeling like she was caught in a dream, she watched as Rachel leaned towards her ever so subtly, and she froze completely, knowing that her eyes were wide and her lips were parting almost involuntarily.

The spell was broken when Rachel abruptly leaned away again, and then looked around the room as if she couldn’t remember how she’d gotten there.

When she caught sight of a clock on the wall, she suddenly stood, hands twisting in the fabric of her shirt as she stammered out, “My…my dad is going to be here soon to pick me up, so I should…”.

Quinn’s face felt hot, and she was much less composed than she wished as she also stood and said, “Right, of course.”

To distract herself from whatever had almost just happened, she started gathering up the music books at a near-frantic pace.

While she did that, Rachel hovered near the doorway of the room, her fingers still fidgeting nervously. Once Quinn had finished cleaning up, they both walked in silence towards the front door.

Rachel started to say something, then stopped, then started again, but before she could get any actual words out, they both heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway.

“Quinn…I…this was really lovely.”

This hesitant sentence was enough to kick in Quinn’s deeply ingrained manners, and she was able to reply, “You’re welcome. I liked having you here.”

Her voice came out only a little hoarse, and Rachel gave her a somewhat tremulous smile as she said, “Maybe we could do it again sometime?”

That at least, Quinn had a decisive answer for.
“Absolutely.”

The conviction in her voice seemed to imbue her guest with confidence, because she stepped forward, and without any verbal warning this time, wrapped her arms tightly around Quinn’s waist.

Barely suppressing a gasp, Quinn leaned into the contact, and draped her arms carefully around Rachel’s shoulders, closing her eyes as the warm solidity of the other girl’s body pressed against her.

This hug was longer than the last one they’d shared, and the fluttering that started to happen in Quinn’s chest was enough to make her feel a little light-headed.

Eventually, Rachel took a step back, meeting her eyes for a split second before hastily saying, “Goodbye,” and practically fleeing out the front door.

In a bit of a daze, Quinn walked over to look out the window, and she watched Rachel hurry to get into her father’s car.

Right before she slid into the front seat, she looked up, as if she could sense Quinn’s gaze.

Their eyes met, and Rachel lifted a hand.
She returned the gesture with a small wave of her own and then watched the car back down the driveway and disappear into the distance.

For the rest of the night, she couldn’t quite contain the smile that kept surfacing.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Everything Has Changed

Hiram Berry sat at the breakfast table, ostensibly reading the newspaper and enjoying his morning coffee without a care in the world.

In truth however, he was keeping an ear out for his daughter who he’d heard get up earlier, even the soundproofing they added to her bedroom unable to fully block out the sound of her louder than normal singing.

He’d been able to make out the lyrics of the closing song from Dirty Dancing, which was not usually on Rachel’s roster of morning tunes, but he’d also heard her absently humming it to herself the night before.

When Leroy walked into the kitchen, their daughter had still not come downstairs, so once he’d accepted his good morning kiss, Hiram said, “I think you might have been right.”

“Right about what?”

Hiram lowered his voice a bit and replied.
“When you said that maybe it’s not a boy?”

One of Leroy's eyebrows curved upwards.

“Oh pray tell, how have you reached this conclusion?”

He moved a little closer as he waited for the response.

“Well, as I’m sure that you’re aware, Rachel went over to Quinn’s house last night. And when I picked her up, she was acting distracted. Honestly, almost dreamy.”

Leroy’s other eyebrow joined the first and he looked skeptical yet also delighted.
“Dreamy?”

“Dreamy,” Hiram repeated, more firmly, as he thought back to the night before.

When he had pulled into the Fabray’s driveway, he was prepared to send Rachel a text to let her know that he’d arrived, but he hadn’t been sitting there for more than a minute when the front door opened and his daughter hurried out.

He was a bit concerned by the speed at which she was moving, and would have asked her if something was wrong, but before he could, she gave a small, shy wave towards the house.
Looking up, he saw Quinn wave back from her spot in the front window.

By the time he looked back over at Rachel, she was fastening her seatbelt, a smile on her face.

Once he had carefully backed out of the driveway and started the journey home, he asked, “How was your evening sweetheart?”

It seemed that she had been lost in thought, because at the question, she startled a bit, but then quickly launched into a very enthusiastic recounting of the evening including heaps of praise for Quinn’s cooking and piano playing, and relaying proudly that they had chosen a song for Sectionals.

When she talked about how they had sung together, her tone shifted to something softer, especially when she said that Quinn had a lovely voice.

Hiram took another sneaky look out of the corner of his eye and could have sworn that she was blushing.

“Well, that sounds like a good night.”

It took her a moment to respond to that comment, but when she did, there was a note of wonder underneath.

“Yes, it really was.”

She was uncharacteristically quiet after that, though he did catch her humming softly to herself.

Once they got home, she bid him goodnight and practically skipped up the stairs.

He watched her go, head spinning a little as he tried to recall how she’d acted when she and Finn had finally gotten together.
There had been an uptick in her singing and humming, but he couldn’t remember her gushing quite so much about Finn’s talents.

Then again, he’d thought, maybe the boy didn’t have quite as many as the apparently multi-talented Quinn Fabray.

Once he had given his husband the summary of everything that had happened the night before, Leroy seemed rather amused.

“What’s that look for?” Hiram asked.

“Well besides the fact that I might soon be able to say “I told you so”, I have to say…our daughter appears to have better taste in women than men.”

Hiram was able to keep a serious look on his face for a moment, but it quickly melted away into a smile, and then he and Leroy were both laughing together.

---------------------------------------------------

Rachel had made it to school and through her first two classes while hardly noticing her surroundings.
She supposed that she had taken notes in math class, but she had no memory of anything the teacher had said.

She sighed, and tried to get her mind to focus, but it seemed to want to alternate between worrying guiltily about her relationship with Finn and replaying several specific moments from the night before, the starring role in her recollections being Quinn’s face when she’d reached out and tucked Rachel’s hair back.

It had been so gentle, and the light tracing of those fingertips against her cheek had sent a cascade of goosebumps down her arm.
She kept revisiting the moment right after that. A moment when she knew she had been the one to lean in, unable to resist the pull of whatever energy had been building between them all night.

She was abruptly pulled from that pleasant and terrifying memory by someone saying, from right next to her, “Hi Rachel. Did you forget your combination? I do it all the time, it’s no big deal.”

Snapping out of her haze, she realized that she was standing in front of her locker just staring at the metal surface, as Brittany smiled at her.

Rachel quickly started spinning the lock, fumbling a bit as she attempted to enter the numbers.
On the third try, she was finally able to get it open, and relieved, she started switching out the books in her backpack.

“I guess you just needed a second to restart your brain and open the numbers file,” Brittany said, cheerfully.

Honestly, Rachel had forgotten that the cheerleader was still standing there.
“What?”

Brittany seemed unfazed by her confusion.

“It seemed like you were thinking hard about something, so your brain was probably stuck in that file and you needed to double click on a different one.”

Here Brittany paused and considered her for a moment before adding, “It’s okay, it happens to me when I think about how hot Santana is. You probably weren’t thinking about Finn though, because he’s not pretty enough to be that distracting.”

Again, Rachel was only able to gape at her and say, “What?”

As if they’d completed a normal, two-sided conversation, Brittany smiled and turned to walk away.

“Bye Rachel.”

She had already disappeared around the corner by the time Rachel was able to speak again.

“What?”

---------------------------------------------------

The remainder of the day had gone a bit more smoothly, at least once she gave herself several stern reminders to focus and poked herself in the leg with her pen whenever her attention started to drift.

She was thankful that she didn’t have any classes with Quinn that day, because seeing her was bound to be quite distracting.
They did have Glee after school though, so she was determined to get herself in a more settled headspace before then.

After that strange interaction with Brittany, she’d been worried that people would somehow be able to see her thoughts written all over her face, so she had made an effort to avoid Finn and all of her friends, even going so far as to hide in the library over lunch.

Kurt and Finn had both texted her asking where she was, but she had responded with vague excuses.
The only person who she had really wanted to text was Quinn, but that seemed like a bad idea, at least until she could calm herself down a bit.

And, she needed to figure out what to do about Finn.

It was becoming increasingly clear that her feelings for Quinn were continuing to grow, even as her feelings for her boyfriend continued to diminish.

She and Finn hadn’t really talked since the day of the initial GSA meeting beyond some sparse texting.
He seemed to be aware that he’d screwed up, but still hadn’t offered anything resembling an actual apology.

She was still angry about his lack of support and weak excuses, and whenever the corresponding disappointment washed over her, she also couldn’t help but think of Quinn’s words after the GSA meeting about the kind of person she should be with.

“Someone whose dreams are as big as yours are.”

It had become increasingly clear that Finn was not that person, and she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Quinn was.

That made her realize that she wasn’t sure what Quinn’s dreams were, or her plans for life after high school, but she found herself suddenly being very interested in them.

Somehow, she managed to make it through the day without having a meltdown, and after a few breathing exercises in the restroom, she was able to sit in the choir room feeling only slightly more agitated than usual.

The seating arrangement was the same as it had been for the last few Glee Club meetings, and she was sandwiched between Kurt and Finn, while Quinn was across the room in her spot next to Santana.

The blonde had caught Rachel’s eye as she entered the room and offered a small, somewhat coy smile that made her stomach momentarily clench in a pleasurably nervous way.

She was just smiling back when her attention was diverted by Mr. Schuester breezing through the door.

“Alright guys. Today is the day that we finalize our competition setlist. I know that Mike and Brittany have already been working on the choreography, so we just need to pick the song for the opening duet.”

His eyes drifted over to Rachel, and to everyone’s surprise, she said, “Actually Mr. Schue, I do have a suggestion, but as Quinn will be singing it, I’ll defer to her to present it to the group.”

She turned her head to look over at the blonde girl, and was relieved to see that she seemed gratified by this acknowledgement.

Mr. Schuester seemed a bit surprised, but he quickly gestured over to Quinn.

“By all means, what song did you have in mind?”

“The Time of My Life from Dirty Dancing. Rachel and I practiced it last night, and I think Sam and I can really do it justice.”

Their teacher was nodding his head, looking pleased as he considered the idea, and from sounds of the murmurs from the rest of the room, it seemed that no one had any objections.

“I’m down to bring some of that sweet Swayze energy,” Sam said, giving Quinn a smile.

Kurt was the next to chime in.
“Well,” he said in a dry tone, “if these two agree, then I for one won’t be standing in the way.”

“It will definitely be some ridiculously sweet blondeness,” Mercedes added, “but I think it will be cute.”

Mr. Schuester looked a little shell-shocked by all this agreement, but he quickly clapped his hands together.

“Alright guys. I guess we’ve got our duet.”

Quinn shot a grateful look at Rachel which she couldn’t help but respond to with a smile.

---------------------------------------------------

Glee had just ended, and Rachel was feeling very positive about their setlist, plus maybe a tiny bit giddy from getting to hear Quinn do an initial run through of her duet with Sam.

But then, from his spot next to her, Finn cleared his throat.
A glance over showed that he was watching her with a stormy expression on his face.

Based on the looks he’d given her throughout the entire rehearsal, looks that she had studiously attempted to ignore, perhaps she should have expected that a conversation was unavoidable.

Kurt was halfway out of the room, but when he noticed what was happening, he paused and regarded her carefully as if to check that she was okay.
She managed a tight smile and made a subtle hand gesture to dismiss him, and he nodded and walked out of the room, a curious Mercedes and Tina trailing after him.

Quinn was walking out behind them, but she stopped for a moment with a conflicted look on her face, before a poke in the arm from Santana got her moving again.

Once the last of the club members had left the room, Finn said, in a low voice, “Rachel what’s going on with us?”

He was still sitting down, his hands folded tightly in his lap and his shoulders hunched up a little.

Feeling too agitated to remain seated, she popped out of her chair and took a few steps away.

“I’m not sure I understand the question. I would have thought it was quite obvious that I would be upset when you act too busy to join a very important club that your brother is starting, especially when your girlfriend has two gay dads.”

By the end of the sentence, anger was seeping into her tone, despite her best efforts at staying calm and collected.
She expected him to respond with anger as well, but instead he seemed confused.

“And I totally get that, but I feel like things were weird before the whole gay club thing. Like, you didn’t even fight for us to get the duet for the competition. And you don’t seem to want to spend time with me, which is also weird, especially when I was trying to take you out on a date and stuff.”

Considering that he still hadn’t apologized for being so lackluster about the GSA, part of her wanted to explode.
But as she looked at him, sitting there, she felt more pity than anger. Somehow, without realizing it, she’d outgrown Finn Hudson.

“Finn…,” she started, and then paused until he looked up and made eye contact. “I think that we should break up.”

It seemed to take a moment for those words to fully register, and as she watched, the expression on his face morphed from sad confusion to anger, to something like resignation.

“Rachel, I get that I messed up, but…”.

She didn’t give him a chance to finish.

“It isn’t just about that though yes, your lack of support has been disappointing. It’s true that I have been avoiding spending time with you. Lately I’ve been considering what I want and what kind of person I want to be with. And it was a difficult realization to have, but I don’t think that you’re the kind of person I want to be with right now.”

Now Finn just looked shell-shocked.
She stayed silent for a moment, wanting to give him the space to process what she’d said and respond if he wanted to.

But he didn’t seem to know how to answer, merely swallowing a few times.

Eventually, he managed to say, hoarsely, “Maybe we can just give it some time, and try to work on stuff.”

In as gentle a tone as she could manage, she said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

As if he was expecting the response, he nodded a few times and dropped his eyes to the floor.

“I’m sorry Finn,” Rachel eventually said, not sure how else to gracefully close the conversation.

Then she picked up her bag and walked out the door, more than ready to get home so she could process this breakup and what it meant.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Clean

Kurt accepted the glass of water that Santana handed to him with a nod and then looked around the room again, saying, with a heavy helping of fake astonishment, “I still can’t believe that I’m in Santana Lopez’s kitchen. Am I dreaming?”

“I could pinch you if you want to check,” Santana responded, a slightly threatening edge in her tone.

Brittany came wafting into the room and actually did deliver a pinch to Santana’s cheek, then followed up with a kiss to the same spot before the other girl could protest.

“There, I did the pinching so now no one else has to,” the blonde girl said, smiling at both of them in turn.

“Thanks Britt,” Kurt said, giving her a smile in return before turning his attention back to Santana.
“It seems that our plan is moving ahead at an exciting pace. I’ve heard from both Rachel and Finn that Finchel is no more, and based on everything that’s been happening, I don’t think Rachel is going to reconsider.”

Santana leaned forward on the kitchen counter and said, with the hint of a wicked smile, “And I haven’t forgotten Quinn’s little comment about “practicing” with Berry. A practice session which I have still heard nothing about by the way.”

“So it’s safe to say that they’ve been meeting in secret,” Kurt mused.

His partner in crime merely nodded, and the brief silence was broken by Brittany saying, quite assertively, “Rachel’s totally been thinking about Quinn secretly too.”

“What do you mean?” Santana asked.

“I saw her the other day and she was staring at her locker for a long time. I could tell by her face that she was having gay lady thoughts.”

“How could you tell… “ Kurt started to ask before quickly backtracking, “you know what, never mind. No need to answer that.”

Brittany gave him a shrug and a smile, clearly pleased with herself.

Santana shot both of them a mischievous look.
“Who wants to bet that Quinn and Berry buy each other Christmas gifts?”

Kurt raised an eyebrow.
“Wouldn’t that be an interesting development?”

---------------------------------------------------

While Kurt and Santana conspired, Quinn was doing a post-run stretch.

Now that organized religion no longer took up so much of her time on Sundays, she often went for a jog, finding that she much preferred movement, nature, and whatever music she was into at the moment over the judgmental and stifling atmosphere of the church.

She went through her stretching routine carefully, wanting to treat her muscles gently after their exposure to the cold.

Christmas was just around the corner, and even though from an outside perspective, it looked like her family was broken, she found herself extremely thankful that Christmas this year would just be her and her mom.

As it often did lately, her mind wandered to thoughts of Rachel, wondering if her family celebrated Christmas at all, or only Hanukkah.
She couldn’t recall having any real conversations about religion with the other girl, but now that she was thinking about it, she found that she was quite curious.

She continued to stretch and couldn’t help but think about buying Rachel a holiday gift, her heartbeat kicking up a bit as she imagined the smile that would appear on the brunette’s face when Quinn handed her a neatly wrapped present.
But then she frowned and flopped back onto her bedroom carpet.

Getting Rachel a gift would mean something.
And before she went any further with things, she needed to be honest with herself about what she wanted that something to be.

She had mentally been dancing around using certain words, even inside her own head, but at this point, it was delusional to pretend her feelings for Rachel were anywhere near platonic.

Quinn chewed on her lip, feeling nervous, slightly terrified, and filled with an expanding sense of hopeful anticipation as she said, into the quiet of her bedroom, “Gay. I’m gay.”

Then she immediately burst into tears.

It was such a relief to say it, and to finally allow herself to feel her feelings instead of shoving them deep in a box of angry denial.

The tears continued unabated for quite some time, and she let them stream down her face, occasionally letting out a quiet sob.
When she’d finally cried herself out, she felt exhausted, but also somehow clean.

Eventually, she got up off the floor and walked over to her bathroom to wash her face.

When she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror, her eyes were puffy and red, and her cheeks were splotchy, but she couldn’t help but smile.

She didn’t have to pretend anymore.

After carefully drying off her face and hands, she went to find her phone.

---------------------------------------------------

While Quinn was having big feelings, Rachel was curled up on her bed trying to avoid her feelings.

Since Friday, she’d been lying low, spending most of her time alone in her room.

She had informed her dads of the breakup the same day that it happened, and they had been as loving and supportive as usual, though neither of them had seemed very surprised by her announcement.

They had all had breakfast together this morning, and then, feeling a bit at loose ends, Rachel had returned to her room.
And now, here she was, staring at the wall, trying to resist the temptation to text Quinn.

She hadn’t heard from the blonde all weekend, which wasn’t a total anomaly, though lately they had been talking everyday either in person or via text.

She had wanted to text Quinn as soon as she got home from school on Friday, but considering their shared history with Finn and the confusing feelings swirling through her head, she’d reconsidered.

Kurt had texted on Friday night to check on her, as he had heard the news of the breakup from Finn.
She had responded that she was alright, but hadn’t tried to extend the conversation.

After everything that she had gone through to get Finn as her boyfriend, a part of her felt guilty that she was feeling so much relief along with her sadness. It would be hard if he was unwilling to remain friends, but she had to admit to herself that any romantic feelings she had been harboring for him seemed to have all but disappeared.

In reflecting on that, her mind invariably turned back to Quinn.
A few minutes of indecision later, she was typing out a text.

Hello Quinn. I hope you are having a good weekend. Though I do not want to involve you in my relationship drama, I wanted to be the one to tell you that I broke up with Finn before you heard it through the rumor mill.

She sent the text and then set down her phone, pleased that she had ripped off the bandage.
A responding text came through much more quickly than she had anticipated.

Hi Rachel. I was actually about to text you and see how you’re doing. Thank you for letting me know.

There was a short pause, and then a second text came through.

I won’t lie and say I’m sorry to hear that you broke up with him, but I am sorry for any sadness that you’re feeling.

The sentiment of the message was not unexpected, but her heart did give a little jolt at the first part of the sentence.
She was hopeful that at least part of why Quinn felt that way was that she wasn’t sorry that Rachel was now single.

Though given that she had only been single for less than 48 hours, maybe it was a bit premature to start thinking those kinds of thoughts.

Thank you. I am sad, but I also don’t regret my decision. It was the right thing to do.

I’m glad you feel that way.

After that, the conversation shifted gears, and they texted a bit more about the upcoming Christmas holiday, with Quinn asking a few questions about Hanukkah.

A part of Rachel really, really wanted to invite Quinn to her family’s Hanukkah celebration, but it seemed way too soon to do that, and she wasn’t ready to explain her budding feelings about girls (well, one girl in particular) to her dads.

Eventually, Quinn said that she had to go, signing off with one final sweet message.

If you feel sad and need someone to talk to, let me know. I’m here.

That brought a soft smile to Rachel’s face and she flung herself back down onto her bed to revel in the feeling for a moment.

It still felt a little strange to use the word “crush” to describe her feelings about Quinn, but the giddiness that she felt after each of the recent interactions was undeniable.

But how to demonstrate her feelings to Quinn without going full Rachel Berry stalker girl mode?

She pondered that for a moment before picking up her phone again, this time to text Kurt.

Are you free tonight? I need to go to the mall for some last minute shopping.

---------------------------------------------------

Kurt glanced over at Rachel where she was sitting in the passenger seat of his car, clocking her bouncing leg and the small smile that kept surfacing on her face.

Every time she started to smile, she seemed to catch herself and her expression would shift into something more neutral.

He realized that she was probably trying to keep herself from looking too happy post-breakup out of consideration for his brotherly relationship with Finn.

But if she was pretending to be sad all night, then he certainly wouldn’t be able to pry any honest details out of her, so he decided to set her mind at ease about the extent of his loyalties.

“Rachel. It’s okay if you’re in a good mood. I’m not going to go running back to Finn with tales about what your mood is like now that Finchel is over and done. Besides, Finn is still mostly getting the cold shoulder from me because of his lackluster supportiveness lately.”

His words seemed to startle her at first, but she did seem more at ease after his speech, her shoulders relaxing and her expression shifting into something that looked more authentic.

“Thank you Kurt. I know some people might be shocked about the breakup, and I am sad about it, but I know that I made the right choice.”

“I’m not sure that many people will be shocked,” Kurt informed her, “it wasn’t hard to pick up on the tension between you.”

“Well,” Rachel replied, frowning slightly now, “maybe people will be surprised that someone like me would willingly break up with popular quarterback Finn Hudson.”

Kurt couldn’t help but give an exasperated huff at her self-deprecation.

“Finn is still my brother and I love him even when he’s being an idiot, but trust me when I say that you can do better.”

Almost as if she was saying it to herself, Rachel murmured, “Quinn told me the same thing.”

Her friend’s eyebrows shot up and he barely managed not to let out an excited yelp at hearing Quinn’s name come from Rachel’s lips.

He hoped she would elaborate on that thought, but instead, she went silent and stared out the passenger window.

Once he was sure that she wasn’t planning on saying anything else on that topic, he started talking about their shopping plan for the evening. Mercedes and Tina were meeting them at the mall, and all four of them had different stores that they were planning to go to.

After finally finding a parking spot and making it inside, they found Mercedes and Tina near the food court eating some soft pretzels and giggling about something on Tina’s phone.

When they caught sight of their friends approaching, they put away the phone, their expressions turning sympathetic as they regarded Rachel.

Tina was the first to speak, saying, gently, “Hi Rachel. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine. And while I do appreciate your concern, I can assure you that there’s no reason to walk on eggshells around me tonight. I stand by my decision to break up with Finn, and I’m ready to move on.”

Mercedes shot a quick glance at Kurt before she smiled and said, “That’s good to hear, because I’m ready to do some shopping and maybe a little gossiping, and no offense, but Finn isn’t the most interesting topic of discussion these days.”

“I heartily agree,” Kurt replied, and then linked his arm with Rachel to steer her into the crowd and towards their first shopping destination.

“I do too,” Rachel added once Mercedes and Tina had fallen into step next to them. “If you are going to gossip, I’d prefer not to hear anything about Finn.”

“Well,” Kurt said with a saucy lilt to his voice, “in that case I’d be much more interested in talking about what you mean by being ready to “move on”. Is there someone new who you have your eye on?”

The question seemed to take Rachel off guard, and she flushed, which certainly did not go unnoticed by the other three.

“Oh, girl, do you have a crush?” Mercedes asked with a chuckle.

Clearly flustered, Rachel stumbled over her words as she said, “No, no crush!”

Though none of them believed her for a second, at a warning look from Tina, Mercedes subsided, merely smirking a little.

Kurt was dying to press her, but wanted to avoid getting her too defensive in hopes that she’d let something slip later on.

He had a plan to draw her out, but decided a change of topic was in order at the moment.

“I want to buy a new baseball hat for my dad. I think he’s been wearing the same one for the last ten years.”

That turned their focus to shopping, and they made it through several stores with Kurt finding the hat he was looking for as well as a video game for Finn (picked out with Tina’s assistance).

Mercedes made a few purchases for family members, and Rachel picked up something small for each of her dads.

As they made their way through the mall, Rachel was trying to figure out what she could buy for Quinn.
It needed to be a gift that was personal enough to show that she cared, while also being small and inexpensive enough to not make it obvious that she was making a romantic gesture.

It was an odd experience to even want to give someone a romantic gift. The things she had given Finn in the past were either boring boy things, like a football jersey, or items that were cringey in retrospect, like the couple’s calendar she had made.

But this felt different.

She wanted to see the expression on Quinn’s face when she realized that Rachel was handing her a present, and especially, she wanted to see that gorgeous smile directed at her. Even imagining it made her feel warm and a little dreamy, and…

“Rachel?”

Suddenly, she realized that she had been completely zoning out, and Kurt was looking at her, a bit concerned.

Quickly, she collected herself, thankful that Mercedes and Tina were across the store they were currently browsing in.

“Sorry Kurt…I was distracted for a minute, but I’m fine now.”

With a small shake of his head and a slightly skeptical look, he walked away to join the other two girls, leaving Rachel to wander through the store alone.

She got to a small jewelry section and idly looked through the racks until something caught her eye.

It was a simple gold chain with a piano key charm dangling from the end. Immediately she thought of Quinn and the moment they had shared on the piano bench.

A quick look at the price tag confirmed that it wasn’t an overly expensive item, and almost without thinking, she grabbed it and marched towards the register.

Somewhat amazingly, there was an available cashier, and she quickly made the purchase, keeping a nervous eye out the entire time.
She managed to get through the entire transaction and was just tucking the small bag into her purse when Kurt appeared at her side.

His eyes darted down to her hand as her hand fumbled slightly as she attempted to zip her purse back up.

“Did you find something?”

“Oh, um, just something small for my dad.”

Though he didn’t look convinced by her admittedly suspicious sounding explanation, he refrained from asking any further questions, merely saying, “We’re headed for what Mercedes swears is our last shopping stop and then we’re getting ice cream.”

“Sounds good,” she managed to say, a bit absent-mindedly.

Most of her attention was now focused on the gift secretly hidden away and what it would mean to give it to Quinn.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Sparks Fly

After Quinn’s text exchange with Rachel had made it clear that the Berry family was not anti-Christmas, the cheerleader drove herself nearly to distraction trying to decide whether or not to buy the other girl a gift.

Eventually, annoyed by her own indecisiveness, she grabbed her car keys and her coat and headed for the mall.

It was a little strange to be there without Brittany and Santana, but she knew there was no way she’d be able to get away with buying something for Rachel without them noticing, so she had opted not to invite them along.

As she walked through the crowds, she kept watch for anyone she knew, feeling a little bit paranoid that somehow she would get caught buying a present for another girl.

Thankfully, though she crossed paths with a few acquaintances, she was able to escape with merely a wave or a nod.
But it turned out that her search for the perfect gift was more complicated than she had anticipated.

It needed to be special enough not to be forgettable. Something that was meaningful enough to send the right message without being overwhelming.

She’d made her way through several different stores with no luck, and when she walked through yet another one, something shiny caught her eye.

She ended up staring at a rack full of necklaces wondering if jewelry would be appropriate.

Her fingers trailed over a few pieces that were either underwhelming or gaudy and then she saw the perfect one.
It was a single, silver music note hanging from a neatly worked silver chain.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she plucked it from the rack and walked towards the cash register.

---------------------------------------------------

Rachel was feeling anxious.

It was her first day back to school after her breakup with Finn, and she hadn’t had any contact with him since the afternoon that she had left him sitting in the choir room.

She’d had good luck thus far, and they hadn’t crossed paths in the hallways, but lunch was coming up and the cafeteria was not large enough to keep them from seeing each other.

Finn would no doubt be sitting with Puck, Sam, and the other football guys, but the thought of him staring at her while looking either angry or heartbroken made her want to go hide in the bathroom.

When Kurt materialized next to her, trailed by Mercedes, Tina, Mike, and Artie, she felt so grateful that she had to blink back tears.

“Ready for lunch?” Kurt asked.

She nodded and they walked into the cafeteria.

Once they were all seated together, she felt a lot better. Her back was to Finn’s table, so she didn’t have to look at him, and her friends kept up a lively conversation that didn’t require much input from her.

When they started talking about Christmas shopping though, she found herself pulled into the discussion when Mercedes aimed a teasing comment at her.

“Well when we were at the mall last night, it seemed like Berry was a little distracted.”

“Yeah,” Tina chimed in, “distracted by a mysterious someone.”

She and Mercedes giggled together a little at that, which made Artie eye Rachel with sudden interest.

“Aw, what’s that now? You got your eye on someone new?”

Kurt was torn between shutting down the teasing and wanting to know how Rachel would react.

He settled for the latter and was watching her closely while Tina, Artie, and Mercedes joked with each other about who Rachel had a crush on and Mike smiled along good-naturedly.

Thus, Kurt was the only one to see who she actually looked at.

For her part, Rachel was trying not to react to the teasing, doing her best to keep a neutral look on her face.

But when Artie asked the question and was then promptly distracted, she couldn’t help but let her eyes cut over to where Quinn was sitting.

She had been aware of Quinn’s presence ever since she’d sat down at her lunch table and it had been taking a tremendous amount of will-power to ignore the other girl.

As if sensing her gaze, Quinn’s head lifted, and just for a moment, their eyes met and the side of the blonde girl’s mouth curled into a little smile. Rachel smiled back, and then one of the other Cheerios said something to Quinn and her attention was diverted.

Even that one look was enough to send Rachel's heart skipping for a second.

She dropped her gaze to the surface of the table and when she looked up again, she caught Kurt with an extremely smug look on his face.

“What?”

“Oh nothing sweetie,” he replied, giving her hand a brief pat, “Just looking forward to Christmas.”

The other four had thankfully decided to move on from teasing Rachel about a potential crush, instead talking about their plans for winter break.

The school was giving them a four day week with Friday and the whole next week off.

Rachel was looking forward to this reprieve and was hoping that some time away from school would help soften the blow of the breakup for Finn and give her time to sort out her feelings for Quinn before Glee had to really start ramping up for Sectionals.

---------------------------------------------------

Before the end of the day Kurt caught up to Santana.
He didn’t say anything initially, just waited for her predictable exasperated huff and light shoulder bump.

“Why are you smirking like a naughty baby about to shove stolen candy into their mouth?”

He ignored the remark and said in a quiet, but still lofty tone, “I happened to go to the mall with Ms. Rachel Berry last night because she needed to do some “last minute shopping”.”

Santana rolled her eyes at his elaborate air quotes and asked, “So?”

“So…who in the world would she be doing last minute shopping for? Certainly not her ex-boyfriend, and I’m sure she finished her Christmas shopping for her dads long ago. Which leaves only one option.”

Now Santana looked quite pleased.
“So you think my prediction was correct and that Berry was shopping for Quinn. Did she buy anything last night?”

“As a matter of fact, she did. She was very sneaky, so I wasn’t able to catch a glimpse of what she bought. But, I did happen to notice her browsing in the jewelry section not long before she made her purchase.”

The mention of jewelry made Santana look incredibly smug.

Though, as she did not immediately respond, Kurt continued, “Then at lunch today Rachel was in the midst of getting teased about her mysterious new crush when she looked right at Quinn who, I should add, looked back and smiled. And that’s not the first time I’ve caught them exchanging disgustingly cute looks in recent days.”

Finally, Santana had a response.
“You know, if you would have told me last year that one day you and I would be gossiping about Quinn and Berry giving each other goopy looks…I probably would have had Puckerman toss you in a dumpster.”

Kurt rolled his eyes.
“Oh how far we’ve come.”

The look she gave him in response was almost fond.
“Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, outside of Cheerios practice, Quinn has been so mellow that it’s almost alarming. She still hasn’t let anything spill about her lady feelings though, so I’m going to have her over for a sleepover during break. Maybe we can have a heart to heart or whatever.”

Now Kurt looked thoughtful.
“Perhaps I’ll copy your idea and have a girl’s night with Rachel. I’m honestly surprised she’s kept whatever is happening with Quinn a secret for this long.”

“And we let each other know what we find out?”

“Absolutely.”

With matching grins, they parted ways, both feeling quite optimistic about the outcome of their gay matchmaking plan.

---------------------------------------------------

It was Thursday afternoon, and Quinn had been trying to psyche herself up all day.

She’d been carrying Rachel’s Christmas present around all week, but hadn’t yet been able to work up the courage to give it to her.

But this was her last chance before break started, and she was worried that if she didn’t give Rachel the gift today, that she might not have a chance to until after school resumed again, which would be after Christmas was over.

Currently, she was actually in class with Rachel, but the other girl was sitting a few rows away, and Quinn had not had time to catch her before class. So now she was sitting there, anxious for class to end so she could hopefully catch the brunette for a moment alone.

Thankfully, this close to winter break, the teachers didn’t care all that much, so her inability to pay attention to the lecture and the repeated nervous bouncing of her leg didn’t earn her a reprimand.

Finally, their teacher was wishing them all a good break, and students started rushing from the classroom.

Quinn stood up quickly, and turned to Rachel, thankfully managing to catch her attention without needing to shout over the excited chatter and shrill sound of the bell ringing.

She held up a finger to indicate that Rachel should wait, and let out a relieved breath when she got a nod and a smile in response.

Soon enough, they were the last two students left in the room.
Quinn picked up her backpack and gave a quick pat to the side pocket where the gift was stashed, then made her way over to where Rachel was patiently standing.

“Hi Quinn.”

That simple greeting in a sweet, shy tone almost made her falter and she mentally slapped herself, trying to remember the pep talks she’d been giving herself all week.

Get it together Fabray. You can do this.

She straightened her shoulders and said, “I’m glad I caught you. There’s something I wanted to give you.”

Rachel looked curious and a little surprised, but made no comment as Quinn unzipped her backpack and pulled out a small, neatly wrapped box with a meticulously tied silver ribbon.
Even when Quinn extended the box towards her, she said nothing.

“Merry Christmas Rachel. And Happy Hanukkah too I guess.”

With a slightly trembling hand, Rachel reached out and took the box from her, then unwrapped it extremely carefully.

Once she had the box unwrapped, she held onto it for a moment, staring at the lid before lifting it off gently to reveal the necklace, shiny in classroom lights.

Quinn’s nervousness was settling into a tight knot of discomfort in her stomach at Rachel’s continued, uncharacteristic silence.

Considering that she’d been witness to the other girl waxing poetic for ten minutes about a Broadway song no one else had ever heard of, this lack of visible excitement seemed like a truly bad sign.

After staring at the necklace for a long moment, Rachel touched it lightly with one finger and finally spoke, looking up at Quinn with an expression that was difficult to interpret.

“Quinn, it’s beautiful, I….”.

Then she trailed off, glanced down at the gift again, and looked up at Quinn, eyes wide and wet like she was maybe about to cry.

Completely unsure now if she had overstepped with the gift, or upset Rachel in some way she didn’t understand, Quinn decided that the best thing to do was retreat.

“So Merry Christmas, again and…um…have a good break,” she managed to blurt out, then rapidly exited the classroom and headed directly for the parking lot.

She knew that her mom would be out all evening and she was thankful that she would have the entire house to herself to mope and question every life decision she’d ever made.

---------------------------------------------------

Rachel was pacing a sharp line through her bedroom, furious with herself.

Quinn had given her a lovely gift and she hadn’t even said thank you.

In fact, she had barely said anything! Her, Rachel Berry, the queen of saying too much, had just stood there like a piece of furniture.

Watching that hopeful look on Quinn’s face shift to uncertainty and discomfort had made her want to shout out all of her feelings, or pull the blonde girl into her arms and possibly never let go.

But she hadn’t been able to do or say anything.

Her pacing took her to the wall and she spun, then stopped, her index finger raising to touch the charm on the necklace that was now hanging around her neck.

As soon as she’d gotten home, and was safely ensconced in her room, she’d put it on, then stood there staring at her reflection in the mirror as she tried to navigate how she was feeling.

Because a girl had bought her jewelry. Quinn had bought her jewelry.

And, what’s more, she had bought Quinn jewelry too.
They had clearly been on the same wavelength with their gift ideas, which made her wonder if Quinn’s sentiments behind the gift matched hers.

Though, when Rachel tried to pinpoint exactly what her own sentiments were, it came out as a bit uncertain and jumbled.

I like you and I want to know you better with a touch of I want to see you smile and a healthy dollop of oh my god I have feelings for the prettiest girl in school.

She started pacing again, got almost to the other side of the room, and stopped again.

There on her dresser was a small box with a gold bow fastened on top.

Quinn had been brave, and she could be too.
She grabbed the box, snatched her coat up from the bed, and nearly ran from her bedroom.

“Dads!”

---------------------------------------------------

It had been surprisingly easy to convince her dad to drive her to the Fabray house after dinner.
Suspiciously easy in fact.

When she started her plea, her dads had exchanged a knowing look, with her daddy looking almost smug as she explained that she absolutely needed to give Quinn her gift tonight.

She had been elated at this win, but now, sitting in the passenger seat as her dad pulled the car into Quinn’s driveway, her excitement was feeling more like panic.

When she sat unmoving and did not immediately unbuckle her seatbelt, her dad gave her a gentle pat on the arm.

“Go on sweetie. And take your time. I can sit here and enjoy some Christmas music without your father complaining about how tacky it is.”

Rachel nodded, took a deep breath, and exited the car. As she walked towards the front door, she hoped that Quinn would be happy to see her.

She raised a hand and lightly pressed the doorbell, hearing its chime echo within the house.

When Quinn opened the door and saw who was standing on her porch, one of her eyebrows raised and her expression softened.

“Rachel?”

The short walk up the driveway should not have been enough to leave her breathless, but Rachel certainly felt that way when she responded.

“Hello Quinn.”

The blonde girl looked at her for a long moment and then asked, quietly, “What are you doing here?”

“May I come in?”

As always, Quinn’s manners kicked in almost instinctively.

She stepped back and pulled the door open wider, allowing Rachel to enter.

Once the front door was closed, they stood in the dimly lit foyer just looking at each other.

Almost hesitantly, Quinn made a small hand gesture towards a coat rack next to her.

“If you want to take off your coat?”

Rachel nodded, unzipping her coat and moving past Quinn to hang it on an open hook.
When she turned back, those hazel eyes dropped to where the necklace was hanging from her neck, peeking out from under the collar of her shirt.

“You’re wearing it.”

“I am.”

The expression on the blonde girl’s face was now almost painfully hopeful.
Before she could say anything, Rachel jumped in, wanting to fix this as quickly as possible.

“Quinn…I…”.

Again, she faltered, but she was unwilling to make the same mistake as earlier and not say what she wanted to say.
She took a breath, touched the necklace lightly for luck, and began.

“I came here to explain, about earlier. When you gave me this gift, I was overwhelmed, but in a good way. And I know that you must have assumed something negative from my silence. So I’m sorry for that, because I have no negative feelings at all.”

She paused for just a moment to study Quinn’s face, soft and beautiful in the low light.

It helped give her the conviction to continue.

“I have no negative feelings about you. In fact, my feelings for you are very…positive. Which, given our history and the fact that I just ended a relationship with a boy who I, quite mistakenly, thought was my perfect leading man, has been confusing. When I got home, I felt terrible about my reaction, so I came here to tell you thank you. Thank you for the lovely gift.”

Quinn’s responding smile distracted Rachel for just a moment before she continued, in a rush, “And I came here to give you this.”

She went over to her coat and carefully extracted the box from her coat pocket before presenting it to Quinn.

Looking extremely pleased now, Quinn took it and immediately began unwrapping it.
Once she had lifted the lid of the box and seen what was inside, she looked up.

Her expression had shifted into something more unreadable, and Rachel suddenly felt nervous as she gestured between the necklace resting in the box and the one hanging around her neck.

“I suppose great minds think alike.”

“Will you put it on me?”

At the request, and the now even more intense look in Quinn’s eyes, Rachel took in a sharp breath, and then stepped forward and wordlessly lifted the necklace from the box.

The other girl turned, pulling her hair away from her neck.
Rachel reached around her and gently placed the necklace, and then closed the clasp, feeling like she could barely breathe with Quinn this close.

As if they were operating of their volition, two of Rachel’s fingers traced a delicate line down the back of Quinn’s neck, though she quickly snatched her hand away when she felt the other girl shiver.

But before she could step back, Quinn turned around, bringing their faces within inches of each other.
The expression on her face was one that Rachel had never seen before, something almost hungry.

The air between them suddenly felt as if it were crackling with electricity.

Then Quinn said, barely above a whisper, “Please don’t freak out.”

One of Quinn’s hands reached out to gently cup her cheek.

“And don’t run,” came the even softer request.

Even if she’d wanted to, Rachel wouldn’t have been able to run.

Her feet were fixed to the floor, her entire being focused on the girl in front of her, those beautiful hazel eyes mapping out her face, the fluttering pulse she could see racing just under the skin of Quinn’s throat.

No. She was not going to run.

Quinn’s thumb traced her cheekbone, ever so lightly, and even that small gesture was enough to make the breath catch in her lungs.

And then Quinn leaned in, so, so slowly.

The lips against hers were soft and undemanding, but at their first touch, something sparked inside her.

She shifted forward, and let her hands fall to Quinn’s waist, resting against her hip bones.

The kiss ended too quickly, and the other girl pulled back slightly, just enough to look at Rachel with a dazed and wondering expression.

No one had ever looked at her like that after a first kiss, like they couldn’t believe their luck.

It was enough to make her lean in and claim those soft pink lips again, this time with more pressure. It took a moment for Quinn to react, but when she did, the kiss quickly shifted from sweet to something hungry.

At the shift, Rachel couldn’t suppress a small moan, which she knew the other girl had heard, because suddenly she was being backed up a few steps until her shoulders bumped into the front door.

One of Quinn’s hands was still on her face, cupped against her jaw, and the other one came to rest against her side, holding her in place.

The feeling of being pressed lightly between Quinn’s body and the door made her gasp, and the blonde pulled back and frowned slightly.
Her pupils were large and dark, but her eyes looked concerned.

“Are you okay? Is this okay?” she asked, the deeper rasp in her voice making Rachel squirm.

“This is more than okay,” she assured her, and pulled her back in.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Wonderland

Rachel was lying on her bed, a smile on her face that wouldn’t seem to go away.

It had been less than 24 hours since she and Quinn had kissed, and she couldn’t seem to stop smiling. Or stop singing.

Her dads had actually requested that she take a break since she’d spent all morning belting out her favorite soaring ballads and cheesy pop songs.

Her daddy had claimed that she needed to give her voice a rest, but it might have been his own sanity he was more concerned about.
He had been muttering about additional soundproofing as he walked away down the hall.

She still couldn’t believe that Quinn Fabray had kissed her.
And not just some tentative peck, but, really kissed her. Had kissed her in a way that she’d never been kissed before.

She had been actively trying not to think about that, because each time she did it brought on a full body flush and spun her mind out in dangerous directions.

But she wasn't sure she’d ever get over how it had felt to have Quinn gazing at her as she said goodbye last night, pupils wide and dark and lips swollen and perfect.

She had of course texted the other girl when she was back home, but knowing how obsessive she had been with her crushes in the past, she was actively trying to hold back and not overwhelm Quinn with a flood of sudden communication.

Though what she really wanted to do was text Quinn non-stop and demand to know everything about her and about her feelings…and about her thoughts, and…

And this was exactly why she was not allowing herself to look at her phone at the moment.

But when she heard her phone chime from where it sat on her desk across the room, she nearly toppled right off the side of her bed in her haste to get to it.

Upon reading the message, her responding smile was so wide it made her cheeks hurt.

When can I see you again?

---------------------------------------------------

Quinn had tried to focus on other things.

She’d made an attempt to read a book that was quickly abandoned, and she had practiced the piano for a while which had proved a better distraction, but had ultimately also failed at keeping her attention.

After that, she had run herself through one of Sue Sylvester’s punishing core workouts which had ended with her collapsed on the floor covered in sweat.

But even with all that, she was finding it hard to stop thinking about Rachel.

Her emotions around what had happened the night before were careening all over the place as she swung between terrified and elated.

Their kiss…well, kisses really, had been beyond anything she had imagined.
And the fact that Rachel had seemed just as invested in the kissing as she had been made her feel extremely giddy.

Rachel had been the one to initiate their second kiss, which had then led to a third, and after that she lost count.

Rachel had also been the one to ultimately disengage, though she seemed very hesitant to pull away.

“My dad is waiting, so I should…”.

“Yeah,” Quinn had replied, unable to get out more than that one breathless word.

But Rachel had just kept standing there, looking so pleased and dazed that Quinn was compelled to lean forward and give her one last, soft kiss.

Then they stood there staring at each other for another long, silent moment before Quinn had the presence of mind to take a small step back and say, “Goodnight Rachel.”

The other girl had only been able to manage a wide-eyed nod before she slipped out the front door.

Given the way everything had gone up to this point, Quinn was feeling pretty confident that Rachel was interested in her. But there was still a small part of her that was worried that the other girl might regret what had happened once she’d had time to think about it.

She hadn’t heard from Rachel yet today, and she was just considering whether or not to contact her when her phone vibrated.
She snatched it up, and was immediately disappointed when she saw that the new text was from Santana.

Sleepover tomorrow night? Britt’s out of town, so it would just be us.

Quinn chewed her lip for a moment as she considered the invitation.

Santana had previously offered to listen if there was something she needed to talk about, and she had a feeling that her friend already had some suspicions about what was going on with her.

Considering Santana’s recent actions like starting the GSA with Kurt and ordering the slushie hit on Karofsky for his homophobic bullying, she assumed that any confessions about her own sexuality would be taken well.

But would that courtesy extend to Rachel Berry?
She knew Santana was capable of being fiercely loyal, but she generally wasn’t great when it came to either tact or keeping her mouth shut.

Maybe she could start with one confession to test the waters?

She typed out a text in reply.

Sounds good. Just let me know what time.

Then, she sent a message to Rachel before she could talk herself out of it.

When can I see you again?

The speed at which she got a response filled her with a sense of relief.

How soon are you free?

Despite the fact that Quinn really wanted to see Rachel now, she decided that taking a little time to settle herself was probably wise.
Her mom also wanted to spend some time with her tomorrow since she’d been so busy with work lately, and Quinn hadn’t had the heart to say no.

How about Sunday? We could get coffee?

Again, Rachel responded quite quickly.

That works!

Quinn thought for a moment, nervous energy filling her limbs. She wanted this to be a date, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready to say that to Rachel.

Still…she could do her best to make it as date-like as possible.

How about 10? I can pick you up.

Ten would be great.

She lowered herself back to the floor, staring up at the ceiling with a grin on her face.

---------------------------------------------------

“You seem to be in a terrifyingly good mood,” Kurt commented in a dry tone as he handed her a bottle of water.

Rachel was currently sitting on Kurt’s bed propped up on several of his decorative pillows and was beyond even trying to fight back the smile that kept surfacing.

Finn and his mom were apparently off visiting some cousins, otherwise Rachel would not have accepted this sleepover locale.

Kurt had texted yesterday to invite her over, and she had happily agreed once she knew that there was no chance of running into her ex-boyfriend.

They had made some small talk and bickered over what movies they planned to watch, but Kurt had been giving her increasingly suspicious looks, and once he’d settled himself back on the bed and carefully set down a large bowl of popcorn, he turned to face her.

“Alright, you have to tell me what’s going on with you because while I am amazing, I know you don’t keep smiling like an idiot because you’re so happy to be hanging out with me.”

Rachel flipped over to face him with more than her normal level of dramatic flair, but when she spoke, her voice was quieter than usual.

“There is something that I want to tell you, but you have to promise to keep it a secret.”

An incredibly intrigued expression settled on his face as he looked at her carefully.
When he responded, his tone was serious.

“Okay, I will promise because it seems like you’re about to tell me something positive. But if it’s something truly important, I would say that you shouldn’t confide only in me.”

Rachel thought for a moment and then gave a nod.

“I agree with you. But Kurt, I’m asking you to keep this a secret because it’s important. Once you hear what it is, I think it will make sense why you’re the person I’m choosing to confide in.”

He gave her a small but encouraging smile.

“Alright Rachel. Please, go ahead. The suspense is killing me.”

She tried to remain calm and collected, she really did, but when she finally spoke it came out in an excited rush of words.

“Quinn and I kissed. Quinn Fabray kissed me, and then I kissed her back, and Kurt, I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that it was the best kiss of my life by far.”

While Kurt had been expecting to hear something about Rachel’s sexuality or perhaps even an admission to a crush on Quinn, he was a bit taken aback by this proclamation.

It seemed that he had underestimated how quickly the situation was moving. He wondered if Santana had heard about this yet, but assumed that she hadn’t because he had yet to receive a barrage of smug text messages.

He suddenly realized that he had been silent for a while and Rachel was staring at him nervously, clearly awaiting a response.

“That’s…I’m not entirely sure what to say except for…congratulations?”

Rachel responded with a flurry of nearly hysterical giggles and then said, “I know that maybe I should be feeling more freaked out by this turn of events, but mostly I feel…happy.”

“You look happy, which is good to see.”

“I really like her,” Rachel admitted after another moment.

“Well,” Kurt teased, “considering that apparently you’ve been kissing her, I should hope so.”

Rachel just smiled down at the bedspread until Kurt reached out and playfully swatted her arm.

“So, tell me everything. How did this happen? I need details!”

His friend raised her head again and gave him a shrewd look.

“I will, but first you have to tell me why you don’t seem that surprised. I was expecting you to scream or fall off the bed in response to my sapphic confession.”

Kurt was certainly not about to admit to plotting with Santana, but he decided to give her at least the partial truth.

“After your tense interaction with Quinn several weeks ago, I’ve been paying more attention to both of you. And I’ve seen some…glances being exchanged. And then your whole alliance over picking the duet for Sectionals made it clear that you were no longer enemies.”

He watched her blush a little as he mentioned the glances and then added, “Plus, I have gaydar sweetie, and whatever has been going on between you and Quinn was seriously setting it off.”

That made her look less bashful and more concerned.

“Really? Do you think anyone else has noticed?”

Kurt chose his words carefully, because he wanted to avoid outright lying to her.

“I don’t think most people would be paying enough attention to notice, and even if they did, I doubt they would draw the same conclusions as I did.”

That made her look a little less stressed, and he felt quite sympathetic as she said, “This is all so new, and I don’t know how Quinn feels about it. I’m really not ready for everyone to know yet.”

Kurt reached out and took her hand.
“It will be okay Rachel. You have me, and Glee, and the whole GSA.”

She nodded a little.
“And my dads. Though…I haven’t told them yet.”

“Well, I’m sure that they’ll be very supportive. But…that’s a bridge to cross another day. Right now you owe me all the sordid details!”

With another slight blush, she complied.

---------------------------------------------------

“Hola mamacita,” Santana shouted at her when she walked through the front door of the Lopez home.

Mrs. Lopez immediately chided her in Spanish and then added in English, “Quinn will think you were raised in a barn with those manners.”

After delivering that admonishment to her daughter, she walked over and gave Quinn a hug.

“Hello carina. Oh, you look too thin. Santana will make you a plate. I made arroz con pollo.”

Her open affection had always made Quinn feel grateful and a little awkward, especially given that her own mother hugged her maybe once a month if that.

By now, Santana had made her way over, rolling her eyes at her mother and pulling Quinn away towards the kitchen.

Once they were out of earshot, she told Quinn, “You do need to try the arroz con pollo, for real though.”

“I love your mom’s food, you know that.”

“Hell yeah you do, because it’s amazing.”

Santana busied herself with fixing Quinn a plate, and then sat down with her as she ate, relaying her most recent phone conversation with Brittany, who had apparently just left the day before.

“It sucks that I won’t get to spend Christmas with her, but I know she’ll have a blast in Chicago,” Santana was saying as Quinn finished eating.

“You really miss her when she’s not around, don’t you?”

Santana turned her head to where her mother was sitting and watching TV in the next room and then said, quietly, “Of course I do.”

Quinn just nodded a little, understanding that feeling for the first time.

Once she’d cleaned up her dishes, she followed her friend up the stairs to her bedroom where they both flopped down on Santana’s bed.

She folded her hands over her now full stomach and said, “Your mom really is a great cook.”

“Way better than your mom, that’s for sure. I still remember that dry ass chicken she made last time I came over for dinner.”

Santana shuddered at the memory and Quinn murmured, “Why do you think I taught myself how to cook?”

That reminded her of how she cooked Rachel dinner, which made her think about Rachel and what might happen the next time they were alone at her house, and then…

And then Santana was snapping right in her face.

“Earth to Quinn. What the hell is going on in that blonde head of yours?”

Her immediate response was to quickly stutter out, “Nothing!”

But then she looked up at her friend’s concerned face and reconsidered.
She had come here determined to be brave, and this was no time to back down.

She fixed her eyes on the ceiling.

“Remember when you said that I could talk to you about things?”

For a moment, Santana’s brow furrowed and she looked almost concerned, but then her expression cleared and she answered, “Yeah. And I also told you that I can keep shit to myself if I need to. Is that what you mean?”

“Yeah,” Quinn replied, starting to feel increasingly nervous.
She licked her lips and continued, “There’s something that I want to tell you, but you can’t tell anyone else.”

Her friend rolled over onto her side to face her, propping herself up on one elbow.

“Okay. Is this something I can tell Britt, or is this like a tell no one, no exceptions thing?”

“For right now, I just want you to know. I love Brittany, but….”.

“Sometimes she blabs without meaning to,” Santana finished for her, then added, in a serious tone, “Alright, I’ll keep it to myself.”

She paused and then said, sharp and teasing, “Unless it’s that you’re really pregnant with Finn’s baby. In that case I’m telling everyone right after I slap you silly.”

Her joke broke the tension and Quinn let out a slightly hysterical laugh.

“No, it’s definitely not that. I just…I’m gay. I haven’t told anyone else yet, but I wanted to tell you, and…”.

Whatever other words she was about to muddle through were cut off as Santana basically tackled her and pulled her into a tight hug.

Quinn felt relieved tears stinging her eyes as Santana rocked her back and forth and said right into her ear, “Good for you Fabray. Glad you figured your shit out.”

“San, I can’t breathe…”.

The other girl released her and rolled over, staying close enough that their shoulders were pressed together.

“I mean it though Quinn. I am glad. Thanks for telling me.”

Then her dark eyes cut over to look at her friend.
“And, I guess I’ve never actually said this to you, but I’m gay too.”

They stared at each other from close range for a few moments and then both burst out laughing.

“Dude, I love that the two hottest girls in school are just a pair of big old lesbians,” Santana then said.

That set Quinn off again, and by the time they were able to reign themselves in, her stomach was aching and tears were running down her cheeks.

After a few deep breaths to collect herself, she turned over on her side to face Santana fully.
“Thank you, really. I’m glad I told you.”

Santana gave her a genuine smile, the kind that didn’t often grace her face unless it was directed at Brittany.
But then, she kept looking at Quinn and the smile gained a mischievous edge.

“There’s something you’re not telling me, Fabray. I can see it on your face.”

Quinn forced on a more neutral expression, but it was already too late.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh no, don’t try and deny it now.”

Santana’s look became even more scrutinizing and then she suddenly exclaimed, “You like someone!”

Quinn was unable to totally mask her surprised response and Santana’s excitement turned to triumph.

“You do!”

The blonde girl groaned and covered her face with her hands. Her response did at least seem to induce Santana to back off a little, because she leaned away a bit and patted Quinn’s arm.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me.”

“Good, because I’m not going to,” Quinn mumbled from behind her hands.

“You don’t need to tell me, because I already know who it is.”

She lowered one hand far enough to peer at Santana.

“No you don’t,” she insisted, certain that her friend would never guess correctly.

That security was completely shattered by the next two words, “Rachel Berry.”

Her physical response was instinctive, and before she realized what she was doing, Quinn was bouncing up off the mattress and over at Santana, who attempted to dodge by rolling away.

But the combination of her own momentum and the force of Quinn’s body slamming into her was too much and suddenly they were both falling right off the edge of the bed to land in a pile on the floor.

From her position half on top of Santana, with her face smashed against her friend’s shoulder, she muttered, “I like Rachel Berry.”

“You like Rachel Berry.”

A second later, they had dissolved into a literal pile of laughter.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

I Know Places

Kurt managed to wait until what he hoped was a reasonable time for a Sunday morning, and then he called Santana.

Rachel had left his house earlier citing some mysterious plans that she wasn’t willing to discuss, but he obviously knew they had to do with Quinn.

He made it 20 minutes after she left before picking up his phone to make the call.

When Santana answered after only two rings sounding fully awake, he was a little surprised.

“Good morning Hummel. What can I do for you?”

“Honestly, I’m a bit surprised that you’re already up.”

He could almost hear her eyes roll through the phone.

“You do remember that Sue Sylvester is a dictator, right? I have to get up at the ass crack of dawn for practice almost every day.”

“Right, of course.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“Well? You called me, so spit it out.”

Kurt intended to keep his promise and not directly reveal what Rachel had told him.
However, given that Santana basically already knew, it wouldn’t hurt to give her a few indirect hints.

“Remember how I told you that I was going to invite Rachel over for a sleepover? Well, she was here last night and we certainly had some…girl talk.”

Santana’s response was quick.
“Oh really? Because Quinn was over here last night and we had some pretty interesting girl talk ourselves.”

They both paused to let that settle, and then Kurt cleared his throat a bit and said, more hesitantly, “I can’t reveal what our girl talk was about, because I promised Rachel I would keep her secret.”

“I promised Quinn the same thing.”

“Well, since I know we both want to keep our promises, all I’ll say is that if I could tell you, I think you’d be very pleased.”

Santana gave a dry chuckle.

“And if I could spill the beans, you'd be tap dancing in your lady loafers.”

Kurt couldn’t help but laugh a little at that.
“So, since neither of us can actually tell the other anything, how do you propose we stay current with any new developments?”

His co-conspirator sounded a little less pleased as she informed him, “Unfortunately, Cheerios practice starts up again tomorrow. But at least that means I can keep an eye on Quinn’s mood. That should tell us something. When she and Rachel were still freezing each other out, she was basically a monster.”

“I can’t believe Coach Sylvester makes you practice over winter break. I mean, I can believe it, but that sucks.”

“Yeah, if Coach goes too many days without verbally abusing a group of teens, she’ll probably spontaneously combust.”

“Good luck I guess.”

“Thanks Hummel.”

---------------------------------------------------

Quinn’s palms were sweating so much that her hands were threatening to slide off the steering wheel.
She wiped them carefully on her jeans and tried to calm herself down.

Even though she’d been on a lot of dates, she had to admit to herself that this was the only one she’d really cared about.
Which unfortunately meant that her level of nervousness was also exceeding anything she’d previously experienced.

She was on the way to Rachel’s house now, preparing to pick her up exactly on time.

Initially, she’d been worried what Rachel’s dads might think, or what they might say, especially given that her experience with her own father didn’t inspire any confidence in the treatment she’d receive from fathers in general.

But Rachel had assured her that she would not have to see them today as they were going to be out for brunch.

Once she’d pulled into the Berry’s driveway, she turned off the car and was prepared to get out, but Rachel was already rushing out of the house and hopping into the passenger seat.

Once she’d closed the car door, she turned to Quinn and said, shyly, “Hello.”

Though she never would have guessed that shy Rachel would be something she enjoyed so much, that look and accompanying tone of voice was quickly becoming one of her favorite things.

“Hi,” she managed to say back, then cleared her throat and added, “I thought we could check out a new coffee shop. There’s one a couple towns over that’s supposed to be good, if you don’t mind the drive?”

Rachel considered that for a moment before saying, slowly, “I suppose going to the Lima Bean risks unwanted attention.”

“I don’t…”, Quinn started, then paused, not sure what she even meant to say.

But the other girl just reached out and rested a hand gently on top of hers.
“It’s alright Quinn. This is all very new. And, though this might sound strange coming from me, I would rather not have an audience today.”

That forced a nervous chuckle out of Quinn, and then she gave Rachel a quick smile before turning the key in the ignition.

At first, the drive was a little awkward.
Quinn was trying to come up with a topic of conversation, but she kept overthinking everything she wanted to say.

It seemed that Rachel was nervous as well, because though she was smiling, she kept fidgeting with her hands and smoothing down her skirt. Whatever was going on with her, it was keeping her unusually quiet as well.

Eventually, annoyed at her own awkwardness, Quinn decided to just say something.
She was the one who had invited Rachel out after all, so she should be the one to take the lead.

“Thanks for agreeing to this,” she finally managed to say.

That made Rachel turn towards her.
“Well thank you for inviting me.”

She paused, and ran her hands down her skirt yet again before adding, “I’ve been looking forward to seeing you again.”

“Oh yeah?” Quinn asked, the smallest smirk creeping onto her face.

Rachel caught the look and it seemed to give her more confidence.
“Yeah. It’s not every day that the prettiest girl in school asks you for coffee.”

Her statement gave Quinn the courage to ask what she had been wanting to ask ever since she’d invited Rachel out in the first place.

“You know this is a date, right?”

The bright smile she got in response soothed the last of her lingering doubts.

“I know I don’t have that much experience with dating, but I think I can tell when someone asks me on a date.”
She paused briefly, and then added, “Especially when that someone has already kissed me.”

Quinn could feel the heat rising to her face, and couldn’t quite bring herself to look at the other girl when she said, “Good. That’s good. I’ve never asked anyone on a date before, so I just…wanted to make sure.”

Rachel’s hand reached over and gently rested on her knee for just a moment before withdrawing again.

Their discussion had broken the ice at least, and they fell into an easy, casual conversation.

---------------------------------------------------

The coffee shop was small, and cute, and blessedly free of any Lima High students.

They’d found a table tucked into a corner and were currently sipping their large drinks and laughing together at a story Rachel was relaying of a toddler tap recital that had ended with multiple children collapsed on the ground crying while a tiny Rachel had tapped literal circles around them.

“My teacher was trying to get me to stop, but I was determined to finish the routine because I’d spent so long learning it. My dads were no help, they were right in front with a video camera.”

Quinn wiped a tear out of her eye as she recovered from a bout of giggles.

“I guess you’ve always been determined to be in the spotlight.’

Rachel grinned, a little sheepishly, before revealing, “Honestly, my daddy promised to take me for ice cream if I got all the steps right, because of course he wasn’t above bribery, and I wasn’t about to let some crying children keep me from my Oreo Blizzard.”

“I wish my parents had bribed me with ice cream,” Quinn answered wistfully. “They were more likely to use guilt or threats.”

Her momentary sad reverie was interrupted by Rachel taking her hand and carefully lacing their fingers together.

“I’m sorry Quinn.”

Her eyes were soft and sympathetic, and it was impossible to resist looking at her.
Their intense eye contact was interrupted by an employee cleaning a table next to them.

They both glanced over at the girl, who appeared to be college aged.
She had a short haircut that looked too trendy for the town they were in, and under her black apron, she was wearing jeans with rips in the knees and scuffed black Converse.

When she noticed them, she gave them a smile, which widened after her eyes darted down to take in their joined hands.

She picked up a few discarded mugs, and before walking back to the counter, leaned in a little closer and said, quietly, “You guys are cute together.”

“Um, thanks,” Quinn managed to stutter out, and she received a wink before the girl walked away.

Belatedly, she realized that Rachel was trying to surreptitiously pull her hand away, so she squeezed her fingers to prevent it.

“It’s okay Rachel. Unless it makes you feel uncomfortable, I’m okay with this.”

She got a wondering look in return, and the hand in hers stayed where it was.

“Should we talk about this?” Rachel eventually said, gesturing vaguely between them.

Quinn exhaled slowly and shifted her chair a little so she could face the other girl.

“Yeah, we probably should.”

She’d thought that it would be harder to have this conversation, but the hand in hers felt like a lifeline, and she was tired of playing it safe.

“Last night I hung out with Santana, and…I told her that I was gay. She wasn’t all that surprised really, I guess she’d been suspecting something for a while. And, um, she guessed that I liked someone.” A pause. “And she guessed that it was you.”

At that, Rachel’s eyebrows shot straight up.

“She knew? How?”

“Well, Santana called it lesbian magic, so I don’t know exactly. But she promised to keep it a secret, and I think she will.”

Quinn carefully studied Rachel's face for any signs of unease as she asked, “Was that okay? I just really needed to tell someone, and she's one of my best friends.”

The brunette quickly reassured her.
“Of course! I’m glad you have someone to talk to about this. I know Santana and I haven’t always seen eye to eye, but with the way she stood up for Kurt, and helped start the GSA…it seems that she’s turning over a new leaf.”

Then she chewed her lip for a moment before confessing, “Also…I was with Kurt last night and I told him that you and I kissed. But he is sworn to secrecy, and I trust him not to out us.”

After taking a few seconds to let that settle, Quinn said, a little startled by her own lack of anxiety, “I think I actually feel relieved that he knows? I’m not ready to totally come out, but I don’t want to hide from everyone.”

She looked back up at Rachel, feeling the smile stretching across her face.
Almost before she could properly react, the other girl was flinging herself at Quinn, wrapping her arms around her as tightly as she could.

Before she could say anything, Rachel whispered, almost into her ear.
“I’m just really happy.”

“Me too,” she whispered back, pulling Rachel even closer.

---------------------------------------------------

The next day, Rachel kept falling into happy little daydreams.

When Quinn had dropped her off after their coffee date (date!) the day before, they had sat in the car silently for a long moment as the anticipation stretched out between them.

Then Rachel had made a decision.
She unbuckled her seatbelt, turned to face Quinn and said, “I’m going to kiss you now.”

The expression on Quinn’s face had been priceless, but the blonde had quickly blinked it away and unbuckled her own seatbelt, shifting her body to meet Rachel halfway.

It was a soft, sweet kiss and it went on long enough that she had to pull away in order to breathe.

“You’re really good at that,” she’d told Quinn, and had been amused to see the dreamy look on the blonde’s face shift into a more cocky expression.

Which, honestly, was pretty hot. But that wasn’t something she was going to tell Quinn yet.

Now that they were officially dating, something they had shyly discussed on the drive back to Lima, Rachel thought that it was time to tell her dads.

But, before she did that, she wanted to check in with Quinn.
Based on everything the other girl had shared about her family life, she would understand if she felt anxious about parental involvement.

She opened her text thread with Quinn and typed out a message, smiling as she saw the good morning text she’d received earlier.

I think I’m going to come out to my dads as bisexual today.

It took a couple hours for her to get a response, but when she did, she smiled some more.

That’s great Rachel. I’m sure your dads will react really well. Text me after and let me know how it goes?

I could call you later?

She hoped Quinn would say yes, because she found herself really wanting to hear the other girl's voice.

Yes! I’ll be around after dinner. Right now I need to go home and collapse because Coach Sylvester was brutal today.

Okay, get some rest and hydrate!

Having sent that message, Rachel sat on her bed and began planning her coming out speech.
She briefly thought about putting together a Powerpoint presentation, but perhaps that was overkill.

In the end, she decided to just be concise.
She had no worries about her dad's responses to the revelation about her sexuality, though she was a little nervous about how they would react when they eventually learned that she was dating Quinn Fabray.

Given her rather vocal previous complaining about the other girl, her dads likely did not have a great opinion of her.
But that was an issue for another day.

When she went downstairs for lunch, her daddy was at the sink slicing some vegetables for a salad while her dad was setting the table.

Rachel stepped into the room, folded her hands in front of her, and took a deep breath.

“Dads.”

“Yes sweetheart?” her daddy asked, briefly glancing over his shoulder before returning to his task.

“There’s something I need to tell you. Both of you.”

Her tone must have caused some concern, because her dad stopped what he was doing to look at her and her daddy paused in his chopping to meet Hiram’s eyes over her head before focusing his attention on his daughter.

“What is it?” Hiram asked, “Is everything okay?”

Though she had rehearsed in the mirror several times, this felt harder than she’d expected.

“I considered presenting this more formally, but I felt that it would be better to just rip off the band aid.”

She looked back and forth between her fathers, both of whom were now watching her intently, clasped her hands together more tightly and announced, “I’m bisexual.”

Honestly, she had not been one hundred percent sure what reaction she had been expecting, but both of her dads smiled, and quickly moved from their respective positions to smash her into a group hug.

“Thank you for telling us sweetie,” her dad eventually said, once the extremely long and tight embrace was over.

Her daddy briefly rested a hand on her shoulder before returning to salad prep, but once he’d started up with the chopping again, he asked her, “So, honey, is there a certain, uh, girl who you have your eye on?”

Rachel recognized his falsely casual tone as the one that he used when he was fishing for information.
Which meant that he knew something, or at least thought he did.

She quickly glanced over at her dad, but he looked away, focusing more attention on setting the table than the task required.

“If there was someone,” she asked slowly, “how would you feel about that?”

“Well, we would of course want to know that she treated you right, and was respectful and kind, all the things we’d wish for our daughter’s partner.”
Then, her daddy turned and gave her a bit of a mischievous look before adding, “Of course it would be nice if she wasn’t as much of a dope as that Finn Hudson boy.”

“Leroy!”, his husband admonished, though he sounded on the edge of laughter.

Comparing Quinn and Finn made Rachel start to giggle.

“Daddy I promise that she is miles ahead of Finn in every way.”

Now Leroy dropped the knife onto the counter and spun around.

“Ah ha! So there is a certain someone.”

Rachel rolled her eyes.

Hiram had finished with the place settings and crossed the kitchen to start grabbing the food.

“Lee, why don’t we save the interrogation until after you finish with that salad? We can sit down and discuss this over lunch.”

With an indignant huff, his husband agreed.

---------------------------------------------------

Later, on the phone, Rachel was giving Quinn a summary of how the conversation had gone.

“So they tried to pretend they were less excited than they clearly were, but it was still very sweet.”

“And you’re sure that they aren’t going to hate me? I know I was horrible to you for a long time.”

Quinn’s tone was laced with regret and true concern, so Rachel hastened to comfort her.

“I promise that they won’t hate you. Once they get to know you, I know they’ll think that you’re amazing.”

“Okay.”

Rachel could tell that the other girl wasn’t fully convinced, so she continued, a bit hesitant, “Speaking of getting to know you, they want to have you over for dinner.”

“They do?” Quinn asked in a high-pitched squeak.

“They do. But if you aren’t ready for that, it’s fine. I know it’s kind of a big step, and it’s a parent thing, and…”.

“Rach, it’s fine,” Quinn interrupted.

Ignoring for the moment how the shortened version of her name sounded coming from Quinn made her feel she asked, “It is?”

“Yeah, it is. I would like to meet them, you know, officially.”

“Okay great! Just let me know when you’re free and I can plan it.”

She couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face, especially when she remembered how Finn had tried to avoid meeting her dads for as long as possible.

“So, speaking of plans,” Quinn said, the register of her voice dropping into something that instantly caught Rachel’s attention.

“Yes?”

“When can we see each other?”

Rachel’s instinctive response was to say, as soon as possible, but she was still trying to make sure she didn’t overwhelm or smother Quinn.

“Well, I just found out that my dads are taking me to my aunt’s house for a couple days. We’re leaving the day after tomorrow, but we’ll be back on Friday to celebrate Christmas. Could we see each other tomorrow?”

Quinn blew out a frustrated breath, “I wish I could, but between Cheerios practice and the time my mom wants me to spend with her, I don’t think I can.”

Her grumpy voice sounded absolutely adorable, but Rachel forced herself not to chuckle.

“I guess when I get back then? And we can still text or talk on the phone, right?”

“Of course.”
A moment of silence and then, more quietly, “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too,” Rachel replied, even as her chest filled with warmth.

“Goodnight Rachel.”

“Goodnight Quinn.”

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Daylight

Rachel had just finished unpacking from her trip and was looking around her room, feeling very glad to be home.
She always enjoyed spending time at her aunt’s house as she got spoiled with cookies and got to watch her dads and aunt get tipsy on sherry and sing show tunes with various levels of skill.

But being back in Lima meant getting to see Quinn again.
She’d missed the other girl even more than she’d anticipated, which would perhaps feel a bit worrisome, but it seemed like Quinn had been feeling the same way.
They’d been talking on the phone every night, and Rachel was quickly becoming addicted to hearing Quinn’s huskier sleepy voice.

She’d had several daydreams about getting to hear Quinn tell her goodnight in person.
The idea was extremely appealing, even if her brain tended to veer away from thinking about anything that might happen beyond kissing and cuddling. Those other kinds of thoughts were still a little overwhelming given the newness of their relationship and her own lack of experience.

Rachel hadn’t been able to make any solid plans because she hadn't been sure exactly what time she would return.
But the Berrys ended up getting back to Lima just after lunch, and she was really, really hoping to get to see Quinn.

Since Cheerios practice should be over, Rachel decided to send a text, her desire to see the other girl outweighing any worry she had about appearing too eager.

I’m back in town and I have the rest of the day free. Can I see you?

It only took three rounds of impatient pacing through her room before she got a response.

Give me an hour to recover from the insane practice coach made us do today and then I’m all yours.

Reading that definitely made a small surge of happiness zip through Rachel’s chest.
The follow-up message also made her heart rate pick up a bit.

Come over? My mom won’t be home until late.

With a broad and goofy grin on her face, Rachel replied.

That sounds great. I’ll see you soon.

After sending the message, she bounced out into the hallway. Surely she could convince one of her dads to give her a ride over to Quinn’s.

---------------------------------------------------

It turned out that she was able to convince her daddy to give her a ride, and a little over an hour later, they were making the short drive to the Fabray home.

She could tell that her daddy was resisting teasing her, but like her, he wasn’t able to stay silent for too long.

“So sweetie, make sure you talk to Quinn about when she can come over for dinner. Your father and I are both looking forward to getting to know her.”

Even though the thought of that scenario made her a little nervous, a part of her was excited for the chance to show Quinn off to her dads.
She was sure that the other girl would make an excellent impression, and actually be able to keep up with the lively conversation that generally happened around the Berry dinner table.

The few times that Finn had been over for dinner, he had mostly focused on eating a rather alarming amount of food and trying to avoid eye contact with either of her dads.

“I’ll ask her about it. She did say that she wanted to.”

Leroy gave an approving hum.

“I have to say, between her excellent piano playing and her obvious good taste in wanting to date you, she’s already won a few points in my book.”

Rachel giggled a little at his commentary, but then got a more serious expression on her face as she asked, “And you’re really okay with me dating her? I know she hasn’t always been nice to me, and a lot of her bad behavior was certainly unfounded, but she really has changed.”

When he responded, his voice was reassuring.
“Sweetheart, I trust your judgment, and I know if she was still that same bully, you wouldn’t be spending time with her.”

“Besides,” he added after giving those words a moment to sink in, “I have some experience with being a closeted teenager from a religious family. It can make you lash out or act in ways that you aren’t proud of.”

Rachel chewed on her lip a bit as she considered that.

“I think she was really unhappy,” she eventually said in a soft tone. “It was something I could always see, and I was never sure why everyone else couldn’t.”

Her daddy gave her a sympathetic look that she missed, as she was lost in memories of all the times in the past she had felt drawn to Quinn, or had wanted to comfort her, even when it made no sense given how the other girl had treated her.
Maybe she had been in denial about her true feelings for longer than she’d realized.

She was startled out of those thoughts by the car coming to a stop.

“Let me know if you need a ride later, okay?”

“Okay, thanks daddy.”

After giving him the best side hug she could over the center console, she exited the car, somehow preventing herself from breaking into a jog as she approached the house.

It seemed that Quinn was just as eager as she was though, because she had barely knocked when the door swung open and the blonde girl was standing there smiling at her.

Rachel stepped forward and as soon as she was inside with the door closed behind her, she practically leapt at Quinn.

Thankfully, the cheerleader seemed to be ready for that and absorbed her momentum as she wrapped her arms tightly around the shorter girl.

“Hi,” she whispered against the side of Quinn’s neck.

“Hi,” same the soft response, along with an equally soft kiss to the side of her head.

She burrowed in a little closer and said, “I missed you.”

“Missed you too Rach.”

That made her pull back far enough so she could properly see Quinn’s face.

“Really?”

Her question earned her an eye roll, but also the faintest blush.

“Obviously.”

Her eyes mapped out the other girl’s features as she marveled, yet again, at how pretty Quinn was.
Those tempting lips being so close made her feel bold.

“Well, in that case, you should show me.”

Though Quinn did not respond verbally, the look on her face clearly showed that she caught the meaning of the comment.

Before Rachel could fully appreciate the intensity of that look and the rush of heat it sent through her body, Quinn’s lips were on hers, and that became her entire focus.

When that kiss ended, it was quickly followed by another, equally fierce kiss that left Rachel's head spinning. She almost didn’t register that she was being ushered towards the living room until she was getting pushed down onto the couch.

Quinn quickly sat down next to her, and Rachel only had a moment to register the dark glint in her hazel eyes before she was pulled in for another kiss.

While they had kissed multiple times on several different occasions, they had never actually made out before, at least not by Rachel's definition.

This however, was definitely a make out session.

As the kiss deepened, Rachel couldn’t help but let out a small moan into Quinn’s mouth before she wound an arm around the other girl’s waist and pulled her closer.
Really though, they couldn’t get any closer unless she crawled into Quinn’s lap.

Which, without really thinking about anything but the sudden strong urge for more physical contact, she did.

The position was a little awkward as she was basically sitting sideways, but before she could try and shift, Quinn’s mouth was on her neck leaving feather light kisses that made her tremble.

One of her hands found its way up to tangle in the now very disheveled blonde hair falling over Quinn’s face as warm lips grazed the base of her throat.

Though she was enjoying that sensation very much, she wanted to kiss the other girl even more, so she used her hand to guide Quinn’s face back up as she leaned down, pressing her lips to the cheerleader’s and gently slipping her tongue into Quinn’s mouth.

In response, the blonde arched forward, pressing her body into Rachel’s.

It was hard to breathe, and all she was thinking about was how to be closer, when Quinn gently disengaged and rested her head against Rachel’s side, taking a moment to catch her breath.

Her eyes were especially dark as she silently looked up at the girl in her lap.

“I told you I missed you,” she said eventually, and the tone of her voice almost tempted Rachel into leaning back in.

Instead, she climbed carefully off Quinn’s lap, settling in next to her and taking one of her hands.

“You definitely showed me.”

It was clear that the other girl was caught between shyness and smugness, and after clearing her throat, she asked, “So that was okay?”

Rachel squeezed the hand she was holding and snuggled in against Quinn’s side, gratified when she felt an arm wrap around her.

“That was more than okay.”

She had been wanting to talk about this, and it seemed like a good moment.

“Quinn, I’m…really attracted to you. Everything that we’ve done has felt really good, and I want to do more. But also…I’m not that experienced, in a general sense, but also specifically with, um, girls.”

The fact that she didn’t have to look at Quinn made it a little easier to say everything, but she was still nervous as she waited for a response.

It took a moment, but then, “I’m really attracted to you too.”
There was a pause before Quinn continued, “I know that I’ve, you know, had sex before, but only once and honestly, I don’t really count that. That was a mistake. But this isn’t. And when it comes to girls, well, you know exactly how much experience I’ve had.”

That last bit made Rachel give a little huff of laughter, and she felt brave enough to look at Quinn again.

“So we’ll figure it out together?”

The blonde girl’s lips shifted into a tiny little smirk.
“I think we’re doing pretty well so far.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

Quinn’s voice going low and breathy like that was impossible for Rachel to resist and she was just leaning in for another kiss when the doorbell suddenly went off and she almost jumped out of her skin.

Apparently, Quinn hadn’t been expecting that to happen either, because her head snapped up towards the door.

A second later, the sound of someone knocking loudly broke the silence, and they heard a muffled voice shouting, “Fabray! Let me in!”

“Is that…Santana?” Rachel asked.

Quinn nodded, looking confused, and then her face shifted into a guilty expression.

“Oh shit,” she muttered, then turned back to Rachel and said, extremely apologetically, “I totally forgot that she was coming over. I got so distracted texting you, and I really wanted to see you…”

Rachel laid a calming hand on her wrist and cut off her rambling.
“It’s okay. Though, you should probably open the door before she knocks it down.”

The knocking had in fact turned into what sounded like kicking and Santana was now being even louder.

“What the hell dude! Open up!”

Quinn hurried over to the door and opened it, and Santana practically fell across the threshold, loaded down as she was with multiple bags.

“Were you sleeping or something?” Santana demanded as she started towards the kitchen.

“Santana, I….”.

Her friend cut off whatever explanation she was trying to give.

“After that hellish pre-Christmas practice we deserve to eat our body weight in Chinese food, and no lectures about corn syrup because I will be gulping down an obscene amount of Dr. Pepper. And if you…”.

Santana’s diatribe ended abruptly as she suddenly caught sight of Rachel stepping out of the living room.

All three girls were momentarily at a loss for words.
Santana was the first to recover, and a very wicked look spread across her face as she took in their messy hair, swollen lips, and generally disheveled appearance.

“Well, well, isn’t this interesting.”

“Santana,” Quinn said, a warning note in her voice.

Rachel nervously tried to smooth the wrinkles out of her shirt and then started to make her way towards the door.

“I should probably get going and leave you to your dinner.”

She looked over at Quinn and the girl looked stricken as she took a step towards Rachel and held up a hand as if to stop her.

But Santana interrupted their tableau, surprising both of them.

“You can stay, Berry.”

“What?”

“What?” echoed Quinn.

“Yeah,” Santana said, quite nonchalantly, “I bought a shit ton of food, and I know blondie over here won’t eat her share, so yeah, stay.”

“Okay,” Rachel said, still feeling a bit hesitant, “I mean, if that’s okay with Quinn.”

“Stay. Please.”

The moment of soft eye contact the two of them shared was broken by Santana clapping her hands together briskly.

“Alright then, it’s settled. Now help me get all this food unpacked. Mama needs to get her crab rangoon on.”

---------------------------------------------------

Surprisingly, Quinn was actually enjoying herself, and even more amazing was the fact that Rachel seemed to be as well.

Though the brunette had been withdrawn at first, Santana had only gone so far as to mildly insult both of them, and had been very generous about sharing the food and soda that she’d brought.

When it became clear that both Quinn and Rachel were still a bit shell-shocked by the turn their evening had taken, Santana had kept up a stream of cheerfully sarcastic chatter about the Cheerios and Glee that had eventually pulled the other two into a conversation.

Quinn had sent a few grateful looks Santana’s way, because she was aware that her friend was doing this for her sake.

Once they’d all eaten a generous helping of food, Santana leaned back in her chair and looked between them for a moment before focusing her attention on Rachel.

“So Berry, what are your intentions with my friend here?”

A small, choking sound came from Quinn’s throat, but Santana ignored her and continued.

“Clearly you two were sucking face before I got here, which is a big deal for little Quinnie here. How do I know that you aren’t going to go running back to Frankenteen once you’ve gotten this sapphic phase out of your system?”

Her tone was light, but her eyes had a hard edge to them, and Quinn could tell that her concern was real. She was curious how Rachel would respond.

The smaller girl folded her hands on the table, and though a slight waver in her voice betrayed her nervousness, her eyes met Santana’s steadily.

“First, I want to make it clear that this isn’t a phase. I’m bisexual and Quinn and I are dating. And I can assure you that I won’t be running back to Finn now or ever, assuming that’s who you are referring to.”

“You care about her,” Santana said after a moment, the sentence coming out as less of a question than a statement.

“Of course I do,” Rachel said, glancing over at Quinn shyly, “she’s smart, and considerate, ambitious, and obviously beautiful.”

Santana smiled an actual smile then and looked over to Quinn who was now fidgeting and hoping that her face wasn’t as red as it felt.

“In that case…,” Santana said, pausing dramatically for long enough to make both Quinn and Rachel lean forward slightly, “I’m good with all this. But if you hurt her Berry, I will make sure you get a slushie facial every day until graduation.”

That threat did make Rachel gulp a little.
“Understood.”

“Okay, then we’re cool. You losers want to watch a movie?”

Both Quinn and Rachel quickly nodded and Santana hopped up from the table and headed for the bathroom.

Once she was inside, she closed the door and whipped out her phone, eager to text Kurt and gloat.

I happen to be at Quinn’s house right now, and guess who was here when I showed up?

She drummed her fingers on the edge of the sink and waited for the reply, pleased when her phone went off several times in rapid succession.

Are you serious?
You better not be joking!!!
What is she doing there?

From what I could tell, it definitely involved their lips.

!!!!🌈!!!!
What did they do when you showed up? Did they freak?

honestly…not really.
Berry tried to leave, but I told her she could stay and now we’re all about to watch a movie together.

Wtf
Omg

later Hummel

With that, she switched her phone to silent, as she knew that Kurt would continue to blow up her phone.
It was alright though, she’d make it up to him later.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Quinn and Rachel were cleaning up the remains of their dinner.

“Are you okay with staying?” Quinn asked, a little nervously, “If not, I can take you home.”

Rachel stepped closer so she could lean slightly against the blonde girl.

“I want to stay. But I do have one condition.”

“What is it?”

“You have to snuggle with me during the movie.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Rachel caught the flash of a smile.

“Deal.”

By the time Santana got back from the bathroom, they were already on the couch doing just that.
When the other girl saw them, she gave an elaborate eye roll that looked almost fond.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

How You Get the Girl

“You know, I’m still mad at you,” Kurt said quietly. “I can’t believe you waited 24 hours to give me an update after dropping that bomb.”

“Whatever, teasing you was worth it.”

Santana’s verbal response was much calmer than it would have normally been, likely due to the relaxing environment they were currently basking in.

The two of them were having the closest thing to a spa day that was possible for teenagers living in Lima, Ohio.

It had started with manicures, and now they were in a dimly lit room sitting in massage chairs while their mud masks slowly dried on their faces.

It was difficult to speak with the mask continuing to tighten, but he managed to, somehow able to sound whiny through mostly clenched teeth.

“I just can’t believe that you were the one to see actual Faberry evidence first.”

Santana repressed a snort of laughter in order not to crack her own face mask, and replied, sounding a bit distorted as she attempted to move her mouth as little as possible, “Did you want to see Quinn and Berry make out or something? Do you have a secret voyeuristic kink?”

A frustrated growl came from the chair next to her.

Any further response was interrupted as the door to the room opened and the attendant walked in.

Once they had both carefully washed their faces and applied a sharp smelling toner, they headed out for the next stage in their celebration.

It had actually been Santana’s idea to do any celebrating in the first place, which had briefly surprised Kurt, but he was now quite certain that the cheerleader was even more invested in the matchmaking plan than he was.

Their next stop was, unsurprisingly, The Lima Bean, where Brittany was going to join them for some overly sweet seasonal coffee beverages.

Once they were all crowded around a table with mugs in hand, Brittany’s eyes darted between Kurt and Santana playfully.

“I heard that Rachel and Quinn have been getting their sweet lady loving on. Do you think they’d come on Fondue for Two?”

“Brittany,” Kurt hissed, casting a wild look around to make sure no one they knew was within earshot, “this is all still very top secret!”

Santana patted the other girl’s hand.

“We talked about this Britt, remember? Code names?”

After a brief moment of looking confused, Brittany’s face lit up.

“Right! I mean, how are things with Tom and Jerry?”

She followed up that question with a very awkward wink at Kurt.

“Wait, which one is Tom and which one is Jerry?” Santana asked.

“Oh…I don’t remember.”

Kurt quickly waved his hand dismissively, not wanting the conversation to get totally derailed.

“Never mind. The more important question is how do we keep things going smoothly once we’re back in school, you know, tomorrow?”

That made Santana stop playing footsie with Brittany and get a serious look on her face.

“Well Porcelain, our original subplot is actually working given that we have the GSA up and running, but even with the jocks we have on board, the bullying isn’t totally gone yet.”

Kurt ignored the nickname as it was actually the least unpleasant one that Sue Sylvester had ever graced him with, and therefore he was rather fond of it.

“Karofsky has gone pretty quiet thanks to you and the hockey players, but he and Azimio could still be a rallying point for bullies.”

Santana tapped her fingers against the table impatiently.
“I’ll take care of Karofsky. Besides, we have a bigger fish to fry, literally, we should roll him in cornmeal and toss him in a skillet. It could feed the community for weeks.”

“Though your colorful language only serves to obscure your meaning, I can only assume that you’re referring to my dear step-brother?”

“Duh.”

“Did you ever think about how “Finn” sounds a lot like “fish”?” Brittany interjected, “And since Sam is Trouty Mouth, maybe we should put them in an aquarium together. Sam could wear a Speedo and Finn could wear a wetsuit. I bet they’d be happy.”

“I think that would make us all happy,” Santana said, smiling beatifically as she contemplated it.

Shaking his head to clear it of the horrible vision now literally swimming through his mind, Kurt slapped his hand on the table to get the attention of the two girls across from him who were now giggling into each other's faces and looking like they were about to kiss at any moment.

“Excuse me, we need to finish planning. As I already stated, we go back to school tomorrow and if we want this fledgling relationship to stand a chance, we need to make everything go as smoothly as possible for our little gaybies.”

“You know a lot of words Kurt,” Brittany said, giving him an admiring look, “you might even have a bigger vocabulary than Lord Tubbington.”

“Okay, okay,” Santana said, focusing again, “like I said, we need to figure out what to do about the Jolly Green Giant. Because if he figures out that his two ex-girlfriends are dating…”

“Yes,” Kurt said with a frown, “it certainly would not be good.”

“He’ll probably kick a chair again,” Brittany added, trying to lick whipped cream off her nose.

With a soft look, Santana wiped her clean with a napkin.
Kurt watched the interaction and felt a quick pang of loneliness, but decided to ignore it for the moment, and crossed his arms.

“If you handle Karofsky, I’ll worry about Finn. Since we now cohabitate, I can keep an eye on him fairly easily.”

“Deal.”

Brittany and Santana spent the next few moments whispering to each other while Kurt sipped his drink and did his best not to hear anything they were saying.

Eventually, when the two girls looked a little less distracted he asked, “What do you think the rest of Glee will think of this new development?”

Santana’s brow furrowed as she appeared to seriously consider the question.

“Puck will say something gross, probably including the words “baby mama”, Mercedes and Tina will be shocked at first but will ultimately totally ship it, Sam will be confused but chill, and honestly, who cares what anyone else thinks.”

Kurt took a moment to ponder her answer before nodding.
“I agree. With the exception of Finn, I don’t think anyone else will care enough for it to mess with our group chemistry. Which is good, because I don’t want anything to throw us off track for Regionals.”

“Me neither.”

Santana’s response was so serious that Kurt was a little stunned.

“My, my, are you admitting that you actually care about a singing competition?”

“She’s even been practicing,” Brittany informed Kurt, as she smiled at the girl next to her.

“Whatever,” came the grumpy response, “I crushed it at Sectionals with Valerie, so I figured I should keep my hot streak going to help us destroy the competition at Regionals.”

To keep from setting off her defensiveness, Kurt kept his smile as restrained as possible and merely said, quite calmly, “If we have Quinn and Rachel finally on the same page and you’re putting in actual effort, I feel pretty good about our odds.”

Santana and Brittany smiled back, and for that moment, everything felt perfect.

---------------------------------------------------

Quinn was freaking out.

Her room looked like it had been hit by a tornado, with the majority of her wardrobe scattered across her bed and shoes piling out from her closet in haphazard little piles.

Tonight she was going to have dinner with Rachel and her dads.
The last time she’d been this worried about making a good impression, it had been her first day at McKinley High School and she was trying to leave the legacy of Lucy Fabray behind.

Dinner wasn’t for a couple hours still, but once she’d started thinking about it, she hadn’t been able to stop.
She had hoped that picking out an outfit would help quell her nerves, but now she was more nervous than ever.

She didn’t want to show up looking like a total church girl, but besides her rather horrifyingly large collection of girlish looking dresses, she didn’t have many options.
Wearing a Cheerios outfit to school every day made it easy not to think about fashion.

With an exasperated groan, she sat down on the floor and texted Rachel.

Might be having a bit of a meltdown.

It both did and didn’t surprise her when her phone started to ring a few minutes later.

“Hello?”

“Quinn, are you alright? Why are you having a meltdown? Do I need to lead you through some breathing exercises?”

Hearing the other girl’s voice immediately helped her feel better, which she found ironic after how long she’d spent trying to convince herself that all she wanted was to shove a sock in Rachel's mouth every time she spoke.

But hearing that concerned tone directed at her was extremely different than having to listen to the other girl’s diva monologues.

“I’m alright, just nervous about tonight. I was trying to pick an outfit, but almost everything I have is either track pants or dresses that make me look like a suburban mom. And I want to make a good impression on your dads, but I don’t know how.”

Quinn took a breath, and then continued, her voice rising in pitch and pace as she went.

“I’ve never even had to meet the dad of anyone I’m dating. Finn’s dad is dead, and Puck’s dad is never around, but now I have to meet two dads all at once, two dads Rachel! What if they hate me and decide that you can’t see me any more, or they only invited me to dinner to tell me that I’m a horrible person for being so awful to you? And I mean, you’re a star, and I’m a teen mom and like a classic mean girl and…”.

She was vaguely aware that Rachel was saying her name, but nothing cut through her rising panic except one word.

“Quinn, hey Quinn. Quinn! Baby.”

The nervous rant stopped abruptly and she blinked a few times before asking, quietly, “Did you just call me baby?”

Now Rachel was the one who sounded nervous.

“I did. Was that okay?”

“I…I liked it.”

There was a long pause and Quinn realized there was a smile on her face.
She stayed silent until Rachel spoke again.

“First off, I want to assure you that my dads will think that you’re amazing, because you are. You have so much going for you Quinn, you just have to relax and be yourself. Also, there is no way that they’ll forbid me from seeing you, and even if they did, I wouldn’t listen. As for the outfit choice, I’ll likely be no help because of my own rather…unique fashion sense. But I know you said that Santana took you shopping, so why don’t you ask her?”

It took a second for Quinn to mull all of that over, but eventually, she let out a breath, feeling a lot calmer than she had just a few minutes ago.

“Thanks Rachel, that helped a lot.”

She could hear the smile in the other girl’s response.
“You’re welcome. And I’m glad. I’ll see you later.”

“Later Rach.”

After hanging up, she decided to take the advice and call Santana.
Though it would likely be dished out with a handful of insults, in the end, she knew that her friend would be able to help.

“‘Sup Fabray?”

“Hey Santana. I need some advice.”

“Ooooo…are you ready to touch some lady parts? Because I can definitely…”

“No! Not that!”

“Boring. Okay, fine, what?”

Quinn cleared her throat and powered through her embarrassment.

“I’m meeting Rachel’s dads tonight, and I want to make a good impression. But all my clothes are either meant for cheer practice or…”.

“They make you look like a church lady?”

“Yes,” she glumly agreed.

“I assume you’d rather go for cute and preppy than look like you’re there to sell a Bible?”

“Obviously. Do I even have anything cute and preppy?”

Having asked that semi-rhetorical question, she started looking through the clothes tossed around the room.

“What about that cute shit I forced you to buy at the mall?” Santana asked.

Those clothes were easier to locate, because after washing them, she’d hung them neatly in one end of her closet and hadn’t worn them, except for one of the pairs of jeans.

She flipped through the hangers and could understand what Santana meant by cute and preppy.

“Okay, but what specifically should I wear?”

“The medium wash jeans with that blue button down, and for god’s sake leave the top two buttons undone. Put on your nicest pair of Converse and leave the cross necklace at home.”

“I only have one pair of Converse,” Quinn replied, locating the black low-top pair sitting next to the closet.

“Dios mio, are you even a lesbian?”

“Santana…”.

“Right, fine. I can respect that you are still a baby gay, but we are going shopping again soon, because you need to update your style game, for realz.”

“It’s not like I disagree with you,” Quinn mumbled.

“Good. Don’t. And we’re bringing Brittany, because she’s like, a secret fashion icon.”

After a moment of silence, Quinn said, sincerely, “Thank you.”

It seemed that her friend understood that her thanks were for more than just helping pick out an outfit, because her reply was equally sincere.

“No problem. Now remember, you’re Quinn fucking Fabray. You’ve got this.”

“I’ve got this.”

---------------------------------------------------

Rachel was practically vibrating with nervous excitement as she repeatedly made a circuit between the front of the house to look out the window and the kitchen where her dad was making dinner.

Her daddy was assisting with the cooking, though he also kept trying to sneak bites and getting his hand slapped, and the next time she got to the kitchen, he gave her an amused look.

“Do you think you’re going to make it sweetheart? Or are you going to pass out before Quinn gets here?”

The glare she leveled at him made him laugh out loud.

“Oh, don’t tease her, Lee. I’m sure that our daughter is just excited to show off her pretty girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” Rachel squeaked.

Both of her dads turned and gave her curious looks as she stood there frozen, mind racing.

“I don’t know if she is my girlfriend! I mean, I know that we’re dating, but that is not a word that we’ve used yet, and I’m not sure if Quinn wants that, or what that would mean…”.

“Breathe sweetie,” Leroy said, stepping over to gently rub her shoulder.

As she visibly calmed, he added, “Let’s just have a nice dinner so your dad and I can get to know Quinn. It’s going to be okay.”

Rachel nodded almost automatically and was about to ask a question about the food prep status when she heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway.

Her dads watched in amusement as she practically sprinted for the front door.

Hiram shook his head a little.
“I hope that Quinn isn’t easily scared off.”

Leroy scoffed.
“She’s known Rachel for a while now. I’m sure she’s well aware of what she's getting into.”

He wasn’t wrong, though Quinn was a little surprised when, as soon as she’d gotten out of her car, the front door of the Berry’s house opened and Rachel came flying out.

Before she could really say anything, she was being wrapped in a tight hug that she automatically returned.

As soon as Rachel was folded in Quinn’s arms, face pressed into the blonde’s shoulder, she felt calmer.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

One of Quinn’s hands was gently rubbing her back, which was very nice, as was the concern in the other girl’s voice when she asked, “Are you okay?”

Reluctantly, she disengaged from the hug and took a step back.

“I’m fine. I just got nervous and my dads were teasing me a little.”

She took in Quinn’s outfit and smiled.
“You look very cute.”

Her comment was rewarded with an attractive pink blush.
“I’m trying out a new look. I’m kind of over all the dresses.”

“Well I like it,” Rachel said, tugging gently on Quinn’s collar.
It took her a little by surprise when Quinn followed the motion and leaned in to steal a quick kiss.

She was very tempted to lean in herself, hopefully for a longer follow-up kiss, when her daddy’s voice came booming from the doorway.

“Rachel Barbra Berry! Why are you keeping our guest out here in the cold?”

Rachel groaned.
“Oh my god. I apologize in advance for both of my fathers.”

Quinn merely stood up straighter and gently took Rachel’s hand, lacing their fingers together.

The gesture may have made Rachel melt a little, but she put on her game face and led Quinn inside.

She pulled her through the house and into the kitchen, her daddy trailing along behind them.
Hiram was just taking something off the stove, but he quickly turned and smiled.

“Dad, this is Quinn.”

He pulled off an oven mitt and extended a hand, which Quinn took and shook firmly.

“It’s lovely to meet you Mr. Berry.”

“Oh, call me Hiram please. I’m so glad to finally meet you, especially after hearing so much about you.”

Rachel scowled at her dad and then turned her head in time to catch the faintest of smirks flit across Quinn’s face.

“Oh really Hiram? All good things I hope?”

Her dad seemed delighted by her confident sounding inquiry.

“Of course.”

He turned back to the stove to fiddle with something for a moment and then swiveled back around.

“I hope you’re hungry Quinn. I made fajitas, and don’t worry there’s chicken along with the tofu and veggies.”

Quinn replied with an earnest politeness that made Rachel as delighted as her father.
“That sounds delicious, but I hope you didn’t go to too much extra trouble on my account.”

“No trouble at all. I’m actually a vegetarian and Leroy is a carnivore, so Rachel is the only real vegan in the household. Now, why don’t you girls have a seat in the dining room and Lee and I will bring everything out.”

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” Quinn asked, seemingly determined to continue being unimpeachably polite.

“I appreciate the offer, but we’ve got it taken care of.”

Rachel gave Quinn a gentle nudge to usher her out of the kitchen and once they’d made it to the dining room, she quietly said, “You don’t have to suck up quite so much. I promise that you are already miles ahead of Finn when it comes to making a good impression.”

Quinn rolled her eyes.
“That’s such an extremely low bar that I’m almost offended. And I’m not sucking up, I’m just being polite.”

With that, she pulled out Rachel’s chair, ignoring the surprised look she got in response.

Neither girl noticed Hiram and Leroy peeking around the doorway.

“I don’t think I ever saw Finn perform a single act of chivalry,” Hiram whispered.

“Because he was a dunce. The same obviously can’t be said for Quinn.”

They exchanged a smile and then bustled into the room to set out a generous amount of food.

---------------------------------------------------

By the standards of everyone present, the dinner was going exceptionally well.

Rachel’s fathers were impressed by Quinn’s impeccable table manners and her ability to carry on an intelligent conversation.
It also hadn’t escaped their notice that Rachel kept sneaking soft, admiring glances at the other girl.

They had already discussed general school related topics and asked Quinn about cheerleading and her proficiency at the piano.

Quinn downplayed her musical accomplishments, but Rachel scoffed at her self-deprecation.

“You are an excellent piano player Quinn. I’ve heard you play a variety of styles and you clearly have a gift for music.”

Before Quinn could come up with a response, Leroy cut in.

“My daughter is right. I only got to hear you play a tiny bit, but it was lovely. And Hiram and I had the pleasure of seeing you perform at Sectionals and you’re also quite the singer.”

Hiram, who was currently chewing, nodded in emphatic agreement.

By now, Quinn’s blush had crept up her neck and her ears were starting to go red.
She wasn’t used to so much focused and sincere praise.

Any accomplishments in cheerleading were generally met with a compliment that was still somehow an insult in classic Sue Sylvester style.
And her own parents had generally praised her looks and good girl behavior above all else.

She had to take a sip of water and clear her throat before she could respond.

“Thank you, that’s so nice of you to say. I know I’m nowhere near Rachel’s caliber, but I did enjoy the duet a lot more than I thought I would.”

Rachel frowned a little and said in a serious tone, “You are better at the piano than I am Quinn, and you shouldn’t compare yourself to me when it comes to singing, as I have, after all, been in vocal training since the age of 4.”

When Quinn looked up and her eyes met Rachel’s, they exchanged a long, meaningful glance. Rachel’s fathers took this look in with interest and exchanged a pleased look of their own.

“Well,” Hiram eventually said, breaking the spell, “I know I look forward to seeing your next performance at…”.

“Regionals dad.”

“Yes, Regionals.”

The mention of the next competition seemed to activate Rachel’s anxiety, because she sat up a little straighter and started to ramble in a concerned tone.

“I will need to talk to Mr. Schue immediately, because I’m quite sure that he has no plan for Regionals yet, and given the fact that Quinn and I had to basically hand him the songs for Sectionals on a silver platter…”.

Her voice trailed off as Quinn laid a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed.

“It’s going to be fine Rachel. No need to start worrying about that yet.”

To the surprise of both of her fathers, instead of continuing her rant, Rachel merely took a calming breath and nodded, reaching up to lightly touch Quinn’s hand before returning to her dinner.

The look Leroy gave Hiram was quite significant. They’d never seen anyone able to so quickly and effectively calm their daughter down, especially regarding a topic that she held as dear as singing.

Quinn remained unaware of the momentousness of the moment, and also went back to eating her dinner.

---------------------------------------------------

Once they’d all finished and Quinn’s multiple attempts to help with clearing the table were rebuffed, Rachel took her by the hand and started leading her upstairs, calling out to her fathers that the two of them were going to watch a movie.

While Quinn sat down on her bed, Rachel went to rummage through a stack of DVDs.

She smiled as she found what she was looking for, and walked over to stand in front of the other girl, who was currently sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs dangling down.

When Quinn caught sight of the DVD case, she raised a skeptical blonde eyebrow.

“That’s the movie you want to watch?”

Rachel shot her a very mischievous look.
“I was more thinking that we wouldn’t watch it.”

Because Rachel was watching the blonde’s face so closely, she saw the exact moment that the meaning of her comment was understood.

“Why Rachel Berry, what exactly are you suggesting?”
Her tone had a wicked edge to it that matched the sudden glint in her smile, and suddenly Rachel was the one feeling flustered.

But she pushed that feeling down and took a step closer until she was basically standing between Quinn’s legs.

“I would expect an A+ student like you to be able to figure that out.”

Quinn’s eyelashes fluttered a bit as Rachel reached out and ran a hand gently down her upper arm.

“Oh, I think I can read between the lines.”

Having delivered that line of banter in a breathy voice, she hooked one arm around Rachel’s waist and pulled her into a sudden kiss.

They ended up not watching the movie.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Change

For a post-holiday Monday that had started with a grueling Cheerios practice featuring an abundance of holiday themed insults from Sue Sylvester, Quinn was in a pretty good mood.

She hadn’t been able to see Rachel in person yet, but they had class together later as well as Glee after school.

They’d exchanged their usual morning texts, which had put a smile on Quinn’s face, especially when she’d checked her phone after practice.

Looking forward to seeing my girlfriend today.

It brought her mind back to the previous night, and everything that followed the very successful, meet the dads dinner.

After their failed attempt to watch a movie, which she absolutely wasn’t complaining about, they had been snuggled up on Rachel’s bed.

She had somehow managed to work up the courage to ask a question that she’d been wanting to ask for days.

“Rachel, will you be my girlfriend?”

There was a long moment of dead silence and she was just starting to get really freaked out when she was pounced on and a stream of excited words started pouring from Rachel's mouth.

“I’ve been wanting to ask you the same thing! I wasn’t sure how you felt about it, but I hoped it was something you wanted too, and yes Quinn, I would love to be your girlfriend.”

That conversation had devolved into more kissing, but they had managed to have a quick discussion of how they were going to act in school with regards to their relationship. Neither of them was ready to fully come out yet, but they also weren’t willing to put up too much of a facade in public.

Eventually, Quinn had said, “We can take it slow, okay? Once the collective school population wraps their minds around us being friends, we can go from there.”

Rachel had propped herself up on an elbow to get a better look at Quinn’s face.
“So you’re okay with people knowing that we’re friends?”

“Of course Rachel. I don’t want to have to pretend not to like you. I mean, I’m not ready to kiss you in the hallway or anything, but I don’t want to ignore you either.”

Then her face scrunched into a scowl.
“Anyway, I’m Quinn Fabray. I can be friends with whoever I want.”

Her girlfriend’s hand trailed gently down her cheek.
“You sure can, baby.”

And that had of course led to more kissing that ended up with Rachel fully on top of her, which had been…

“Jesus Fabray, keep it in your pants.”

Santana’s snarky comment snapped her back to reality, and she realized that she’d been zoning out as their math teacher droned on about some horrible trigonometry concept.

She shot Santana a brief glare and then focused on taking notes for the rest of class.

When the bell rang, Santana waited for her to finish packing her things so they could head to lunch together. The dark-haired girl had a knowing look on her face, but mercifully, she didn’t say anything until they were in the hallway and out of earshot of any other students.

“Do I need to ask what you were thinking about, or can I guess?”

When Quinn’s only response was stony silence, she answered her own rhetorical question.

“I’m thinking…5’2”, generally terrible fashion sense, but kind of sneaky hot in a way that causes me physical pain to actually admit?”

“Yes, fine, you caught me,” Quinn replied, quiet and sarcastic, “I was thinking about my girlfriend.”

A moment later, she stopped walking when she realized that Santana was no longer following her, and had instead come to an abrupt halt in the middle of the hallway.

Her friend quickly caught up to her and hissed, “Girlfriend?”.

When Quinn snuck a peek at her face to gauge her reaction, she saw that Santana actually looked excited.

“Yes,” she eventually responded, feeling a little surprised, “You look…unexpectedly pleased by this news.”

“Yeah, well, maybe I’m a Faberry shipper.”

“A what?”

“Never mind,” Santana muttered. “Let’s grab Britt. There’s been a change in lunch plans.”

Without any warning, Quinn was grabbed by the arm and hauled off down the corridor.

---------------------------------------------------

It turned out that Santana’s “change of plans” was for herself, Brittany, and Quinn to all sit at what Santana had previously dubbed the “singing losers” table.

When Quinn realized what was happening, her mouth dropped open in a way that her mother would have frowned upon as being extremely unladylike.

Her shock prevented her from saying anything as she was unceremoniously deposited in the chair next to Rachel, while Santana forced Tina and Mike to shift down so she could sandwich herself in between Quinn and Brittany.

Quinn looked around the table to see a wide-eyed Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, Mike, and Artie staring at the three of them. Then she focused on Rachel and enjoyed watching the surprise in her eyes shift into a joyful sparkle.

Kurt was the first to respond to this sudden invasion of cheerleaders.
“To what do we owe this unexpected pleasure?”

Quinn was impressed by the lack of sarcasm in his tone.

“We just thought it wouldn’t hurt to boost your street cred,” Santana answered blithely, “we’re all on the same team after all, right?”

“And by “team” do you mean Glee Club?” Mercedes asked, a bit of a challenge in her tone.

Santana’s answer was accompanied by a smirk.
“Of course. What other team would I be talking about Aretha?”

No one was brave enough to directly address that remark, though Kurt did give an annoyed huff.

A minute later though, Tina asked, hesitantly, “Aren’t people going to think it’s weird? All of you sitting with us?”

At the question, Quinn did suddenly become aware of a ripple of whispers working through the cafeteria, along with confused looks being sent in their direction.

“Oh, right,” Santana said, completely unfazed. “Quinn?”

At the prompt, Quinn looked over at her friend, and catching the look on her face, sighed a little.
Then they both stood in unison and let their gazes slowly sweep around the room, frosty HBIC expressions set firmly on their faces.

Everyone quickly found somewhere else to look and the whispering cut off like someone had thrown a switch.

Once Santana and Quinn were seated again, everyone else at the table was staring at them in awe.

“Wow,” Tina whispered, “that was amazing.”

Mike nodded in agreement and Artie gave a low, impressed whistle.

Under the table, Rachel gave Quinn’s knee a stealthy, grateful squeeze.
Then, without looking at her, she brought up the subject of Regionals, and everyone joined in, seemingly grateful to have something to talk about.

As lunch was ending, Quinn used the cover of everyone standing and gathering their trash and belongings to lean over to Santana and say, “Thank you. I mean it.”

“I’ve got your back Q.”

Then Santana was pulled away by Brittany, and Quinn turned to Rachel.

“Can I walk you to class?”

The responding smile was so bright that her heart skipped a beat.

---------------------------------------------------

By the time Glee came around, Rachel felt like she was walking on air.

Not only had she gotten to sit next to her girlfriend at lunch, close enough that their arms occasionally brushed, but then Quinn had walked her to history class and sat next to her, which made it very hard to focus.

Thankfully, since it was their first day back, their teacher hadn’t introduced any critical topics.

Now, she was on her way to the choir room, practically skipping down the hallway.

She slid into a chair next to Kurt, who was one of the first people there, and he immediately swiveled in his seat.

“Care to share what’s got you looking like you just won the lottery? Besides the fact that apparently the most popular Cheerios are now part of our lunch group?”

Rachel leaned in a little, and said, “Quinn asked me to be her girlfriend.”

Kurt’s eyes widened and he gave a comical sounding, delighted yelp.

“Oh my god!”

His outburst drew the momentary attention of Mike and Tina, but they quickly returned to their own conversation.

“I know,” Rachel eventually said, completely failing to force a more neutral expression onto her face. “I honestly can’t believe it. She met my dads last night and they love her, she’s so charming.”

“This is all so cute that it’s truly disgusting. Like, I want to vomit up rainbows.”

“I vomited up rainbows once, but that was because Lord Tubbington challenged me to a Skittles eating contest.”

Both Kurt and Rachel nearly fell off their chairs at the unexpected sound of Brittany’s voice from right behind them.

While Kurt slapped a hand dramatically over his chest and tried to recover from the sudden shock, Rachel situated herself in a less precarious position and smoothed down her skirt.

It was clear that her friend was dying to ask for more details about her love life, but the rest of the club members began filtering in and taking their seats.

Quinn was one of the last people to arrive, and she took the seat on Rachel’s other side, turning to her for long enough to say “Hi” in a tone so soft that it momentarily turned Rachel to mush.

She only had time to say “Hi” back and gently tap her foot against Quinn’s before Mr. Schue came into the room and captured their attention.

“Alright guys, welcome back from break. I hope that you’re ready to focus up because Regionals is just around the corner.”

He got a rather enthusiastic response, led mainly by Rachel and Kurt, but it was enough to put a smile on the teacher’s face.

“Okay, great! Now, for Regionals, we need to continue to think outside the box and come up with fresh ideas for our setlist.”

The rest of the meeting consisted of vocal exercises and tossing out potential ideas for competition songs.

Rachel was happy enough to stay in Quinn’s orbit, and the fact that she didn’t immediately jump in and try to take control, or even try to claim a solo had several people raising their eyebrows.

But with Quinn and Santana being so chill and Kurt having formed a closer friendship with Rachel, a lot of the diva tension had dissipated.

At one point, Rachel noticed that Finn seemed to be trying to get Quinn’s attention, but the blonde girl seemed completely unaware.

Once Glee was over, Kurt squeezed Rachel’s arm and said, “Call me later.”
After giving her a look to let her know that he was quite serious about this demand, he strolled off, arm in arm with Mercedes.

When Rachel turned back around, she was greeted with the sight of her girlfriend spinning her key ring idly around one finger, her stance 100% cheerleader boss Quinn.

“Do you need a ride home, Berry?”

The directness of her hazel eyes and the edge of command in the question hit Rachel hard, sending a fizzing warmth through her chest as she wondered, quite seriously, how she’d ever thought she was 100% straight.

Some of what she was feeling must have shown on her face because Quinn’s eyes darkened and she slowly licked her lips.

“Quinn?” she asked, her voice coming out a little high-pitched.

“Hmmm?”

“I do need a ride home, maybe we could leave right now?”

Rachel could see Quinn’s hand twitch as she fought back the desire to reach out and grab her, but she was able to restrain herself, merely spinning on her heel and walking away, her cheerleading skirt fanning out behind her.

Feeling somewhat hypnotized by the movement, Rachel followed.

---------------------------------------------------

The drive from the school to the Berry house wasn’t very long, but it still tested Rachel’s self-control.

She was tempted to reach out and rest a hand on Quinn’s leg, but was worried that if she started touching, that her hand would be tempted to wander and cause a safety concern.

They managed to keep up a somewhat stilted conversation about how their respective days had gone, but it was clear that Quinn was distracted.

Rachel wondered if their distraction was for the same reason, and that question was answered quite decidedly once they were parked in her driveway.
The car had barely come to a stop before Quinn was unbuckling her seatbelt and leaning over to pull Rachel into a scorching kiss.

She couldn’t help but moan at the pressure, and the little bite to her lower lip.
By the time they separated, they were both breathing hard, and Quinn’s hair was mostly out of its ponytail.

To give herself a little space to calm down, Rachel leaned back into her seat and idly watched as the cheerleader methodically fixed her hair.

“That was…wow,” Rachel eventually managed to say. “If I’d known how good it felt to kiss you, some of our past arguments might have gone a little differently.”

Quinn’s head swiveled and she regarded her girlfriend carefully.
“Well, if I would have realized that some of what I thought was anger at how infuriating you were might have actually been misplaced attraction, we probably wouldn’t have argued so much.”

That admission definitely caught Rachel's attention.

“Wait, are you saying that you were mean to me because you liked me?”

Those hazel eyes flicked down and then back up again, and now the expression on the blonde’s face was a little sad.

“I don’t think I consciously realized it, because I was repressing so many of my feelings…but it seems like I’ve always focused disproportionately on you.”

Rachel sighed and smiled a little, because even though it had hurt to have Quinn so intent on crushing her spirit, now that she knew the other girl better, she could admire the passion and focus. Maybe she was forgiving a little too easily, but since she now got to reap the benefits of that focus, it was hard to dwell on the past.

“Thank you for telling me that. To be honest, I was always a little too focused on you as well. I think one of the reasons I pursued Finn so relentlessly was because he had you. Getting close to him was a way to get closer to you. But now…”.

Quinn’s eyes were luminous as she leaned closer.
“But now?”

“But now I have the real thing and it’s better than I could have imagined.”

Lips moved forward to meet hers in a kiss that was so delicate that she could feel tears gathering in her eyes. She blinked them back as she leaned away slightly and rested her forehead against Quinn’s.

---------------------------------------------------

Hours later, the memory of that moment was still making her smile.
But, she was doing her best to focus as she talked on the phone with Kurt.

She had provided all the “romantic details” that he’d demanded, and he had ended up needing to curtail some of her more gushing reviews of Quinn’s kissing technique.

From the pause and the faint sound of him clearing his throat that came through the phone, she realized that there was something on his mind.

“Kurt? Is everything alright?”

“Yes Rachel, now that I’ve overcome my nausea from hearing so much detail about your girlfriend’s apparently talented lips, there is some news that I wanted to share.”

“Okay, what is it?”

He hesitated slightly, and then forged ahead, sounding both nervous and a little excited.

“I know I’ve mentioned Blaine to you before, but I haven’t told you that I’ve been spending more time with him, and that we hung out a lot over break. I, um, I can confidently say that I officially have a crush on him.”

“Kurt! That’s so exciting! Do you think that he feels the same way?”

“I can't be sure, but I know that he’s gay and he has been really sweet about supporting me through the bullying with Karofsky and starting the GSA. I really like him.”

“Do you plan to tell him?”

Her friend was silent for a bit as he mulled that over.
“I've thought about it, and kind of daydreamed about how I would tell him. It would ideally be some big romantic moment obviously, but…he’s my first gay male friend and I would really hate to mess things up.”

“That makes sense,” Rachel said thoughtfully, “I guess with Quinn we certainly weren’t risking a friendship if things hadn’t worked out.”

“And you didn’t have to make the first move,” Kurt teased. “All you had to do was stand there and get kissed. Honestly, I’m a little jealous.”

“You don’t think Blaine would be the one to make the first move?”

“Well, he did hint to me that he had a crush on someone, and that he was planning to tell them soon, but…”.

The rest of his sentence was cut off by Rachel squealing.

“What?! Kurt, way to bury the lead! Do you think he was telling you to see how you reacted?”

“Maybe. I tried to play it cool, but who knows. I really hope it’s me that he was talking about. It would be hard to see him start dating someone else.”

“I hope it is too! You have to keep me posted. Oh, and I would love to meet Blaine.”

“Okay, I’ll see if he’s open to the idea. Anyway, I should go. My dad wants me to watch the game with him, which means that I look through fashion magazines and try to ignore the sound of him yelling at the TV. It’s how we bond.”

Rachel laughed a little at the image.
“That’s sweet. See you in school tomorrow.”

“Ciao.”

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

I Can See You

Kurt and Santana stood together at the front of the classroom waiting for everyone to shuffle in and take their seats.

Once everyone was settled, the two of them scanned the room and gave each other small, triumphant smiles.
It seemed that the number of people attending this GSA meeting was slightly higher than the last one, which was encouraging.

Finn was still noticeably absent, but they had gained a few other students, most of whom seemed to have been brought along by a friend.

Kurt went through a brief introduction, welcoming everyone back from break and giving space for the new members to introduce themselves. Once that had been accomplished, he gave Santana a nod and she stepped forward.

“Alright, we talked about this last time, but one of the main purposes of this club is to stop bullying of all kinds. Thanks to Ricky, we’ve already made one big statement about how we aren’t down with homophobes.”

Here she paused as Rick stood for a moment and his fellow hockey players gave some whoops and whistles.

“Yeah, nice job. But…we still need to make sure that no one is getting bullied. Not for being a loser, not for being in Glee, not for their clothes, even if their fashion sense sucks…”

Here, Kurt quietly cleared his throat to make sure she stayed on track.

“Anyway, we all know that being gay or supporting people who are doesn’t make you a loser. Obviously. I mean, look around this room. It’s full of hotties, badasses, and talent of all kinds.”

She paused and let people clap and cheer a little bit. The sound of Puck shouting “Hell yeah,” rose above the noise.

“So yeah, we need ideas to get rid of bullying once and for all. We know Figgins has no spine, so it’s up to us. What have you got?”

Rick’s immediate idea was beatdowns for any bullies, which Santana liked, but Kurt shot down.
A couple of the theater kids thought they could perform anti-bullying skits at the next school assembly, but everyone agreed that would likely increase bullying.

Eventually, Quinn raised her hand.

“What if we get slushies banned?”

Several people started to murmur at that, but she raised her voice and talked over them.

“Think about it. Slushies are a tool bullies have been using to instill fear and carry out public humiliation for years now. Frankly, given the sheer amount of property damage in the form of ruined clothes, it’s absolutely insane that they’re still available for sale.”

Quinn’s words were laced with authority, and the majority of people in the room (who had all been slushied at some point), started to nod.

Somewhat surprisingly, Puck was the first one to verbally agree with her.

“As someone who was once the number one deliverer of icy humiliation through slushies, I’m with Quinn.”

Kurt checked with Santana and at her nod of agreement, he said, “Alright. That’s what we’ll focus on first. As Santana so correctly pointed out, Principal Figgins won’t make this decision without a lot of pressure. I suggest we start a petition to ban slushies from school property and we can get our parents to call in. I know my dad will happily give Figgins an earful.”

“As will my fathers,” Rachel chimed in, “especially given the dry cleaning bills caused by this bullying method in the past.”

To everyone’s surprise, Brittany raised a hand.

“Yes?”

“Principal Figgins is scared of Coach Sylvester. And Coach Sylvester hates sugar. She calls it the devil’s cocaine. If we tell her that Cheerios are drinking slushies, she’ll really hate it.”

“Oh my god Britt, you’re a genius,” Santana said, giving her an admiring look.

Brittany shrugged modestly.
“I know.”

The rest of the meeting was spent creating the petition template and organizing who would get signatures, as well as discussing who would have their parents call into the school with slushie related complaints.

“It will be a three prong attack,” Kurt told them. “Disapproval from students and parents, plus Coach Sylvester as a wild card.”

“Quinn, Britt, and I will take care of Coach, don’t worry.”

The three members of the unholy trinity exchanged significant looks and smiled.

The meeting wrapped up soon after that leaving Kurt, Santana, Brittany, Rachel, and Quinn standing together near the classroom door.

“I would consider that a success,” Kurt pronounced as he slung his designer shoulder bag across his body.

“I concur,” Rachel said, “and I feel confident that one day we can walk down the halls safe from the threat of a face full of artificially colored ice.”

“Glad I got to see Karofsky get mega slushied though, before the opportunity was lost,” Santana added with a wicked chuckle at the memory.

No one disagreed with that sentiment.

“Alright, Britt and I have an appointment with unlimited breadsticks.”
Having made that statement, Santana linked her pinky with Brittany’s and they left the room.

“I should be going too,” Rachel added, “I need to work on some ideas for our Regionals setlist because I have not been feeling reassured by Mr. Scheuster’s attempts at motivation lately.”

“Do you need a ride?” Quinn asked her, somehow managing not to blush at the memory of what had happened the last time she’d asked that question.

“Why Ms. Fabray, I would be delighted.”

They stood there just smiling at each other for a moment, and then Kurt interrupted in an amused drawl.

“As much fun as this display of sapphic sweetness is, I also need to be getting home. I want to talk to my dad about how he can support our anti-slushie agenda.”

They all walked out to the parking lot together, chatting good-naturedly.

---------------------------------------------------

The next day, Santana decided it was time to follow through on her promise to keep an eye on Karofsky.

She spent some time sneakily tailing him, but nothing interesting happened all morning.
He seemed a little more subdued than he had before, but after what had happened with the hockey guys, that wasn’t surprising.

The main person he spent time around still seemed to be Azimio, along with a couple other guys from the football team whose names she couldn’t be bothered to remember.

Her breakthrough moment came that afternoon when she was creeping on Karofsky and caught a very interesting look he shot directly at Sam Evans’ ass.

At first, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing, and the moment was so fleeting that no one else noticed.
But her gaydar was impeccable, and suddenly Karofsky’s specific bullying of Kurt made a lot of sense.

Santana smiled and made her way to class. This was exactly the leverage that she needed.

Later that day, she was seated at a table in the Lima Bean, and when Karofsky sat down and led with some cocky bluster about her wanting to date him, she quickly cut him off.

“You can drop it alright, I know.”

“Know what?”

She leaned in a little closer before pronouncing, “You’re gay.”

At her matter of fact statement, she saw a flicker of fear in his eyes before he tried to cover it up with a scowl.

“Who told you that?”

With a sigh, she leaned back in her chair.
“No one had to tell me. Look, just keep your mouth shut and listen for a minute.”

He crossed his arms, but made no further comment.

After laying out her evidence, mostly seeing him check out a couple guys and how her gaydar always found the truth, she explained internalized homophobia.

Then she waited to see what his reaction would be.
His jaw was tight and she could see that it was taking a lot for him to remain so impassive when he obviously wanted to freak out.

Finally, he asked, “What do you want? Are you going to tell everyone, or are you planning to blackmail me or something?”

Santana gave a short, humorless laugh before leaning forward again and telling him, quietly, “We play on the same team.”

It took him a second to understand what she was implying, and then he stuttered out, “You’re a…,” before pausing as if not sure how to finish the sentence.

She shrugged and gave him a direct look.
“Sure am. I may not be totally out and proud right now, but I’ve accepted it and so have my friends.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but she held up her hand impatiently.

“No need for you to comment. Here’s the deal. I don’t care if you stay closeted until the end of time and spend your life disappointing your sad suburban wife who doesn’t understand why you refuse to ever keep the lights on during sex. What I care about is the present.”

She paused to let her stream of words sink in, and then continued in a sharper, colder tone.
“Here’s what’s going to happen. First, you never bully another kid at McKinley. And second, you start attending GSA meetings. I don’t care if you sit in the back and keep your mouth shut the entire time, but you’d better show up.”

His response made it clear that the fight had already gone out of him.
“And if I don’t?”

“I don’t believe in outing people, but I guarantee that I will make things very bad for you.”

Karofsky dropped his gaze down to the table.

“Oh, and I forgot, there’s a third thing.”

He quickly looked up at her again, his expression now more fearful than anything.

“What’s that?”

“You apologize to Kurt.”

That demand made his shoulders slump even further.

“Alright, fine. I’ll do it. All of it.”

Santana smiled triumphantly.

---------------------------------------------------

Friday morning, Quinn was at her locker with Santana and Brittany standing next to her.
Once she’d grabbed everything she needed for her pre-lunch classes, she slammed the locker shut and turned to Santana.

“Okay, what was it you wanted to show me? Make it quick because we have to get to Coach Sylvester’s office.”

“Hold onto your spanx, it’s about to go down.”

Quinn gave her a skeptical look as she carefully checked out the hallway.
Nothing seemed out of place, but then she noticed Puck coming around the corner, and he had a slushie held in each hand.

She whipped her head over at her friend.
“Santana…”.

The other cheerleader didn’t even look at her, instead, she gave a nod to Puck.
He walked past them and tossed the slushies directly onto two Cheerios who were walking in his direction.
Completely ignoring their shrieks and curses, he continued on his way.

As the two girls furiously wiped purple ice off their faces, Santana marched over and stood in front of them with a very cold smile on her face.

“Glee kids are off limits.”

They seemed too taken aback by what had just happened to respond, but clearly they understood what she meant because they both froze.

“Now, go get cleaned up before Coach Sylvester sees you.”

Quite terrified now, they scurried away to the nearest bathroom.

Looking triumphant, Santana started walking down the hall. Quinn trailed after her looking pissed.

“What the hell Santana? I thought we were supposed to be stopping people from getting slushied, not doing it ourselves.”

“Calm down princess. You know that those two suck. Yesterday they nearly ran down your precious little diva in the hall and then flung a few nose based insults at her in the aftermath.”

Quinn’s face changed at that last bit and she looked like she was about to turn around and go rushing off to the bathroom to confront them.

“See,” Santana said, quite smug, “two birds, one stone. Sue will be pissed about the dry cleaning bills, cause you know that grape slushie never comes out of anything, and maybe those two will keep their mouths shut about your girlfriend’s beak in the future.”

In response, Quinn merely gave her a dark look.

“Alright,” Santana said, sounding quite cheerful, “let’s go talk to Coach all about the horrors of slushies.”

“Fine,” Quinn said, grudgingly admiring Santana’s scheming even though she didn’t want to admit it.

Brittany smiled at the dark haired girl and skipped over to walk next to her.

“Don’t worry, I remember what we talked about. Slushies are bad and they make people sad.”

“You got it Britt-Britt.”

They had made it to the door of Sue’s office, and they all paused for a moment to settle themselves before Quinn reached out and knocked.

“Enter,” called the authoritative voice from within.

The three of them filed in, careful to keep their posture impeccable.

Sue looked up from the journal she always seemed to be writing in.

“Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and Tweedleblonde. What brings you here?”

In her most polished cheer captain voice, Quinn said, “Coach Sylvester, you may not be aware of this, but there’s a serious problem at this school.”

Their coach leaned back in her chair and regarded them.

“If you’re referring to Will Sheuster’s inexplicable love of terrible music, I think everyone in this school is aware of that travesty.”

Santana barely repressed a snicker and Quinn continued calmly.
“While that is a serious issue, what I’m referring to is the slushie epidemic.”

That seemed to catch Sue’s interest.
“Go on.”

“Any student can buy a slushie in the cafeteria, and each slushie contains more sugar than a soda. It pains me to tell you this, but Cheerios regularly consume those sugary frozen drinks because they aren’t on the official list of banned liquids that you provide us in the Cheerios manual.”

Their coach’s eyes narrowed at this and she quickly snatched one of the manuals off the shelf behind her, letting it fall to the desk with a loud thump.

She flipped through multiple chapters about Cheerio conduct that ranged from extremely precise care and cleaning requirements for uniforms to catchphrases that only Sue was allowed to say.

Once she found the long list of banned beverages, she skimmed through it, eventually sitting back in her chair and giving Quinn a nod.

“As always Q, your attention to detail impresses. I think I need to have a talk with Figgins about the state nutrition requirements.”

They all three nodded at this, and then Santana spoke, really wanting to drive the point home.
“Coach, you should also know that people use slushies as a weapon, and two Cheerios got hit just today. Their uniform tops are probably ruined forever from all that artificial coloring.”

That got exactly the reaction they were hoping for as Sue abruptly stood up.

“Ladies, if you’ll excuse me.”

With that, she stormed out of her office and down the hall in the direction of the principal's office.

“And that’s how it’s done,” Santana said, sounding very satisfied.

---------------------------------------------------

That evening, Rachel and Quinn were talking on the phone.

It had become something of a ritual for them to have at least a short conversation before they went to bed, which was something that Rachel was quite glad about.

This was partly because they both had busy schedules that prevented them from seeing each other as much as they wanted to, and partly because hearing Quinn’s voice before she went to sleep was something that she had grown to crave.

Quinn had just finished relaying how the meeting with Sue had gone, and how pleased she was that she and Santana were back to working together instead of constantly being at odds.

When she’d finished speaking, there was a short pause, and then Rachel murmured dreamily,
“I love the sound of your voice,” not even realizing that she’d said it out loud until Quinn replied.

“You do?”

Rachel was glad that her girlfriend wasn’t there to witness her blush and how her face must have looked as she stammered out, “Uh, yes, yes I do.”

“You’re the first person to ever tell me that.”

The little bit of wonder that now infused her tone made Rachel feel brave enough to respond with more confidence.

“It’s true. I think I could listen to you talk all day. The way you say my name sometimes has its own special melody that just…,” she trailed off and sighed happily, unable to fully encapsulate her emotions into words.

“Rachel.”

And there it was, that special little tone that had a bit of extra warmth and vibrance, something just a little more thrilling than Quinn’s normal voice.

The blonde girl continued, “Thank you for seeing me. Sometimes I think that you’re the only one who ever really has.”

Rachel blinked away sudden tears that formed along with a sudden surge of warmth in her chest.

“You’re welcome Quinn. Thank you for being brave and taking a chance on us.”

They stayed on the phone until they both fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Message In A Bottle

The machinations of the Unholy Trinity had indeed succeeded at pointing Hurricane Sue in Figgins' direction.

Between Sue’s aggressive demands in his office that had resulted in two filing cabinets being overturned, and the barrage of phone calls from Glee and GSA parents, Figgins had made the decision to ban slushies from school property.

As soon as he’d made his pronouncement, Sue had enlisted the help of the freshman Cheerios to drag the slushie machine out of the cafeteria and into the parking lot where she hit it multiple times with a sledgehammer and subsequently lit it on fire.

The display had been so entertaining that none of the students really complained at the loss of access to their beloved frozen beverage. They were all also rightfully terrified of Coach Sylvester and would never have dared to question her decision.

And now that it was a new year, Rachel Berry was determined that all her resolutions would come true.

Considering that she’d started off 2011 with a glass of sparkling grape juice in her hand and Quinn’s lips pressed softly against hers, she had a feeling that it was going to be a great year.

Her main resolution was to take Glee Club all the way to Nationals in New York City, where she would of course be a featured soloist.

Her second resolution was to do everything in her power to maintain a healthy and happy relationship with her beautiful girlfriend.

So far, so good.

---------------------------------------------------

It was a Monday afternoon in the second week of January, and Rachel was on a mission.

She had by now memorized Quinn’s schedule, and was well aware that the blonde girl would not be stopping by her locker before her next class.

This provided the perfect opportunity for her to slip a note inside.

Saturday would mark one month of them dating, and she was planning to take Quinn out on a special date to mark this momentous occasion.

But, she wanted to build up a little romantic tension between now and then.
Which, honestly, even getting the opportunity to write a love note that would actually be appreciated by its recipient was quite thrilling.

Any similar tokens that she’d given to Finn, not that there had been many besides the ill-fated cat calendar, had never felt like they were really valued.

Then again, authentic appreciation from Finn had been a fairly irregular phenomenon.

Once she’d slipped the note into the locker, she quickly headed for her next class, smiling a little as she thought about all the little ways Quinn showed her appreciation.

Soft kisses, sweet text messages, the way she would gently rub Rachel’s arm when they snuggled.
There were so many things that made her feel cared for and cherished in a way that she’d never experienced before.

It was all still so new, and yet she found herself quickly becoming very invested in Quinn and their relationship.

Though she was of course a very passionate (some might say overly intense) person, she had been able to keep herself from going too crazy when it came to her girlfriend.

At first, this had surprised her a little, because she’d found Quinn to be quite addicting, so it would have been rather expected for her to go a little nuts over their relationship. But, it seemed that being with someone who actually made her feel seen and valued and secure made all the difference.

She was quite looking forward to their special day, there were just a few things she needed help with to ensure that everything went swimmingly.

With a smile, she continued down the hallway.

---------------------------------------------------

“Could you please tell me what exactly is so urgent? Also, why are we going to the choir room?”

Santana ignored Kurt’s protests and gave him a very light shove to keep him moving.

Once they’d gotten to the hallway just outside the classroom, she pulled him to a sudden stop.

He yelped a bit and said, huffily, “I could certainly do without all this manhandling.”

She couldn’t resist quipping, “Oh really, cause I thought you’d be down for some manhandling.”

When he blushed a little, she felt quite gratified.
Then, she said, “I need you to stay cool. This is all part of a plan, and I’ll be there the whole time in case anything starts to go off the rails.”

He only had time to ask, “What are you…?” before she was dragging him into the room.

Dave Karofsky was sitting in one of the chairs in the front row, looking rather hunched and nervous.

Santana quickly closed the door behind her and came to stand next to Kurt.
He had only walked a few steps into the room before stopping and crossing his arms.

When Kurt spoke this time, his voice was sharp and his eyes never left Karofsky.

“What is this?”

Santana came to stand next to him and said, softly, “Dave has something he'd like to say to you.”

The other boy quietly cleared his throat and spoke, occasionally looking up at Kurt, but seemingly unable to maintain eye contact.

“Look…I’m sorry. I know I was a total jackass to you, and I took things too far. Ever since I talked to Santana, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and I looked some stuff up online that, well, anyway…what I’m trying to say is that what I did wasn’t okay. I know that, and now I realize that the bullying wasn’t about you at all. So, no more bullying of you, or anyone. And I’m going to start coming to GSA, so…”.

He didn’t seem to know how to finish that sentence, so he just gripped his knees and looked up at them, eyes darting between Kurt and Santana.

When Kurt turned to look at the cheerleader next to him, she shrugged a little, and gave him a look as if to say that whatever happened next was up to him.

“Well,” Kurt finally said, “I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear any of that, but if you truly are leaving your bullying days behind you, I can honestly say that I’m quite thrilled. But I do hope that this change of heart isn’t solely due to Santana threatening you, because it would be wonderful if this was all genuine.”

“It is,” Dave said quickly. “You don’t have to believe me, but I will try and show you.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah?”

Kurt merely nodded in response, but Dave looked a bit lighter and his shoulders finally relaxed.

“Right, well thanks for listening to my apology. I’ll uh, see you around.”

He stood up and looked over at Santana as if seeking permission to go, and she gave him a satisfied nod.

Once he’d left, Kurt turned to his friend and raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not sure how you managed that, but thank you.”

His tone was quite sincere, and Santana gave him a real smile.

“You’re welcome. You know, we make a pretty good team. Faberry is a couple, Glee Club is mostly drama free, no more slushies…”.

Kurt mulled that over for a second before smiling and saying in a rather reflective tone, “I never would have guessed it, but you’re absolutely correct.”

“Damn right I am. Now let’s get out of here before Mr. Schue shows up and makes us sing a horrible 80s ballad or something.”

---------------------------------------------------

It was just after lunch, which meant that Quinn was about to head to study hall, and she was still feeling rather elated from sitting next to Rachel at lunch and secretly playing footsie under the table.

Currently, she was at her locker, and upon lifting one of her textbooks from the top shelf, she was surprised when something fluttered down to land on the floor.

When she bent down and picked it up, she saw that it was a piece of light blue stationary, neatly folded into a rectangle. One side had a looping Q written on it, along with a small gold star sticker.

That brought a smile to her face, and she immediately unfolded it.

Quinn,

A few months ago, if someone would have told me that you were destined to be my girlfriend in the very near future, I would have thought that they were certifiably crazy.

But now that we have been together for almost a month, I realize that I’m the crazy one.
Because I’m crazy for you.

❤️,
R

Quinn’s smile widened, and she re-read the words a second time before running her finger across the tiny heart drawn on the page and then carefully refolding the note and tucking it in her pocket.

She had just started walking down the hall when someone called her name. In response, she turned and saw Sam just behind her.

“Hi Quinn, could we talk? Just for a minute?”

He looked a little nervous, and if she hadn’t been on such a happy little high from reading the love note, she might have said no instinctively. But Sam had been acting normally around her ever since their breakup, so she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Sure.”

At her response, he smiled a little and then gestured for her to follow him to an empty classroom.

He seated himself at a table and she went to lean on a different one, careful to remain at a respectful distance.

“Okay,” he said, “first off, I want to say don’t worry, because this totally isn’t some attempt to ask you out or anything.”

“Okay,” she repeated slowly, feeling a little confused about what was happening.

“Ever since we broke up, I’ve been doing some thinking, and also, I couldn’t help but pay attention to you, not in a creepy way or anything, but because I was trying to figure out why stuff didn’t work with us. And I could tell that you were happier with us not being together, and then…you just seemed a lot happier in general.”

“Sam…,” she started, now feeling a bit guilty, but he cut her off with a smile.

“No, it’s okay. I’m really not trying to make you feel bad, or guilty or anything, because it really does make me happy to know that you’re happy. And anyway, um, being in GSA and reading some of the stuff on the internet that Kurt told us about has made me realize some things.”

Quinn’s heart started to beat a little faster as she waited to see what he was going to say.
Had he figured her out? Was she a more obvious lesbian than she’d realized?

As he took a steadying breath, she licked her lips nervously.

“I guess what I’m trying to say,” he continued, “is that I think I’m bisexual. I still like girls, but I’m pretty sure that I like guys too. And I wanted to tell you because I was hoping you’d understand.”

Quinn stood there for a moment, feeling fairly shocked. That had not been what she’d expected to hear, and she wasn’t entirely sure how to respond. But Sam was looking at her in nervous expectation, so she knew she needed to respond.

“Thank you for telling me. I know how scary it can be to come out.”

She let that last statement hang between them for a moment and watched as Sam understood what she meant.

His eyes widened a little and he let out a relieved laugh.
“Wow, okay, I’m so glad I wasn’t wrong.”

He hopped up from the desk so he could stand and face her.

“Wait…you knew? About me? That I’m…gay.”

Sam flashed a boyish, excited grin.

“I mean, I didn’t like, one hundred percent know, but like I said, you seemed happier, and then I started noticing the way you and Rachel were around each other.”

Quinn couldn’t help the light flush that dusted her cheeks, but her voice was steady when she replied.
“I guess we haven’t been trying too hard to hide things. But yeah, we’ve been dating for almost a month now.”

She couldn’t help but smile as she said that, and Sam’s smile widened in response.

Then she continued, more quietly, “Kurt, Santana, and Brittany all know, but you can’t talk about this with anyone else.”

He made an exaggerated motion of zipping his lips and she chuckled and gave him a light push to the shoulder.

“I’m glad we talked.”

“Yeah, me too.”

---------------------------------------------------

Quinn had spent the rest of study hall sitting in the library, ostensibly doing homework, but in reality she was mostly just doodling hearts in the margins of her notebook while she daydreamed about the future.

Now she was walking into history class and trying to keep from breaking into a dopey smile when she saw Rachel already sitting at a table in the back row, the seat next to her unoccupied.

Those big brown eyes had focused on her the moment she’d come through the classroom door, and there was a barely suppressed smile that was also for her.

As she fought back her own responding smile, Quinn realized how Sam had known.
The way they acted around each other wasn’t all that subtle if you were paying attention.
Surprisingly, that didn’t freak her out all that much.

Once she slid into her seat, Rachel’s leg shifted to press against hers lightly.

“Hi,” Rachel whispered.

“Hi. I got your note.” Quinn said, though she stayed facing forward in an attempt to appear more casual.

“You did?” came the shy responding question.

“I did. It made me really happy,” Quinn replied, giving Rachel’s leg a gentle nudge.

“I’m glad. Every word was true.”

They sat quietly for a moment as a few other students shuffled to their seats.

Then the brunette said, softly, “You should know that I will be taking you on a romantic date this Saturday.”

“Oh really?” Quinn replied, unable to avoid turning her head towards Rachel.

Today, she was wearing a navy blue sweater that was hugging her curves in a way that Quinn really appreciated. This was paired with a skirt, which was plain black, and there were no accompanying knee socks.

It was still a signature Rachel Berry look, but one that seemed more grown up and intentional, and she found that she liked it very much.

After a few long seconds of enduring her staring, Rachel hissed, “Quinn, you absolutely cannot look at me like that right now.”

With a slight pout, she asked, “Why not?”

“Because,” Rachel said, her voice dropping into a lower register, “it makes me want to kiss you, and making out in the middle of class would certainly blow our cover.”

Those words along with the way that Rachel was now looking at her brought a sudden rise of heat to her face, so she quickly looked away, focusing on the front of the classroom.

Their teacher had just started their lesson, so thankfully she had something to distract her from thoughts that were certainly not appropriate for school.

The telltale tapping of Rachel’s foot gave away that the other girl might also be feeling a bit ruffled at the moment.

Quinn shifted her focus to taking notes, though a small part of her brain was thinking about what a romantic date planned by Rachel Berry might be like.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

The Very First Night

Try as she might, Quinn had been unable to get any details out of Rachel regarding the romantic date she was planning.

Despite using various methods including direct questions, pouting, and a series of neck kisses that quickly got out of hand, the only information that the brunette had revealed was that casual attire was appropriate, and that Quinn would need to act as their chauffeur.

Rachel had apologized for that, but, even though she was 16, her fathers had decided that she wouldn’t be able to get her driver’s license quite yet due to an unfortunate incident that had occurred while Leroy had been trying to teach her how to drive.

She had informed Quinn that she planned to appeal this decision in a few months, and she was confident that once they had seen her detailed PowerPoint, her dads would be willing to reconsider.

“I don’t mind driving, Rach. In fact, I kind of prefer it.”

“Oh you do? Quinn Fabray liking to be in control? How shocking.”

Though Rachel's words had started out teasing, by the time she finished speaking, there was a glint in her eye that Quinn recognized.

In response, she leaned in closer and said, right into Rachel’s ear, “I think you like it when I’m in control.”

She’d been gratified to hear the shaky breath that her girlfriend took, and then her lips were being captured in a searing kiss which made her forget all about trying to find out about their future date.

But now, it was Thursday, and she was panicking about what to wear on Saturday.
She had already worn her favorite new outfit to the dinner with Rachel’s dads, and she didn’t want to recycle it again so quickly.

So, she did what she’d done the last time this had happened, and called Santana.

That conversation had led to planning another shopping trip, and now, it was Friday evening, and she was walking through the mall in search of her friends.

Santana had of course insisted on bringing Brittany along, which Quinn didn’t mind, since the other blonde girl had always had an unexpectedly keen eye for fashion.

Eventually, she caught sight of Santana and Brittany, and, standing next to them was Kurt Hummel.

“What’s up Fabray?” Santana called out as soon as she got within earshot.

She closed the distance and said hello to both Cheerios before glancing at Kurt.

“You invited him too?” she asked, though it was more out of surprise that Kurt Hummel would be willing to help give her a style update than out of anger at his unanticipated inclusion in the shopping trip.

“Listen Q, with me, Britt, and Hummel helping you out, you’ll go from sad little church girl to gay hottie in no time flat.”

It was a fair statement, so Quinn nodded, only a little grudgingly.

Kurt took the opportunity to circle her slowly.
Once he had captured the whole 360 degree view, he stepped back to stand next to Santana.

He rested a hand against his chin as he looked at her and spoke contemplatively.

“Obviously you're gorgeous and have a bone structure that many would kill for. I would love to do a full makeover some day, but for now, this style update will have to do.”

“Are we ready to make Quinn look cool?” Brittany then asked with a pleased expression.

“We might not get to “cool” Britt-Britt, but we’re at least going for “especially attractive to Rachel Berry.”

“I’m already attractive to Rachel,” Quinn muttered, then looked away and tried not to blush at the sharp, knowing grin Santana flashed at her.

Thankfully, she was saved by Kurt, who linked his arm through hers and started pulling her along, chattering as he went about the inspiration board he’d made in preparation for this shopping excursion.

“I’m thinking we stay in the realm of preppy, but add in a few slightly more masculine pieces. After your overly girlish dresses that truly showed off none of your best assets, I think we can get away with a few cute boy sweaters paired with well-fitted jeans. You already have your letterman, so we need to start including that as well, maybe do some fun things with layers…”.

She allowed herself to be pulled along, smiling at the thought of getting to pick out some things that felt more like her. Or at least more like who she had always wanted to be as opposed to her mask of being more interested in popularity and conformity than true self-expression.
It turned out that having Kurt, Santana, and Brittany as a trio of personal shoppers worked quite well. Santana kept Kurt from going too flashy with any of his proposed style choices and Brittany was excellent at finding the perfect items to help bring Kurt’s ideas to life.

Quinn did have to veto a few choices that were either too sexy (Santana), too flamboyant (Kurt), or too whimsical (Brittany). But overall, she was very pleased with the help and felt like her style was evolving in a direction that she liked.

By the time they left the mall, she was laden down with bags and praying that her mother wouldn’t freak out when she saw the credit card bill.

Still, it would be worth it.
And it would also be worth it to see Rachel’s face when she eventually got to see each new outfit.

Later that night, she was in her room unpacking all of the new clothes and taking off all the tags in preparation for throwing everything in the laundry.

She had just gotten started when her phone rang. When she saw that it was Rachel, she quickly answered and put her on speakerphone so she could continue with her task.

“Hello Quinn. How are you?”

Even after a month of talking to each other almost every day, Rachel still started their phone conversations rather formally.
“Hey Rach. Guess what I’m doing?”

“Daydreaming about your girlfriend?”

“Hm, close,” she teased, as she laid a new sweater out across the bed and admired it.
Then she continued, “I actually just got back from a trip to the mall with Santana, Brittany, and Kurt. They were helping me pick out some new clothes, including an outfit for our date tomorrow.”

When Rachel responded, her voice was bright and full of interest.
“Oh really? Well I greatly look forward to seeing you and this outfit. I don’t suppose you’d care to share anything about these new clothes?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Quinn replied smugly. “Though I will say that I’m finally moving away from what Santana called my “sad little church girl” look.”

“While I am pleased that you are no longer sad or a church girl, I hope you never feel like you have to change anything about the way you look for me.”

Now Quinn’s tone turned fond.
“I know. And I appreciate you saying that. But this style change is definitely for me, which feels really good. Ever since I came to McKinley, I’ve felt like I was trapped in a box, or…maybe a closet is more accurate.”

Rachel chuckled at that, but listened as Quinn continued, “Anyway, now I feel like I get to figure out who Quinn Fabray really is, and that feels good. Really good.”

“I’m so proud of you baby. And I very much look forward to seeing you grow into who you really are.”

“Thanks Rach,” Quinn said, blinking back sudden tears.

Apparently Rachel could sense her sudden emotion through the phone, and correctly assuming that Quinn would prefer not to get too emotional at this moment, she deftly changed the subject.

“So you said that Santana called your previous style “sad little church girl”? Did she come up with a phrase to describe your new look?”

The question shifted Quinn into a more smug response.
“She did in fact. She’s calling it “gay hottie”.

“Well that sounds quite accurate.”

“Oh does it?”

Now Rachel was the one who sounded smug.
“I can certainly confirm that my girlfriend is a gay hottie.”

Quinn just laughed delightedly.

---------------------------------------------------

Rachel was in her room putting the finishing touches on her look for the very important date that she was about to go on.

She was buzzing with nervous anticipation, partly because of the momentousness of having made it a solid month in a relationship with Quinn Fabray, but also because she had barely seen her girlfriend in the last few days and she was looking forward to getting to spend time together.

It was just after lunch, and Quinn was scheduled to show up in 30 minutes.
One of the blonde’s many excellent qualities was her punctuality, so Rachel wanted to make sure she was ready on time.
Thankfully, she was able to accomplish that task and was downstairs waiting when the doorbell rang.

She pulled the door open enthusiastically, and smiled in reflexive response at the sight of Quinn standing there holding a bouquet of flowers.

With a soft smile, she presented them to Rachel.

“Quinn, you didn’t have to do this,” she said, though she was extremely pleased at the gesture, “I am the one taking you out after all.”

“And I wanted to bring my girlfriend flowers,” was Quinn’s matter of fact reply, before she effectively cut off any forthcoming protest with a lingering kiss.

When she leaned back, Rachel said, dreamily, “Come in while I put these in water.”

It took a few minutes for the flowers to be properly situated in a vase on the kitchen table, and then another minute spent in a long hug.

“Okay,” Rachel said as she stepped back, “let’s go!”

She reached out for Quinn’s hand and didn’t let go again until they got to the car.

---------------------------------------------------

Though Rachel had kept their destination a secret for as long as possible, offering driving directions as sparsely as possible, Quinn was able to guess where they were headed before they got there.

When they walked into the cute little coffee shop for the second time, they weren’t holding hands, but Rachel did hold the door open for Quinn with a hand placed lightly on her lower back.

It felt really nice, as did the idea of revisiting the place where they had sort of gone on their first date.

Instead of going to the counter, Quinn found herself gently guided to an unobtrusive back corner where a small table with two chairs was tucked away. As they approached, Quinn realized that there were a few lit candles as well as plates and silverware arranged neatly on the tabletop.

None of this was standard set-up, and she turned to Rachel with a soft, questioning look.

“What’s all this?”

The shorter girl had a sweetly shy look on her face.
“I wanted to set a romantic tone. At least as best as I could achieve given the locale and time of day.”

Having said that, she pulled out a chair for Quinn, carefully pushing it in once she was settled before walking around the table to sit in the other chair.

Quinn took a moment to appreciate the gesture and the ambiance and then she extended a hand across the table and smiled when Rachel tangled their fingers together.

The employee who had interacted with them on their last visit walked up to their table and gave them a smile.

“It’s good to see you both again. So, normally we don’t do table service, but this one here was very persuasive on the phone.”

The older girl nodded at Rachel who smiled back.

“Anyway, you two sit tight and I’ll be back with your drinks in a minute.”

Quinn ran her fingers lightly against Rachel’s palm, feeling very pleased with how this date was unfolding.

“Did you call and harass that poor girl into setting this up?”

“I merely explained the situation to her and she happily agreed to assist.”
She paused and let her eyes slowly flicker over Quinn.
“It was extremely remiss of me not to already mention that you look very cute today.”

Something about the verbose way that Rachel expressed her attraction was always very appealing to Quinn.

“Thank you. It’s all new.”

With her free hand she gestured down at her outfit, which consisted of a pair of dark jeans and a gray and green boys cardigan over a gray button down. She was also wearing a brand new pair of dark green Converse high tops that Santana had insisted on.

“You look very nice. The color of your sweater really brings out your eyes.”

Under that appreciative stare, Quinn couldn’t help but fidget a little, her hand unconsciously moving to play with the piano key charm hanging from her necklace.

“It always makes me so happy to see you wearing that necklace,” Rachel then informed her.

“Well, it is a gift from my girlfriend, so it’s very special to me.”
Her tone was a combination of teasing and sincere.
Then, she added, with a nod to Rachel’s musical note necklace, “And I feel the same way about seeing you wear yours.”

Rachel reached up to lightly touch her own necklace, and then she grinned, looking so happy that Quinn couldn’t help but grin right back.

That was the moment that their server returned, carefully carrying their drinks.
She set them down and whisked away again to quickly return with a small plate laden with a scrumptious looking brownie and a couple cookies.

“There you go. If you need anything else, just flag me down. Enjoy.”
With a saucy wink she spun around and headed back for the front of the shop.

Quinn quickly realized that Rachel had ordered her favorite drink, and she took an appreciative sip.

“Thank you. It’s delicious.”

“You’re quite welcome,” Rachel replied, looking quite pleased with herself.
“These are vegan cookies, but I’m more than happy to share with you. The brownie however is all yours. Happy monthiversary baby.”

In response, Quinn smiled, but then her head cocked to the side as she had a sudden thought.

“Wait, are you considering today as our anniversary date? The 14th?”

“I am.”

“But the first time we came here was December 17th.”

“Well,” Rachel said, seemingly fighting off a blush, “December 14th was the day we first kissed, which to me is a more meaningful milestone.”

This made Quinn feel mushy and smug at the same time, and she took a moment to look down at the table and compose herself.

When she looked back up again, she felt warm and settled.
“I can accept that. December 14th it is.”

After a few more moments of staring at each other goofily, they spent some time focused on their drinks and desserts, which were all very good.

Once they were finished, Rachel announced that it was time to head to their next location.

They cleared off their table and swung by the counter on the way out to thank their favorite employee before exiting, hands linked together, to make the short walk to Quinn’s car.

---------------------------------------------------

When they pulled into the high school parking lot, Quinn was not surprised that they’d ended up here.

She also wasn’t all that surprised that Rachel somehow had knowledge of which exterior door remained unlocked over the weekend, as well as a key to the choir room.

Though, when she asked about how Rachel had procured that key, the brunette’s cagey response indicated that perhaps she wasn’t actually supposed to have it.

Once they were inside the room with the doors securely closed behind them, Rachel gestured for her to sit on the piano bench and stepped away towards the center of the room, and turned to face Quinn with her hands gently clasped in front of her.

The posture was familiar, which prompted her to ask, with a smile, “You’re going to serenade me, aren’t you?”

“I am. While I hope you know that it’s inevitable that I will one day sing to you during Glee, I wanted this first time to be just us.”

Rachel took a deep breath, and the look on her face became a little more serious.

“So much of what led us to where we are now happened in this choir room. And I wanted to make another memory by expressing how I feel through song. I realize that this song is not entirely appropriate for the current state of our relationship, but it is part of my usual practice rotation. At some point, I started thinking about you when I sang it. Which, in retrospect should have perhaps been a clue.”

Without further preamble, she started to sing, and as always, her voice captured Quinn from the very first note.

There's a saying old says that love is blind
Still we're often told "seek and ye shall find"
So I'm going to seek a certain girl I've had in mind
Looking everywhere, haven't found her yet
She's the big affair I cannot forget
Only girl I ever think of with regret

Her voice was soft, and sweet, and it only took Quinn a few lines to recognize the song.

Rachel continued, clear and true.

I'd like to add her initials to my monogram
Tell me where's the shepherd for this lost lamb

Almost without thinking, Quinn swiveled on the piano bench and started to play, timing it to come in only a half-beat behind as Rachel hit the chorus.

There's a somebody I'm longing to see
I hope that she turns out to be
Someone to watch over me

I'm a little lamb who's lost in a wood
I know I could always be good
To one who'll watch over me

The brunette didn’t miss a note, her voice only gaining in power and volume as Quinn quietly accompanied her.

As they made their way through the song, her face lit up in a smile so bright that it almost made Quinn’s playing falter.

When the song was finished, they both froze for a moment, listening to the final notes fade away into the air.

Then Rachel walked over and sat down next to Quinn, leaning her head on the blonde girl’s shoulder and resting one hand on top of the one still sitting lightly on the piano keys.

“You continue to surprise me Ms. Fabray.”

“I just have a soft spot for Gershwin. And apparently for beautiful girls with big voices.”

“You think I’m beautiful?”

There was a slight note of disbelief in Rachel’s voice that made Quinn instantly turn to face her.

“Oh Rach, of course I do. I’m so, so sorry that I ever made you feel like you weren’t.”

The sincerity in her expression and her voice made Rachel smile tremulously and she reached out one finger to trace the edge of the piano key charm poking out from beneath Quinn’s collar.

Then she looked back up and right into Quinn’s eyes.
“I believe you.”

“Good.”

Having said that, Quinn leaned forward to close the distance between them.

They were both a little too nervous about getting caught kissing in the choir room to stay there long, and soon they were on their way to what Rachel said would be their final stop.

This turned out to be Rachel’s house.

Now that Quinn had met both of Rachel’s dads, and been reassured multiple times that they did actually like her, she felt a lot less leery about visiting while they were home.

It turned out that only one of them was, and when Quinn followed Rachel into the house, they found her dad reading the newspaper at the kitchen table, a cup of tea sitting within easy reach.

“Hi dad,” Rachel said, going over to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Hello sweetheart. Hi Quinn, how lovely to see you.”

“Hello Mr. Berry.”

He raised an amused eyebrow, and she quickly corrected herself, “Sorry, I mean, Hiram.”

“So,” he said, looking between them conspiratorially, “how is the date going? I’m assuming it started off well based on this beautiful bouquet.”

He gestured towards the flowers that Quinn had brought, and she couldn’t help but blush a little, partly at being caught being romantic, but partly because having this kind of conversation with a dad at all was still a tiny bit mortifying.

Rachel glanced at her, and then took her hand and started to lead her away, saying “Bye dad,” in a very final tone.

They had only made it a few steps before Hiram called out, “Is Quinn staying for dinner? I’m making stir fry.”

Rachel looked back at her girlfriend to gauge her response to that invitation and whispered, “Do not feel obligated to do that.”

“It’s fine Rach, that sounds nice,” she whispered back.
Then, she turned and raised her voice as she called back, “That sounds lovely Hiram, thank you.”

“Okay great,” he responded, and then Rachel was insistently leading her away and up the stairs to her bedroom.

Once they were inside the room with the door firmly closed, Quinn was maneuvered onto the bed to lay on her back with the other girl pressed tightly against her side.

“I know that we have now snuggled like this on multiple occasions, but I wanted to recreate the moment you asked me to be your girlfriend as best as I could.”

In response, the arms wrapped around her tightened.

“I’m so glad I asked you that question,” Quinn murmured after a moment, “I was so nervous that I almost didn’t.”

“Did you really think that I was going to say no?”

“Well, I’d never asked anyone to be my girlfriend before, so honestly…I wasn’t sure what to expect.”

“You’re an excellent girlfriend,” Rachel said very sincerely, “and you make me very happy.”

“You make me really happy too. Happier than I can remember being in a long time.”

That statement led to Rachel disentangling herself enough to lean in and place a soft kiss on Quinn’s lips.

Afterwards, the blonde girl looked at her rather dreamily and said, “Since you planned this month’s date, I’ll plan the next one.”

Rachel propped herself up so she could get a better look at Quinn’s face, and said teasingly, “Since it happens to fall on Valentine’s Day, it will need to be especially epic and romantic.”

“Oh yeah?” Quinn asked, a definite twinkle in her eye, “Well prepare for me to romance the pants off you Berry.”

Rachel gave her a rather wicked look.
“With enough romance, you may very well be able to get my pants off me.”

Quinn’s eyebrows shot up as she instantly flushed a deep red.

Her girlfriend just chuckled and snuggled back against her side.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

New Romantics

Valentine’s Day was in about a week, and it seemed like the whole school was gearing up for the holiday with an unusual level of enthusiasm.

Or maybe it just appeared that way to Rachel because she was actually in love.

Though she had thought she was in love with Finn while they were dating, what she was feeling now for Quinn made her question whether it had really been love at all.

Not that she had said the L word to her girlfriend yet, but her feelings were getting quite powerful, and she was afraid she was just going to blurt it out unexpectedly some day soon.

That was something she desperately wanted to prevent as she would much prefer for it to be a perfect moment with excellent lighting, the appropriate level of privacy, and of course Quinn saying it back to her with a wonderfully soft look in her lovely hazel eyes.

Surely that wasn’t too much to ask?

She knew that her girlfriend was planning something for Valentine’s Day, which also happened to coincide with two months of them dating.

And even though she had promised Quinn that she would not do anything to upstage her, she did at least have a few romantic ideas rattling around in her brain.

She also had one idea that was less romantic than…something else, but she would need help making it happen.

For now though, she was on her way to Glee Club, her mind already going through a list of songs that she could potentially sing to Quinn that weren’t so overtly romantic that it would immediately give them away.

She was so deep in thought that she was startled when the object of her reflection appeared next to her, a small, secret smile on her face.

“Hey Rach,” she said, in a tone that clearly implied that she wanted to follow up that greeting with a kiss.

“Hi.”

They paused in the hallway and both leaned up against the wall.

Quinn just barely resisted reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind Rachel’s ear, instead settling for shifting a little closer so their hands could brush together.

“What were you thinking about? You had a pretty intense look on your face.”

“Oh, just going through a mental catalog of songs I could potentially sing to you.”

The corner of Quinn’s mouth immediately lifted.
“Yeah? You want to serenade me Berry?”

“As I’ve previously told you, it’s inevitable that I will sing to you. I know that I can’t publicly express the full extent of my feelings for you right now, but I was thinking about a song that would be a little less obvious.”

“And did you come up with one?” Quinn asked, looking pleased.

“More than one,” Rachel said, and was about to say something else before she was distracted by the sight of Finn staring at them from a little ways down the corridor.

She immediately scowled, which prompted her girlfriend to frown and ask, “What’s wrong?”

“Finn Hudson is being a creep and staring at you again. If he thinks he’s being at all subtle, he’s sorely mistaken.”

Quinn didn’t even bother to look in his direction.
Instead, she pushed off the wall and moved so that she was facing Rachel and blocking her view of the tall boy.

“Forget about him. He can stare all he wants, but he’ll never get to touch.”

Then, she leaned in a little closer so she could say in Rachel’s ear, “But you can.”

Just that simple statement and the smell of Quinn’s perfume was enough to significantly boost her mood.

“You make an excellent point,” she replied, linking her arms with the blonde girl’s and pulling her away. “Let’s go to Glee.”

---------------------------------------------------

Quinn was sitting in her now customary chair in the choir room with Rachel seated next to her.
Finn was currently sitting on the opposite side of the room, which she was grateful for.

She had been doing her best to avoid him lately, and had generally been succeeding as he didn’t seem to want to approach her if either Rachel or Santana was there, and thankfully one of them generally was.

Everything had started out fairly normally with Mr. Schue telling them that their lesson for the week was going to be love songs (a super obvious choice).

But then Finn was standing at the front of the room talking about how he wanted to run a kissing booth to raise money for Glee, and while Quinn managed to restrict her reaction to only a frown and a skeptical eyebrow raise, Santana snorted loudly at the idea.

She followed that up by stating, quite matter of factly, “I’ve kissed Hudson before, and I promise you, it’s not worth a dollar.”

Finn’s cocky expression dimmed for a moment, but he ignored Santana’s commentary and recovered enough to flash a dopey smile at Quinn.

Clearly, Rachel noticed this, because she could feel the girl’s body tense up.

Quickly dropping her gaze so Finn wouldn’t read into any accidental eye contact, she then subtly pressed her leg against Rachel’s, which seemed to have at least a small calming effect.

Though she maintained a neutral expression, inside she was pissed.
Because of course Finn would think he could just come after her again now that Rachel had dumped him. Apparently, he just had to be chasing after one or both of them at any given time.

She kept herself mostly distracted from her simmering rage throughout the rest of Glee by trying to come up with what love song she would sing to Rachel if given the chance.

---------------------------------------------------

The next evening, Rachel had Kurt and Mercedes over for a pajama party so they could ostensibly complain about being single, which of course she wasn’t.

Kurt had practically begged her for a hangout though, saying that he needed to dish about Blaine, especially given that he’d just found out that the other boy’s crush was not on him at all.

That had quickly convinced Rachel, and now the three of them were piled on her bed listening to Kurt vent, rather sadly, about the whole situation.

“I really thought that he was talking about me, but he had his eye on a cute, older guy the entire time. I suppose the fact that he got rejected makes it sting just a tiny bit less. Is that mean?”

“I think it’s perfectly understandable,” Rachel answered.

Mercedes nodded in agreement and added, “I know that you want Blaine to be happy, but it’s okay that you’d rather he be happy with you than someone else. Being single is hard this time of year anyway, and now we have to sing love songs in Glee? Sometimes Mr. Schue is whack.”

“I think you could accurately say that he is often “whack”,” Kurt said dryly.

Mercedes just laughed.
“You know who else is whack? Mr. “I want to kiss all the girls in school and pretend it’s for Glee Club” Hudson. I mean, it’s ridiculous. And besides, from the way he keeps staring, it seems like he has his eye on Quinn again.”

Rachel was unable to keep the annoyance from her tone when she responded.
“Well he should keep his eyes off Quinn because she isn’t paying any attention to him. And she certainly has no desire to be his girlfriend. Not anymore at least...”.

By the end of her spiel, she was sounding a little smug, which made Mercedes glance at her suspiciously. Before she could ask any follow-up questions though, Kurt intervened.

“Finn is my brother, and I do love him, but I certainly agree that Quinn can do much better.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” Mercedes agreed.

Then she started talking about what non-romantic movie they should watch, which started a debate on the best anti-love movies, and nothing more was said about Finn for the rest of the night.

---------------------------------------------------

The next day, Rachel was waiting near Santana’s locker, trying to look as casual as possible so no one would notice her loitering there.

Eventually, the cheerleader appeared, flicking her eyes over at Rachel as she spun her combination lock.

“Can I help you?”

“I need your assistance with something.”

“Is it your fashion sense? Because if so, that will require a whole ass team of people.”

As far as insults from Santana, this was quite mild, and her tone of voice was not nearly as snarky as usual.
Ignoring the jab, she stood silently until the other girl was finished at her locker, and finally the cheerleader turned to her, now looking exasperated.

“I’m guessing that telling you no won’t end this conversation.”

“You guess correctly," Rachel replied primly. “Perhaps we could move this conversation to a more private setting?”

Santana gave a deep sigh before slamming her locker door shut and marching to the nearest bathroom.
There was one girl in there washing her hands, but when she saw the Cheerio, she looked slightly terrified and quickly grabbed a paper towel before scampering from the room.

“Glad to know I’ve still got it.”
She crossed her arms and stood facing Rachel.
“Alright, what’s this favor that you need?”

After doing one more quick check of the bathroom to make sure they were alone, Rachel took a deep breath to prepare herself.

“As you know, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and though Quinn is planning something for us, I also want to do something special for her.”

“So you want help pulling off some kind of gross romantic gesture? Do you need some kick ass harmonies on a love ballad or something?”

“While I do plan to one day lovingly serenade Quinn, unfortunately, expressing my feelings in that way would give away the relationship that we’re currently trying to keep fairly quiet.”

“Fairly quiet is something that I wish you were capable of being,” Santana grumbled, “What do you want? Spit it out, Berry.”

“I need some shopping help. It isn’t something I can do with my dads, and I don’t think that Kurt would be much help in this situation.”

The girl across from her mulled that over for a moment, and then her eyes went wide.
“I hope you aren’t asking me to go sex toy shopping with you.”

The tips of Rachel's ears went pink and she gaped at Santana for a moment before stammering out, “No, no, oh my god, no. I was talking about lingerie.”

Now it was Santana’s turn to look stunned
“Is God punishing me for something?” she asked the ceiling.

Rachel managed to recover enough to forge ahead.
“I understand that this is a…delicate request, but I trust your sense of taste when it comes to what’s sexy, and I want to create a nice romantic moment for Quinn.”

Santana was reduced to echoing some of what she’d just said in a low, horrified tone.
“Sexy? Romantic moment for Quinn? Jesus save me.”

Since the direct approach didn’t seem to be working, Rachel decided to switch tactics.

“I suppose that if you’re wholly unwilling, I’ll need to reach out to someone else. This is not in Kurt’s wheelhouse and inviting Mercedes or Tina would only result in a lot of questions. I thought about asking Brittany, but secret keeping is not one of her strengths, and I would prefer to surprise Quinn.”

She paused and feigned looking thoughtful before adding, slowly, “I suppose that leaves only one option: Noah.”

Santana’s eyes bugged out and she looked like she was about to choke.
“Puckerman?! What the hell, Berry!”

Knowing that she now had Santana exactly where she wanted her, Rachel continued, innocently, “Yes, he and I are friends after all, and he certainly has opinions on what makes girls look hot.”

“First off, you could put boobs on a sack of potatoes and Puckerman would think it’s hot. And second, if you think I’m letting that man whore anywhere near my best friend’s girl while she’s wearing lingerie, you’ve officially lost it.”

Rachel let the silence settle for a second and then asked, “So you’ll come with me then?”

The look on Santana’s face was a mixture of respect and severe annoyance when she realized that she’d been outmaneuvered.

After a moment, she crossed her arms and said, “Alright, fine, yeah. I’ll go with you. But this better not lead to Quinn trying to slap me silly because I saw you in a bra.”

Rachel beamed in triumph.
“I promise that I’ll protect you from her wrath if it comes to that.”

Santana gritted her teeth and said, “I’ll pick you up at 7. And we pretend this conversation never happened.”

“Agreed.”

---------------------------------------------------

Somewhat incredibly, Santana had shown up right on time.

Though she had refused to get out of her car and instead had just laid on the horn and waited for Rachel to come outside.

On the way to the mall, they didn’t talk all that much, but did end up singing along to the radio together, which to Rachel felt like an incredible improvement compared to their past antagonism.

They had immediately gone to Victoria’s Secret, and once they’d been browsing for a minute, Santana asked, “So I assume you have some idea of what you’re looking for? Because there’s a lot of options here and they don’t all send the same message if you know what I mean.”

Rachel looked up from where she was carefully flipping through some negligees.

“Santana, the whole point of this shopping trip is to buy something for me to wear that Quinn will want to take off.”

She walked away, intent on looking at some bras, and it took a moment for her to realize that Santana had not followed her.
The other girl was standing where she’d left her, seemingly frozen in place.

After a moment, she seemed to shake off her paralysis, and she immediately hurried over to Rachel, telling her, in a low voice, “I’m going to need several drinks to get that image out of my mind, so thank you very much.”

Then her expression shifted from something less wide-eyed to something more conspiratorial.

“Though I guess if someone was going to be the freak out of the two of you, it was never going to be Mother Mary.”

Rachel rolled her eyes and muttered, “Let’s just focus on finding something that will make the right statement.”

Seemingly recovered from her moment of shock, Santana snickered disrespectfully before going back to her search.

Once she had gathered a few potential items, she dragged Santana (under protest) to the fitting room with her.

“Do I seriously have to go in there with you?”

Rachel did not deign to respond verbally, instead, she merely pulled her into an empty dressing room and closed the door.
The cheerleader immediately spun to face the wall.

“Tell me when you’re fully clothed and need my opinion, and for the love of god, keep your pants on.”

Rachel huffed.
“While I agree that there is no need for you to see the panties, I will need your opinion on the bras.”

“Please never say “panties” to me again,” Santana muttered.

They managed to make it through the experience with only minimal complaints from Santana, and Rachel was very pleased to find a lacy red matching set that made Santana (very grudgingly) admit that she looked kind of hot.

“I’ll consider that a glowing compliment,” Rachel said, feeling very pleased with herself.

“Yeah, right, fine. Can we please go now?”

“Of course. Would you like some ice cream? My treat.”

“Tequila would be better, but I’ll take it.”

“I hope it goes without saying that you can’t mention anything about this to Quinn.”

“As if I’d ever tell anyone that this happened.”

Now fully dressed, Rachel caught Santana’s eye and smiled.
“Thank you. I mean it.”

The other girl rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but smile a little in response.
“Yeah, yeah. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”

---------------------------------------------------

While Rachel had chosen Santana as her partner in crime for making secret Valentine’s Day plans, Quinn had approached Kurt, which was rather gayly ironic.

Since she had no desire to go to the Hummel/Hudson house and risk running into Finn, she had asked Kurt to meet her for dinner at Breadstix.

Kurt had seemed surprised at the invitation, but was intrigued enough to agree.

Once he’d slid into the booth, he gave her outfit a once-over followed by an approving nod.
“I must say, your new style is much more fashion forward. You’re really pulling off the preppy boyish look.”

She looked down at the plain red crewneck sweater and dark gray jeans she was wearing and then looked back up at Kurt and flashed him a smile.

“Thank you. It feels a lot more…me. Considering you were one of my style consultants I suppose you deserve some of the credit.”

“Why thank you Ms. Fabray,” he said teasingly before shifting to a more serious tone.
“Now, what necessitated this momentous occasion? I don’t think we’ve ever hung out one on one together.”

“I was hoping that you could help me pull off a Valentine’s Day surprise.”

Kurt perked up at that.
“I do love to play Cupid, and I have a fabulous ensemble that would be perfect for the occasion. What’s your plan?”

She leaned in a bit and lowered her voice.

“Valentine's Day happens to fall on our two month anniversary, so I want to do something extra special.”

She paused to let Kurt clap his hands delightedly for a moment and then continued.

“I want to do something romantic that involves music and Rachel being serenaded, but if I’m the one to do it, I think it would be too obvious. We aren’t ready to be completely out yet.”

“Rachel would certainly love the gesture, and one day you will have to sing her a romantic song in public, but I agree that if you tried that now, your heart eyes would give the game away.”

“My what?”

Kurt shot her a fondly exasperated look.
“Sweetie. The way that you look at Rachel sometimes is absolutely adorable. Nauseating, but adorable. Honestly, I think the only reason that no one has caught on to you two is that the possibility hasn’t even occurred to them.”

Quinn took a moment to rub a hand against her suddenly warm cheek before she cleared her throat and continued to explain her plan.

“What if you hosted a Valentine’s party here that involved music and singing love songs? That way I could at least dedicate a secret song to Rachel, and maybe even play piano, well keyboard I guess, assuming I can get one in here.”

The boy across from her looked rather excited at this idea.

“That sounds fun and romantic, and it would be a perfect way for me to spend Valentine’s Day with Blaine, because I’m certain that I can convince him to sing. Maybe he can even get the Warblers on board.”

“If you could, I’d really appreciate it. I do have a song in mind, if you or Blaine wanted to sing it, I can do the piano part.”

“What is it?”

“Your Song.”

Kurt gave her a sweet smile.

“That’s perfect. I’ll talk to Blaine and we’ll see what we can do.”

“Great. I already talked to the Breadstix manager, and she’s willing to let us do it if we take care of the set-up and deal with everything.”

Their conversation paused for a moment as their food was delivered and they settled into eating.

Then Quinn looked up.

“Thanks Kurt. I know I haven’t always been nice to you, but you’re a good friend.”

“Well, we all have to stick together, don’t we?”

Quinn just smiled.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Mine

After Kurt’s conversation with Quinn, he’d been looking forward to presenting her Valentine's Day idea to Blaine, and was planning to do so during their standing Thursday morning coffee date.

He finally had the chance as they were currently standing in line at the Lima Bean chatting about the sappy decorations surrounding them.
But before he could steer the conversation in that direction, Blaine started to talk about love with a shade of resentment, and Kurt couldn’t help but take the opportunity to share how he was feeling.

Ultimately, he decided to be completely honest.

“I thought the guy you wanted to ask out on Valentine’s day was me.”

Blaine blinked at him for a moment before replying, “Wow, I really am clueless.”

Thankfully, they ended up having a good conversation that left Kurt feeling more hopeful about love than he had in a while.

And, it also provided an opportunity to present the Valentine’s Day plan to Blaine.
The Warbler was very excited about the idea, especially when he heard the romantic context behind it.

Kurt was careful not to share any names or details, but did say that maybe one day soon Blaine would be able to meet his “gay lady posse”.

“I would love that. And, I have to say, it’s really great that there are other gay kids at your school who are willing to be open about it with you.”

Kurt smiled as he shifted the strap of his bag off his shoulder so they could sit.
“Compared to how things were not that long ago…it does feel pretty amazing.”

Blaine sat down across from him and leaned forward.
“Okay, so tell me about the setlist for this party, because I know you have one.”

“Of course. But the most important is the secret love song, which I think you should sing, as you’re more than capable of channeling Elton John.”

“Let me guess, Your Song?” Blaine asked with a smile.

“Yes, and I think it’s very sweet.”

He leaned back in his chair with a soft expression on his face as he thought about the unlikely romance between Quinn and Rachel and how it somehow just seemed to work.

While he was musing, he missed the affectionate look that Blaine was giving him.

---------------------------------------------------

As she walked down the hall on the way to meet Rachel for lunch, Quinn gave an annoyed huff as she had to dodge around a cluster of girls headed for the kissing booth that Finn had set up right in the middle of the corridor.

She rolled her eyes and wondered, not for the first time, what was wrong with the administration at the school.
Letting a student collect money for kissing girls seemed like a great way to spread mono, and was also just inherently gross.

Given that until fairly recently she had been content to kiss Finn herself, maybe it was a little hypocritical to think of it as gross, but now she had way better things to do with her lips.

Ignoring Finn’s attempt to catch her eye, she continued past the booth, thankful to have avoided the situation.

But then, she heard her name being called, and the sound of heavy footsteps quickly catching up to her.
For a moment, she thought about just continuing on her way, but then Finn said her name again, more loudly, and with an aggrieved sigh, she turned to face him.

Knowing that it was in the best interest of Glee Club that she not fight with one of the co-captains, she plastered a polite smile on her face.

“What can I do for you Finn?”

He looked down at her with what he thought was probably a cute, innocent expression, but as usual, she saw right through it.

“I noticed that you haven’t stopped by the kissing booth yet. And, you know, it’s for a good cause. I thought you’d want to help out Glee.”

She kept that polite smile on her face and tried not to grit her teeth.

“Well, since it’s for a good cause, why don’t I give you a contribution?”

Quinn took a second to rummage through the pocket of her letterman jacket and pulled out a few folded dollar bills which she then pressed into Finn’s hand.

He glanced at the money, and back at her, a little lopsided smile working its way across his face.
Then he started to lean in, catching her by surprise.

She took a very quick step away from him and he leaned back again, now looking startled.

Before she could yell at him, or possibly slap him right across his big, dumb face, a very angry voice from right behind her shouted, “What the hell!”

Finn’s eyes widened even further as Rachel stepped up next to Quinn, looking extremely pissed.

“Oh, uh, hi Rach.”

“Don’t “Hi Rach” me Finn Hudson. Why don’t you explain exactly what is going on here and why it appeared that you were about to kiss my…”.

Her rant stopped abruptly as she snapped her mouth shut with a small, awkward squeak.

Realizing what Rachel had almost just said, Quinn quickly jumped in, stuttering a bit as she blurted out, “That’s…that’s an excellent question. What made you think that was okay?”

Facing the unexpected fury of both of his ex-girlfriends, Finn’s face turned a little red as he countered, rather defensively, “Well, we were talking about the kissing booth, and you gave me money, so I thought…”.

“You thought wrong,” Quinn interrupted, her tone a lot colder now that she’d mostly recovered from the shock.
“I was giving you that money as a donation to Glee so you’d leave me alone. I don’t want to kiss you.”

“Yeah, she doesn’t want to kiss you,” Rachel echoed, then, before Finn could say anything else, she grabbed Quinn’s arm and started dragging her away, throwing a dirty look over her shoulder for good measure.

Finn stood there for a moment scratching his head, then turned and walked back to the kissing booth.

Quinn allowed herself to be hauled away, not protesting until she realized that she was getting pulled into a bathroom.

As the shorter girl started methodically checking the stalls, Quinn leaned up against one of the sinks and started to say, all in a rush, “Rach, I promise I did not want that to happen, or encourage it, he just…”.

The rest of her sentence was cut off by Rachel’s lips pressing aggressively into hers.
A pair of hands ran down the side of her body before grasping her waist possessively.

All she could do was lean in and try to suppress a moan when her girlfriend’s tongue swiped lightly across her lower lip.

Eventually, Rachel leaned back and gazed at her with dark eyes as she said softly, “It’s like fireworks.”

Quinn, in a bit of a daze as sparks skittered down her spine, licked her lips and asked, “What is?”

Rachel gave a contented hum and leaned into her girlfriend’s body.
“Kissing you.”

She wrapped an arm around Rachel’s shoulder and whispered, “You know I definitely don’t want to kiss Finn, right?”

She heard a giggle before the brunette took a step back so she could get a better look at Quinn’s face.

“Oh, I know that baby. I’m not mad at you. But I am highly annoyed with Finn thinking he can just kiss you in the middle of the hallway.”

Her shoulders relaxed a little at those words, but before she could say anything in response, the bathroom door swung open to reveal Brittany.

She looked between them with a smile on her face before saying, quite conversationally, “I saw you come in here so I stood guard by the door. I told people that you were fighting, so they didn’t try to come in. But hopefully you were only putting your mouths on each other's mouths.”

As usual, Rachel was quicker to respond to Brittany’s blunt pronouncement.

“Yes, thank you Brittany. We’re finished…fighting, and we’re heading to lunch.”

The smile on the blonde cheerleader’s face got bigger.
“Great! I’ll go with you since we all sit together now and sometimes I get lost on the way to the cafeteria.”

With that, she skipped out of the bathroom leaving a bemused Rachel and Quinn to follow after her.

---------------------------------------------------

In Glee that afternoon, several things became apparent.

One was that Finn was still acting wary of Rachel, which was smart of him after the withering glare she shot in his direction as soon as he walked into the room.

Another much more unfortunate thing was that he somehow still seemed to think that Quinn was potentially interested in him, at least based on the stealthy looks he kept sneaking in her direction.

The third thing was that because his looks weren’t actually all that stealthy, Rachel could see what he was doing and was getting extremely agitated.

She sat next to Quinn tapping her foot against the floor and wishing that she could stake a claim on her girlfriend so that Finn Hudson could get it through his thick skull that she was off the market.

But of course, that wasn’t currently possible.

Then she was struck with a sudden thought. There was a way that she could express at least some of her feelings, as well as give herself some badly needed catharsis.

As soon as there was a lull, her hand shot into the air.

“Mr. Schue? I have something I’d like to sing.”

As he often did in the face of Rachel's brash insistence, Mr. Schue affected a tight lipped smile and gestured for her to take the floor before he sat down on a stool off to the side.

Rachel let her eyes drift over to Quinn for just a second before she took a deep breath and began to sing.

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards, one blow from cavin' in?

It was hard to not keep her eyes fixed on her girlfriend, but she managed to resist the temptation, instead allowing her gaze to drift around the room for the start of the song.

But once she got to the chorus, she sang the first four lines directly to Quinn.

'Cause baby, you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go, "Oh, oh, oh"
As you shoot across the sky

She got to see the blonde girl fighting to suppress an adoring smile and then she had to look away, dancing around the room and inciting other members of Glee to sing along.

The rest of the club joined in and the song finished with smiles and laughter.

Or at least, mostly smiles and laughter. Finn seemed a little confused, especially given that Rachel had made sure not to look at him the entire time, and he was still under the assumption that the reason she’d been upset earlier was that she was jealous of the attention he’d been giving Quinn.

Once the applause had died down, Rachel used the cover of everyone settling back into their seats to lean over and whisper in Quinn’s ear, “Baby, you’re a firework.”

---------------------------------------------------

It was Friday, which meant that they finally got to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Kurt had graciously taken the lead on inviting everyone in Glee to the celebration at Breadstix, which meant that hopefully Rachel wouldn’t suspect that Quinn had any involvement in setting it up.

They weren’t going until after seven, which was an intentional move designed to avoid subjecting Rachel to the restaurant’s very non-vegan friendly menu.

She had of course insisted on picking her girlfriend up, and she’d spent several minutes in the car expressing exactly how much she’d liked Rachel’s Glee Club performance.

Once she’d slowly pulled away, Rachel looked at her dreamily and said, “Maybe I need to secretly serenade you in Glee more often.”

Quinn had no objections to that idea, and hoped that Rachel would feel similarly about her own secret serenade, even though she wasn’t going to be the one actually singing it.

They made it to the restaurant and settled into a booth where they were joined by Santana and, somewhat surprisingly, Sam.

Mercedes, Tina, and Mike were in the booth behind them while Artie and Brittany were seated near the door and Puck was at another table with Lauren Zizes.

She did a quick scan of the room and thankfully, Finn was nowhere to be seen.

While they waited for the show to start, Santana gave Sam a speculative look.
“What brings you here, Trouty Mouth?”

Sam just smiled and rolled his eyes.

Before her friend could pop off and ruin the vibe, Quinn said, “It’s fine Santana. Sam is my friend and he’s well aware that he will be staying in that role permanently.”

“Yeah, I’m cool with that,” Sam was quick to add, “Totally down to be in the friendzone.”
He leaned in across the table and said, very quietly, “And like, I’m also cool to be a lezbro, you know?”

That made both Rachel and Santana’s eyebrows shoot up, and while Rachel looked over at Quinn with concern, Santana’s eyes narrowed as she regarded the blonde boy.

“What did you just say?” she asked, sounding distinctly unfriendly.

“Santana, stand down,” Quinn quickly said as Sam leaned away from the other girl and looked alarmed.

She rested a hand on Rachel’s knee out of view under the table and said, quietly, “Sam knows, okay? He’s totally cool with it and he’s already been sworn to secrecy, so everyone can calm down.”

The last statement was directed mostly at Santana, who continued to look suspicious, but did at least lean back in the booth in a more relaxed pose.

Once it became apparent that he was not going to be either physically or verbally attacked, Sam also relaxed, sending the three girls a reassuring smile.

“Yeah, it’s all good. I’m kind of on the same team as you guys anyway, so I’m on board to be an awesome lezbro, or like, a lez-bi-ro maybe?”

It took the three of them a moment to understand what he was saying, but when they did, Rachel calmed down considerably, and seemed quite pleased when she informed him, “In that case, it seems that we share an identity.”

Sam thought about that for a second, and then reached out across the table to hold out his fist to her.

She looked at it for a long moment, seeming puzzled, and then tentatively knocked her fist against his.

Even though the motion was rather awkward, Quinn thought it was adorable, and her eyes must have been showing that, because Santana transferred her attention over to her and made a small gagging noise.

“Great,” she muttered, “I’m stuck at a table with the blonde twins and Barbra freaking Berry.”

All three of them just smiled at her, and she crossed her arms as Rachel said, “I actually take that as a compliment.”

“Of course you do,” Santana shot back as she tried to look disgruntled even as a small smile threatened to break through.

Before any of them could say anything else, Kurt walked onto the makeshift stage at the front and announced that the entertainment portion of the evening was about to begin.

He introduced the Warblers, and they made their way through several fun and upbeat love songs.

Then Kurt made his way back to the mic and said, with a smile, “For this next song, we’re going to need a piano player.”

“That’s my cue,” Quinn told Rachel quietly, “I hope you like this one.”

Before her girlfriend could respond, Quinn slid out of the booth and made her way to the stage to sit behind the keyboard.

She wiped her hands on her jeans surreptitiously, hoping that no one in the audience realized that it was because her palms were sweating.

Once she was situated, Blaine separated from the rest of the Warblers and took Kurt’s place at the microphone.

He briefly glanced over at Quinn and she gave him a slightly nervous nod.

“Our next song is dedicated to a very special girl from a not so secret admirer.”

As she readied her hands over the keys, Quinn was unable to resist sneaking a glance over at Rachel.
She was rewarded with a glimpse of wide brown eyes and a smile before she forced her attention back to the task at hand.

After one steadying breath, she started in on the gentle piano intro to Your Song, with Blaine coming in exactly on time with the first verse.

It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside.
I’m not one of those who can easily hide…

They made it through with Quinn’s deft accompaniment, Blaine’s heartfelt singing, and some light background harmonies from the Warblers all blending together in a sweet performance that had everyone in the audience paying attention.

Especially one particular audience member who was gazing at the blonde keyboardist with open admiration.

When the song finished, there was a beat of silence followed by a round of very enthusiastic applause.
Blaine smiled as he placed the microphone back on the stand and then swept his arm over to acknowledge Quinn.

She ducked her head bashfully, then stood and gave a small bow before quickly making her way back to her table.

Rachel watched her progress, unable to look away until Santana muttered, “Berry, if you’re trying to keep your relationship on the down low, you need to put away those big, gross heart eyes.”

That earned her a glare, but did distract her from looking at Quinn long enough for the blonde girl to get back to them and sit down.

She immediately reached for Rachel’s hand under the table and was gratified when Rachel laced their fingers together and gave her hand a squeeze.

“That was lovely Quinn. Thank you.”

Having said that, she gave Quinn a look that suggested that she would deliver more effusive praise once they were no longer in public.

Their staring was abruptly interrupted by Santana ostentatiously clearing her throat.

“Sweet Jesus, I’m glad we aren’t eating right now because these goopy looks are making me nauseous.”

Everyone ignored her, and then Sam said, “That was really good. I didn’t know you could play piano.”

“Quinn has many hidden talents,” Rachel said proudly.

“Wanky.”

“Santana!”

Quinn blushed, Rachel glared, and Sam politely tried to act like he wasn’t about to burst out laughing.

---------------------------------------------------

Later that night, the two of them were at Rachel’s house where, thankfully, they were alone.

The rest of the Valentine’s party had been lovely, and even Santana’s fond ribbing of them and Sam had been mostly funny.

But it was a relief for it to be just the two of them. Rachel’s fathers were out of town on a romantic overnight date in Columbus, so the house was empty.

This suited Rachel just fine, because she had a gift for Quinn that she would prefer could be given in utter privacy. Her dads were generally pretty good about giving them space, though likely this was partly due to them not wanting to have to spend all their time supervising two teenagers.

And, they trusted Quinn a lot more than they’d ever trusted Finn, which was understandable.

Rachel had just finished opening the small box that Quinn had given her and revealed a bracelet that matched the necklace that had been her Christmas gift. It had a small heart charm dangling from it and she immediately put it on, holding out her wrist to her girlfriend to show it off.

“How does it look?”

“Perfect.”

That statement, and the shy smile it was delivered with earned the blonde girl several soft kisses.
When Rachel leaned back, she didn’t step away, merely kept her arms wrapped around Quinn’s waist and rested her chin on the taller girl’s shoulder.

“Thank you again for the song. I always love hearing you play.”

The arms around her tightened and she felt Quinn’s cheek nuzzle gently against her hair.
After allowing herself a moment to revel in the feeling of warmth and security she always found in her girlfriend's arms, she gently disengaged and walked over to her desk to pick up a neatly wrapped package.

She presented it to Quinn who opened it carefully, barely even ripping the wrapping paper.
Inside was a slim box containing a framed photo of the two of them snuggled on Rachel’s couch. It was taken from behind with the two of them in focus and the background artistically blurred.

“My daddy took this picture when we weren’t paying attention and I really love it. I got two copies made and put them in matching frames.”

She gestured over to her dresser where an identical version was sitting proudly.

Quinn smiled down at the photo.

“I love it. It’s nice to have something tangible…something that’s us, you know?”

“I know.”

Rachel gave Quinn another moment to look at the picture before she crossed the room to stand next to the foot of the bed.

“I have one more present for you.”

“Oh Rachel, this was more than enough,” Quinn protested, as she ran her finger gently across the edge of the picture frame.

“Maybe,” Rachel responded, sounding a little shy even though her expression was filled with anticipation. “But this is a present for both of us.”

Quinn seemed to catch on to the fact that something special was happening, and her head tilted slightly as she regarded her girlfriend curiously.

“You should put that down,” Rachel suggested, “and then come sit over here.”

She patted the end of the bed, and as soon as Quinn had complied, she walked a few steps away to stand and face her girlfriend.

Then she took off the black cardigan she was wearing, and dropped it to the floor leaving her in a red, scoop neck top.
There was a quick indrawn breath from the girl on the bed, and then, “Rach…what…”.

Before Quinn could get any more words out, Rachel had slipped the shirt over her head in one smooth motion leaving her standing there in a red, lacy bra that was definitely geared more towards aesthetics than function.

Her eyes were fixed on Quinn, who seemed to have been rendered speechless.
For a moment, she just looked stunned, but then her eyes darkened as they roamed across the exposed tan skin she was being presented with.

Rachel experienced the look as a wash of heat across her body and she swallowed once, before saying, a bit tremulously, “Quinn?”

That brought those hazel eyes up to her face, and the desire there swept away all of Rachel's lingering insecurity.

“Come here.”

The words were low with an edge of command, and her feet started moving almost instinctively.

It took just three steps for her to get to Quinn, and then one more stumbling half step as she was pulled forward to stand between Quinn’s legs.

She got a very close up view of that heated gaze and then a pair of warm hands were running slowly up her sides to rest just under the bottom edge of the lacy red fabric.

One thumb slipped just under that edge coming dangerously close to brushing the underside of her breast.

Through all of that, those hazel eyes never wavered.

“Is this okay?”

The response came via an insistent pair of lips and hands reaching up to tangle in blonde hair.

At this encouragement, Quinn’s hands slowly started to wander.
She was so pleasantly distracted that she almost didn’t register that she was being pushed backwards until her shoulders hit the mattress.

It was a very good Valentine’s Day.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Long Live

The week after Valentine’s Day, Rachel walked into the choir room a few minutes early and took a seat.

She was impatient for Glee to start so she could continue to pressure Mr. Schuester to come up with a truly inspired setlist for Regionals.
So far his response to her increasing frustration was to try and avoid her.

If not for Quinn’s near-magical ability to calm her down, she would undoubtedly have already had at least one diva meltdown.

The other students were making their way into the room, and she was pleased when Kurt sat down next to her.
Santana and Brittany showed up not long after that, and sat in the row behind them, and the latter even gave Rachel’s outfit a small thumbs up.

She had been making an extra effort with her appearance recently, and Brittany had noticed and randomly started giving her fashion tips whenever they crossed paths in the hallway.

Some of them, like wearing leg warmers on her arms, were a little odd, but others had been surprisingly helpful.

She and Kurt chatted absently about their weekends, but her attention was divided when Quinn appeared in the doorway, Sam trailing along behind her.

Rachel was glad that she knew that Sam was well aware of her relationship with Quinn, because otherwise their friendship would likely spark her jealousy.

But as soon as Quinn had taken a step into the room, her eyes sought out Rachel, and she flashed her a genuine, and somewhat flirty smile.

That immediately made her smile back, and she could hear Kurt teasing her, though she chose to ignore him. Quinn sat down next to her and “accidentally” brushed their hands together, and all felt right in the world.

Though that feeling only lasted for a second, because Finn walked into the room next.
When he saw Sam sitting next to Quinn, he scowled, and quickly crossed to the other side of the room.

Quinn hadn’t noticed, because she was turned around in her chair to talk to Santana, but apparently Kurt had, because he looked over at Rachel and rolled his eyes.

“Apparently my step brother still has his wires crossed.”

“While I certainly can’t blame him for being interested in Quinn, it would be lovely if he could pick a different girl to fixate on.”

“Agreed.”

Rachel was determined to let the Finn thing go and fully focus on Glee, but then Mr. Schue walked into the room with Sue Sylvester.

All conversation in the room instantly stopped.

“Excuse me, what is she doing here?” Mercedes eventually asked, sounding incredulous.

“Yeah,” Finn chimed in, “she totally hates all of us.”

Sue walked to the center of the room and looked them over.

“I’m just here to show support for my top Cheerios. All three of them happen to be in this ridiculous club, and I need to make sure they’re being taken care of properly. And frankly, William, considering the star quality that I shove down the throats of each and every one of my cheerleaders until they’re gorged with it like a foie gras goose…I’ve been disappointed in the lackluster performances you’ve managed to churn out with them on your team.”

“Sue...".

She cut him off without missing a beat.
“I’ve heard that you have some real divas on the roster, so where’s the hunger? Where’s the drive to crush your competitors and leave their mangled bodies behind?”

“That isn’t how we approach competitions, Sue. We try to include everyone, and make sure everyone gets a moment to shine.”

His statement led to several noises of disbelief from around the room, which Sue quickly picked up on.
Her eyes locked onto Mercedes who had scoffed rather loudly at Mr. Schuester’s words.

“Well, Aretha. Did you have some thoughts about that?”

Mercedes glanced around the room, and then decided to speak.

“I actually do. Mr. Schue talks about giving everyone a chance, but we all know it’s been the Rachel Berry show since the beginning. Sure, sometimes we mix it up, but it isn’t like we get to audition for solos. And we don’t even know what we’re doing for Regionals yet, so who knows if it’s going to be any different.”

While Rachel had done a good job recently of tamping down her most obnoxious diva tendencies, she was unable to resist spinning in her chair and offering a rebuttal.

“I acknowledge that some type of more organized audition process would be beneficial for all of us, but I hope that you’re not suggesting that I haven’t earned my solos.”

She was aware of Quinn stepping lightly on her foot, and this did ground her enough to turn back around and add, in a calmer tone, “If Mercedes, or anyone else, wants to audition for a solo at Regionals, then I think they should have the opportunity to.”

Mr. Schuester seemed well aware that he had lost control of the room, but his efforts to get everyone to focus on him were ineffective.

Sue was looking between Rachel and Mercedes with a calculating expression on her face.
Then she said, “That’s an excellent idea. In the spirit of friendly competition, why don’t the two of you have a diva off?”

Quinn’s eyebrows shot up, because she recognized the look on Sue’s face and knew that it meant nothing good.

But Rachel and Mercedes were already agreeing to the plan.

Having seemingly gotten what she wanted for the moment, Sue sat down on a stool and let Mr. Schue have the floor.

Quinn shot a worried glance at Rachel, who was now sitting with her arms tightly crossed.
Then she looked back at the front of the room and wondered what Coach Sylvester was up to this time.

---------------------------------------------------

Sue had made it through most of Glee, but ended up leaving early, saying only, “I’m bored.” before sauntering out of the room.

That meant that Quinn had the opportunity to grab Santana and Brittany as soon as Glee was over.

Before she even had a chance to say anything, Santana was asking, “Okay, what’s the deal with Coach? Because there’s no way in hell she actually came here to support us.”

“Yeah, Coach Sylvester would make a terrible bra,” Brittany said, nodding in agreement.

“Right,” Quinn said, glancing across the room to where her girlfriend was having an animated conversation with Kurt.
“She’s probably trying to pull us apart from the inside…again. Trying to get Mercedes and Rachel to fight is step one.”

Santana crossed her arms.
“Well it’s a good plan since they’re both enormous divas. But I’m not letting her come in and mess everything up, especially after all the work I put in to get you and Berry together and make Glee stop being so damn awkward.”

That got her a sudden, tight hug from Brittany, and a smile along with an affectionate eye roll from Quinn.

Santana wrapped her arm around Brittany’s waist and called out, “Hey Hummel! We need to have a little chat.”

It was a testament to their friendship that instead of looking terrified, he gave her a smile and excused himself from his conversation with Rachel to walk over.

The cheerleader gently disentangled herself from Brittany and pulled him over to the corner of the room.

Once they were sequestered there, she said, “Alright, so we both know that Sue is trying to screw up Glee. We can’t let that happen.”

“I one hundred percent agree. Thankfully Rachel is so disgustingly happy in her relationship that she isn’t spiraling into her usual insane diva mode about this. I’m going to talk to Mercedes tonight and smooth things over as much as I can.”

“Perfect.”

---------------------------------------------------

When the diva off occurred at the next Glee meeting, it ended in admiring comments and a big hug between Rachel and Mercedes, much to Sue’s annoyance and chagrin.

Apparently, she had been attempting to fan the flames of the competition by trying to convince both Rachel and Mercedes that their opponent was saying rude things about them behind their backs.

But thanks to the combined efforts of Kurt, Santana, and Quinn, both divas were carefully handled, and Sue’s twisted plan was ultimately ineffectual.

While Sue continued to mutter to herself about the lack of cutthroat attitude, Sam surprised everyone by raising his hand and asking if he could do a performance.

Eager to change gears to something more positive, Mr. Schue quickly gestured for him to come to the front of the room.

Once he was standing there, everyone noticed that his hair looked a little different than usual. The reason for that became immediately clear when he announced that he’d formed a one man band called The Justin Bieber Experience.

The performance that followed was enough to get all the girls in the room fired up, though Quinn spent just as much time sneaking amused looks at Rachel’s enthusiastic reaction as paying attention to Sam.

Once the performance had been recognized by a round of enthusiastic applause led by Tina, Brittany, Mercedes, and Rachel, Sam gave a small bow and sat back down.

Mr. Schue announced that their competitors for Regionals would be the Warblers and Aural Intensity, and that the competition needed to include an anthem which got everyone talking about their chances against both of the other teams, and what constituted an anthem.

Quinn glanced over at Rachel, and sure enough, the brunette was now looking quite determined, her jaw set as she was clearly thinking hard about potential song choices.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, the diva had opened her mouth to speak, but was distracted when she caught Finn staring at Quinn from a few seats over. He immediately looked away, probably because the icy glare that Rachel fixed on him was too much for him to handle.

When Rachel swiveled back to face forward and crossed her arms tightly over her chest, Quinn gave her a friendly nudge with her shoulder in an attempt to capture her attention.

“So,” Quinn said quietly, “I didn’t realize that you were a Justin Bieber fan.”

“Oh, well, while I would love to say that my musical tastes are far too cultured for overproduced pop music…he does have catchy songs, and, like me, packs a lot of talent into a small body.”

“You more so than him,” Quinn responded with a tiny grin.

Rachel just scoffed good-naturedly.
“Well, of course.”

The compliment was enough to get Rachel’s posture to relax, much to Quinn’s relief, but the conversation did give her an idea.

She wanted to show Rachel that she was the only one that Quinn was thinking about, and maybe this was a perfect opportunity.

After Glee was over, she told her girlfriend that she had to grab something from the locker room, and once Rachel was out of sight, she hurried off to find Sam.

She ended up finding him in the hallway with Puck, Artie, and Mike clustered around. The conversation that they were having seemed to be about which Bieber song to perform, and Quinn realized that she’d been beaten to the punch.

The boys were so caught up with their brainstorming, that they didn’t notice her at first.
When Sam saw her standing there he gave her a puzzled look and stopped walking, which caused the rest of his entourage to stop as well.

“I want in,” she said, ignoring the rest of them and focusing directly on Sam.

All the boys looked extremely confused, and eventually, Sam was the one to break the silence.

“What?”

“You guys are planning to perform Bieber together, right?”

“Yeah…”.

“So. I want in.”

Puck took a step forward to stand next to Sam.

“No way dude. This performance is going to be girly enough without, you know, adding an actual girl to the mix.”

Quinn just gave him a flinty look and asked, “If you think Bieber is girly, why do you even want to do it?”

That made the mohawked boy shuffle his feet a bit as he admitted, a little sheepishly, “Lauren told me that she’s kind of into him, so I thought I could invite her to see us perform. I’ve gotta do something to try and woo her.”

Artie piped up from Sam’s other side, asking, a bit hesitantly, “Is there a particular reason that you want to perform with us Quinn?”

She didn’t have a good answer to that without totally outing herself, so she just shrugged and said, “I thought it would be fun. And it would be nice to do something different for a change.”

From the way that Sam was looking at her, he seemed to realize her true motivations, so he gave her a secret little smile and announced, “If Quinn wants in, she’s in. Unlike the rest of you, she’s blonde, and she’s a better dancer than all of you except for Mike.”

Artie and Mike seemed satisfied with this decision, but Puck still looked a little skeptical.

“You can’t do Bieber in your Cheerios uniform.”

“Not a problem. I’ll wear whatever you guys wear.”

“Fine, it’s settled then,” Sam interjected before anyone could disagree. “But we have to do something about Puckerman’s hair."

---------------------------------------------------

Somewhat amazingly, Quinn managed to keep the performance a secret from Rachel, though it helped that the other girl’s amped up personal practice schedule as Regionals approached was keeping her even busier than usual.

Sam had invited the Glee club to the auditorium for, as he called it, a super cool special event.
When Quinn peeked around the edge of the curtain, she saw that the entire club was sitting in the audience, and Lauren Zizes had shown up as well.

Rachel kept glancing towards the doors, clearly looking for Quinn. The Cheerio had told her girlfriend to meet her there and then had run off to change into her Bieber outfit.

To match the rest of the guys, she was wearing a blue zip up hoodie, dark jeans and sneakers, and a chunky white watch.
Her hair was gathered into a low ponytail with her bangs as swoopy as she could make them.

When Sam had first seen her, he grinned, and after checking to make sure that no one was eavesdropping, he leaned down to say, “I think it’s super cool that you’re doing this for Rachel.”

“I just hope she likes it.”

“Oh, she will. C’mon, it’s the Biebs!”

With that, he flipped his hood up and wandered off to round up the other guys.

Once they were set in their places, posed and waiting for the song to start, Quinn snuck a look into the audience and saw that Rachel was staring right at her, an anticipatory look on her face.

She couldn’t help but grin as she dropped her head and prepared to hit the first dance move.
The performance was a bit of a blur, but it was more fun than anything she’d done in Glee for a while.

When they’d finished she became aware of very enthusiastic applause and screaming, and she turned to give Sam a big hug.

“Thanks for letting me do this with you guys.”

“No problem. Now go see your girl. I think she liked it.”

She gave him a small shove in response to his teasing tone, and then carefully hopped off the stage and walked over to a very impatiently waiting Rachel.

As she came to a stop in front of the shorter girl, Rachel slowly looked her up and down, an intense look on her face.
“I really like this outfit. You look really cute.”

Then the brunette threw her arms around Quinn and said quietly, “That was so good. You looked…you looked really hot up there.”

Quinn could feel her face heating up in response to the admiring words and the feel of Rachel's body pressing tightly against hers.

Before she disengaged from the embrace, she whispered, “I’m glad you liked it. I did it as a surprise for you.”

Though she would have preferred to stay in Rachel’s arms, she took a step back, looking around the auditorium almost instinctively to make sure no one was watching their interaction too closely.

But Mike and Tina were hugging each other, Artie had Brittany perched in his lap, and Puck was off to the side with Lauren Zizes. Sam was talking with Kurt and Santana and everyone else seemed to have disappeared.

“I wish we were alone right now,” Rachel mumbled.

That snapped Quinn’s attention back to her, and though she resisted smirking, her voice did drop in register as she murmured, “And why is that baby?”

“You know why.”

“I promise that we can be alone later. I’m still driving you home, right?”

That made the shorter girl perk up a bit.
“You are. And my dads are both working late tonight.”

Quinn smiled as they walked out of the auditorium together, thoughts of unchaperoned time at the Berry house leaving her quite distracted.

She didn’t notice when they walked by Mercedes and Tina in the hallway, the two girls watching them pass with speculative looks on their faces.

---------------------------------------------------

Later that day, Tina and Mercedes were standing together in the hallway, using their time between lunch and their next class to people watch. It was one of their favorite hobbies as a surprising amount of drama seemed to happen in McKinley’s corridors.

Today though, they were both focused on a particular person who was standing at the other end of the hall chatting with Sam Evans.

“So what do you think?” Tina asked, her eyes locked onto Quinn Fabray. “Is Fabrevans a thing again?”

Mercedes was carefully eyeing the two blondes, and when she saw Quinn high-five the taller boy, she shook her head.

“I’m just not getting a romantic vibe from them. And Quinn was the one to break up with him, so why would she want him back a couple months later?”

Tina couldn’t help but agree with that assessment.

“Yeah, true. And also, if Sam was trying to impress Quinn with the Bieber performance, why would he let her do it with him?”

Mercedes was about to respond, but then she noticed Finn walking in their direction.
When he saw Quinn laughing at something Sam was saying, he glowered and then sped up to get by them as quickly as possible.

“It seems like homeboy is still hung up on the head Cheerio,” she observed. “But Quinn doesn’t seem into it at all.”

“Yeah, it seems like most of the time she’s trying to avoid him.”

That made Mercedes even more confused.
“Okay, I can understand why she wouldn’t want to go back to a guy she’s already dated, but she hasn’t dated anyone since Sam. Puck said she turned down a couple guys from the football team when they asked her out.”

Tina watched Quinn and Sam walk off in different directions.

“She’s seemed really happy lately though. Maybe she just likes being single?”

“Maybe,” Mercedes replied, not seeming super convinced. “But here’s a question…why do you think she performed in the Bieber number? Sam said he started doing the Justin Bieber experience to make some money on the side and to get more practice with his guitar. But Puck, Mike, and Artie all joined him for that number to try and impress girls. So why was Quinn up there with them?”

Tina thought that over.
“I don’t know,” she eventually admitted, “it feels like we’re missing something.”

Before they could speculate further, the bell rang and they both quickly headed off to class.

---------------------------------------------------

The rest of the week had gone by rather smoothly, and despite Sue’s presence at Glee, no nefarious plans had come to light.

The Cheerios coach had even suggested a potential song for their Regionals anthem, and while performing Sing by My Chemical Romance had been fun, Rachel didn’t think that it was quite powerful enough.

So she tried to argue that point to the rest of the club.

“We need to be bold and epic. We need to write our own original music for Regionals. We need an indisputable advantage.”

The room remained silent after that pronouncement, with no one either backing her up or contradicting her.

Rachel continued, a bit more pleading in her tone.
“Look, we can’t lose Regionals again this year you guys. Okay? You have to trust me. I feel really, really strongly about this.”

She couldn’t help but let her eyes dart over to Quinn for just a moment, and saw that her girlfriend looked conflicted.

Eventually, Mr. Schue stepped in.
“Let’s put it to a vote. Okay, Rachel?”

She nodded, and he posed the question to the room.
“All those in favor of doing an original song?”

Rachel’s hand shot up, followed by Quinn’s and then a more hesitant agreement from Kurt and, surprisingly, Sam.

“My Chemical Romance?”

At that question, the rest of the members of the club raised their hands, and Mr. Schue gave a little shrug.
“Alright guys. There you have it.”

As if to add to the pain of having her idea shot down, at the end of their rehearsal, Sue had cheerfully announced that she was taking over as the coach for Aural Intensity.

Having dropped that bomb, she exited the room leaving everyone to freak out as Mr. Schuester stood in the front of the room looking shocked and dismayed.

That evening, an extremely long cuddle session and a plethora of kisses from Quinn’s soft lips made it possible for Rachel to recover enough to swing back from despair and into outrage.

She was about to bounce off of the bed and begin penning some strongly worded letters to Aural Intensity’s school board, but one of Quinn’s arms snaked out and prevented her from getting that far.

“Now that you’ve recovered sufficiently, I think I need some cheering up. After all, my cheer coach is a backstabbing snake and I have to deal with her on a daily basis.”

“Yes, I can see how distraught you are,” Rachel teased, taking in the small smile curving across Quinn’s kiss swollen lips and the way she was lounging on the bed like a sultry cat.

“Still,” she continued, closing the distance between them, “I have always been a fan of reciprocity.”

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Out of the Woods

Quinn was in a terrible mood.

For some reason, she hadn’t slept well, which led to her accidentally falling back to sleep after she’d turned off her alarm.

That had set off an unfortunate chain of events including missing breakfast and being late to Cheerios practice.
Since she was the captain, any tardiness on her part meant that the whole squad had to run extra wind sprints.

The absolutely icy look on her face had shut down the grumbling from the other cheerleaders nearly as soon as it started, but after the unwelcome bonus cardio, Sue shouted at them through her megaphone as they ran through some of the most complex parts of their newest routine over and over.

When their coach finally allowed them a short break, Quinn rummaged through her bag and let out a tortured groan when she realized that she’d rushed out of the house without any water.

Before she could do what she really felt like doing (angrily flinging her Cheerios bag across the field), a red water bottle was thrust into her field of vision.

She gratefully chugged down half the contents and turned to Santana with a weak smile.
“Thanks.”

The other girl nodded and looked her up and down critically.

“You okay? You look even pastier than usual.”

“I woke up late and had to skip breakfast and coffee and also apparently failed to hydrate properly.”

Brittany bounced up on Quinn’s other side and patted her gently on the back.
“It’s okay Quinn. We’re almost done with practice.”

Quinn looked grateful, but her face fell again when Sue’s voice cut through the momentary calm.

“Let’s go ladies! Get those lazy, sloppy legs moving! Another run through in 30 seconds and anyone who misses a step is doing burpees until I get bored!”

Everyone scrambled to get back into position for another 20 minutes of suffering.

When they’d finally made it through practice, Quinn dragged herself to the locker room for a quick shower.

Unbeknownst to her, Santana took the opportunity to sneakily text Rachel.

Hey short stack. Your girl missed breakfast today. If you want to avoid Scary Quinn going on a rampage, you’d best procure her some food and caffeine ASAP.

A reply came back quickly, and Rachel’s alarm at being contacted unexpectedly showed through in her response.

Santana?? How did you even get my number!?!

She smirked. Despite having (mostly) turned over a new leaf, it did give her a thrill to know that she could still be intimidating.

I have my ways. Now do what I say.

With that, she tucked her phone back into her bag and headed for the showers.

---------------------------------------------------

Still exceedingly grumpy, with the added bonus of feeling shaky after such a physically difficult morning practice, Quinn made her way through the halls and to her locker keeping her head down so no one would try and talk to her.

She was still trying to get past her reputation for being a bitch, and biting someone’s head off for saying good morning would definitely be counter to those efforts.

Thankfully, she made it there without any interference and had just gotten her locker open when someone came up next to her.

The scowl on her face smoothed away when she looked over and realized that it was Rachel.

“Hi baby,” the shorter girl said softly.

“Hi,” Quinn replied, sounding very pouty.

Before she could say anything else, Rachel held up a travel mug and a brown paper bag. The smell of coffee and something else delicious hit Quinn’s nose a second later and her mouth started to water.

She practically snatched the coffee out of Rachel’s hand and took a long, fortifying gulp, sighing in pleasure.
By the time she’d lowered the drink from her mouth, her girlfriend had opened the bag and pulled out something wrapped in foil.

“What is that?”

In response, Rachel smiled and peeled back the foil to reveal a breakfast sandwich.
Her smile got bigger as she watched Quinn’s eyes widen almost comically.

“Is that bacon?”

“It certainly is. While I would never ingest processed pork products, my daddy is a bacon fiend and always keeps some on hand. When I heard that you didn’t get breakfast, I had him make you an extra bacon, egg, and cheese. And hopefully I remembered the correct amount of cream that you like in your coffee.”

Quinn had set down the coffee and taken a large bite of the sandwich by the time Rachel finished her last sentence.

When her mouth was no longer full, she said, “Thank you so much, this is so good. And thanks to Leroy as well.”

“You’re welcome.”

“If we weren’t at school….”.
Quinn let the sentence trail off unfinished, but the glint in her eye made her intent clear.

“And if you weren’t currently eating the antithesis of veganism,” Rachel added teasingly.

“And that.”

Quinn took another bite and then wrapped the sandwich back up and carefully set it on the shelf in her locker.

That made Rachel furrow her brow.
“Quinn, I have to insist that you eat the entire sandwich. Breakfast is the most important…”.

The rest of her sentence was cut off as she was pulled into a very tight hug.

“You’re the best girlfriend ever.”

When the hug had ended, Quinn collected her backpack, the coffee, and her sandwich and they started down the hallway together.

“Wait, how did you know that I had to skip breakfast?”

“Well, I got an unexpected and rather ominous text earlier this morning…”.

---------------------------------------------------

That evening, Quinn was in the kitchen making dinner.

As it was a simple baked chicken and veggie dish, it didn’t require much concentration, so her mind drifted back to that morning and how Rachel was so easily able to turn her terrible mood around.

It was also the first time that anyone she’d dated had ever made that type of gesture for her. The most Puck had ever brought her was a slushie, and Finn would probably never remember to eat breakfast if his mom didn’t make it for him.

She was so distracted by her pleasant musings that she didn’t notice her mother walk into the room until she said, “Hi Quinnie. You look happy. Did you have a good day at school today?”

Though she wasn’t necessarily ready to come out to her mom, she didn’t want to be totally dishonest.

“My day actually started out pretty bad. I accidentally overslept, so I didn’t have time to eat before school and then Coach destroyed us at cheer practice. But thankfully Rachel brought me coffee and a breakfast sandwich, so I made it through the day.”

While Judy certainly wasn’t aware of all the details of her daughter’s life, she had picked up on the fact that Quinn seemed much happier and more open in recent months. She didn’t know what had brought on this change, but she did notice the unconscious smile that crossed Quinn’s face as soon as she mentioned Rachel.

Her reply was a bit tentative, but that was characteristic of most of their interactions as she did want to be a part of Quinn’s life, but wasn’t exactly sure how to achieve that. The guilt and shame she felt about everything that had happened the previous year was also a huge stumbling block.

“I’ve noticed that Rachel is over here a lot.”

Judy saw Quinn immediately stiffen.

“I suppose she has been,” Quinn responded in a neutral tone, “Is that a problem?”

Just made an effort to soften her tone.
“No sweetie, why would it be? She seems like a very nice and well-mannered girl.”

At that, her daughter turned around fully, and the look on her face was hard to read.
“You know that she’s Rachel Berry right? The girl with the two gay dads?”

That question was a bit unsettling, but mostly because she hadn’t been expecting it.

“I did know that. I don’t have anything against the Berrys.”

Quinn’s eyes flashed and her posture suddenly radiated anger.

“Oh, so you aren’t a raging homophobe like my father is?”

Judy’s eyes widened in shock.
“Honey, no…where is this all coming from?”

Quinn's tone went deathly cold.

“Maybe the fact that Russell used to rant about “the gays” and you never said anything? Maybe because you were married to a hypocritical bigot who would rather leave his pregnant teenage daughter homeless than try and support her during an incredibly difficult time? You tell me mom. Where would I get the idea that you weren’t open-minded?”

Judy knew that she deserved this assessment, but it still hurt.

Quinn’s anger had always been icy and precise, unlike her father who had a tendency to unexpectedly explode. She had to lean against the kitchen counter for a moment to catch her breath before she felt steady enough to respond.

“I can understand why you would think that about me. There are so many things that I regret, but most of all I regret that I didn’t stand up to your father sooner. I should have been there for you, and I wasn’t. I’m so sorry for that.”

Quinn’s stance relaxed slightly, but her expression was still quite stony.

“How can I trust that you want things to be different? Or that you won’t kick me out again because I do something you don’t agree with?”

That last question made tears form in Judy’s eyes, and her voice was louder and much more emphatic as she tried to be as reassuring as possible.

“Oh Quinn, I’m so sorry that you’re still worrying about that. I promise that this will be your home for as long as you want it to be. And there’s nothing that you can do that will ever make me cut you off or kick you out.”

“Really?”

The vulnerability in that single word was enough to make Judy feel like her heart was breaking.

“Really. I promise. And I want you to know that I quit going to our old church. It was full of too many self-righteous people and I realized that I didn’t want to be like them anymore. Whenever I feel like going to a service now, I go to the church across town. I find the sermons there much more to my taste these days.”

“That’s where Sam and his family go, the Evans,.”

“Yes, I see them there sometimes. They seem like a very nice family.”

“They are,” Quinn said, almost absently.

Judy took a breath and gathered her courage to try and wrap up their conversation in a positive way.

“I know we don’t talk that much anymore, and that I’ve been very busy with my new job, but I do want to spend time with you. And I want you to feel like you can talk to me about things.”

Quinn looked back over at her, and her gaze was quite direct as if she was trying to gauge her mother’s authenticity.

Judy stood still and waited for a response, hoping that she’d rebuilt enough trust in the past few months that her daughter was willing to take this chance.

In the end, she got a small nod, and then Quinn asked, “Are you hungry? I made extra.”

“Yes, thank you Quinn,” Judy said and tried not to cry out of sheer relief.

---------------------------------------------------

Kurt was sitting at a table at the Lima Bean trying not to fidget as he waited for the rest of his party to arrive.

He had set up a sort of double date for himself and Blaine with Rachel and Quinn.
While he felt confident that nothing would go completely awry, since he and Blaine were still in a somewhat amorphous gray area between friendship and dating, he was rather invested in this meetup going well.

Rachel was one of his best friends, while Quinn continued to grow on him, and he trusted both of their opinions on potential romantic partners.

At the Valentine’s Day performance at Breadstix, Blaine had gotten to talk to Quinn for a few minutes, but mostly she was expressing her gratitude to him for helping with her romantic plan.

He had also met Rachel and some of the other Glee kids in passing, but they’d had to wrap up the event fairly quickly so the restaurant could close on time.
This would be the first opportunity for either of the girls to really get to know Blaine.

It turned out that Rachel and Quinn arrived first, walking in together and giving him a wave before getting in line.

He observed them carefully as they stood there, and though they were careful to maintain some physical distance, anyone with solid gaydar who paid enough attention would likely clock that there was something going on between them.

It wasn’t anything specific that they did, just a general energy between the two of them and how comfortable they seemed in each other’s orbit. As always, it brought a smile to his face.

Who would have thought that dramatic diva Rachel Berry and uber popular ice queen Quinn Fabray would make such a sweet couple.
He was pleased to have been an instrumental part of bringing them together.

His musings were interrupted by Blaine walking into the coffee shop.

When the dark haired boy saw him, he walked over and stood by the table, giving Kurt a smile.

“Hey there. Did you want me to grab you anything?”

Kurt smiled back and tapped one finger against his cup as he replied, “I’m all set for now.”

With a nod, Blaine turned away and went to get in line, ending up a couple people behind Quinn and Rachel.

A few minutes later, they were all settled around the table with their drinks.

There was only a moment of silence before Rachel suddenly thrust her hand out in Blaine’s direction.

“We unfortunately did not have the opportunity to be formally introduced at Breadstix. I’m Rachel Berry. You have a lovely stage presence.”

Blaine seemed slightly taken aback, but he recovered enough to shake her hand and say, “Blaine Anderson. It’s good to officially meet you.”

Then he turned his head and bumped Kurt lightly with one shoulder.
“I’ve been telling this guy that I wanted to meet some of his friends.”

Rachel was delighted to see Kurt blush a little at the physical contact, but she was tactful enough not to mention it.

“Well,” Kurt said, ignoring her amused gaze, “these two are a good way to ease you into my friend group. I love Tina and Mercedes, but they can be a little much in combination, especially when it comes to hot new gossip. And though it’s somewhat astounding to be able to say this, Santana is one of my closest friends now, especially after the way she took on my main bully and helped me start the GSA.”

“Santana can be an acquired taste, but once she considers you a friend, there’s no one more loyal,” Quinn added.

Blaine seemed interested in hearing about the full cast of characters.

“I think I met Santana at Breadstix. She called me “hair gel Warbler” and then said that I sounded like a gay nightingale, which I guess was a compliment?”

“It was,” Rachel was quick to assure him, “I saw her tearing up when you sang Your Song.”

At that information, Quinn smiled and said fondly, “She’s such a secret softie.”

“So are you,” Rachel informed her quietly.

Quinn just rolled her eyes a little, but she did stretch out one arm and rest it on the back of Rachel’s chair.
It wasn’t exactly putting an arm around her, but it was close enough.

That earned her a sweet little smile from her girlfriend, and when they both turned to face forward again, both Kurt and Blaine were staring at them like they’d just seen an especially cute puppy.

“The two of you are adorable,” Blaine eventually said, and Kurt nodded in agreement.

“They really are. If I would have known just how adorable they’d be, I would have tried to push them together a lot sooner.”

That statement made Rachel look very skeptical.

“For some reason I doubt that your interference in the more distant past would have been at all helpful. Besides, when would you have picked to meddle? During babygate? While I was foolishly chasing after Finn?”

“You do make a good point,” Kurt answered thoughtfully. "Maybe it was just meant to happen this way."

“Or maybe I finally got smart enough to realize that I was attracted to Rachel and could do something about it besides being a huge bitch to her,” Quinn replied in a dry, self-deprecating tone.

“And maybe I had to realize that my starry eyed dream of Finn as the perfect leading man was extremely far from reality.”

Kurt smiled at both of them.
“I suppose the timing was finally right.”

They sat for a moment, reflecting on that, and then Blaine raised a hand and asked, cautiously, “Um, what’s babygate?”

Rachel and Kurt both immediately looked to Quinn to gauge her reaction and were relieved that she had a mild expression on her face.

“Tell you what Warbler,” the blonde girl eventually said, “I’ll share the tale of the worst decision I’ve ever made if you give us a story of your own in return.”

“Deal.”

“Well, it all started last year when a confluence of my low self-esteem, subpar boyfriend, and sexual repression all combined and mixed with alcohol….”

---------------------------------------------------

Later that evening, the two of them were in Quinn’s bedroom.

Rachel was fiddling with a stack of CDs, trying to decide what music she was in the mood for. Eventually, she chose one and loaded it into the CD player.

Quinn was lying on her bed, propped up on her elbow as she watched her girlfriend.
It always made her happy to have Rachel in her house, and specifically in her room.
Her presence made the space feel warmer and more like home.

As she watched, Rachel took a few steps over to the framed photo of the two of them that she’d given Quinn for Valentine’s Day.
It was sitting on the desk, and Quinn smiled in response to the soft smile that Rachel had on her face as she looked at it.
Once the brunette had taken a few moments to gaze at the photo, she crossed the room to join Quinn on the bed.

“I love that you keep our picture prominently displayed.”

“Well I like to be able to see it every day. It’s nice to be reminded of something in my life that’s so good.”

That brought a now familiar smile to Rachel’s face, a very soft one that always accompanied a particular look in her brown eyes that was so tender it made Quinn want to melt or cry happy tears.

Instead of doing either of those things, she reached out and gently ran her fingers down the side of Rachel’s face, tracing her cheekbones and the edge of her jaw.

Her girlfriend leaned into the touch and shifted slightly closer so they were facing each other.

In the silence that settled between them, Quinn was suddenly aware of the song that was playing.

“Taylor Swift, huh?” she teased.

When she’d learned that Rachel had a secret soft spot for the blonde singer, Quinn, who owned every album, had been delighted.

In response, Rachel started singing along.

And I don't know how it gets better than this
You take my hand and drag me head first
Fearless
And I don't know why
But with you I'd dance in a storm
In my best dress
Fearless

“It’s true though,” she added, “I would dance with you in a storm in my best dress.”

The sentiment made Quinn lean forward and give her a lingering kiss, before pulling back just far enough to focus on Rachel’s face and appreciate her shining eyes.

Before she fully realized what she was doing, she said, “I love you.”

The words seemed to take a moment to filter into Rachel’s consciousness, but as soon as they did, her face lit up and she lunged forward to throw her arms around her girlfriend, peppering her lips with kisses until Quinn’s head was spinning.

When she finally drew back again, she said, “I love you too. I’ve been wanting to say it for such a long time. It’s been so hard not to!”

“You do? Really?” Quinn asked, her voice sounding a little unsteady.

“I do. It’s very easy to fall for you Quinn Fabray.”

This pronouncement was followed by one of Rachel’s hands gently running through her hair in a way that she always found calming.

Something about the combination of the certainty in Rachel’s voice and the tenderness of her touch settled any of Quinn’s remaining anxiety at having made her accidental love confession.

In lieu of any further words, she covered Rachel’s mouth with her own.

---------------------------------------------------

The next day, Rachel was still flying high, feeling so light on her feet that at times she was convinced that she might float off the ground entirely.

The fact that Quinn was now signing text messages with a little heart was also making her feel giddy every time she saw it on her phone screen.

As she walked down the hallway, she was feeling quite smug in the knowledge that beautiful, smart, talented Quinn Fabray loved her!
It was enough to make her want to break out into song!

When that thought hit her, she remembered that they had Glee after school and realized that maybe she’d have the opportunity to do just that.

The wheels in her head started turning as she thought of possible song options, and the memory of the album that had been the backdrop of yesterday’s mutual love confession gave her an idea.

Hopefully it would be something that Quinn would appreciate, because she felt like it was impossible to fully conceal her feelings anymore.

A few hours later, she had her chance to express herself musically, and when she raised her hand and asked if she could sing a song, no one in the room made any noises of annoyance or displeasure.

Lately, her much more laid back attitude and tendency to sing upbeat pop songs had led to her fellow Glee members having much more patience with her occasional requests to perform spontaneous solos.

It also helped that she and Mercedes were on better terms, she and Kurt were much closer, and Santana’s sharp criticism had softened into mild and usually humorous commentary.

Once she was standing in front of the rest of the club with her hands tucked behind her back, she smiled and made a conscious effort not to stare adoringly at Quinn the whole time she spoke.

“I’ve been having a lot of positive feelings today and was hoping to express them in song. This is one that I’m sure most of you know, though I have taken some liberties with the lyrics.”

Having made that announcement, she stole one quick look at her girlfriend, steadied herself, and began.

From the very first verse, basically everyone in the room recognized the song, though Rachel’s flipping of the gender made them take notice.

You're on the phone with your boyfriend, he's upset
He's going off about something that you said
'Cause he doesn't get your humor like I do

As Quinn listened to the opening of the song, she wasn’t sure if the pronoun switch was meant to be about her specifically, or just an artistic choice that Rachel was making.
But when she got a little farther into the song, it became quite clear.

But I wear short skirts
She wears T-shirts
She's Cheer Captain, and I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming about the day when she wakes up and finds
That what she’s looking for has been here the whole time

Rachel continued, singing her heart out, her smile growing larger when almost everyone including Quinn joined in for the last part of the song. But they all faded out to let the diva sing the last line alone.

You belong with me.

The last note lingered for a moment and then the room broke into applause.

Even Mr. Schue seemed impressed, though he didn’t seem to pick up on the lyrical changes.

Rachel returned to her seat and immediately felt Quinn’s hand sneakily come to rest against hers, hidden out of view on the edges of their chairs.

She allowed herself the indulgence of one quick sideways look and the sight of those hazel eyes sparkling at her filled her with happy relief. Then she quickly looked away again before she was tempted to do something crazy like kiss Quinn in the middle of Glee.

Partly to distract herself, she took a look around the room noting that Brittany was giving her a thumbs up, Kurt had an knowing smile on his face, Mercedes and Tina were whispering frantically to each other, and Finn…well Finn looked extremely confused.

Rachel didn’t have time to process that though, because Mr. Schue was drawing their attention back to the front of the room as he reviewed their lesson for the week.

Later on, once they were all getting ready to leave, Mercedes called out, “Hey Berry, hold up for a second.”

When she turned in the direction of the summons, she saw that Mercedes was flanked by Kurt and Tina.

“You good?” Quinn asked quietly from beside her.

She gave her girlfriend’s shoulder an affectionate squeeze.
“I’ll be fine. Call me later?”

“Of course.”

With a final parting look, Quinn exited the room, followed by Santana and Brittany.

Once the room was empty of everyone but the four of them Mercedes said, slowly, “That was an interesting version of the song that you did.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Rachel responded brightly, determinedly keeping a rather neutral look on her face.

“It was very good,” Tina added, sounding almost apologetic, “but it was a little confusing.”

“Confusing? How so?”

Tina and Mercedes exchanged a significant look, while Kurt shrugged as if to let her know that he wasn’t behind this line of questioning.

Mercedes was the one to ultimately break the now slightly awkward silence.
“I know it might seem like we’re trying to get all up in your business, but I promise we’re not trying to start anything. We’re just wondering what’s going on with you. Things with you have seemed…different lately.”

“But like, in a good way,” Tina interjected.

“Right. It’s been great to have things feeling more settled in Glee, because I was seriously over all the drama relating to Finn, but the songs you’ve been singing lately, and the way you seem tight with the Unholy Trinity….”.

“We just want to make sure everything is okay with you.”

“Do I not seem okay?” Rachel asked, a small smile now playing across her lips.

Kurt recognized this as teasing, but Mercedes and Tina seemed worried that they were losing control of the conversation.

“No, you seem great, really happy actually,” Tina said quickly.

“Almost too happy.”

At that statement from Mercedes, Tina seemed nervous and she looked at Rachel warily as if expecting some diva meltdown.
Instead, to her surprise, the shorter girl smiled broadly.

“I have been very happy lately, and I can assure you that my happiness isn’t due to some secret dalliance with an off limits boy, à la the Jesse St. James debacle, or some nefarious plan to win back Finn Hudson. I’m sure that’s where some of your concern is coming from.”

Mercedes and Tina both had the grace to look a bit guilty at this statement, but stayed quiet as Rachel continued.

“Having said all that, I do have a confession to make that will hopefully satisfy some of your desire for information. I have recently come to terms with the fact that I’m bisexual, and that self-acceptance, along with my very necessary breakup with Finn, has allowed me to get to a much better place emotionally.”

The two girls took that information in and seemed relieved.

“Thank you for sharing that Rachel,” Tina said.

“Yeah, you know we support you,” Mercedes added.

Kurt decided that this was the right moment to take control of the conversation.
“Yes, thank you for being honest Rachel. I think perhaps it’s time for all of us to head home.”

Mercedes and Tina took the hint, and left the room a few minutes later, waving to Kurt and Rachel as they went.

“I hope that you didn’t feel forced to come out,” Kurt told her once they were alone.

“No, not at all. Honestly, I wouldn’t have any issue being out and proud with my relationship either, but that’s a conversation that I need to have with Quinn before I start spreading the word.”

“Sweetie, if you singing that song today was keeping things on the down low, then I’m not sure you’re entirely succeeding.”

“I know that…but Kurt, last night she told me that she loved me.”

The expression on her face was so soft and joyful that Kurt had to take a moment to clear his throat before he replied.

“That’s wonderful Rachel.”

Her smile shifted into something truly blinding.

“It is. It really, really is.”

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Dancing With Our Hands Tied

While Rachel’s unexpected admission of her bisexuality had satisfied Tina and Mercedes for at least a few days, they were both still quite convinced that something else was going on.

Instead of going directly to the diva a second time though, they had decided to start hounding Kurt about it as they (correctly) assumed that he knew the real story.

Currently, Kurt was sitting at Mercedes’ kitchen table, flanked by her and Tina as they finished eating brunch. It had become a semi-regular thing for the three of them to get together for gossip and breakfast food on Sundays after Mercedes got back from church.

“I know that you know the real story Kurt.”

“Whatever do you mean,” he said blithely, ignoring her as he sipped some coffee.

“Come on Hummel, you’re killing me,” Mercedes protested.

Tina chimed in, more than prepared to tag team him until their burning questions were finally answered.

“Kurt, there is obviously something going on with Rachel. And we think it has something to do with Quinn.”

“Oh really?” Kurt asked, still playing as innocent as he could.

Tina and Mercedes exchanged a look and a nod, signaling to each other that it was time to unleash their theory.

As far as they were concerned, the amount of evidence they had was undeniable, and Kurt was not historically a very good liar, so if he tried to pretend that he didn’t believe them, they felt confident that they’d know.

Mercedes was the one to start things off and then she and Tina went back and forth, seamlessly presenting their case.

“Look, there was that whole weird confrontation between Quinn and Rachel a few months ago, and I swore that something would happen afterwards, like Rachel would end up getting slushied until she got frostbite on her face, but I don’t remember any repercussions for her getting all up in Quinn’s space.”

“And then Quinn broke up with Sam and it was totally chill. They’re even acting like cute little platonic buddies now. Then Rachel broke up with Finn and there was no big uproar, or accusations of cheating or anything. Which after all their previous combined drama was frankly pretty weird.”

“Before too much longer, suddenly Rachel and Quinn are hanging out and working on Glee stuff together, which you didn’t seem all that surprised by, and I didn’t hear one word from Santana’s big mouth mocking Quinn for befriending a gnome or whatever, which you have to admit, was kind of strange.”

Kurt was really doing his best at trying to keep a calm expression on his face, but he couldn’t help but wince a bit as he realized that his and Santana’s lack of publicly displayed shock about Quinn and Rachel suddenly being close would obviously register as suspicious.

His two friends looked a bit triumphant as they caught his reaction, and then Tina continued.

“Okay, so then you have the fact that both of them seem pissed at Finn, and neither of them has been mooning after any other boys, at least not that we’ve heard about. Add all of that together with Quinn’s surprise Bieber performance and Rachel’s extremely gay version of Taylor Swift the other day…”.

She trailed off and looked over at Mercedes, who in turn looked over at Kurt and said, very gently, “We’re not asking you to spill anyone’s secrets, we just want to know that whatever’s going on isn’t going to hurt Glee.”

Kurt knew that there was no point in lying, but he still wasn’t about to go behind Quinn and Rachel’s backs by providing any real information.

“While I have no choice but to commend your observational skills, surely you understand that I don’t feel comfortable sharing either Quinn or Rachel’s business with you. All I can say is that I hope you keep all of this to yourselves, and if you want to know anything further, you’ll have to go directly to the source. Or sources, to be more accurate.”

“We understand,” Tina said, “thank you for being honest.”

“Of course,” Kurt replied, hoping that they would take his advice. “Now, can we please change the subject to something else?”

Mercedes took the hint and launched into a story about some gossip she’d heard about the AV Club.

Kurt’s shoulders relaxed a bit and he made a mental note to text Rachel later and give her a heads up that Tina and Mercedes were onto her.

---------------------------------------------------

Amazingly, for two girls who loved to gossip as much as they did, Tina and Mercedes managed to wait a few days before they approached Rachel.

She had been expecting it given Kurt’s apologetic warning, so she remained quite calm when she told them to meet her in the choir room over lunch so they could talk in private.

When they arrived, she was seated in one of the chairs in the front row.

Before they could start in with any questions though, she held up a hand.

“We need to wait another minute before beginning the interrogation.”

“Why is that?” Mercedes asked, sounding genuinely confused.

“Because this is about both of us,” said a voice from the doorway.

Tina and Mercedes both spun around and were surprised to see that the intruder was Quinn, who looked completely poised and a bit intimidating as she stood there in her Cheerios uniform.

She ignored them as she went to both choir room doors, closing them securely before walking over and taking a seat next to Rachel.

“You know I could have handled this alone,” Rachel told her quietly, though her relief at Quinn’s presence was palpable.

“I know. But you shouldn’t have to,” was Quinn’s response before she turned back to the two girls standing in front of her, a cool look slipping over her face.

“Rachel said that you had some questions?”

The unexpected presence of the head cheerleader caused Mercedes and Tina to feel a bit unsettled, but they’d come too far in their quest for the truth to give up now.

Mercedes cleared her throat and spoke her mind.
“We just wanted to make sure that everything is good between you two. We don’t want any drama messing up our chances at Regionals.”

Quinn’s eyebrow arched upwards.
“Do you have some reason to think that we’re not good?”

That look was enough to make Tina gulp, but she bravely forged ahead.
“At the moment, no. But you have to admit that you have quite a rocky history. And after all the ups and downs last year, we just want to make sure nothing is going to rock the boat.”

“I see,” Quinn said calmly.

She looked over at Rachel searchingly for a moment, and the diva took the opportunity to say to their two friends, quite emphatically, “You don’t have anything to worry about.”

Mercedes crossed her arms, clearly not willing to let this go.
“And why is that?”

“Because I’m in love with her.”

The soft admission made Rachel’s head whip around and Tina and Mercedes were stunned into silence as they stared at Quinn, not sure if they’d actually heard correctly.

Before anyone could say anything else, Quinn continued, “She’s my girlfriend and we’re very happy together. We’ve been keeping our relationship mostly a secret because of my mom, and…other people in Glee, but I don’t want to lie about it. I just hope you can keep this to yourselves.”

Tina and Mercedes were gaping at the two of them now, not sure how to respond.

Rachel gently took Quinn’s hand and laced their fingers together.

“Baby,” she said quietly, “you didn’t have to do that.”

“I know. But I wanted to. I don’t want to hide how I feel about you.”

The two of them sat there smiling at each other in their own little bubble.
Witnessing that tender moment was what finally allowed Tina and Mercedes to reboot their brains and speak again.

“Holy shit,” Tina managed to say, “it’s true. You are together.”

“For how long?” Mercedes asked, still sounding dazed.

“About two and a half months,” Rachel revealed proudly. “And I must reinforce what Quinn said and ask that you keep this information to yourselves.”

Their two friends were quick to reassure them.

“Of course.”

“Absolutely.”

“Though,” Quinn said rather dryly, “most of Glee knows at this point.”

“Wait, who else besides us and Kurt?” Tina questioned.

“Santana, Brittany, and Sam.”

After a moment of thinking about it, Mercedes asked, “So it’s just Artie, Puck, Mike, and Finn who don’t know?”

“Yes, exactly,” Rachel replied, “Tina, if you want to tell Mike I have no problem with that as he is certainly not prone to gossip. But as for the rest…”.

She trailed off and looked over at her girlfriend for confirmation.

Quinn took that as an invitation to finish Rachel’s train of thought.
“I know that you’re both close with Artie, so you can tell him too. I trust that you can make it clear to him that he needs to keep this to himself. I’d rather tell Puck myself when I’m ready. And Finn…well hopefully we can all agree that this isn’t information that he needs to know right now”.

Mercedes and Tina both nodded emphatically.
“Yeah, we can definitely agree on that.”

There was a long pause and then Tina said, “Thank you. For being honest with us.”

“Yeah, your secret is safe with us,” Mercedes added.
Then she smiled and said, “Plus the two of you are adorable together.”

“You totally are.”

Quinn gave them a soft smile and squeezed Rachel’s hand as the brunette shifted slightly closer.

“We appreciate your discretion,” the diva told them.

Tina and Mercedes left the room and were silent for a bit as they made their way to the cafeteria.

“Wow,” Mercedes eventually said, “I never would have seen that coming.”

“Me neither,” her friend responded, “but I like it.”

“Same.”

Back in the choir room, Rachel was snuggled up against Quinn’s shoulder and the blonde now had an arm wrapped around her.

“You surprised me. I didn’t expect you to reveal the full extent of our relationship with them.”

“But it was a good surprise?” Quinn asked, sounding a little worried.

“A very good surprise. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

---------------------------------------------------

Rachel lying on her back on her bedroom floor, drumming her feet against the carpet in frustration.

From the bed, where she was sprawled on her stomach as she watched Rachel’s antics with amusement, Quinn asked, “What’s all that annoyed huffing about?”

“I championed the idea of writing original music for Regionals, but so far my best effort has been My Headband, which I think we can both agree is far from competition material.

“I don’t know,” Quinn said, sounding amused, “Brittany said it’s her new favorite song.”

“Brittany also seems quite happy to let her cat eat hot melted cheese.”

“Fair point.”

Rachel stared at the ceiling for a few seconds and then said, still sounding disgruntled, “I really thought that my vast experience with singing the best that Broadway has to offer would translate into some ability to write my own songs, but apparently not. But maybe my experience is too limited.”

“What do you mean?”

The brunette rolled over on her side so she could get a better look at her girlfriend.

“Well, I don’t have anywhere near the life experience of the most iconic ladies of the stage. I mean, we’re supposed to come up with a song for Glee that we can perform for alcohol awareness week, and I’ve never even had a drink!”

Quinn was surprised at this revelation, especially given Rachel’s quite liberal fathers.
“Really?”

“Besides a few sips of wine here and there. But that doesn’t count because it was at home in the presence of my dads.”

They were both silent for a bit, and then Rachel stated loudly, “I just thought of a wonderful idea!”

“What’s that?”

“Well, my dads are going to be out of town for a Rosie O’Donnell cruise starting this weekend. I could host a party for Glee Club.”

Blonde eyebrows shot up, “What kind of party are we talking about here?”

The look on Rachel’s face was now very determined, and it was a look Quinn was all too familiar with. Thankfully, these days it mostly appeared as a prelude to positive things.

“It will be an unsupervised adult party with alcohol, therefore allowing me to increase my life experience while in a safe environment with my friends and my charmingly overprotective girlfriend.”

Quinn was still a little skeptical, but the idea of getting to have a party with Rachel was intriguing, and so was the thought of seeing her girlfriend a little tipsy.

“I can see by your expression that you still have reservations. Perhaps I can sweeten the deal by informing you that you’re invited to a sleepover after the party.”

“I hope that everyone is invited to sleep over instead of driving home drunk.”

“Of course Quinn,” Rahcel agreed, and then her voice shifted into something more flirtatious, “but you’re the only one who will be sleeping in my bed.”

The blonde girl couldn’t help but smile at that thought, and then she fluttered her lashes at the girl still lying on the floor.

“You know…I’m in your bed right now, but sadly I’m all alone.”

With surprising swiftness, Rachel was up off the floor and leaping for the bed, intent on tackling the pouting blonde.

With a squeal of laughter, Quinn tried to roll away, but quickly succumbed to the arm flung across her waist and the kisses being pressed to the base of her neck.

---------------------------------------------------

The party plan had been set, and Quinn knew that there was only one person with the resources (fake ID) to obtain enough alcohol for the whole Glee Club.

So at school the next day, she set off to find Puck.

She managed to locate him near the end of the day hanging out in the hallway near his locker and sending flirtatious glances at a few Cheerios who were walking by.

When he saw her approaching, he gave her a tough guy nod and said, “Sup?”.
She was thankful that he seemed to have dropped the phrase “baby mama” from his vocabulary.

“Can I talk to you for a minute? In private?”

He pushed off the metal surface behind him and followed her into a nearby empty classroom.

Once she was satisfied that they were alone, she asked him, “Do you still have your fake ID?”

He acted playfully offended at the question.
“Obviously babe. Who do you think I am?”

A second later he looked a little wary.
“Wait, why are you asking?”

She let out a little sigh, part of her still not quite believing that she was soliciting her underage sort of ex for alcohol so her current secret girlfriend could have a normal teenage party.

“Rachel wants to have a party this Saturday night. With alcohol.”

That immediately made Puck perk up.
“Are you serious?”

Quinn nodded.

“Okay,” he said, running a hand through his mohawk, “how many people are we talking and how drunk does she want everyone to get?”

“It’s Glee only. And I’d rather this not be a total trainwreck, so don’t go too crazy.”

The glint in his eye did not make her feel super confident that he agreed with that sentiment.
But instead of protesting verbally, he just stood there looking at her.

“What?”

“Oh nothing, I just find it a little interesting that you’re helping plan a party with Berry. Then again, maybe it all makes sense.”

Quinn crossed her arms and tried not to sound too defensive as she asked,” What does that mean?”

Puck cast a quick look around as if making sure no one had somehow snuck into the room in the last few minutes before he leaned in a little and quietly said, “I know.”

“You…know?”

“About you and Rachel.”

He watched as her expression shifted from slightly annoyed into something that was actually pretty frightening, so he held up his hands and quickly added, “Relax. I’m not gonna tell anyone. For real, I promise.”

While she didn’t exactly relax, some of the death rays left her eyes, and he let out a relieved breath.

Then she surprised him by saying, “You’re right. Rachel and I are together. We’ve been dating for a few months now and I think at this point, everyone in Glee knows except for Finn. I’d like to keep it that way.”

It was a rare moment of her being honest with him, and whenever she was, he could never help but soften.

“He’ll never hear it from me. But, uh, you really aren’t that great at hiding it. If Finn wasn’t still imagining that he’s got a shot with you, he’d have totally noticed by now.”

“Yeah,” was her only reply, though in a much softer tone, and then a smile flashed across her face. It made her look so authentically happy that he suddenly felt a little choked up.

To avoid dealing with whatever complicated emotions were happening inside his chest, he blurted out, “I’ll get the booze.”

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, uh, no problem. Later.”

With that, he hurried out of the room, leaving a bemused Quinn behind.

---------------------------------------------------

Though Quinn still had some reservations about the Glee kids all drinking together in Rachel’s basement of all places, she’d decided to just go with it because her girlfriend was so excited about the idea.

So, here she was, dressed in her new preppy style of a red cardigan and khakis along with matching red Converse, holding a bottle of tequila as she waited on the porch for Rachel to let her in.

The door swung open and she was hit with one of Rachel’s most excited, almost manic smiles before she was grabbed by the hand and yanked into the house.

The shorter girl flung her arms around Quinn who returned the hug after she’d caught her breath, before she pulled back and leaned in for a kiss which was returned very enthusiastically.

Then Rachel was blinking up at her.

“I think I’ve discovered a flaw in my party plan.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Well, considering that I want to touch you all the time when I’m sober, and I have a feeling that I’m going to be a very clingy drunk…”.

Quinn just smiled down at her.
“I don’t have a problem with that. Besides, everyone in Glee knows about us except for Finn, and honestly, I just want to have fun tonight and not worry about him.”

That earned her another quick kiss before Rachel stepped back far enough to get a good look at Quinn’s outfit.

“You look extremely cute tonight.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” she returned with a cheeky smile as she admired Rachel’s nicely fitted jeans and navy blue V neck sweater.

“Thank you baby. Now help me finish setting up! People will start getting here soon!”

---------------------------------------------------

The party was in full swing and the basement was full of Glee kids in various states of intoxication as they played drinking games, had loud conversations, and occasionally sang along to the music blasting from the very nice basement sound system.

Quinn was currently standing off to the side, holding her still mostly full bottle of tequila and observing the proceedings with a small smile on her face.

Santana joined her holding her own half-empty bottle of tequila that she’d apparently conned some older guy into buying her.
Quinn had “borrowed” hers from her parent’s liquor cabinet. She’d learned to pick the lock a few years before, and since her dad was gone and her mom usually stuck to wine, she figured that no one would notice her theft.

“You know Q, I never thought I’d be at a party at Rachel Berry’s house, but hey, here we are. Cheers!”

She unscrewed the top of her bottle and held it up prompting Quinn to follow suit.

“Cheers bitch!”

They tapped the bottles together lightly and each took a swig.

“Hey! Are you drinking without me?”

Quinn turned and smiled as Rachel came up next to her.

“Keep your shirt on shortie, it’s just a little tradition that Q and I have. Tequila makes high school parties more bearable. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find Britt so she can do her shot too.”

Santana crossed the room to where Brittany was dancing, her shirt already unbuttoned.

Rachel took advantage of the distraction to swipe the bottle from Quinn’s hand and take a gulp.

A second later, she coughed and made a disgusted face.

“Not a fan?”

“I think I’ll stick to the “girly” drinks that Puck brought.”

They stood there smiling at each other for a long moment but were unceremoniously interrupted by drunken shouts from the table next to them where a group of their friends were playing a very animated game of quarters.

As the party continued, it got louder and more boisterous.

At one point, Quinn flipped into angry girl mode and found herself shouting at Puck.

“I can’t believe what you did to my body! I used to have abs!”

Before he really had a chance to respond, Santana appeared and dragged her away, plopping both of them down on an empty loveseat.

“Thanks,” she muttered, deciding to stay seated for a minute so she wouldn’t go off on someone else, most likely Finn.

“No problem,” Santana replied with a small laugh, “I’m well aware that tequila makes you pissy. Besides, what were you even yelling about? You totally still have abs.”

Quinn poked her own stomach experimentally a few times.
"Oh...yeah. Whatever, he deserves it. Labor sucks."

Her friend just snorted at her drunk antics.

They stayed quiet for a little bit and then Quinn noticed that Santana’s full attention was now focused on the corner of the room where Brittany was now dancing on a table in her bra while Artie laughed and tossed dollar bills at her.

Santana’s expression had shifted into a mix of anger and longing, and tears were gathering in the corner of her eyes.

Before Quinn could ask if she was okay, she blurted out, “I just can’t believe she’s not really mine, you know? Like, why is she still with Artie when she could have me? I’m smoking hot and I can do backflips, what the hell, you know?”

“Yeah,” her friend agreed, slurring only a little bit as she continued very sincerely, “You’re awesome and you should be together.”

Saying that made Quinn suddenly want to see Rachel, so she looked around the room and spotted her dancing effusively with Kurt and Blaine.

She must have zoned out while staring, because suddenly Santana was elbowing her in the side.

“You know…if everyone else wasn’t so wasted, they might notice that you’re looking at the hobbit like she’s a present you can’t wait to unwrap.”

Unfortunately, since Quinn didn’t really have a filter at the moment, her immediate response was, “If you knew what she looked like once she was unwrapped, you wouldn’t blame me.”

There was a moment of shocked silence from Santana and then she burst out laughing.
“Damn Q. Didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Me neither. But I like it.”

Her eyes fixed on Rachel again and she added, “I kind of love it actually.”

Santana looked between her and Rachel, and then wrapped an arm around Quinn’s shoulder.
“Maybe we should get you some water.”

“Yeah, okay.”

They carefully navigated the stairs together and ended up in the kitchen.
Santana was about to start rifling through cabinets when the blonde said, “Glasses are there, to the right of the sink.”

That got her a raised eyebrow, and a short while later a glass full of water.

Once the brunette cheerleader had gulped down her own water, she asked, “You’re over here a lot, huh?”

Quinn nodded as she finished drinking, somehow managing not to spill water down her chin.
Then she walked over to set the glass in the sink before fixing a serious gaze on her friend.

“Her dads are really nice. It just feels like…family. Real family, you know?”

Santana was just drunk enough that her emotions threatened to push up to the surface, so she slung an arm around Quinn’s shoulder and said, gruffly, “Yeah, I know.”

They stood there, leaning on each other, and then Rachel suddenly bounded into the room, cooing when she saw their pose.

“That’s so sweet. You guys are best friends!”

“Yeah. Jealous?” Santana teased, giving Quinn a squeeze around the waist before stepping away to lean on the kitchen island.

“Rachel’s smile was wide and just a little dopey as she pointed a finger at Santana and said, happily, “No. Because we’re friends too. Admit it!”

The cheerleader groaned.
“I’m only saying this because there are no other witnesses and tequila makes me emotional…but yeah, I guess we’re friends or whatever.”

At this admission, Rachel beamed, and then because Santana could never help herself she added, “Anyway, I guess only a real friend would help you pick out a sexy bra.”

“Santana!”

At the shriek from Rachel, Quinn’s head snapped around and she stared at her friend, eyes suddenly narrowed.

“You what?”

Realizing what she’d just admitted to, Santana started to slowly back away from the blonde saying, in an attempt to pacify her, “I was just doing your girl a favor.”

This attempt didn’t seem to work though, because suddenly she was being chased around the kitchen as Quinn attempted to swat at her with a dish towel.

“Berry, you promised to protect me from your girlfriend’s crazy ass!”

Though it was hilarious to watch, Rachel had indeed promised, so she intervened by grabbing Quinn by the arm and pulling her into a kiss.

She wasn’t altogether prepared for the enthusiasm of the response she got though, and before she fully realized what was happening, she found herself pressed up against the kitchen counter locked in a heated make out session.

“Ah! My eyes!” Santana shouted as she backpedaled away from the scene.

At that moment, she heard Kurt’s voice approaching.
“Rachel, are you…”.

His question cut off abruptly as he entered the kitchen and took in the scene in front of him.

“Oh my god!” he yelped, and then spun around to face the other direction.

Santana came to stand next to him, stumbling just a little and resting a hand on his shoulder for balance.

“Hey Hummelina. Great party, right?”

“Santana, what is going on up here?”

“Hey, don’t blame me! I brought Q up here to get some water and so she’d stop trying to eye-fuck her girl. But then of course Berry came trailing along after her.”

Kurt dared to glance over his shoulder but immediately looked away again as he saw that Quinn’s hand was now under Rachel’s sweater.

“Well we can’t just let them keep doing…that,” he hissed, “Someone is bound to come upstairs and see them, and I’m sure neither of them actually wants this to be the way they officially debut their relationship.”

Santana was now sneaking a not very subtle peek at the two girls.

“Not gonna lie, it’s actually kind of hot.”

Kurt slapped her across the arm.
“Santana!”

She just groaned in frustration.
“Fine.”

Then she turned towards Quinn and Rachel and said loudly, “Oh, hi Finn!”

The two girls immediately disengaged.

Rachel looked pissed as she swung her head around, trying to see where Finn was so she could eviscerate him, while Quinn just looked totally dazed and like she was two seconds from pulling Rachel back in again, audience or not.

“Ha,” Santana said, sounding quite pleased with herself, “Finn is definitely a lady boner killer.”

“Never say that phrase again,” Kurt muttered, then took the opportunity of everyone's distraction to dart in and grab Rachel by the arm, pulling her towards the basement stairs.

“I think people are wanting to do karaoke. Could you come set up the machine?”

That was enough to snap his friend’s drunken attention onto a new subject.

“Yes! Karaoke time!”

She turned back to Quinn and added, unnecessarily loudly, “C’mon baby! I want to sing to you!”

Kurt whisked her away, and once Quinn and Santana were alone in the kitchen again, the dark-haired girl just regarded her friend with a smirk and commented, “You know, I always thought you were a frigid bitch, but I guess all you needed was some lady loving.”

Quinn didn’t respond verbally, just flashed a happy, slightly wicked grin.

Santana shook her head fondly and gestured towards the basement door.
“Come on, let’s go see your woman get her drunk karaoke on.”

---------------------------------------------------

Karaoke hadn’t gone on that long after Rachel and Blaine kicked things off with an energetic rendition of Don’t You Want Me Baby.

A few other people also joined the drunk singing fray, but then everyone seemed to collectively run out of steam.

Thankfully, with Kurt and Finn as designated drivers and Artie’s dad coming with his van, that just left Brittany, Santana, and Sam to crash in the basement.

Once Rachel had made sure they had enough pillows and blankets, she and Quinn had gone upstairs.

They’d made it through their bathroom routines and into Rachel’s bed where they’d started making out, but stopped when Rachel pulled back and said, “Ugh, everything is spinning.”

“Are you going to be sick?” Quinn asked, running a concerned hand softly through her girlfriend’s hair.

Rachel took a few deep breaths and laid back on her pillow.
“I think I’m okay. Will you hold me?”

“Always.”

When they were tangled up together, Rachel let out a happy sigh and pressed a kiss to Quinn’s cheek.

“Thank you for helping make this party happen. We will likely all regret this in the morning, but it was fun.”

“You’re welcome baby.”

Rachel was already fading into sleep as she said, “I love you.”

She barely heard Quinn’s response as she slipped into slumber.

“I love you too. Sweet dreams Rach.”

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Electric Touch

Ever since Rachel’s house party, everyone in Glee was treating her with a little bit more respect, which wasn’t entirely what she’d been going for, but it was nice all the same.

Maybe realizing that she was capable of letting loose and breaking some rules had helped them to see that she was less of a goody two shoes than they’d thought.

It probably didn’t hurt that all of them (with the exception of a still clueless Finn), now knew about her and Quinn’s relationship.
And whether it was right or not, the fact that she’d been able to bag the head cheerleader had definitely impressed at least a few of them.

Puck was now treating her like one of his bros, giving her a fist bump when they passed each other in the hall and referring to her as “the other hot Jew” in conversation. She found it a little ridiculous, but knew that he meant well and this was his way of acknowledging her relationship.

Tina and Mercedes had both started being more friendly to both Quinn and Rachel, and were more likely to include them in conversation.

The normally quiet Mike had even leaned over to them one day at lunch to quietly say, “I’m happy for you guys.”

They’d all smiled, and that was that.

Overall, things were going well, and though her experience with alcohol hadn’t led to any new songwriting breakthroughs, it seemed to have been a beneficial experience overall, despite the wicked hangover the next day.

She walked into the choir room and sat down in a chair on the upper level in the corner and, as soon as Quinn entered the room, beckoned her over.

“Why are we sitting up here?”

“Because in this location, we’re less likely to be noticed if we play footsie.”

That got her a sideways flash of wickedly sparkling hazel eyes.
“Rachel Berry, what are you suggesting?”

Her throaty tone was enough to give her a slight anticipatory shiver.

Now that their friends were aware of their relationship, Quinn had been a little less cautious about how she interacted with Rachel in public.
Which was quickly becoming a problem.

Rachel already found it hard enough to keep her hands off her girlfriend, and having Quinn doing more of her particular brand of very appealing teasing was slowly starting to drive Rachel crazy.

The blonde was excellent at sending her looks that made her feel warm all over, or dropping her voice into a register that made Rachel want nothing more than to drag her into the janitor’s closet and do something that certainly was not appropriate for school.

She settled for lightly resting a hand on the back of Quinn’s chair, drawing aimless patterns across the blonde’s shoulder with one finger.
Quinn stared straight ahead, but shifted one foot subtly and lightly brushed it across Rachel’s ankle.

The brunette took one shaky breath and hoped that whatever Mr. Schue had in mind for today’s lesson would sufficiently distract her.
She almost hoped that he would rap again, because surely that would quell her rebellious libido.

Those hopes were completely dashed when Holly Holliday showed up and started doing a sexy chair dance to Do You Wanna Touch Me, accompanied for some reason by Brittany and Santana.

When the performance ended with an impromptu and rather bizarre sex ed lesson, Rachel had no idea how to feel.
All she knew was that sex was now even more at the forefront of her mind.

Great.

---------------------------------------------------

She had the rest of the day to stew about her feelings.
She knew that she wanted to say something to Quinn, but was not quite sure how to open the conversation.

Thankfully, Quinn didn’t have Cheerios practice after school, so she was able to drive Rachel home.

They were still sitting in Quinn’s car, parked in Rachel’s driveway, when the blonde turned to the girl in the passenger seat and said, sounding a little concerned, “You’re being extra quiet. Is everything okay?”

Deciding that this was as good an opportunity as any, Rachel dove right in.
By now, she was confident in Quinn’s ability to quickly catch up.

“While I think that what happened in Glee today was wildly inappropriate, and once again Mr. Schue has demonstrated an extremely poor understanding of suitable boundaries in the classroom…”

She trailed off so she could look Quinn in the eye before continuing in a more serious tone, “It did make me think that you and I should talk about, you know, it.”

“It?” Quinn choked out, suddenly feeling unbalanced and rather flushed.

“Sex.” Rachel pronounced, her eyes darting around wildly before settling back on her girlfriend.

“Uhhh,” Quinn said intelligently.

“While I am aware that you have had sex at least once, I…have not. And after our Glee…”lesson” today I realized that you and I have never discussed…”.

“Sex.”

“Right, that.”

While Quinn still looked a bit freaked out, she gathered her courage and said, “Just so you know, I’ve only ever had sex that one time. And it wasn’t, um, I don’t really count it. I’d rather not count that as my first time.”

“Oh, okay,” Rachel said, not quite sure how to respond. But then she too decided to be as honest as possible.
“I’ve done more with you…by far…than I’ve ever done with anyone else, and all of our experiences together have been very, very positive.”

Quinn felt rather smug upon hearing this, not that she’d doubted it given Rachel’s propensity for offering unsolicited feedback.
She also wanted to make it very clear to her girlfriend that she felt extremely positive about the physical aspect of their relationship.

“Until we got together, I never knew how good things could feel, or how much…”.
She had to pause again, but then met Rachel’s eyes bravely, “Or how much I could want someone.”

That left Rachel speechless for a moment as she fought the urge to pull Quinn in for a kiss.
As good as that would feel, she wanted to try and finish this conversation.

“My plan used to be that I wouldn’t have sex until I turned 25 and had won my first Tony, but I’ve recently been re-evaluating.”

“Have you?”

Rachel took a moment to wonder if their faces had somehow gotten closer together without her noticing, but she ignored that thought and forged ahead.

“I have. And the reason I bring this up is because, though I don’t think I’m quite ready yet, it is something I want to explore. With you.”

Now Quinn’s face was definitely closer and her voice had acquired a breathless quality.
“I want that too.”

She paused and then asked, “Before you’re 25?”

“Yes Quinn. Definitely before I’m 25.”

Whatever additional statement that Rachel had been about to make was cut off by Quinn’s insistent lips.

---------------------------------------------------

The next evening, Rachel was sitting cross-legged on her bed watching an agitated Kurt pace back and forth on her carpet.

He had texted her right after school and asked if he could come by after dinner, but beyond saying that it involved Blaine and a weird conversation, hadn’t been forthcoming on what he so urgently wanted to discuss.

“Kurt, did something happen with Blaine? What’s going on?”

At her questions, he finally stopped pacing and settled down on the bed, leaning against the headboard and stretching out his legs.

Exhibiting an unusual amount of patience, Rachel remained silent and waited for him to speak.

“It’s not exactly that something happened with Blaine, more that we had an uncomfortable and unexpected conversation and I’m not exactly sure how to feel about it.”

He paused and then said, in a different tone of voice, “But before I get into that, the entire situation started with Sue Sylvester approaching Blaine at The Lima Bean and trying to give him intel about our plan for Regionals.”

“What plan for Regionals?” Rachel asked bitterly.

“Yes, exactly,” Kurt said, also sounding frustrated about their lack of preparedness, “but that’s beside the point. Coach Sylvester must have been snooping around the choir room and seen the word “Sexy” written on the dry erase board, because she told Blaine that the New Directions are planning to attempt to up our “sex appeal” for our numbers at Regionals.”

Rachel’s face shifted through a series of expressions, seemingly unable to settle on whether she was horribly amused or extremely annoyed.

Then she clasped her hands together and looked at him.
“Setting aside this newest attempt at sabotage, what was the uncomfortable conversation that happened with Blaine? Because that seems more important right now.”

There was a brief silence as then Kurt gave her a small smile.

“We really have come a long way, haven’t we? You’re brushing past a blatant attempt to help our competition gain an advantage in favor of my feelings.”

“Well,” Rachel replied, smiling back at him, “I happen to think that my friends are more important than Coach Sylvester’s ongoing schemes.”

They both allowed that moment of sweetness to settle, and then Kurt’s face shifted into a slightly embarrassed expression.

“In explaining to Blaine that we certainly weren’t trying to “be sexy”, I may have mentioned that I don’t even know how one would appear sexy in a singing competition, which led to Blaine attempting to help me practice having a sexy stage presence. But I felt really uncomfortable with the whole thing because I have no experience at all and it all seems…pretty terrifying actually.”

Rachel gave a sympathetic hum and he continued, sounding even more agitated.

“And given that I have the biggest crush on Blaine and I’m hoping that our friendship is shifting into something more romantic…it all just felt very awkward. I mean, sitting next to the guy you like and telling him that you're utterly inexperienced with anything sexy is kind of humiliating.”

“How did Blaine react?”

Now Kurt’s expression softened a bit.
“Oh, he was sweet about it of course, and said he was inexperienced too and offered to share information with me but…I just don’t feel ready to have that conversation with him. Which sucks, because I don’t have that many options. There’s just my dad really, and he and I don’t talk about that kind of stuff.”

“That makes sense, and I’m sorry that you were in an uncomfortable situation. Would it help at all to talk about it with me? I understand that the…mechanics aren’t quite the same, but if it would make you feel less alone, I could share where I’m at with the topic?”

He lightly tapped her with his foot and she shifted to sit a little closer while he thought about her offer.

Eventually, he nodded in acceptance.

“Maybe it would help? It would be nice to have someone else to talk to about this stuff. And perhaps it will feel less embarrassing if the discussion feels less applicable to me?”

Rachel looked very earnest now, which he thought was rather adorable, and he gave her a look to indicate that he was ready to listen.

“Before Quinn, my experience was exclusively with guys, and beyond making out, and the time that I let Finn touch me under the shirt and over the bra, nothing escalated into anything truly sexual. I didn’t feel ready for anything beyond that, and to be honest, nothing I was doing with any of those boys really inspired me to push against those boundaries.”

Kurt was interested in everything she was saying, and other than a small eye roll at her reference to Finn getting to touch her bra, kept a rather serious expression on his face.

“Do things feel different with Quinn?” he then asked, genuinely curious.

Her face gave away her answer before she started speaking.
“It feels so different. It isn’t that those previous experiences were objectively bad, and I do still identify as bisexual, but with Quinn it’s…well, at the risk of oversharing, she sometimes makes me feel like I’m going to explode, in a good way.”

Her friend’s eyebrows shot up and he gave her a little smirk that made her blush.

“Quinn isn’t pressuring you at all?” Kurt asked, even though he found the idea of Quinn Fabray trying to talk anyone into having sex quite laughable.

“Of course not. If anything, I’m worried about pressuring her.”

“Oh really?”

His friend seemed a little bashful now, though she answered promptly.

“I know that I brashly announced that girls wanted sex as much as boys during my only time attending Celibacy Club, but at that point it was more of an abstract thought. With Quinn though…I feel things that I’ve never felt before.”
She paused and then added shyly, “I didn’t realize that I could be this attracted to someone.”

She paused to give Kurt some time to think about what she’d said, and eventually, he gave her a genuine smile.
“Thank you Rachel. Just hearing you talk about it in a normal way does help. And while I would prefer never to hear the graphic details of your sapphic escapades…perhaps we could keep this channel of communication open?”

“Absolutely. It’s nice to have someone trustworthy that I can talk to. This isn’t something that I really feel comfortable talking about with my dads, as supportive as they are.”

Kurt nodded, understanding that feeling very well.

They decided to spend the rest of their evening together watching Project Runway and avoiding any more mentions of sex.

---------------------------------------------------

Santana took a deep breath as she approached Brittany.

The blonde was busy at her locker, swapping out a variety of things between it and her backpack. None of them appeared to be a textbook, but Santana didn’t have time to examine that at the moment.

Things had been strange ever since their confessional conversation with Holly Holliday the day before.

She still wasn’t a hundred percent sure that going to the substitute teacher had been the right call, but considering that Ms. Pillsbury was trying to get girls to wear chastity charms and Mr. Schue thought it was cool for adults to dance sexy in front of high schoolers, there weren’t a lot of other options.

And it had felt nice to at least attempt to share her feelings with Brittany.
The only problem was that she wasn’t entirely sure that Brittany understood the full extent of what she’d been trying to communicate.

Singing Landslide together had helped, but she knew that she needed to take an additional brave step if there was any chance of getting what she really wanted.

When she approached, the tall blonde girl looked up and smiled.

“Hey San.”

“Hey Britt.”

Feeling uncharacteristically nervous, Santana stood and chewed on her lip, staying silent long enough that Brittany turned and looked at her with concern.

“Are you okay?” she asked softly.

“I’m…yeah, I’m okay. But I wanted to talk to you, because I want to make sure you know what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

Brittany stopped fidgeting with her backpack and gave Santana her full attention.

“We both know that I don’t really talk about my feelings, but the past few months have made me realize that I want to be more honest. Not just with other people, but with myself.”

“What does that mean San?”

Santana blinked back the tears that were suddenly threatening to fall.
“I think I’m ready to come out. Maybe not to everyone, but to more of our friends. And I want to tell my parents. I’ve been so scared of how it might change things, but I’m tired of hiding this much of me.”

“I can come out with you. I think a lot of people know that I’m a bicorn, but I can tell everyone anyway.”

“Thanks Britt. I mean, if Berry and Q are brave enough to tell basically all of Glee about their lesbian love, then surely I can too since I’m such a bad bitch.”

Brittany lifted a hand and gently touched Santana’s face.
“You’re not really a bitch though.”

“Yeah.”

They stood there in comfortable silence for a moment before Santana asked, now sounding a little strained, “What about Artie?”

The blonde girl looked a little troubled.
“I care about Artie, and I don’t want to hurt him. But I also love you.”

That brought a sad little smile to Santana’s face.
“I love you too. And I want to be with you. I hope you know that.”

She got an emphatic nod in response.
“Of course I do. This is all confusing though, so I need some time to think about it.”

It went against Santana’s natural instincts, but she forced herself to remain calm.
“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Brittany pulled her into a hug that was comforting but a little bittersweet.
She sank into the embrace anyway.

---------------------------------------------------

Puck was well aware that he wasn’t the brightest guy around.
He was never going to get straight As or win any academic achievement (or attendance) awards.

But he was observant.

He’d figured out that something was going on between Quinn and Rachel long before Quinn had told him.

Partially he’d made that realization because he still spent a decent amount of time checking out both girls, who were each hot in their own way, and had happened to catch some interesting looks they’d been sending each other.

Then Quinn started looking a lot happier, happier than he’d seen her look in…ever.
And Rachel seemed perfectly content to be without Finn for the first time since the beginning of sophomore year.
So he’d started paying more attention.

Now that he knew the truth, he was legitimately happy for both of them.
But he was also starting to feel guilty because Finn had no idea, and from the things he’d been saying lately, the quarterback seemed to think that not only did he have a chance to get back with Quinn, but also that Rachel was still into him.

He’d made a few comments to his friend, trying to stay casual about it while hinting that Finn didn’t really have a shot with Quinn, but since Finn wasn’t great at picking up on subtlety, nothing he’d said seemed to really get through.

So now Puck was trying to figure out what else he could do.
He and Finn were finally getting back to being best bros, and he didn’t want things to go totally sideways again, because it was only a matter of time before Quinn and Rachel’s relationship was fully revealed.

He cared about Finn and he cared about the two girls and he cared about Glee.
So what to do?

Then he had an idea, and he went to go find Finn.
He found him in the weight room, which thankfully didn’t have many other dudes in it, and he sat down on a bench next to his buddy.
“Hey man.”

“Hey,” Finn said, finishing a few reps and then looking up and catching the unusually serious look on Puck’s face.
“Uh…what’s up?”

“Look dude, I’m just going to say it. You need to man up and join the GSA.”

Finn set down the dumbbells he’d been holding and turned to face him.
“Wait…what?”

Puck leaned in a little closer.
“Everyone in Glee except for you is in the GSA. Rick the Stick shows up with some of the hockey guys, hell, even Karofsky started coming. Seriously, do you want to be the only Glee kid who isn’t in the GSA? It kind of makes you look like a tool.”

For a second, Finn looked pissed, but then his expression shifted into worry.

“I just…it’s been so long, wouldn’t it be weird for me to join now?”

“What’s weird is that you have a gay brother and an ex-girlfriend who you said you loved who has two gay dads and you won’t even show up to support them. Yeah, you might get some shit for showing up so late, but better late than never, right?”

That speech seemed to infuse Finn with some additional confidence, because he stood up straighter and met his friend’s eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right.”

Puck exhaled, feeling relieved.
“Okay, yeah, awesome. See you there then.”

“Yeah, thanks dude.”

Finn lifted his hand for a slightly awkward fist bump, which Puck gave before standing up.

“Later Finn.”

He exited the room feeling a little bit better.

Maybe his plan wouldn’t work, but he knew that Finn wasn’t a bad guy at heart, so hopefully if he was in the GSA and saw how cool other people were with gay relationships, it would make things easier when he found out about Quinn and Rachel.

Yeah, he’d probably still freak, but Puck could step in with some beers and listen to Finn complain about women for a couple days and then everything would be cool.

At least he hoped so.

---------------------------------------------------

Quinn was on the phone with Rachel one night and after they had chatted a bit about random things, she took a deep breath and asked, “Rach, can we revisit our conversation from a few days ago?”

It took the other girl a few moments to respond, as she was likely thinking back to the admittedly long list of things they’d talked about over the past few days.

Then she replied, tentatively, “You mean when we were talking about sex?”

“Yeah. That.”

Rachel’s tone shifted into something softer.
“Of course Quinn. What did you want to talk about?”

“I’ve been thinking that I never fully responded to what you said.”

“Because you got distracted?” Rachel interjected, now sounding rather smug.

Quinn rubbed a hand lightly across her cheek, feeling a little flushed as she remembered exactly how that distraction had played out.
But she forged ahead, not wanting to get distracted yet again.

“Yes. And I thought maybe it would be easier if we weren’t in the same place, because then I wouldn’t be tempted to touch you.”

A long silence descended.

Now it was Quinn’s turn to tease.
“Are you getting distracted?”

“No,” Rachel said quickly, though it was clear that she was lying.

Quinn just smiled to herself, and continued, wanting to make sure that she was able to get her thoughts out before she lost her nerve.
“I know that I told you that I do want to have sex with you, and I do, but I also don’t think that I’m ready yet. But I’m hoping that we can, I guess, figure it out together? I care about you so much, and I do trust you, but I’m…nervous.”

They let those words settle between them, and when Rachel replied, she tried to be as reassuring as possible.
“I’m nervous too. I love you and I want to be with you like that, but I’m totally inexperienced, especially when it comes to…touching a woman.”

Quinn’s stomach gave a little happy, nervous swoop at the last few words.
Because the thought of being the one who Rachel touched like that was enough to make her brain go a little fuzzy.

Once she’d taken a moment to recover, she said, “So am I Rach, but we can learn together.”

“Okay,” came the whispered response.
And then, “Quinn…I have quickly come to realize that talking to you about hypothetically having sex makes me wish that it were less hypothetical.”

Quinn’s voice dropped into a lower register.
“Is that the Rachel Berry way of admitting that you’re turned on?”

Rachel did in fact sound quite frustrated when she snapped back.
“Yes Quinn, I am very turned on.”

Quinn’s delighted laughter echoed through the phone.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

The Story of Us

The sound of Rachel singing along to the radio faded out as the song ended, and her brown eyes shifted sideways to land on Quinn.

The blonde girl was driving, a faint smile on her face as she focused on the road.

Her lovely profile and the sweet expression kept Rachel’s attention for longer than she must have realized, because then Quinn was saying, “I can feel you staring Rach.”

“Well, I can’t help it. You are extremely pretty.”

Her girlfriend’s pale cheeks colored, and Rachel grinned triumphantly at the reaction.

When Quinn had composed herself a bit, she managed to get back to a teasing tone.
“You sure know how to make a girl feel good, Berry. Now, should I pretend I don’t know where we’re going?

“Though I know it isn’t an original date idea, and it is not nearly as convenient to get to as the Lima Bean, I wanted to go back to our coffee shop.”

“Our coffee shop?” Quinn mused. “I like the sound of that.”

“Good. There will of course be other activities after we get coffee, because our monthiversary date needs more than one part to it.”

They had agreed to take turns celebrating their anniversary date, and since Quinn had taken care of Valentine’s Day, March fell to Rachel.

Since the actual day had been a Monday, she’d decided that they would do their celebration over the weekend, so here they were on Sunday morning, heading out of Lima.

When they got to the coffee shop and walked up to the counter, fingers linked together, it took a moment to recognize the barista as the girl they’d encountered previously.

Her hair was now dyed a deep pink and cut into an even edgier style than before with one side shaved and the other side swooped up into a configuration that likely took a lot of product.
But she definitely looked cool.

Upon looking up and seeing them, she grinned.

“Hey, it’s you guys. I’m glad to see you here, and, you know, together.”

She waved vaguely at their clasped hands.

Rachel simply beamed and took the opportunity to inform her that they were on a date to celebrate being together for three months.

Quinn flushed a little, but gave Rachel’s hand a squeeze.

The older girl laid her elbows on the counter.

“Cute. By the way, I don’t think I ever introduced myself. I’m Vi.”

“Nice to meet you Vi. I’m Rachel and this is my girlfriend Quinn.”

“Cool,” Vi said, flashing another grin. “What can I get for you?”

Rachel put in her order and Quinn’s and successfully had her wallet out before Quinn could protest.

“I’m taking you out today,” she told the blonde girl with a smile.

Once they had their drinks and were sitting at a table, Rachel glanced over at Vi and then back at Quinn speculatively.

“What?”

“I’m just imagining you with pink hair.”

At that, Quinn chuckled.
“I doubt that’s ever going to happen.”

“I bet it would look hot.”

Quinn rolled her eyes even though she looked pleased by the comment.

“Drink your coffee.”

---------------------------------------------------

The next day, Rachel was in the choir room, waiting for Quinn to arrive.

She was still flying high after the date the day before which, after coffee, had included going to a vintage shop and trying on a variety of random clothes (and possibly some making out in the tiny fitting room), and then to a bookstore that absorbed Quinn’s attention for over an hour.

Rachel loved seeing Quinn’s adorable bookworm side, because she knew it wasn’t something that her girlfriend shared with the rest of the world. The dreamy, completely absorbed look in her eye when she got lost in a book was something that never failed to flood Rachel with a warm rush of affection.

As she was daydreaming, the blonde girl hurried into the room, giving Rachel a quick hug.

“You said you wanted to show me something?”

“Well, more accurately, I want you to listen to something.”

She guided Quinn over to sit in a chair that she had carefully placed near the piano, and then walked a few steps away and prepared herself to sing.

The blonde girl looked amused, but attentive and sat politely as Rachel launched into the song, her expression remaining quite neutral as the brunette finished.

“It’s called Only Child.”

“Yeah, I gathered that.”

Rachel kept her eyes fixed on Quinn’s face and watched as the blonde chewed on her lip, a clear indication that she was trying to figure out how to sugarcoat whatever she was about to say.

Before she could speak though, a voice sounded from the doorway and Rachel spun to see Finn standing there.

“That was pretty good Rachel.”

It took her a moment to respond, as she was surprised by his sudden appearance and unsure of his motivations in complimenting her.

“Thank you Finn,” she ended up saying rather primly.

He just smiled at her, and then at Quinn before turning and heading away down the hall.
When Rachel turned back to her girlfriend, the other girl’s face was marred by a frown.

“What’s wrong? Besides the fact that my newest effort is only marginally better than My Headband?”

“Well,” Quinn replied, a tiny smile now creasing the corner of her mouth, “I don’t think that Only Child is going to make it to the top of Brittany’s chart. You still need to delve deeper, get in touch with emotions that are more…raw and complex.”

That got her a nod of agreement, and then she stood to move within touching distance of Rachel.

“And unrelated to the song…Finn just gets on my nerves. It would be lovely if he would get it through his thick skull that I’m not interested in dating him, but if he decides to set his sights on you again, that would be even worse.”

“Would it? Why?”

Quinn moved a step closer, now fully in Rachel’s personal space, and she tilted her head down to whisper, “Because I’m more possessive than you are.”

Soft lips just barely brushed the shell of Rachel’s ear sending a cascade of goosebumps along the side of her neck and all the way down her arm.

“Quinn…”.

The blonde stepped back, looking ever so smug.

“We should get to class.”

With that, she flounced out, somehow managing to flick her cheerleading skirt just so as she exited the room.

Rachel growled in frustration and stalked after her.

---------------------------------------------------

The diva was still feeling rather hot and bothered by the time Glee Club came around, though she quickly found something else to focus her frustration on.

Mr. Schue walked into the room brandishing a piece of paper and looking quite crestfallen.

“This is a cease and desist letter from My Chemical Romance. Apparently we can no longer perform Sing.”

The room erupted in sounds of disbelief and dismay.

“Wanna take bets that Coach Sylvester is behind this?” Mercedes asked, sounding both angry and resigned.

Their teacher’s mouth was set in a firm line.
“No bets needed. I already confronted Sue about this and she admitted to it.”

As an even louder burst of commentary filled the choir room, Mr. Schue held up his hands and raised his voice to talk over the chatter.

“Guys! I know this is a setback, but we need to focus on creating an even better setlist.”

Gradually, they calmed down and once it was nearly silent, Rachel swiveled in her seat so she could look at everyone.

“I still think we should write original songs for Regionals.”

Santana was the first one to respond and she sounded quite skeptical.
“I don’t know if I trust the people in this room to write anything better than Row Your Boat. Can’t we just find a better, even more kick ass anthem?”

There was a murmur of agreement from around the room, but then Quinn piped up.
“No. I think Rachel’s right. This team works best when we push ourselves to try and do something a little different.”

Kurt jumped in next.
“While I share some of Santana’s skepticism, I agree with Quinn. We’ve always been the team of misfits, but we have a lot of unique voices. I say we at least give songwriting a try.”

Quinn, Rachel, and Sam all nodded along.

Then Quinn said, “I was thinking maybe Rachel and I could write a song together.”

“Wanky,” Santana muttered, then at receiving twin glares from Rachel and Quinn, crossed her arms and added, “Fine. But I think that everyone should get a chance to write a song.”

Mr. Schue was looking around the room, presumably to see if there was any further dissent.
When his eyes stopped on Finn, the tall boy said, “If Quinn and Rachel can agree on something, it’s probably a good idea. Let’s give it a shot.”

“Alright,” their teacher said, “I guess we’re doing this.”

Rachel beamed and squeezed Quinn’s hand gratefully.

---------------------------------------------------

That evening, Blaine and Kurt were hanging out in Kurt’s room.

They had started to watch a movie, but quickly paused it after Kurt made an offhand comment about Glee sabotage that caught Blaine’s attention.

Without giving away anything about their plans to write original music, Kurt quickly explained Sue Sylvester’s treachery.

“It’s bad enough that she somehow forced her way in as the coach of an opposing Glee Club, but she’s also made it her mission lately to throw us off balance and try and keep us from finalizing a setlist. God only knows what she’s planning for Regionals.”

His rant broke off into angry muttering before he turned his head and saw that Blaine was just sitting there and smiling at him.

The stare continued until he eventually let out a nervous chuckle and asked, “What?”

“You’re cute when you’re all self-righteous.”

Before Kurt could fully process that compliment, the other boy was leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

Blaine drew back after a moment, his eyes warm and a little uncertain.

But just a moment later, Kurt was leaning in again, intent on making his feelings very clear.
It was a gentle exploration, but by the time he’d leaned back again, he was feeling slightly breathless.

“Wow,” he managed to say.

Then he and Blaine just smiled stupidly at each other for a long moment.
The Warbler stretched out an arm and Kurt snuggled in a little closer before pressing the remote to start the movie again.

---------------------------------------------------

As Regionals loomed ever closer and the setlist still wasn’t finalized, Rachel became more of a taskmaster.

She had given an impassioned, though thankfully short, speech to Glee, imploring them to come up with excellent original songs.

It seemed that her message had been taken to heart though, despite several eye rolls, because people were actually working on writing songs.

While Mr. Schue dealt with that, Rachel made her way to the auditorium where Quinn was waiting for her so they could work on their own song in a quieter setting.

When she walked in, the blonde was seated at the piano, absently playing some melody.
Under the stage lights her blonde hair shone, and the expression on her face was so content that Rachel paused for just a moment so she could appreciate seeing the other girl like this.

Then she continued onward, stopping and leaning against the piano to face Quinn, who had stopped playing in favor of watching her approach.

A mischievous smile flickered across her face, and then she suddenly started playing a very spirited version of Row Your Boat.

That made the brunette groan in faux annoyance, but then she let out a light laugh when Quinn continued playing and ended with a flourish.

Once she’d finished her rendition, Rachel gave her a few slow claps.

“As usual, your piano playing is quite good, but I sincerely hope that our efforts exceed Santana’s extremely low expectations.”

Quinn swiveled on the piano bench to face Rachel.

“Well, what I said before still stands. We need to figure out something emotionally impactful that will speak to an audience.”

She sat silently for a bit, and Rachel remained respectfully silent, knowing that Quinn was mulling something over in her big, sexy brain.

Eventually, the blonde spoke.

“What if we write a song about how we got here? Like, you and I? Not even specifically about our relationship, but the experiences that led us to being ready to even have one.”

Rachel chewed her lip as she pondered that suggestion.

“I like that. I admit that while I want to sing a soaring love ballad to you, the emotional impact and accompanying angst of our journey might be more compelling.”

“I agree,” Quinn said, “All the times that I made a mess of things, and wanted to just…run away so I didn’t have to deal with it.”

“And all the times I tried to help, though in a misguided way, and ended up hurting people," Rachel added.

At the same instant, they looked up and their eyes met.

“We need to write this down,” Quinn said, in an urgent tone.

Rachel scrambled to pull her notebook and a pen out of her bag and immediately began writing down phrases.

“Okay, we have, making a mess of things, trying to help, wanting to run, hurting everyone…..”

Quinn’s eyes went a bit unfocused as she tried to put all the feelings from the past two years into words.

“I used to feel like the weight of the world was on my shoulders, and like it was going to break me…but now I know that I’m strong, a lot stronger and wiser than I was.”

Rachel’s pen was scribbling wildly across the page with little regard for her usual perfect penmanship.

“This is good. Okay, so we have your journey of making mistakes and feeling the weight of having to deal with them, hurting people but coming out the other side stronger. And then my journey of trying too hard and being knocked down but getting up, time and time again.”

Once she’d stopped writing, she looked up at Quinn again and asked, “So blended together, what do we get to in the end?”

With hardly any hesitation and with the utmost sincerity in her tone, the blond girl responded.
“We finally get it right.”

Those words made Rachel freeze, and then she blurted out, “I know that we need to continue working on this while inspiration is flowing, but collaborating with you creatively is incredibly arousing.”

“Rach!”

“Well it is,” she responded, entirely unchastened, “now, let’s keep going! We have Regionals to win!”

---------------------------------------------------

Kurt was in a corner of the library that he had always favored due to how inconspicuous it was.
He was ostensibly trying to brainstorm some lyrics for an original song, but he was feeling rather stuck.

When Sam suddenly appeared and stood on the other side of the table smiling down at him, he was a little confused.
Especially when he looked around and it was clear that the blonde boy was alone.

“Is there something I can do for you Sam?”

“Is it cool if I sit?”

Kurt gestured at the empty chair across from him, and Sam flopped down into it.

“Thanks.”

The two boys just sat there looking at each other for a few seconds until Sam eventually blinked and started talking, sounding a little sheepish, but also a bit excited.

“So besides Rachel and Quinn, we’re the two who were on board with the whole original song thing from the beginning. And since the girls are working on a song together, I was thinking that maybe we could do the same? Like try and come up with a song?”

At this unexpected speech, Kurt looked thoughtful, and then shrugged.

“Well, I have to admit that I’m not having much luck on my own. We might as well try working together.”

Then he paused for a moment before asking, “Not that I’m opposed to this idea, but is there any particular reason you wanted to work on this with me? We don’t exactly talk that often.”

Sam drummed his fingers on the table nervously, but replied, “I guess I just figured that we never got to do our duet together back when I first joined Glee, which sucks, because I think our voices would sound good together. And now with the GSA and everything, things are different.”

He stopped there, checked to make sure that no one else was nearby, and leaned in closer to add, “Plus I’m bisexual, so like, maybe we have more stuff in common than we thought.”

Kurt’s eyebrows shot up at this admission because while he had wondered in the past if Sam was gay, the other boy’s behavior since he’d come to McKinley had convinced Kurt that he was wrong.

For a few long seconds, he wasn’t quite sure how to respond, but eventually he gathered himself.

“I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to share that with me. And I agree that we could sound good together, but first I suppose that we have to come up with some actual lyrics.”

Then he was silent for another moment as he had a sudden thought.

“Wait, does Quinn already know about you?”

“Yeah,” Sam said, flashing a smile, “she’s the first one I told actually. And she was really cool about it, which, obviously she would be cause…you know. Oh, Rachel and Santana know too.”

“That explains some things. I was wondering why Quinn felt so comfortable hanging out with her ex-boyfriend, especially given Rachel’s propensity for jealousy.”

“Don’t worry, I’m totally cool with their relationship. I support them a hundred percent.”

“Good,” Kurt replied, then chuckled. “Pretty soon the straight kids are going to be the minority in Glee.”

“I mean…I’m not good at math really, but maybe they already are?”

After counting in his head Kurt said, “I think that right now it’s a tie, which is amazing, but with all the surprise sexuality reveals, who knows who else might come out this year?”

That conversation was enough to break the ice, and after a few more minutes of chatting about Glee, they made plans to meet at Kurt’s house after school to work on a song, and Sam promised to bring his guitar.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

The Lucky One

Despite the initial pushback, once everyone got working on their original songs, a lot of creativity was unleashed.

Puck’s song that he’d dedicated to Lauren Zizes and Mercedes’s high-energy Hell to the No had not quite made the cut for the set list.

Santana had presented a sweet and silly composition extolling all of Brittany’s quirks that she’d titled Fondue for Two which, though very charming, was too full of thinly veiled euphemisms to be appropriate for Regionals.

Quinn and Rachel’s song had received a lot of impressed applause, and was quickly voted a yes for Regionals. No one had even objected to Rachel singing the lead.

She had initially insisted that Quinn join her as one of the backup singers, but the blonde had gently shook her head and said that she wanted to do the piano accompaniment.
Therefore, Tina and Brittany were chosen for the background vocals.

Everyone also seemed to be quite excited for the group number that they’d all contributed, finding it a more fitting anthem for their club than Sing had been.

Once the setlist was finalized, Sam raised his hand.

“There’s something that Kurt and I have been working on, it’s not an original song, but could we still play it for you?”

While the two boys had tried to come up with some original lyrics, they’d both quickly realized that songwriting wasn’t their strong suit. So instead, they’d channeled their creative energy into finding something fitting to perform together.

It had taken a little work given their mostly divergent musical tastes, but Sam had no issue with Kurt singing a female part, which greatly opened up their options.

But then, they discovered a surprising album that they both liked, and it all came together.

At Sam’s question, Mr. Schue had been a bit surprised, but he quickly agreed.

While Kurt grabbed a couple stools for them, Sam retrieved his guitar and checked the tuning.

Accompanied by Sam’s strumming and soft harmonies, Kurt sang a lovely, dreamy acoustic version of Lights by Ellie Goulding.

Upon finishing, the two boys grinned at each other, and then accepted the applause from the rest of the room.

Kurt graciously thanked everyone, and from the look on Santana’s face, knew that she was holding back some teasing comments.

He raised an eyebrow at her, and she took the opportunity to smile with actual affection and say, “You and Trouty sounded pretty good. I’d rather see more of that at the next duet competition than the saccharine blonde on blonde mess we had to watch last time around.”

“Yeah,” Mercedes added, “that was really good you guys. But I’m with Santana. She and I were robbed at that competition.”

Everyone looked to Rachel and Quinn to see how they would respond to this reference to the duet competition where they were both dating other people.

But Quinn just rolled her eyes, while Rachel smiled and said, quite confidently, “Perhaps at the next duet competition you’ll all be losing to Quinn and I.”

“In your dreams,” Santana muttered, though she was also smiling.

The rest of the club just seemed relieved that there was no new drama, though Finn stayed unusually quiet for the rest of rehearsal.

---------------------------------------------------

As Regionals loomed ever closer, Santana found herself getting unexpectedly nervous.

She’d barely given a thought to their next cheerleading competition, but something about the possibility of making it to Show Choir Nationals was getting her all fired up.

And the more she thought about making it to New York, the more she realized that she wanted to experience that city for the first time as openly as possible, and preferably with Brittany at her side as her actual girlfriend.

While she had accepted that there wasn’t much she could do about the latter, because the ball really was in Brittany’s court at this point, she could take steps to make sure she was being more authentic in her own life.

Helping co-found the GSA had been an important step, as was befriending some of the people who she used to bully, but she knew that coming out to her parents was the next thing on the list.

She didn’t really think that she’d receive a truly negative reaction, but at the same time, she wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.

As the only child of two busy medical professionals (her father was a doctor and her mother was a nursing supervisor at the same hospital), she was used to getting a lot of attention at times, and then having to be very independent at others.

While she’d always been quite open when it came to sharing her opinions, anything having to do with feelings was a different story. Given that Quinn still hadn’t come out to her mother, and Berry’s dads were both gay themselves, she didn’t really consider asking them for help.

Instead, she turned to Kurt, inviting him out for coffee and fidgeting with some sugar packets for long enough that he’d gotten frustrated and grabbed her hands.

“Santana, whatever you want to tell me, please do, because you’re making me nervous.”

She countered his request with a question.
“How did you tell your dad that you were gay?”

That made him lean back in his chair, an understanding look washing over his face.

“Ah, okay, I see.”

“Well,” Santana said a little snappishly after he didn’t say anything further for a moment, “I’m glad that you see or whatever, but are you going to say anything else?”

His expression softened and she slumped in her seat, feeling a little guilty for her outburst.

“I assume based on your question that you're considering how to come out to your parents?”

Her reply was a small nod.

“I wish that I had better advice to offer, but I didn’t really have a plan, or make it a grand gesture. I simply told him one night. He was very kind about it, but he also wasn’t surprised, which, let's face it, isn’t that shocking. Do you think that your parents have any idea?”

This was a question that she’d been asking herself for a while now. Brittany had regularly been in and out of her house for several years now, and though her parents had never caught them doing anything sexual, they had always been extremely touchy feely with each other.

And while she’d had a reputation through most of high school as something of a man eater, with the exception of sneaking in Puck a few times when her parents weren’t around, she’d never had boys over at her house. So it wasn’t as if her parents had any experiences of seeing her with a boyfriend.

Eventually, she answered the question.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m a pretty femme-y cheerleader. I’m not like, on the softball team or wearing backwards snapbacks every day, so it’s hard to say what they think.”

Kurt let out a huff of laughter at her stereotypical examples of lesbianism, then sobered up a bit as he asked a follow-up question.

“What do you think the worst case scenario is if you tell them?”

“On a scale of Russell Fabray’s monstrous assholishness to Britt’s mom baking her a cake with the bisexual flag on top when she accidentally came out to them…I’d say somewhere in the middle? Maybe hearing me out without any shouting, but then pretending the whole conversation never happened.”

“So you’re afraid that they’ll favor quiet denial over true acceptance?”

“Something like that.”

“Whatever you decide, I support you.”

Santana nodded and looked grateful, but couldn’t quite bring herself to say something sappy in response. She had to maintain some of her rep after all.

A few days later though, she was really blowing her image of being an ice cold badass by calling Kurt in the middle of dinner.

“Santana? Are you okay?”

She let out a long, shaky exhale and launched into a somewhat frantic sounding explanation for the unexpected call.

“My parents are both home for dinner for the first time this week and I’m about to come out to them, but I’m kind of freaking out. Is this a terrible idea? Should I just stay closeted until college?”

“Okay, okay, first off, take a deep breath. You need to calm down a little.”

“Calm down?” she snapped, “Is that really your advice? That’s as useless as telling you to stop wearing the gayest outwear ever seen on planet Earth.”

A moment later, she sighed and added, much more quietly, “Sorry, I’m nervous and insults are one of my love languages.”

He had enough experience with her particular style of friendship at this point that he wasn’t offended.

“That is my advice, because if you’re all worked up, you’re going to have a harder time having this conversation. Everyone knows that you’re tough Santana, but this situation also requires a little softness.”

Even though she stayed silent, something told him that he was getting through to her.

“I can’t promise you that it will go perfectly, but I’m here if you want to talk about it later. There are lots of people who have your back, no matter what your parents do or say.”

There was another heavy pause, but when she spoke again, she sounded a lot more settled.

“You’re right. Thanks Kurt. Right, I’m gonna go do this.”

Without further ceremony, she disconnected the call.

Kurt just shook his head and sent a wish out into the universe that things would go okay for her.

---------------------------------------------------

In the end, his wish was answered, though all he got from Santana that evening was a single text with a thumbs up.

When he cornered her at school the next day and demanded details, she first rolled her eyes, but then her expression relaxed into a smile that looked more natural than any he’d seen on her face in a while. He couldn’t help but smile broadly in response.

“Please don’t turn this into some weird after school special moment,” she huffed at him, though her smile didn’t waver.

Feeling bold, he poked her in the shoulder.
“Then tell me what happened.”

“It went well. I told them, we hugged, they said the right stuff…it worked out okay.”

When she stopped there, he shot her a very exasperated expression, and she sighed before adding, “Look, I promise to give you all the mushy details another time, but right now, I need to find Britt.”

“Fine. But I’m holding you to that.”

She floated off calling out, “Later Hummel.”

He watched her for a moment, feeling immensely glad that things had gone well for her.

---------------------------------------------------

A few days later, Kurt, Blaine, Rachel, and Quinn were all sitting in the back of the Lima Bean waiting for the remaining two of their party to finish getting their drinks and join them.

They didn’t have to wait for long before Santana and Brittany came bustling up, hands locked together. They set their drinks down on the table and stood there smiling.

The other four stared at them expectantly, and then Santana pulled out a chair for Brittany before flopping down in the one next to her and announcing, “Santittany is on bitches!”

“Please never use that awful portmanteau again,” Kurt implored before turning to Blaine and adding, “I apologize for her. She hasn’t been fully housebroken yet.”

“Don’t start with me, teen gay.”

“San,” Brittany said, laying a hand on the other girl’s arm.

Santana rolled her eyes but immediately subsided, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.

“Whipped.”

At that smugly stated word, Santana looked at Quinn lazily, cutting her eyes between the blonde and the shorter girl tucked right up next to her.

“Pot, kettle Fabray.”

Quinn just shook her head and gave her friend a half-smile as Rachel piped up.

“Personally, I think that Brittana makes a much better “ship name”, should you be soliciting alternative options.”

Santana tapped a finger against her chin in a pose of mock-thoughtfulness.

“I don’t know…it’s missing something…”

“I assume that you’re referring to the “tit” in the middle,” Kurt drawled, “and I can assure you that Rachel’s suggestion is the better one.”

That made Rachel get a scandalized look on her face while Quinn suppressed a snort of laughter and Blaine choked on his sip of coffee.

“Your tits in the middle are a great part,” Brittany offered, which caused Blaine’s coughing to get worse and Quinn’s shoulders start to shake as she tried not to burst out laughing.

“Brittany,” Rachel said in an attempt to hastily change the subject, “I suppose this means that you and Artie have broken up?”

The blonde girl tore her eyes away from Santana’s body to look over at her and smile.

“Yeah, I still like Artie, but I missed Santana and our sweet lady kisses so much. When she was still hiding who she was, I didn’t think we could be together, so I’m glad she’s been so brave. She knows me better than anyone, so we should be together.”

Then she turned back to Santana with a very soft look in her eyes, and the rest of them pretended not to notice that the brunette looked about two seconds from having tears streaming down her face.

“Well…,” Kurt said, “I’m very thankful that all of us have successfully figured out our romantic lives. It’s much more pleasant to no longer be pining.”

Blaine smiled.
“Agreed. And thank you for accepting me into your cute little gay crew.”

He lifted his coffee mug, and they all followed suit, toasting each other with enthusiasm, even Santana.

Having recovered from the moment of sappiness, Santana turned to Blaine with a smirk.

“So Warbler, are you and your crew of singing suits ready to get destroyed at Regionals?”

To Blaine’s credit, he only looked mildly terrified at the question.

---------------------------------------------------

With Regionals only a few days away, Rachel’s anxiety was continuing to climb.

Quinn had thus far been able to keep her girlfriend from totally freaking out, though even she wasn’t able to prevent the occurrence of a few diva moments.

Thankfully, the other members of Glee Club were unusually focused, and even Mr. Schue seemed to be taking things pretty seriously.

In an effort to distract Rachel from making yet another incredibly detailed timeline for when everyone needed to leave their homes in order to make it to school and board the Regionals bus on time, Quinn pulled the brunette out of the dining room chair she was sitting in and led her over to the couch.

Then she wrapped her in a solid embrace, letting out a grateful breath when she felt Rachel relax against her.

“Thank you for putting up with me when I’m in my manic, pre-competition mode.”

“Of course baby.”

The response was punctuated with a soft kiss to Rachel’s temple.

After a few long moments of peaceful silence, Quinn said, “There’s something I’ve been thinking about. The Finn situation.”

Rachel let out a small sound of annoyance.

“I know, I know. He’s not my favorite topic of conversation either. But we’ve been talking about telling him about us after Regionals and well, that’s only a few days away.”

The brunette snuggled in closer as she pondered that.
“I suppose that he’ll find out eventually, so it is better if the news comes from us directly.”

“We’ll tell him soon,” she then added, sounding quite decided.

Quinn ran one hand gently across Rachel’s arm.
When she spoke again, there was hesitation in her tone.

“I’m worried that Finn won’t keep his mouth shut. I know that he finally joined the GSA and he’s mostly stopped with the weird staring…but I know this will upset him, and I’m not confident that he’s going to be mature about it.”

As an arm slipped around her waist and held on tightly, Quinn paused, then continued, speaking more quietly now.
“I’ve also been thinking about coming out to my mom soon. Hiding our relationship from her is starting to feel really heavy, but I’m so worried about how she’ll react. It seems like we’ve gotten to a better place recently, but I still don’t truly trust her to be a good mom.”

She sniffed a little bit in an attempt to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.
In response, Rachel sat up and pulled Quinn in so that the blonde’s head was resting against her chest and she could run her fingers through her girlfriend’s soft hair.

“While I do sincerely hope that your mother exceeds your expectations this time, if things go badly, you always have a place here. I’ve already discussed the situation with my dads, and they would happily allow you to stay in the guest room.”

Unexpectedly, Leroy’s voice sounded from very close by.

“Of course Quinn! You’re always welcome here.”

Both girls startled and sat up, and Rachel quickly swiveled on the couch to glare at the man now smiling down at both of them.

“Daddy! Why were you eavesdropping? It’s very inappropriate!”

“Sweetheart, I promise I just walked in a moment ago. I was about to say something, but I didn’t want to interrupt your moment.”

He turned his head to look at Quinn.
“Would you like to stay for dinner honey? Hiram is making veggie lasagna, but he was also planning to make a separate pan with meat and cheese. I could use some help eating it.”

By now, Quinn had managed to wipe the tears from her face and smooth down her hair.
“That sounds great. Thank you Leroy.”

She allowed Rachel to gallantly help her up from the couch, before watching her girlfriend walk over to clear her mess of sheet music and time tables from the table.

As Quinn moved to follow her, Leroy stopped her by resting a hand lightly on her shoulder.

“I meant what I said Quinn. I really hope things go well with your mother, but if they don’t, you always have a place with us.”

She was able to give him a grateful nod, but kept quiet for fear that if she opened her mouth she would just start blubbering.

He seemed to understand though, and gave her shoulder a squeeze before heading over to where his daughter was trying to pack everything away in an organized manner and attempting to assist her.

After a quick stop in the bathroom to check that her makeup was still relatively unscathed, she wandered into the kitchen where Hiram was just putting a pan in the oven.

“I guess I’m too late to help you make dinner.”

When he looked over his shoulder, he gave her a warm smile and then turned back to close the oven door.

Then he crossed over to wrap her in a hug.

She’d finally gotten used to how physically affectionate the entire Berry family was, and had even come to enjoy it.

Once he’d released her, he stepped back and gave her a conspiratorial smile.

“I wanted to thank you for your efforts in preventing my daughter from totally going off the deep end with all this Regionals stuff. I think this is the most worked up I’ve seen her get about a singing competition in quite some time.”

“Well, to be fair, if we win this we get to go to New York, so the stakes are pretty high.”

“And of course Rachel couldn’t let that opportunity pass by. Speaking of Regionals, a little birdy told me that the two of you co-wrote a song together. Any chance of getting a preview?”

Before Quinn could figure out how to respond to that request, Rachel’s scandalized shout rang through the kitchen.

“Dad! There will be no spoilers! You’ll just have to wait for Regionals to hear our masterpiece.”

Hiram dramatically clasped his hands over his heart.
“Not even fatherhood is enough to earn special privileges?”

Rachel just smiled and shook her head.

“Well, if you aren’t going to give a performance, maybe you can set the table?”

“Of course Hiram,” Quinn said, then pulled Rachel along by the hand to grab some dishes from the cabinet.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Treacherous

The entire Glee Club was still riding the high from winning Regionals and knowing that in just a couple months, they would be heading to New York City.

Rachel had truly been on cloud nine ever since she’d stood on the stage and heard the New Directions announced as first place.

But a moment that she’d been remembering with even more frequency was when she had first walked onto stage and looked back over her shoulder to see Quinn smiling at her from her place on the piano bench.

When their eyes met, she was filled with an elated confidence greater than anything she’d yet experienced. She was about to share the song that she and her girlfriend had written with an auditorium full of people, and even better, they were getting to perform it together.

Even though Puck had proposed throwing a party the night of their big win, she and Quinn had opted out.

Instead, they’d spent their evening snuggled together on Rachel’s bed, exchanging kisses and daydreaming about their future trip to the big city.

Walking through the halls at school on Monday morning, Rachel was wholly unable to keep her wide smile contained.

However, that smile vanished when she closed her locker door to reveal Finn Hudson.

“Hey Rachel,” he said, brightly.

“Hello Finn. What can I do for you?”

“I know I already told you, but your song was awesome.”

She attempted not to grind her teeth as she replied, a sinking feeling in her stomach as she caught his expression and guessed where he was going with this.

“I appreciate your positive feedback, but that was a song that Quinn and I wrote together.”

“Well, yeah, but I mean, it was still your song.”

“No,” she replied, now letting some of her frustration show, “it was a song that Quinn and I wrote about our shared journey.”

At that response, he just seemed a little confused even as he shuffled half a step closer.

“Okay, but what you were singing about, that was personal, right? Like how you want to get it right?”

As he spoke, Rachel looked past him and saw Quinn approaching. For a moment, she was incredibly relieved, but then she saw Quinn clock the situation and the smile slipped off the blonde’s face as her features shifted into a furious expression.

Finn was saying something else, but she’d already tuned him out.

“Sorry Finn. I need to go. Maybe we can talk later.”

Without waiting for a response, she rushed off, snagging Quinn by the arm as she went and pulling her insistently away.

Quinn was angrily muttering something, but Rachel did not loosen her grip until she’d pulled them both into the closest bathroom.

Santana was at one of the sinks, and when she caught sight of them in the mirror, paused her lip gloss application to snap at another student who was washing her hands.

“You, hurry it up.”

The girl looked terrified and quickly turned off the faucet, grabbing some paper towels and practically running out.

The door swung shut and Quinn let out an audible growl.
“I swear to God if that clueless manchild was trying to hit on you, I’m going to run him over with my car!”

That made Rachel’s eyes go wide, and she stepped closer and started running her hands soothingly up and down Quinn’s arms.

Santana spun around and looked at them speculatively.

“Don’t tell me that Frankenteen is sniffing after Berry again? Not sure why he can’t figure out that other girls exist at this school besides you two bitches.”

“Not helping Santana,” Rachel muttered.

She reached up one hand to gently cup Quinn’s cheek.

“He was complimenting our song. Though yes, unfortunately, it seemed like maybe he was working his way up to flirtation.”

“But…,” she quickly continued when Quinn made another deeply annoyed sound, “I ran off before he could finish whatever he was trying to say.”

“I will destroy him,” Quinn eventually said, rubbing her cheek against Rachel’s hand. “Don’t think that I won’t.”

“Of course you will baby.”

Rachel followed that comment up with a soft kiss which Santana interrupted by making gagging noises.

The other two ignored her and Quinn pulled Rachel into a hug.

“We’re going to tell him. Very soon.”

“Absolutely,” the shorter girl agreed. “I really need for him to know that he has absolutely no chance with either of us.”

Santana just rolled her eyes.

“Alright lovebirds, let’s roll.”

The three of them exited the bathroom just as the bell rang.

---------------------------------------------------

On Wednesday afternoon, Quinn slung her Cheerios bag over her shoulder and walked slowly out to her car.

Her legs felt like jelly, for which she could only blame herself, given that she was the one who added an extra set of laps at the end of practice after making everyone do bodyweight squats until their legs were giving out.

She had felt Santana’s eyes on her and knew that her friend was going to confront her about whatever was making her go into cheer captain dictator mode.

To avoid that situation, she’d stayed out on the field talking to Coach Sylvester about potential routines for Nationals.

Or, at least she’d listened to Sue rant about Will Schuester’s hair for several minutes before shifting to complaining about the increased cost of pyrotechnics.

When Quinn had stalled long enough that she felt confident that Santana and Brittany had gone home, she headed back to the locker room.
As she’d planned, it was empty, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Upon checking her phone, she saw a message from Rachel wishing her a good practice and another from Santana.

Not sure what crawled up your ass today Q. Are you and the mini diva fighting?

Once she was safely in her car, she drove home on auto-pilot, continuing to zone out as she showered and re-heated some leftovers for dinner. It wasn’t until she was alone in her bedroom trying and failing to do her homework that she allowed herself to actually pay attention to her feelings.

The pressure leading up to Regionals and all the hours that Rachel had insisted that they spend practicing their song had kept her distracted, but now that it was over, she couldn’t stop thinking about a date that had just passed.

Thankfully, Beth’s birthday hadn’t fallen on the same day as Regionals this year, but the Monday after. She’d managed to make it through the actual day without too much inner turmoil only to have an unexpected wave of confused and guilty sadness overtake her less than 48 hours later.

In the past, she’d always denied her feelings, pushing them down and repressing them until they invariably bubbled out, usually taking the form of misdirected anger.

She had thus far managed not to take that anger out on Rachel, instead just being a little quieter than usual.
But she’d been unable to hold it in during practice, using her power as cheer captain to punish her own body along with everyone else on the squad.

She hadn’t talked to Shelby, and she had no way of contacting her at the moment. Even if she had though, what would she even say?

No, it would be better to just move on and let time handle the complicated ache she felt whenever she allowed herself to think about her daughter.

---------------------------------------------------

The next morning, she wasn’t feeling better exactly, but she had at least successfully stuffed any thoughts of Beth into the recesses of her mind. Or at least that’s what she thought.

She was heading to lunch when Puck walked up next to her.

“Hey Quinn. Can we talk?”

The uncharacteristically serious look on his face made her actually consider it, so she followed him into an empty classroom, leaving a respectful distance between them.

“What did you want to talk about?”

He ran a hand across his mohawk and shifted into an even deeper slouch, a telltale sign that he was feeling nervous.

“It’s just…I wanted to talk to you last week, but with Regionals and everything, shit was busy. And then it was kind of too late, and I almost didn’t say anything but…”.

“Puck,” she interrupted, “spit it out.”

“Okay, yeah. It was Beth’s birthday and we missed it. We didn’t even talk about it. And I know that she’s not ours, and she never will be. But we had a kid together, and it was her first birthday and…”.

As his words tumbled out, she started to feel her chest constrict, like she couldn’t breathe.
She lifted a trembling hand to her throat like she could loosen the tension, but all the gesture did was remind her how out of control she was feeling.

“Stop,” she choked out, her voice tight with unshed tears.

“Quinn, I just,” Puck started to say but then went silent again when he got a good look at her face.

“Shit. Are you okay?”

He took a step towards her, intending to touch her shoulder maybe, but she backpedaled out of reach, almost stumbling into a desk.

“Don’t touch me!”

Puck froze, looking anguished.

She was almost shouting now, her voice rising in pitch.
“Leave me alone! I don’t want to talk about her. I don’t want to think about her. Just leave it.”

“Quinn,” he pleaded, but she was already fleeing the room in a panic.

There was something she wanted, something she needed, but her thoughts were so fractured and she was so focused on making her lungs work properly that she couldn’t think what it was.

Blindly, she careened down the hallway until she finally heard something that made her look up.
It was her name again, but this time the sound of it made her feel safe, even though the tone was filled with alarm.

“Quinn!”

She took two steps forward and flung herself into Rachel’s arms, the force of it making the shorter girl stagger.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’ve got you.”

An arm was around her waist now, holding her in place, making her solid. And with her face buried in the side of Rachel’s neck she could breathe again.

That soft, beloved voice was murmuring in her ear.
“Come on baby, let’s get you out of here.”

She followed along, allowing Rachel to steer them into the auditorium and help her sit down in a dimly lit corner behind the first row of seats.

In the quiet, she relaxed another degree, finally able to look up and meet her girlfriend’s very concerned eyes.

“Hey.”

A hand reached up to touch her cheek, gently wiping away tears she hadn’t even realized she’d shed.

“Quinn, what’s going on? Are you alright?”

“I…,” she paused, inhaled shakily, and tried again. “I had an unexpected conversation with Puck, and it really upset me.”

It was a little alarming how quickly Rachel’s expression changed from deeply sympathetic to absolutely murderous.

“What did he say to you? I swear, I’m going to rip his stupid hair right off his stupid head.”

That image was enough to force out a chuckle, and then Quinn reached out to take hold of her girlfriend’s hand.

“You don’t have to do that. He didn’t say anything bad, he just brought up Beth and it…it was too much.”

For a few moments, she focused on the warmth of Rachel’s palm against her face before adding, “Can we talk about this later? I’m feeling a little better and I’d really rather not fall apart again in the middle of school.”

It was clear that her girlfriend was reluctant to let things go, but eventually she nodded and then stood, offering Quinn a hand.

“Alright, but we’re going to eat lunch in the choir room today. That way you can have at least a few minutes of relative quiet before your next class. And we are talking about this more after school.”

“Alright,” Quinn replied, leaning forward to place a light kiss on the shorter girl's lips. “Thank you. Really.”

---------------------------------------------------

By the time Quinn was driving Rachel home after school, she was feeling a bit more stable.

Unfortunately though, the echoes of her near panic attack had not fully subsided and she was not looking forward to the conversation that she knew was unavoidable.

Somehow, her girlfriend managed to avoid bringing up the topic during the drive, keeping things light and staying relatively quiet.

But once the car was parked in the Berry’s driveway, she spoke.

“Can we talk about what happened at school today?”

Quinn switched off the car and gripped the steering wheel tightly, hoping that the action would help her stay grounded.

“I…Puck wanted to talk to me about Beth, about how her birthday just passed.”

She glanced over at Rachel and saw that she was nodding sympathetically.

“I remembered her birthday,” the brunette said quietly, “but I didn’t bring it up since you didn’t say anything, and I didn’t want to risk upsetting you.”

“Well, you’re smarter than Puck is then, which is absolutely not surprising,” Quinn replied, not managing to keep the bitterness from her tone.

“Anyway,” she continued, staring out through the windshield, eyes unfocused, “He was upset, and I don’t know what he expected me to do about it. I gave her up because that was the right thing to do, and it’s not like he was much help while I was pregnant. He’s just an idiot who didn’t use a condom and I’m the idiot who slept with him because of how bad I felt about myself. I don’t know why he thought I’d want to commiserate about anything.”

There were tears slowly dripping from Quinn’s eyes, but she didn’t notice them until Rachel made a tiny noise of distress on her behalf.

The blonde squeezed her eyes shut, knowing that if she saw her girlfriend’s face, whatever combination of love and pity she saw there would break her.

Instead, she continued, forcing the words out in a near growl.
“I’m still so angry about making that choice, and about not being honest with myself about who I actually was. And I’m furious at my father for the way he tried to force me into the mold of a perfect daughter only to throw me away like garbage as soon as I failed to meet his expectations. And my mother who just stood there and let it happen.”

She broke off to sniffle loudly and then added, more quietly, “Somewhere out there is a one year old who’s still beautiful and perfect, and I can’t help but wonder if the best thing for me to do is keep her at a distance forever.”

Having said all that, Quinn did feel at least slightly better, and she carefully wiped her tears away before turning in her seat to face Rachel as best she could.

Instead of the immediate outpouring of comfort that she expected, her girlfriend was sitting very still and looking rather stricken.

The silence lasted long enough that she worriedly said, “Rach?”

The girl in the passenger seat blinked slowly several times before seeming to recall herself. She reached out to take hold of Quinn’s hand, running her thumb across the back of it.

“Sorry, I’m sorry Quinn. What you said just made me think of, never mind. That isn’t important. I’m sorry Puck ambushed you like that, and I wish that you had someone you could talk to about Beth if you wanted. You know you can talk to me, but I can understand how that might be…strange given…”.

She trailed off and made a vague gesture with her free hand.

“Given that your biological mother adopted my biological child?” Quinn asked, her tone more harsh than she intended.

But it was difficult not to feel bitter about the fact that the one person she wanted to be able to be vulnerable with about this whole emotional topic and the baggage associated with it was not a neutral party.

For a moment, there was a glimmer of hurt in those brown eyes, but then Rachel pulled her hand away and shifted into a defensive posture.

“That is a situation that I had no control over. You were the one who signed the adoption papers.”

Hearing that, the last of Quinn’s emotional control shattered. She reverted to her mostly outgrown method for how to deal with her feelings being hurt…going on the offensive.

“I did sign them. Because I thought that a successful adult woman was a better choice as a mother than a sophomore in high school who had no guarantee that her mother wasn’t going to kick her out again on some pious Christian whim.”

“And that is perfectly logical Quinn. But can you understand how it might bring up some feelings for me when discussing Shelby as a mother?”

All Quinn wanted to do was be comforted, and to have Rachel hold her and tell her that she wasn’t a horrible person for giving up her baby. Instead, it felt like her girlfriend was making this all about her, in typical self-centered diva style.

The claws came out.

“She was never your mother Rachel. Your dads paid her to carry a baby for them because they physically couldn’t. It was a transaction. She didn’t abandon you, she fulfilled a contract.”

At those words, Rachel’s face crumpled and she was clearly fighting tears.

“It sounds like we should refrain from talking about this.”

“Yeah, maybe we should.”

There was a long moment of extremely tense silence.

Then Rachel suddenly flung the car door open, grabbed her backpack from the floor, and walked quickly towards her house, head bowed.

She disappeared inside without pausing or looking back.

Quinn’s stomach clenched, and she took one gasping breath before she turned on the car.
She couldn’t be here anymore.

The drive back to her house was a blur, partly because of the tears that kept forming in her eyes and partly because her head was a cascade of white noise that still wasn’t sufficient to drown out all the regretful thoughts.

She walked into her house and stopped, not sure what to do now that she was here.

Her frozen indecision was interrupted by her mother calling from the kitchen.

“Quinn, is that you? I’m making a salad, would you like some?”

When she failed to respond, Judy came around the corner.
“Is everything okay?”

Once she got close enough to see her daughter’s face, she moved more quickly, coming over to lay a hesitant hand on Quinn’s cheek.

“Oh, sweetie, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Mom…,” Quinn choked out, and then she slumped forward into her mother’s arms and sobbed like her heart was breaking.

---------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Quinn lay in bed and considered whether she should skip school or not.

Truthfully, she did have a headache and her eyes were still swollen from all the crying she’d done. But beyond that, she still felt emotionally raw in a way that she hadn’t since her pregnancy had been hot gossip in the hallways.

She stayed in her pajamas and made her way downstairs, surprised to see her mother in the kitchen cooking breakfast.

“Is that bacon?”

At her question, her mom turned and gave her a tentative smile.

“I thought that after last night maybe you could use some cheering up. But I still don’t know what’s wrong so I couldn’t think of a better solution than bacon.”

Quinn walked over to sit on a stool at the kitchen island and poured herself a glass of orange juice from the pitcher waiting there.

She took a few sips and stared intently at her mother’s back for a few seconds before blurting out. “Can I talk to you about what happened last night?”

Judy spun so quickly that a pan on the stove clattered.

“Of course honey.”

Even though her mother certainly wasn’t a neutral party, once Quinn got going, the words flowed from her in a mostly coherent way.

To her credit, Judy was a very attentive audience, and refrained from interjecting beyond making a few sympathetic listening noises.

Once Quinn had explained her feelings about Beth and Beth’s birthday, as well as the interaction with Puck, she paused for a moment. The next part was all about Rachel and their fight, and she didn’t know how to explain the magnitude of the situation without making it clear exactly how important Rachel was to her.

So she decided to bite the bullet, telling her mom about their fight, and how the complicated nature of the entanglement between Quinn, Beth, Shelby and Rachel made everything so much more emotionally challenging.

By the time she finished, her mother was leaning on the counter across from her, looking suitably impressed by the gravity of it all.

Then, Quinn took a deep breath and sent up a prayer to the god she didn’t really believe in anymore.

“There’s something else I’ve been meaning to tell you, but I’ve been scared. Mom, I’m…Rachel and I…we’re dating. She’s my girlfriend.”

Then she waited, hoping that things weren’t about to come crashing down.

“Oh.”

Having spoken that one syllable, Judy paused, cleared her throat, and continued.

“Quinn I…honestly, I can’t say that I’m surprised.”

“You’re not?”

Her mom shook her head and gave her a tiny smile.

“The way that girl looks at you, it’s like you hung the moon just for her. At first I thought maybe she just admired you, or it was a one-sided schoolgirl crush. But then you started to look so happy, and the expression on your face when you talked about her, well, I knew she was someone special. I’d love to get to know her better. She certainly makes a better impression than that Finn boy.”

The amount of sheer relief that flooded through Quinn’s body made her grateful that she was sitting down, because otherwise she likely would have collapsed.

“That would be great mom. Thank you. I was so nervous to tell you, but she does make me very happy. Happier than I thought I could be.”

A moment later though, the memories from yesterday flooded back.

“I really screwed up though.”

Her mom stepped closer and rested a hand on top of hers.

“Everyone has bad days honey. I think it will take more than one fight to ruin things with Rachel. But if you were in the wrong, you need to be the one to apologize. And Quinn?”

Upon hearing the more serious tone in the last question, she looked up to meet her mother’s eyes.

“Honey, I’m not saying this because I think there’s something wrong with you, but maybe we should look into therapy. For someone so young, you’ve been through a lot, and it couldn’t hurt to have someone to talk to.”

Though she did have a brief flash of automatic defensiveness, Quinn was aware that her mother’s suggestion was a good one.

“Yeah, okay.”

“Great. Now, how about we eat this food before it gets cold and then we sit around and watch movies all day?”

“You’re going to let me skip school?”

Her mother looked mischievous in a way that Quinn had rarely ever seen.

“I am. I’ll call the school and tell them you’re sick.”

Quinn smiled. It was the first smile that had crossed her face in almost 24 hours.

“That sounds great mom.”

---------------------------------------------------

Rachel had been too upset to text Quinn the night before, and there had been radio silence on Quinn’s end as well.

She had almost texted a good morning message, her thumbs hovering over the phone for quite some time.

But in the end, it felt too casual to send some generic message after what had transpired between them, and she wanted to talk about things face to face.

Feeling extremely gloomy, she forced her way through her morning routine, barely speaking at breakfast and ignoring the concerned looks that she was getting from her fathers.

Hiram was the one to drive her to school that morning, which she was thankful for, because he was less likely to try and pry than Leroy was.

The only indication he gave that he knew something was amiss was the extra sympathetic way that he told her to have a good day at school.

“Thanks dad.”

Once inside the school, she made a beeline for Quinn’s locker. Though she was nervous about whatever conversation they’d ultimately need to have to get past this situation, she still had a very strong desire to see her girlfriend and hopefully be allowed to wrap her in a very tight hug.

To her dismay however, even though she waited there until after the bell rang, there was no sign of the blonde girl.
She stood there for a few more seconds surveying the hallway as the last straggling students hurried to class. Still no sign of Quinn.

With a frown she ran down the hallway, knowing that she was already late for her first class.

Her next opportunity to see Quinn was the history class that they shared, and she got to the room early and sat in her seat, leg bouncing anxiously.

But the seat next to hers remained empty and her heart sank when she realized that either her girlfriend was intentionally avoiding her to the point where she was skipping class, or she simply was not at school today.

At least lunch was next, so she could find Santana and see if she knew anything.
Which she attempted to do, grabbing the cheerleader’s arm as soon as she sat down at the lunch table.

“Hey, keep your hands to yourself.”

Rachel let go of her, but immediately asked, demandingly, “Santana, have you heard from Quinn today?”

The delayed response and side eye that she got answered her question for her even before Santana spoke, sounding wary.

“I did. She told me that she’s sick.”

“Sick?”

“So she said.”

A deep frown creased Rachel’s face.
“Why would she text you and not me?”

Santana scowled at her.
“I don’t know short stack. Why don’t you tell me?”

The realization that her girlfriend was intentionally choosing not to communicate with her made her want to burst into tears.
She stood and grabbed her stuff, then quickly hurried out of the cafeteria.

From across the table, Kurt gave Santana a disappointed look.
“Was that really necessary?”

The cheerleader leaned forward and gave him a challenging stare.
“Quinn is the queen of bottling up her feelings and persevering or whatever. She didn’t miss a single day even when she was pregnant. So if she’s upset enough to skip school and didn’t give little Ms. Diva here a heads up…what would you guess is going on?”

Brittany wrapped an arm around Santana’s waist, which made the other girl relax.

The blonde girl looked troubled when she told Kurt, “Quinn was being super mean at practice yesterday, but she pretended nothing was wrong. Rachel must not have made her feel better.”

Since Kurt was well aware of Rachel’s potential to be extremely self-centered, he just gave a half-hearted nod.

“Fine. I’m going to find Rachel and get to the bottom of this.”

He exited the cafeteria in a more dignified way than his friend had and headed down the hallway, hoping that she hadn’t decided to hole up in the girl’s bathroom.

His first stop was the auditorium, but she was nowhere to be seen (or heard).
Luckily, his next guess was correct and he found her in the choir room huddled in a chair looking very forlorn.

When she looked up and saw him in the doorway she sniffled.

“Oh honey, what’s going on?”

“I think I really messed up Kurt.”

As soon as he’d crossed the room to sit beside her, she leaned into his shoulder.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Rachel reached up and brushed some tears away, attempting to compose herself.

“Quinn was really upset yesterday and she was being honest about how she was feeling, which I know was hard for her…and instead of supporting her when she really needed it, I brought my own feelings into the situation.”

She paused and exhaled shakily before continuing.
“And then she got kind of mean, which I suppose isn’t surprising given that she’s always had a tendency for fight over flight…but I just didn’t expect her to lash out at me, not anymore.”

Kurt understood how Quinn tended to operate well enough to imagine how the situation had unfolded.
But given how well her relationship with Rachel seemed to be going, he was at a loss to understand what had set this off.

“What was Quinn so upset about? I’m not trying to pry into her business, but she is my friend and I want to support her if I can.”

Rachel was wary of sharing too much, given the sensitivity of the topic, but did want to try to explain.

“We were talking about…maternal relationships, or the lack thereof, which for us is an unfortunately tangled and painful topic,” she eventually said, hoping he would be able to read between the lines.

It took a few seconds, but Kurt was suddenly struck by the memory of Regionals the previous year, and the unexpected race to get Quinn to the hospital. And the anniversary of that date had just passed, so…

“Oh.”

Hearing the comprehension in his tone, Rachel nodded sadly.

“Yeah, oh.”

The silence settled between them for a few moments and then she asked, “Will you drive me to Quinn’s after school?”

“Of course sweetie.”

---------------------------------------------------

Rachel managed to make it through the rest of the day without bursting into tears again, but her gloomy silence did catch the attention of all of her friends who she shared classes with.

Thankfully, they didn’t try and poke at her about what was going on, having been warned off by Kurt.

Though one person did not heed the warning, and as Rachel was walking down the hallway after school on her way to meet Kurt, someone stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

As soon as she realized that it was Puck, something in Rachel snapped.
She grabbed him by the shirt and started shoving him towards the nearest empty room.

Startled by the sudden violence, he allowed himself to be dragged away, not speaking until they were alone.

“Hey, what gives?”

Rachel rounded on him, getting right up in his face.

“What gives, Noah, is that you dumped all your feelings onto Quinn and really upset her, and therefore I am very upset with you!”

Normally, when she was mad, he found it at least a little comical, given that in the past it was usually about a solo or something to do with Finn.
But now she was deadly serious.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay. I just wanted to talk about Beth stuff, and I thought…”.

She cut him off sharply.

“No, you didn’t think! You didn’t think about how she felt at all, or whether or not she wanted to talk about “Beth stuff”. You got her pregnant, then acted like an ass about it for months, and now, a year later, you expect her to make you feel better? Absolutely not.”

Having never seen her this legitimately angry, he wasn’t sure what to do.
So he made an uncharacteristically smart choice and kept his mouth shut.

Rachel glared at him as she continued.
“You are going to apologize to Quinn for ambushing her, and in the future, if you want to talk to her about Beth, you will first ask if she wants to have that conversation. Furthermore, you will not expect her to do any emotional labor for you. If you have too many feelings, find a therapist, or go to Ms. Pillsbury…or find someone, anyone else who won’t be triggered by the topic.”

He nodded, then cleared his throat and said quietly, “I am sorry about that. I get it now, that wasn’t cool.”

That seemed to satisfy her somewhat.
“Good. I will arrange for the apology when she's ready to hear it. For now, stay away from her.”

With that, she marched out of the room, not slackening her pace until she was in the parking lot.

---------------------------------------------------

After wishing her good luck, Kurt drove off, and now it was time for Rachel to face the music.

She stood in front of Quinn’s front door for a solid 30 seconds before raising her hand to knock.
As the door opened, the apology that was ready on her lips melted away because she was faced by, not her girlfriend, but her mother.

“Oh, hello Mrs. Fabray.”

The older woman eyed her for a moment and then she smiled.
“Hello Rachel.”

There was something in the expression on her face that seemed different, but Rachel did not have time to parse that out.
“Is Quinn home?”

“She is. Please, come in.”

Mrs. Fabray led her into the house and into the living room where the lights were out and the TV was on and playing the Sound of Music.

As soon as Rachel caught sight of Quinn, currently lounging on the couch and wrapped up in a blanket like an adorable burrito, something in her chest felt lighter.

Mrs. Fabray looked between the two of them and then said, “I’m going to catch up on some work emails. I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”

Once her footsteps had faded away, the brunette girl approached the couch hesitantly, wringing her hands.
When Quinn said nothing and made no move to stop her, she continued forward, seating herself on the couch a respectable distance away.

Those hazel eyes studied her for a long moment, and Rachel was just opening her mouth to stutter out the apology that she’d been preparing all afternoon when Quinn suddenly shifted and then launched herself at Rachel, burrowing her face into the crook of the other girl’s neck.

She was caught, almost reflexively, and then, when the shorter girl’s arms tightened around her, Quinn took a shuddering breath and said, “I’m so sorry. I was really upset and I never should have taken that out on you.”

Rachel pressed her cheek to the top of Quinn’s head and held her even tighter.
“I’m sorry too. You were hurting and instead of taking care of you, I made it about my feelings.”

The blonde girl wriggled up into a sitting position so she could see her girlfriend’s face.
She was about to say something, but instead, leaned forward to press her lips to Rachel’s.

The kiss quickly turned into something messy and desperate, and she was just starting to think that fighting might be worth it if this is how they got to make up, but then Rachel pulled back, looking nervous.

“Baby, your mom is right upstairs.”

“Oh, right. Well don’t worry, she knows about us. I told her yesterday and she was surprisingly supportive.”

Rachel’s eyes went wide at that information, and then she smiled and squeezed Quinn’s hand delightedly.

“You have to tell me all about that conversation. But first, I want to tell you that I love you, even when we’re fighting.”

“I love you too.”

They stared at each other for a moment, and then Rachel added, rather cheekily as she started to run her fingers gently through Quinn’s hair, “I am rather amazed that we made it over three months before our first real fight, given how tumultuous our situation was prior to that.”

“Rachel,” Quinn replied, her mouth curving into a tiny, mischievous smile, “if I hadn’t spent so much time repressing how much I actually wanted to kiss you, things would have been a lot less tumultuous.”

“Well,” her girlfriend murmured, “there’s nothing stopping you from kissing me now.”

Quinn quickly responded to that statement, just not verbally.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Stay Beautiful

After spending the majority of their weekend together, which had included Rachel being officially introduced to Judy Fabray as Quinn’s girlfriend, the two girls were back to being as cute and affectionate as ever.

Something which Santana was clearly pleased about even though she was pretending to be annoyed.

At lunch she rolled her eyes as they shared a goopy look before pointing an accusing finger at Rachel.

“The next time the two of you are fighting, you’d better give me a heads up Berry. Then I can give myself food poisoning and skip any practices where Queen Quinn the Tyrant of Cheerleading might make an appearance.”

“Yeah,” Brittany agreed. “When Quinn is mad at you she makes us run until my feet feel like falling off, and I really like my feet.”

“I will do my best to keep you informed,” Rachel told them, “but I sincerely hope that it will be a long time before we fight again.”

“Agreed,” Quinn said.

From across the table, Kurt was eyeing the two of them suspiciously.

Eventually he said, “Something’s different.”

Sam, who now sat with their group at lunch most days, froze in the act of stuffing a French fry in his mouth and looked at them skeptically.

Then he shrugged and said, “They look the same to me dude.”

Kurt shook his head.
“No, something happened. There’s an…air about you.”

Brittany was the next to respond to his insistence and she checked them out very intently.

“You’re right. Quinn’s sparkliness went up like 20%.”
She paused and squinted before adding, “Or maybe 23%.”

By now they were all unfazed by Brittany’s oddball statements, but given that two people now thought something was going on, everyone else started paying attention.

Mercedes leaned forward to ask quietly, “So did something happen?”

Quinn looked around for potential eavesdroppers before saying, also very quietly, “I told my mom about me and Rachel and she was surprisingly supportive.”

From the seat next to her, Rachel beamed.

“Congratulations,” Kurt said, reaching over to give Rachel’s arm a squeeze.

Around the table, everyone smiled and murmured words of support and congratulations.

Quinn gave them all a grateful look and pressed her leg against Rachel’s.

Now that she knew her mom was still on her side, a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

She’d spent so long worrying about the potential repercussions of coming out and now she didn’t have to hide anymore.
At least not in her own home, or at Rachel’s, or with her friends.

That realization made her feel lighter than she had in years.

She glanced around the cafeteria and wondered how she would feel if everyone in the room knew about her relationship with Rachel.

Instead of that thought filling her with extreme terror like she expected, it was more low level anxiety and a hint of preemptive annoyance at dealing with the avalanche of gossip that was sure to follow.

Which was…interesting and worth thinking about more.

--------------------------------------------------

True to her word, Rachel had arranged a time for Puck to apologize to Quinn.
And this time, she insisted on being present to provide emotional support as well as to smack Puck upside the head if he said something stupid.

Thankfully, he was taking the situation seriously and his words sounded genuine.

Once he had said he was sorry for the way he’d ambushed her and also for the way he’d treated her the previous year while she was pregnant, he looked down at the floor, awaiting her verdict.

“Thank you for the apology. I know that Rachel threatened you into doing it, but I can tell that you mean it.”

He looked up at her.
“I do mean it.”

He then shot a quick sideways glance at Rachel and a small smile crossed his face.
“She’s pretty scary for someone so short, you know?”

The look that Quinn bestowed upon Rachel was equal parts teasing and fond.
“She is.”

Then they kept gazing at each other for long enough that Puck said, sounding unusually wistful, “I’m happy for you guys. It was kind of weird at first, but now it makes sense.”

“Thank you Noah,” Rachel responded, finally managing to tear her eyes away from her girlfriend.

He gave them both a nod and started to walk out of the room, but Quinn’s voice stopped him.

“I’m not ready to talk about Beth yet, but maybe someday?”

“Yeah, of course. See you guys.”

Once he was gone, Quinn walked over and wound an arm around Rachel’s waist.

“I appreciate the ways you try to protect me.”

“You’re worth protecting.”

---------------------------------------------------

After school the next day, Mr. Schue had them all in the auditorium and announced that they were going to have “booty camp”.

Apparently, his idea of what that meant was to run them through a series of not very challenging dance moves on repeat.
Unfortunately though, even those moves were a little too complicated for Finn, who managed to swing his arm up and right into Rachel’s face.

She collapsed on the stage holding her face, and when she removed her hand, there was blood smeared across it.

Finn crouched down beside her looking both freaked out and remorseful..

“I’m so sorry Rachel! Are you okay?”

Before she could reply, Quinn was there, shoving past Finn and kneeling next to her, gently helping her up into a sitting position and running concerned eyes across her face.

“I’m taking you to the doctor,” the blonde then said very emphatically.

“I can do that,” Finn said, “it was my fault, and I have my truck here and…”.

Quinn abruptly cut him off with a dismissive gesture, sending him a dark look for good measure.

Before Finn could protest, Santana had stepped up next to Quinn scowling at Finn as she said, “I think you’ve done enough. Quinn’s got this.”

For a moment, it seemed like the tall boy was going to argue, but he, like most people, was unable to withstand the combined glares of the two most intimidating members of the Unholy Trinity.

After a moment, he hung his sheepishly and took a step back.

A while later, Rachel was seated nervously in the doctor’s office waiting for the result of her X-rays.

Quinn was alternating muttering dark threats about causing Finn grievous bodily harm and coming over to run a gentle hand through Rachel's hair, an act that she knew her girlfriend found comforting.

Rachel was struck by these two seemingly opposite facets to the blonde girl’s personality, but appreciated both her girlfriend’s fierce protectiveness and sometimes surprising sweetness.

That protectiveness had cause to show up again when the doctor returned to explain the results of the X-Ray.

“It’s broken,” he announced, dashing Rachel’s hopes that she had merely been bruised by Finn’s oafish clumsiness.

Before she could ask any follow-up questions though, the doctor was looking at her face speculatively.
The next few things he said took Rachel a moment to understand, as she had been expecting medical advice.

She glanced at Quinn who had crossed the room to stand next to her, and what the doctor was implying suddenly registered and she turned back to focus on him.

“Are you suggesting that I get a nose job?”

The doctor seemed unfazed by the surprise in her tone.

“You’re 16, right? That’s when I gave my daughter’s theirs.”

Rachel sat there, shocked and beginning to feel a creeping sense of humiliation.
The doctor looked past her and studied Quinn for a moment.

“This young lady here, she has a very nice nose. Very nice. Maybe you’d want something more like hers, a bit more…demure?”

When she turned to look at Quinn, she wasn’t sure exactly what to expect.
The blonde girl was standing quietly, scowling a bit, but when Rachel met her eyes, whatever expression that she was conveying seemed to make something in Quinn snap to attention.

She stood up straighter and glared at the doctor like she was trying to decide the best way to eviscerate him.

When she spoke, her words were cold, but there was a flash of fire in her eyes.
“My girlfriend is beautiful just the way she is, and she certainly doesn’t need you or anyone else trying to convince her that she isn’t.”

That brought a beaming smile to the brunette’s face, followed by a wince as the movement sent a painful twinge through her nose.

“Perhaps you could just focus on whatever you need to do medically to ensure that my nose heals properly,” Rachel said in an attempt to be conciliatory.

Thankfully, the doctor just nodded, and remained professional for the rest of their visit, no doubt encouraged to set her nose as quickly and painlessly as possible by the scornful looks he continued to get from Quinn.

---------------------------------------------------

The next evening, Rachel’s nose was still sore and swollen and she was in serious need of some Quinn cuddles.

At the moment however, cuddles were not forthcoming, much to her dismay.
She was sitting on Quinn’s bed, propped up against the headboard with some pillows, but her girlfriend was currently rummaging around in the depths of her closet.

The blonde girl had been quiet since the doctor’s appointment, but she didn’t seem upset, just thoughtful.

Rachel knew her well enough by now to know that the distant expression that she kept seeing on the blonde’s face was not because she was withdrawing, but because she was thinking something over.

She had decided to give Quinn the space to do that, especially given her misstep in the way she’d handled her girlfriend’s emotions about Beth.

It seemed that her patience was about to pay off, because the blonde girl was slowly walking over towards her, clutching something to her chest.

“Rach, there’s something I want to tell you.”

Quinn sat down next to her and laid the object down on the bed in front of them.
When she looked down at it, puzzled, she saw that it was a Belleville Middle School yearbook.

“Baby, what is this?”

When Quinn looked at her, there was fear in her hazel eyes.

“This is where I went to middle school. Before I moved to Lima…I was different.”

“What do you mean?”

Instead of responding, Quinn flipped the yearbook open.
Her finger slid down the page and stopped next to a student photo.

Rachel’s eyes took it in and then raised back up to Quinn’s face.

“I don’t understand.”

Quinn inhaled shakily and then her shoulders hunched a little, curling in on herself.

“Before I moved to Lima, I was so unhappy. I hated the way I looked, and I didn’t really have any friends that weren’t characters from books. Middle school was awful, the other kids made fun of me, called me Lucy Caboosey. But then I started ballet and realized that I could actually be athletic, so I started running and joined gymnastics and then eventually started cheerleading. I lost weight and started acne treatment…and when my dad got a promotion…I asked him for a nose job.”

Those lovely hazel eyes were now filled with guilt and sorrow.
Rachel leaned against her girlfriend in an attempt to offer comfort, but stayed quiet, sensing that there was more that she wanted to say.

“When we got to Lima, I started going by my middle name, Quinn. I wanted to leave Lucy behind. And I did, like she was this other self that I was ashamed of and made disappear. But Rachel, I don’t want you to ever feel like you need to change your nose or anything else about you to fit in. One of the best things about you is how unique you are. You’re Rachel Berry, and I’d never want you to be anything else.”

“Quinn,” she replied, taking the other girl’s slightly trembling hand, “thank you for sharing all of that. We are definitely going to discuss this further, but for right now…come here.”

She opened her arms and Quinn practically fell into them. Once she had her girlfriend in a secure embrace, she kissed the top of her head and said, tenderly, “I love you. And I’m sure that I would have loved Lucy as well.”

The feeling of Quinn’s nearly silent sobs made her tighten her arms even further, and she pressed her cheek against the soft blonde hair and murmured, “I love you, it’s okay,” over and over like an incantation.

---------------------------------------------------

Once Quinn had felt up to it, they had talked more about Lucy, and what it meant to feel beautiful.
In response to that heartfelt and vulnerable conversation, unsurprisingly, Rachel felt inspired to sing.

The mashup duet that they ended up singing in the choir room felt more cathartic to Quinn than any of her previous performances, and the chance to sing with Rachel, with just their two voices blending together was a healing moment not only for her current self, but her past incarnation as sad, shy Lucy.

That emotion seemed to be translating, because everyone in the room was watching them, soft and quiet.

As they sang the last two lines, there were tears in her eyes, and even without looking, she knew that those tears were mirrored in Rachel’s.

I feel pretty
But unpretty

A momentary hush settled over the room, but then it was broken by applause.

As Mr. Schue complimented their performance with words she barely listened to, Quinn stood and turned to Rachel, hesitating for the briefest moment before opening her arms for the shorter girl to step into.

The hug they shared was long and tender, and once they had separated, they went back to their seats.

Kurt reached over to give Rachel a gentle squeeze on the arm, and Santana leaned forward from the row behind them to whisper in Quinn’s ear, “That was incredibly gay, but so cute that I might throw up.”

“Alright guys,” Mr. Schue said, pulling everyone’s attention back to the front of the room, “we all need to decide what words we want on our t-shirts so we can get them made in time for our performance tomorrow.”

That sent a wave of rising chatter through the room as everyone started talking to each other about what words they planned to use.

Kurt scooted his chair over so he could talk to Quinn without being easily overheard.

“Do you know what you want to put on your shirt yet?”, he asked her, “Because I have an idea.”

“”What’s your idea?”

He leaned in a little closer.
“Well I plan to use the phrase, “Likes Boys”, and I was wondering if you wanted to match. Not an exact match obviously, given our opposite predilections. But would you feel comfortable with that?”

She chewed her lip a bit as she considered the question. But after a quick glance around the room, her eyes stayed fixed on Rachel for a long moment, and then she turned back to him and said, sounding quite sure of herself, “I would be. Let’s do it.”

Kurt smiled at her for a moment, before they were interrupted by Santana asking suspiciously, “What are the two of you plotting?”

“Just talking about ideas for our shirts,” Quinn replied. “What are you putting on yours?”

Santana looked smug as she said, “Mine is going to say “Bitch”. Because, let’s face it, that’s what has everyone on my ass a lot more than me being a lesbian.”

“I’m not sure if that’s exactly what the assignment is about,” Kurt muttered.

“Just keeping it real,” was Santana’s predictable response.

Rachel turned back from where she had been chatting with Tina and Mercedes.

“Did you decide on your shirts?”, she asked, having missed the whole conversation.

“We did,” Kurt informed her, “but we’re keeping them as a surprise for tomorrow.”

That made her pout a little bit, but Quinn just laughed and took her hand.

“Don’t even try it Rach, my lips are sealed. I don’t care how cute you look, you aren’t pulling it out of me.”

“Wanky.”

“Santana!”

---------------------------------------------------

The Born This Way performance had gone very well, though Rachel had stayed out of most of it due to worry for the safety of her still healing nose.
But at the end, Quinn had pulled her in so they could skip across the stage together, smiling broadly as the performance finished in exuberant chaos.

Now, Quinn was seated at the Berry’s dining room table, and this time, her mother was there as well.

Unbeknownst to Quinn, after she had revealed her relationship with Rachel to her mother, Judy had reached out to Hiram, who she apparently knew through professional circles.

Of course, being Hiram, he had immediately extended an invitation for her to attend a family dinner.

Quinn was still feeling a little nervous about the whole situation, but so far, her mother had been nothing but pleasant. She had brought a bottle of wine as a gift and had delivered authentic sounding compliments about the interior decorating and the food.

“I can understand why Quinn has been spending so much time here.”

“And we love having her here,” Leroy said, “she’s always an excellent guest and she makes our little girl very happy.”

“Daddy,” Rachel muttered, flushing a bit.

She also seemed nervous, which was natural given that she hadn’t spent that much time with Mrs. Fabray, and the fact that her dads enjoyed teasing her wasn’t entirely helping.

“So Rachel,” Judy asked, “how is your nose feeling?”

“Still a little sore, but it seems to be healing correctly.”

“And thank god for that,” Hiram added, “I thought that if Finn Hudson was going to break anything, it would be your heart, not one of your bones.”

“I was never in love with Finn, Dad,” Rachel told him rather huffily, “he was just tall and popular and nicer to me than most of the other boys. But after that brief span of confusion, I found someone much better.”

She favored Quinn with a very sweet smile and then turned back to address the room again. “Unfortunately, Finn seems to still be hung up on Quinn, which is quite annoying.”

“More like he’s back to being fixated on you,” Quinn countered. “He definitely can’t take a hint, considering that both of us have made it clear that we’re not interested.”

“Well,” Hiram said, “I suppose that boy was never very bright.”

“Or apparently very coordinated,” Judy added, much to the delight of everyone in the room.

“We would have told him about our relationship before now,” Quinn said, still smiling about the round of parental Finn-bashing, “but we didn’t trust that he’d keep his mouth shut.”

“Are you worried about how people at school will react if they found out?”, Leroy asked, “I thought things had been better since you started the GSA.”

After a quick sideways glance at Rachel, Quinn was the one who answered.

“That is part of it, though I don’t really care about that anymore. Mostly I was afraid that something would get back to my mom, and I wasn’t sure how she’d react.”

Judy immediately reached over and laid her hand on top of her daughter’s.
“Oh honey. I’m so sorry I behaved in ways that made you doubt me. But you don’t have to worry, not anymore.”

She paused to look around the room, now sounding a bit shy.
“I actually joined PFLAG.”

“You did?”

Now Judy gave an emphatic nod and spoke to everyone in the room.
“I did. I don’t want to live in ignorance and I don’t want to do anything more to hurt my child.”

Quinn blinked back a few tears, and to give her a moment to compose herself, Rachel raised her glass of sparkling cider.

“To this historic occasion of a Berry/Fabray dinner.”

Her fathers immediately raised their glasses, followed a moment later by Judy and then Quinn.

“Cheers to that,” Leroy said heartily.

“Judy,” Hiram added, “I do hope to see you around here more often. You’re always welcome.”

Mrs. Fabray looked a bit overwhelmed at those words, but after a moment she smiled widely.

“That sounds lovely Hiram. Thank you.”

Under the table Quinn squeezed Rachel’s hand, feeling so happy that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to express it in words.

---------------------------------------------------

Quinn and Rachel had already planned on telling Finn about their relationship as soon as possible, though they were hoping to do it in a private setting.

But their plan was foiled on Monday afternoon.

They had just settled themselves in their usual chairs in the choir room, and the remainder of the club was also filtering in.
Everyone was still conversing as they waited for Mr. Schue to arrive, but the room went silent when Finn stood up and walked over to stand in front of Quinn.

She looked up at him and saw that he had a troubled and slightly confused expression on his face.

Somehow, she dredged up the patience to keep her tone pleasant as she asked, “Is there something you needed Finn?”

His eyes darted around the room for a moment before they fixed back on her.

“Why did you wear a shirt that said “Likes Girls” for our performance?”

Santana shifted in her seat like she was about to say something, but Quinn gave her a subtle wave of the hand to keep her quiet.
She exchanged a look with Rachel and waited for the other girl to give her an encouraging nod before looking up at Finn and making a very decisive statement.

“Because I like girls. I’m gay.”

It seemed like it was taking a while for those words to fully register, because it took a few long moments before Finn was able to respond.
When he did, he sounded shocked.

“What?”

He ran a hand through his hair and looked wildly around the room as if someone was going to jump up and tell him this was a joke.

But all the other club members looked very serious and Santana was glaring at him as if daring him to say something stupid.

“But wait, I mean, you and I dated…and then, everything with Puck….”.

Quinn did her best to stay calm, and her effort was helped along by the warm presence of Rachel at her side.

“I was in denial and trying to do what was expected of me. And with Puck, it was an unfortunate mistake.”

Finn’s head whipped over to Puck, expecting some kind of rebuttal, but the mohawked boy looked more sad than angry.
And he also didn’t seem startled by Quinn’s admission about her sexuality.

Finn took another, more careful look around the room.

No one else seemed taken off guard by this news even though it was a huge deal and, to him at least, a huge surprise.

When he spoke again, a bit of hurt had crept into his tone.
“Did everyone else already know?”

Quinn crossed her arms and gave him a rather challenging look.

“I told people who I trusted wouldn’t have a bad reaction or spread rumors about me. To be fair, some of them figured it out on their own.”

Finn looked at the floor for a moment, trying to make sense of this entire situation.

Had he really been the last to know?

A part of him felt angry, but he also felt sad to be left out, and also still a little confused if he was being honest with himself.
It was a lot of feelings to have all at once, especially with everyone sitting there watching him.

He could feel his cheeks getting red, but he tried to stay calm as he lifted his eyes again and zeroed in on a person who he thought he could trust to be honest with him.

“Rachel? Did you know too?”

In response to his question, her mouth opened slightly, then closed again, which told him that the answer to his question was yes before she even had a chance to answer.

“Yes Finn. I knew. And in fact, we also have something else to share with you.”

As he watched, feeling even more confused, Rachel took Quinn’s hand, lacing their fingers together.

“Quinn and I are in a relationship. We’ve been dating since before Christmas and we’re very happy together.”

Her brown eyes were steady as they met his, and she added, “I hope that you can also be happy for us.”

“I…I don’t…since before Christmas? But that means you’ve been dating for months now.”

“We have,” Quinn confirmed.

And then she turned to look at Rachel with an expression on her face that was so soft that it kind of made his stomach hurt.

The feelings were all too much, and he wasn’t sure what to say, so he turned and walked quickly out of the room.

Puck stood and said, “I’ll go talk to him. Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

Then he also left the room.

“Well,” Quinn said, feeling relieved, “I guess that went better than it could have.”

“Damn, I kind of wanted to see him kick a chair or the piano or something.”

“Santana,” Kurt scolded, rolling his eyes, “the piano did nothing to deserve that sort of treatment.”

“Congratulations,” Brittany said, clapping her hands together. “Now Glee is even more full of rainbows.”

Surprising Rachel, Quinn leaned over and placed a light, chaste kiss on her lips.

“What was that for?” the brunette whispered, looking bashful and delighted.

“Because I love you. And because I can.”

Rachel just shook her head a little and then leaned against her girlfriend’s shoulder.

---------------------------------------------------

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Illicit Affairs

A week after the big revelation to Finn in front of the entire Glee Club, things were feeling surprisingly settled.

It seemed that, so far at least, Finn was keeping his mouth shut.
He was also mostly ignoring both of them, though from time to time he did look at Rachel with a sad expression on his face.

For her part, Rachel was doing her best to avoid making accidental eye contact with him, and Quinn just looked smug now that she could openly put her arm around her girlfriend during Glee rehearsals.

However, Finn’s occasional stolen glances did seem to annoy Santana, because at lunch she leaned over to whisper to them, “Why does the Hamburglar look like you stole his last bag of cheeseburgers?”

Quinn let out a quiet snort of laughter as Rachel turned in her seat to say, “Since I refuse to give into his sulkiness and ask him what his issue is, I’m unsure of exactly what problem he seems to be having now. Hopefully he’s able to work through it and avoid damaging our team chemistry as Nationals approaches.”

Santana grinned sharply.
“Is that the Rachel Berry way of saying that he needs to stop being a little bitch?”

Rachel did not dignify that question with a response, though she couldn’t help but let a small smile wind across her face.

---------------------------------------------------

Two days later though, she was not smiling, because she was unexpectedly accosted by Jacob Ben Israel on her way to Glee.

He wasn’t actually holding a microphone, but still somehow managed to look like he was about to pull one out and jam it in her face when he told her, a creepily excited gleam in his eye, “I happened to see a very interesting interaction in the hall last week.”

For a moment, her heart started pounding as she wondered if he was referring to witnessing some moment between her and Quinn, but he allayed her fears by saying, “Finn Hudson stormed out of the choir room followed not long after by Noah Puckerman. Unfortunately, I wasn’t close enough to hear their entire conversation…”.

She rolled her eyes as he continued, “But I did hear Finn accuse Puckerman of knowing something and not telling him, and he seemed pretty pissed. Any idea why Finn was so upset? Is there another Rachel Berry inspired love triangle? Or is the surprising friendship between you and Quinn Fabray causing friction between you and your former leading man?”

Rachel was just taking a deep breath in order to power the diatribe she was about to unleash upon Jacob for his obnoxious harassment, when a very cold voice from right behind her asked, “What about Quinn Fabray?”

Her shoulders instantly relaxed as with a few more aggressive strides, her girlfriend came to stand at her side, hazel eyes drilling into the boy who had been hounding her.

He immediately recoiled a step and wilted slightly, though he managed to gather enough courage to continue his line of questioning.

“I was just asking Rachel if she has any thoughts about Finn Hudson’s recent storm out of Glee rehearsal.”

“If you have questions, why not ask Finn?”

“I did, and he said to ask Rachel Berry.”

Quinn’s eyes narrowed, and the expression on her face drove Jacob back another reflexive step.

Rachel made a very annoyed scoffing sound and pointed a finger at Jacob.

“Well I’m not sure why Finn Hudson’s immaturity is my problem. If he wants to act like a whiny child, it has nothing to do with me.”

With that, she spun on her heel and executed a diva stormout, heading in the direction of the choir room.

Quinn delivered a final threat in a terrifyingly calm tone.
“Whatever dirty gossip story you’re trying to peddle, you’d be wise to leave us out of it.”

Then she hurried after Rachel.

She caught up with her just outside the choir room and was about to say something reassuring when the sound of arguing became audible through the doorway. They shared a concerned glance and quickly walked into the room.

Most of the club was already gathered, either sitting and warily watching the argument that was unfolding (Artie, Tina, Mike, and Brittany), or standing in the center of the room while actively participating in said argument (Finn, Kurt, and Santana).

The taller boy was face to face with Kurt, who, surprisingly, seemed to be the target of Finn’s current ire, while Santana was standing at Kurt’s shoulder, arms tightly crossed.

Finn seemed to be winding himself up to say something else when Rachel, who was feeling incredibly fed up with him, stomped over to stand on Kurt’s other side, planting her hands on her hips.

“Exactly what is going on here?” she demanded.

It was funny, Quinn thought to herself, that Rachel being ticked off always made Finn get so awkward and defensive.

Especially considering that she herself generally found the brunette extremely adorable when she was angry.

Kurt gave his friend a grateful look and replied, a clear edge of annoyance in his voice, “I’d love to hear that answer as well. I was minding my own business when Finn came charging in here and implied that I’m cheating on Blaine.”

He paused for dramatic effect and then added, “With Sam.”

True to form, Finn spluttered a bit before managing to say, “Today he came to school wearing one of your jackets. And a couple days ago I caught you sneaking out of the house with a duffle bag and you wouldn’t say where you were going.”

Kurt raised both eyebrows, “Oh I’m sorry, I was unaware that I needed to give you a copy of my nightly itinerary. So your grand evidence that I’m cheating on my boyfriend is that you saw me leave the house once and Sam borrowed one of my jackets?”

“Since when do you and Sam share clothes?” Finn snapped back, “And you know, you did that duet together. It just seems like something is going on with you two.”

“Sounds like your imagination is running away with you Teen Giant,” Santana retorted, looking like she wanted to smack him across the face.

Finn looked around the room as if hoping someone else would take his side, but he was met with looks of confusion and pity.

At that moment, Sam walked into the room with Mercedes, and they both stopped dead when they saw the cluster of angry people in the middle of the room.

Before either of them could ask what was going on, Finn rounded on the blonde boy.

“Whatever you have going on with Kurt, you need to stop. He has a boyfriend.”

Sam just stared at him, utterly confused.

Mercedes stepped forward to say, “Oh hell no Finn. Are you really trying to start some new shit?”

Now Kurt sounded quite pissed off as he said, “Finn is accusing me of being a cheater and Sam of participating in this imaginary infidelity.”

“Like anyone should take Finn’s word on who’s dating who,” Santana added scornfully, “he missed the fact that these two were loved up for months all while thinking they were somehow into him.”

That seemed to remind Rachel that she had been upset with him before even walking into the room.

“And by the way Finn, why am I being harassed by that repulsive little tabloid reporter Jacob Ben Israel? Apparently you told him to come talk to me for reasons that I cannot fathom.”

Quinn slid up next to Rachel so Finn was now faced with a line of four extremely unimpressed teammates while Sam and Mercedes hovered nearby, still seeming unsure of whether they should join in.

“You should keep my girlfriend’s name out of your mouth,” Quinn informed him, the cold edge of threat in her tone.

Finn started to sputter out some response, while Santana flung another insult his way.
The situation continued to escalate, and when Puck showed up, he froze mid-step when he saw a red faced Finn being harangued by Rachel and Kurt as Santana and Quinn occasionally interjected.

“Dude, what the hell is going on?”

Before Finn could attempt to offer an extremely defensive explanation, Mr. Schuester finally entered the room, and he also seemed taken aback by what he was seeing.

He managed to get them all to take a seat, assisted by Puck pulling his buddy away from everyone else, and Brittany and Kurt working together to quiet Santana down.

Rachel shot one last contemptuous look at Finn and allowed herself to be led away to sit on the opposite side of the room, sheltered in the protective embrace of Quinn’s arm.

Mr. Schue made a half-assed attempt to get to the bottom of what was going on, and when that failed, he scolded them all for a minute before introducing their assignment for the week.

The word that he wrote on the board was fitting at least.

“Rumors, a classic album by Fleetwood Mac. Written as the band was breaking apart…to keep it together. Now this week, we are done with the gossip and the infighting, and we’re channeling that energy into working together. So pick a song from the album and put your own spin on it.”

They all managed to successfully ignore their annoyance with each other for the remainder of Glee Club.

---------------------------------------------------

After school, Quinn had Cheerios practice, so Rachel took the opportunity to badger Kurt until he agreed to go to The Lima Bean with her.

Based on the way he flounced over to their table and slung his messenger bag into an empty chair with more force than usual, he was still upset.

In an effort to allow him a moment to compose himself, Rachel volunteered to order their drinks.
By the time she returned, two beverages in hand, his scowl was a little less prominent.

Once he’d accepted his mug with a nod of thanks however, he grumbled, “I still don’t understand why Finn would come at me with such ridiculous accusations. If he was truly worried that something untoward was happening, he should have spoken to me privately. Which, considering that we live together, would not be that difficult to manage.”

“I agree that it doesn’t make a lot of sense. But based on his behavior over the last few months, he’s clearly not perceptive enough to see the truth, even when it’s right in front of his face.”

The corner of Kurt’s mouth was still turned down in a frown.

“While I don’t expect him to suddenly demonstrate endless depths of emotional intelligence, it would be lovely if he didn’t jump to the conclusion that I’m a cheater.”

Rachel chewed her lip and stayed quiet, realizing that this was the true crux of the issue for Kurt.
After a moment, he continued, “I thought that we’d bonded and that he saw me as a friend at least, even if we aren’t truly brothers. So this is really disappointing.”

“It is,” she quietly agreed.

After a long pause where they both sipped their drinks, he sighed and gave her a small smile and a raised eyebrow.

“You’re dying to ask why Sam was wearing my jacket, aren’t you?”

She immediately slumped in her chair and let out a relieved gust of breath.

“Yes! Of course I want to know. But I didn’t want to ask in case it seemed like I didn’t believe you, which I do. I know you care about Blaine, and Sam doesn’t seem like the type to knowingly participate in an illicit affair.”

“While I can promise you that there is absolutely no cheating happening, unfortunately, I can’t reveal what’s happening with Sam without betraying his confidence.”

She was about to argue, but he quickly cut her off, “But…I would suggest that you tell Quinn to ask her mom if she knows anything.”

“Judy? Wait, why would Judy know something?”

That got Kurt to raise both eyebrows and give her an incredulous smile.
“Judy? Are you on a first name basis with Mrs. Fabray now?”

Rachel tried to look prim, but her dancing eyes gave her away.

“As a matter of fact, yes. She seems to find me a suitable partner for Quinn, which I admit is surprising, all things considered. In fact, she joined a recent family dinner and she and my dads got along quite well.”

“Rachel Berry! You didn’t tell me anything about this parental meeting! This is a big deal. Tell me everything.”

He indulgently listened to her wax poetic about her girlfriend and how well things were going, and then answered her questions about his most recent date with Blaine.

By the time they left the coffee shop, he was feeling much better.
Even if Finn was being a terrible friend, he had plenty of other people in his corner.

---------------------------------------------------

The next day, Rachel and Quinn were walking down the hall together, close enough that their arms occasionally brushed together.

There were still a few people who cast curious glances their way, but that might have been something Quinn would be subjected to even had she been walking alone.

They paused briefly in front of a large poster of Lauren Zizes.
In the picture she was standing confidently with her hands on her hips, a smirk on her face and the words “Zizes For Prom Queen” printed in large letters along the bottom edge.

“She’s really doing it,” Quinn said quietly. “At first I thought Puck was joking, but I’m glad she’s going through with it. I’ll vote for her.”

After a moment, they continued on their way down the hall, and it wasn’t until they were standing at Quinn’s locker that Rachel had the courage to ask, “Are you sad that you’re not running for prom queen?”

The blonde girl turned her head, confused.
“What do you mean?”

The shorter girl leaned against the next locker over, chewing her lip nervously.

“I mean, did you want to run? I know I can’t be your prom king, and I doubt that I have enough clout to get you extra votes, but…”.

“Rachel.”

“Hm?”

“Being prom queen used to be an obsession of mine. But that was because I was insecure and I wanted the validation that came along with winning that tiara. But now I’m happy, and I don’t need to win a popularity contest to prove anything, not to myself or to anyone else.”

A tremulous smile worked its way across Rachel’s face.

“Really?”

“Really.”

Then Quinn leaned in a little to say in a husky, near whisper, “Besides, I’d rather be your prom king.”

The tone and the whisper of breath that hit the sensitive shell of her ear nearly made her squirm, but she somehow managed to keep it together.

“Come on Rach. We don’t want to be late to class.”

With that, Quinn gave her a devastating smirk and sauntered away, leaving a somewhat dazed brunette trailing along after her.

---------------------------------------------------

After her coffee date with Kurt, Rachel had passed along his message to Quinn, who had then dutifully passed it along to her mom.

Judy had apparently discovered something, because she’d texted her daughter to ask if she and Rachel were available for dinner that evening.

One quick check in with her dads and Rachel was happy to accept that invitation.

“So you think she found out something about what’s going on with Sam?”

“I assume so,” Quinn replied. “She goes to the same church as Sam’s parents, and she might have talked to them. She didn’t give me any details though, so I guess we’ll find out tonight.”

Rachel’s brow furrowed slightly.
“I hope it isn’t anything bad. Sam seems like a really nice guy.”

“Yeah, he is.”

Quinn was tempted to reach out and hold Rachel’s hand, but they were in the middle of the history classroom waiting for the lesson to start.

---------------------------------------------------

It turned out that Judy had gotten the details on what was happening with the Evans family, and as soon as Rachel heard the unfortunate news, she had messaged Kurt.

The ensuing text conversation had led the three of them to meet up after dinner, all wanting to show their support to Sam.

At the motel, Quinn parked her car next to Kurt’s and the three of them somberly made their way to one of the non-descript doors.

Kurt knocked carefully, and after a short wait, Sam appeared at the door, his eyes darting between the three of them before dropping to the ground.

From his posture, it was clear that he was ashamed, and Rachel was quick to try and reassure him.

“It’s okay Sam. We aren’t here to judge you, we just wanted to come and let you know that we support you and see if there’s any way we can be of assistance.”

“And just so you know”, Quinn added, “Kurt didn’t tell us, my mom found out through church.”

Finally, Sam looked back up, peeking at them from under a fall of blonde hair.
“I wanted to tell you guys, but I was too embarrassed.”

Before any of the three of them could respond, there was a clamoring sound from inside the room and then two smaller blonde heads popped out from behind his legs.

“Who is it Sammy?” said the little boy who was now staring at the three visitors with interest.

That broke the ice, and soon Sam was inviting them in and introducing them to his younger siblings.

When the kids found out that Quinn and Rachel were also in Glee Club, they demanded to hear them sing, which Rachel of course had no qualms about, and Quinn was more than willing to make her girlfriend and two small children happy.

They ran through a couple songs, with Kurt and Sam joining in on one, and then Rachel sang a few more on her own while Quinn walked to the other side of the room to stand next to Sam and Kurt.

“I’m glad you guys are here,” Sam said quietly.
Then he paused for a moment, and seemed to gather courage to explain. “I got a job at a pizza place in the next town over, and I delivered one to Blaine’s house while Kurt was there. So of course Kurt asked me about it at school the next day, and I just kind of blurted out everything that’s happening with my family….”.

His eyes darted over to Kurt for a moment and the other boy gave him a sympathetic look.

Then Sam continued, “He gave me some of his old clothes, which is why Finn saw me wearing that jacket. I really wish he hadn’t made such a thing about it, but I am glad that you and Rachel know too. Hiding this has really sucked.”

“I can totally understand that,” Quinn said, her eyes drifting back to where Rachel was still singing to a very attentive audience of two.

“Yeah,” Same replied with a chuckle, “yeah, I guess you can.”

He glanced between her and Rachel for a moment and gave her a cheeky smile, “Though with the way you look at her when she sings…it’s pretty obvious how you feel.”

She was saved from having to respond by Rachel finishing the song and then receiving some very enthusiastic cheering from her tiny fans.

The two little Evans begged for another song, but she demurred with a smile, “I need to rest my voice for a bit. But I’m sure that Quinn would be happy to play with you for a while?”

Rachel turned around and gave her girlfriend a pleading look.
“Right Quinn?”

“Of course.”

A few minutes later, Rachel had taken Quinn’s place next to Sam and was watching as the blonde girl played with the two children, looking very natural as she giggled at some fanciful story they were both trying to relate to her.

She was so busy staring that she was a little startled by Sam asking, “She’s pretty cute with them, right?”.

Before Rachel could censor herself, she blurted out, “I want to have her babies.”

Thankfully, Quinn didn’t hear her over the bright chatter of the two kids she was playing with, but Sam burst out into laughter, and Kurt, who had also overheard the remark, gave an undignified snicker.

---------------------------------------------------

The next week in Glee was interesting, because while they were all following the assignment that Mr. Schue had given them, each of the songs was also sending a particular message.

In defiance of Finn’s accusations, Kurt and Sam did a duet together, choosing Second Hand News as their song. Sam took the lead with Kurt supporting him on the vocals.

During the performance, Finn mostly looked confused, as if he was trying to figure out if there was a hidden meaning behind it.

But the puzzlement on his face morphed into shame and discomfort when Sam explained the situation with his family and thanked Kurt for being the first one to reach out and to offer him clothes after he’d sold some of his to a consignment store for extra cash.

After multiple people including Mr. Schuester had expressed their sympathy and support, there was a short, awkward silence before Finn stood up.

“I want to apologize to Sam and Kurt specifically for being a jerk and encouraging rumors. I’m really sorry. And Sam, if you need more clothes, I can bring you some stuff. It will probably fit you better than what Kurt has, though I can’t promise that it will be as fabulous.”

The final comment was delivered mostly to Kurt, with a little half-smile.

“Thanks Finn,” Sam eventually said, giving the other boy a nod.

“I appreciate your apology,” Kurt added, though his tone indicated that it alone wasn’t enough to fully mend the situation.

Finn’s smile went a little sad, but he accepted Kurt’s words and sat back down.

Before another awkward silence could settle, Santana spoke up.
“Mr. Schue, Quinn and I have something we’d like to sing.”

Their teacher seemed relieved to be able to move on.
“Alright, let’s hear it.”

The two cheerleaders stood and walked to the front of the room.

Rachel was already smiling as she watched her girlfriend settle into place next to her friend. She hadn’t known anything about this performance and was very excited to see it.

It was rare to get to hear Quinn sing for an audience, and she’d always treasured moments in the past where she got to hear the blonde girl’s voice even when they were still ostensibly enemies.

She was certainly not disappointed when the two girls performed an extremely sweet version of Songbird, capturing the whole room, but particularly the main target of their number, their respective girlfriends.

Rachel glanced over her shoulder very briefly to look at Brittany and saw that the blonde was swaying in time to the music, looking delighted and teary-eyed.

Then she quickly turned back to the singers, determined not to miss another moment.

The final note lingered in the air and then Santana reached up to delicately wipe a tear from the corner of her eye while the whole room burst into applause, led by Rachel, who popped to her feet, ignoring the tears rolling down her cheeks in favor of clapping.

As the applause died down, Quinn and Santana exchanged a look, and then the blonde girl lifted a hand, capturing the attention of everyone in the room.

Rachel sat back down, watching Quinn expectantly and marveling at how effortlessly the other girl could command attention.

But as she watched her girlfriend carefully, even though her posture stayed impeccable, Rachel could see that she was nervous from the way she was subtly twisting her fingers together.

And when she spoke, there was a very small tremor in her voice.
“Santana and I picked that song as an introduction for something we want to ask our girlfriends.”

She paused for a moment before fixing her eyes directly on the brunette watching her with rapt attention and adding, “Rachel, will you go to prom with me?”

Before anyone could react, Santana was asking, “Brittany will you go to prom with me?”

A moment of silence descended and then Rachel was jumping to her feet, rushing over to throw her arms around Quinn’s neck.

Brittany was right behind her, and reached out to grab Santana’s hands and lean close to her ear to say something that brought out a bright answering smile.

Rachel leaned forward to press a fleeting kiss on Quinn’s lips before saying, “Of course I’ll go to prom with you.”

She would have said more, and possibly leaned in for a longer kiss, but then Kurt was shouting, “This is going to be the best and gayest prom ever!”

The room exploded in shouts and whistles, and it took a few minutes for Mr. Schue to get everything under control.

---------------------------------------------------

On the way home from school that night, Rachel was teasing Quinn about being nervous to ask her to prom.

Quinn was taking the teasing with good grace, an amused quirk to her lips as she kept one hand on the steering wheel as the other rested on Rachel’s knee.

“Were you really that nervous to ask me to prom? Surely you know that I was going to say yes.”

“I've never asked anyone to prom before,” Quinn grumbled, flushing just a little.

Rachel laid her hand on top of Quinn’s and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“Well there is no one else I would rather go with. I’ll definitely have the prettiest date.”

Quinn gave her a sideways glance.
“We might have to argue about that Berry.”

When they pulled up in front of Rachel’s house, the brunette immediately hopped out of the car.

“Come on! We need to immediately start coordinating our looks. I was thinking of wearing a pink dress, something tasteful…”.

As she continued to chatter about color palettes, Quinn followed along behind, a fond smile on her face.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Dress

The entire school, or at least all the upperclassmen at McKinley, seemed fired up by the impending prom.

In a reverse of expectations, Rachel was the one fluttering around talking about dresses and color palettes and corsages, while Quinn, the girl who used to practice her prom queen smile in the mirror, was oddly calm about the whole thing.

Even though neither she or Santana had actively campaigned for prom queen, they were both still on the ballot, along with Lauren Zizes and some other popular girl who wasn’t a Cheerio or a Glee kid and had therefore always flown under Quinn’s radar.

That nomination to prom court had escalated Rachel’s anxiety level, though it seemed to be mostly on Quinn’s behalf.

“You have to look perfect Quinn,” was one of Rachel’s breathlessly delivered entreaties, “not that you aren’t always stunning, but you need to look queenly.”

“Rach, you know I don’t care about being prom queen. “

The brunette bit her lip in a nervous tic that Quinn recognized, so she reached out and gently caught her hands.

“Baby, what’s this really about?”

Rachel’s eyes darted away for a moment and then she said, sounding serious, “We’re going to prom together. I know that we’ll be in a group with all our friends, but you and I are going together. I suppose I’m a little worried about how to act, and what’s appropriate, especially given that the eyes of the entire student body will be on you all evening.”

Upon realizing where Rachel’s anxiety was coming from, Quinn’s expression softened and she gave her girlfriend’s hands a reassuring squeeze.

“I guess we haven’t really talked about what it meant for me to ask you to prom.”

In response to her words, Rachel gave a sad little shake of her head.

“Alright,” Quinn continued, keeping her tone as gentle as possible, “I’ll tell you what it means to me. I asked you to go to prom with me because I love you and this is an experience I want us to have together. I know that the whole prom court nomination adds an extra layer of annoying potential scrutiny, but I don’t want that to stop us from having a good night. And I don’t want that to be a factor in how we act.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying,” Quinn told her, stepping slightly closer and capturing Rachel with an unwavering gaze, “that I want you to be my prom date, in every sense of what that means. Your dads taking way too many pictures of us beforehand, slow dancing with you, all of it.”

Rachel’s eyes went wide, and she gave the blonde girl a hopeful, tremulous smile as she asked, “You mean you’re ready to come out?”

“I don’t plan to make a big announcement speech or anything, but I don’t want to pretend that we’re just there as friends. Is that…would you be okay with that?”

The brilliant smile that crossed Rachel's face made her response clear even before she answered verbally.

“Like I said, I’m going to have the prettiest date, and I have absolutely no qualms about sharing that fact with the world.”

Her emphatic statement was punctuated with a kiss, and when she tried to pull away to say something else, Quinn leaned forward and cut her off, initiating a kiss that was long enough to make her completely forget anything but the press of those soft lips against hers.

For the next couple days, while Rachel was still extremely excited about the upcoming dance, her anxiety around it seemed to have abated.

At least until Mr. Schue announced that the Glee Club would be performing at prom.

---------------------------------------------------

Santana walked into the auditorium, even as she questioned why she was there.

After Schue’s ridiculous pronouncement that Glee was performing at prom had been made, Rachel had predictably flown into a panic, freaking out about how finding the perfect prom songs was going to take time away from their preparation for Nationals.

Personally, Santana was unsurprised that their teacher was, yet again, allowing a random side quest to get in the way of an actually important club goal.
At this rate, she’d be shocked if they had a set list for Nationals before they boarded the plane to New York City.

But, when Berry announced that she was going to be working on some potential prom songs after school, Quinn had nailed Santana with a pleading look for a moment before she turned back to Rachel to say, regretfully, “I wish I could join you, but I have a meeting with Coach Sylvester. And she once told me that a medically induced coma wasn’t a good enough reason to ask to reschedule, so…”.

“I understand,” Rachel replied, sounding very glum.

Now Quinn’s eyes cut back to Santana again, and in response, she gritted her teeth and said, “I can stop by.”

“Really?”

Berry’s big brown eyes looked tearfully grateful, which was gross, but Santana ignored that and added, “Yeah, Britt has motocross practice and I need to pick out a sexy ballad to sing at prom, so why not?”

“Thank you Santana.”

Between Rachel’s intense authenticity and Quinn’s thankful smile, Santana almost smiled herself.

But instead, she forced herself to merely nod and say, gruffly, “Yeah, whatever, it’s no big deal.”

So now she found herself sitting off to the side of the stage while Rachel flipped through some sheet music.
For some reason, there were a bunch of random kids Santana had never seen before painting a set or something.

She disregarded them and focused on Rachel who was taking a breath in preparation to launch into song.

A moment later, she was starting in on Rolling In the Deep, which was a pretty good choice if Santana was being honest.

But before Rachel could get very far into the song, a random voice from the back of the auditorium started singing along.
A random, male voice.

Of course Rachel continued, seeming pretty unfazed, and with a sense of foreboding, Santana watched the mysterious figure walking closer.
He hit a patch of better lighting and there was no mistaking that it was Jesse St. James.

His entire focus seemed to be on the singing girl at the center of the stage, and though Santana was tempted to rush out and drag him off school property by his hair, even she knew better than to interrupt a Rachel Berry performance.

Also, for some odd reason, the set painters had started to provide background harmonies, which was…something.

She ignored all of that and sent a quick SOS text to Quinn.

WTF. Jesse St. Jackass just showed up and is singing at Berry.

Since Quinn was probably still being forced to listen to Sue ramble about Central American dictators that she admired or some other bullshit, she likely would not see the message right away.

So for now, Santana was going to have to handle the situation.
By the time the song ended, Jesse was standing on the stage with Rachel, smiling at her in a way that made Santana’s hackles raise.

The backup singers/set painters had disappeared, and Jesse seemed to have not registered Santana’s presence yet.

“It’s good to see you again Rachel.”

Rachel, notably, was not smiling.

“Jesse…what are you doing here?”

Before the smarmy boy could respond, Santana decided that it was time to interrupt.
She strutted up to stand next to Rachel, and crossed her arms tightly.

“I think that’s an excellent question. Another excellent question is why you decided to come crawling back to McKinley. Fail out of college already?”

The frown that immediately crossed his face made it clear to her that she’d scored a hit, so she took a step forward, cocking her head to the side and looking him up and down, slowly and menacingly.

“Let me guess,” she continued, “you got yourself all dolled up and flung your little scarf on so you could show up and try to convince Berry that you’re worth her time. News flash genius, you’re not.”

Jesse was just staring, seemingly taken aback by the fact that someone he’d only ever known to be hostile to Rachel was defending her so intensely.

Santana’s verbal assault had allowed time for Rachel to recover the shock of seeing her errant ex-boyfriend show up in the auditorium.

Now, she mirrored her friend’s posture and also crossed her arms.
“Considering that you set me up to be egged when last we met, I’m not sure why you thought your presence would be welcomed.”

Jesse finally recovered enough to be able to make a response.

“I came here to apologize, Rachel.”

His tone was acceptably penitent enough to soften the shorter brunette’s posture, but all the statement did was make Santana’s eyes narrow.

“Well you definitely owe her an apology. Several in fact, for you know, smashing an egg on her head, being a little creep about the whole Shelby mama drama reveal, and honestly just generally forcing her to listen to you babble on about your show choir prowess…which, you know, gross.”

“It seems that we’re all in agreement that Jesse should apologize, so perhaps you could give him a chance to do so?”

“Fine, let’s hear it.”

“Very well,” he said, straightening his posture as a more solemn look settled on his face.
“Rachel, I’m very sorry for the ill-fated egging that I helped orchestrate, and I’m sorry that I helped Shelby with her underhanded plan.”

“And,” Santana prompted, not very patiently.

“And,” he continued, still maintaining his poise, “I apologize if my occasional self-absorption ever took away any of the glow from your well deserved spotlight. I want to make it up to you, if I can.”

“Well, thank you for saying all of that Jesse,” Rachel started to say, looking a little confused by where he was going with everything, “but I’m not sure what…”.

Her words were unceremoniously cut off as Santana grabbed her by the arm and started pulling her away.

“Thanks for the apology,” she called out as she continued to haul Rachel off the stage and up the auditorium stairs, “see you never hopefully!”

Surprisingly, the shorter girl wasn’t struggling against Santana’s insistent hold, but once they were nearly to the exit, she demanded, “Is there a reason that you're forcing us to practically run away? It would be a lot more dignified to make a slow exit, therefore prolonging the time he has to watch our retreating backs.”

“Oh, there’s a reason,” Santana muttered.

“Care to share?”

As if on cue, Quinn burst through the door that they were approaching, looking like she was ready to stab someone.

“That's the reason,” Santana said dryly, and then used her forward momentum to sling her other arm around Quinn and force her back the way that she came, though the blonde immediately began to protest.

“Santana! What are you doing? Where is that creep?”

Quinn only got a brief glimpse of Jesse, who was still standing on the stage, looking bemused, before the auditorium door slammed closed behind them.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Santana informed them, “Q, you’re not going to fight that self-centered manchild, instead, you’re going to take Berry home and figure out what sappy songs to sing to each other at prom.”

“We’re not….”.

“But….”.

“Berry,” she continued, as if neither of them had spoken, “You’re going to fill Quinn in on what went down and give her as many kisses as she needs to realize that she has nothing to be jealous about. And, if St. Jackass shows up again, you are to notify me immediately so I can strangle him into unconsciousness with whatever metrosexual accessory he happens to be wearing and have him deposited in the nearest dumpster.”

They both just gaped at her for a moment, and she sighed and snapped her fingers a few times.

“Understood?”

They both managed to mumble out their agreement, and she flashed a sharp grin.

“Great.”

With that, she ushered them along, continuing to forcibly escort them until they’d reached the parking lot. Once they’d both gotten into Quinn’s car, she let out a sigh of relief.

It was bad enough that they’d had to deal with Finn’s cluelessness for so long, but now Rachel’s other ex had popped out of the woodwork like an unwelcome weasel.

She rolled her shoulders and turned away to walk to her own car.

It was fine though, Auntie ‘Tana was on the case and she wasn’t about to let anyone come between Faberry.

---------------------------------------------------

As Santana had predicted, Jesse did show up again, waltzing down the school hallway like he owned the place as Rachel stared in disbelief from her position in front of her locker.

Likely by design, he was catching her alone, but remembering Santana’s strongly worded instruction, Rachel sent off a quick text to the fiery cheerleader.

She thought about texting Quinn as well, but the blonde was supposed to be meeting her momentarily anyway, and part of her hoped that she could get whatever conversation Jesse was insistent on having over with before her generally territorial girlfriend showed up.

It simply wouldn’t do for Quinn to get suspended for ripping Jesse’s hair out with prom just around the corner.

Her phone vibrated and she looked down to see an expletive laced response from Santana.
Then Jesse was standing expectantly before her, so she sighed and tucked away her phone.

“Rachel.”

“Jesse, at the risk of repeating myself, what are you doing here?”

He flashed a charming smile.
“We didn’t get a chance to finish our conversation.”

“I don’t know what else you could possibly have to say. You apologized, I nominally accepted that apology, and now we are free to go our separate ways with slightly less baggage between us.”

Unfortunately, her brisk tone seemed to have no effect, and he casually leaned against the row of lockers next to her and gave her a charming smile.

No doubt if this had happened last year, she would have been gratified by his attention and persistence, but knowing what it felt like to be in a loving relationship that wasn’t built on manipulation and lies made everything about the situation extremely off-putting.

When he spoke again, his voice was warm and persuasive.
“I acknowledge that I made a mess of things the last time around, and like I said, I want to make it up to you. This time I can do better, and be the perfect paramour.”

“What?”

The complete lack of excitement in her response made the corner of his mouth turn down, but before he could attempt to answer her question, Quinn appeared seemingly out of nowhere to place herself directly at Rachel’s side.

“St. James.”

If he was surprised to see her, he did a good job of hiding it, reacting only by standing up straighter and giving her a polite smile.

“Quinn Fabray. You’re looking as lovely as always. But I was in the middle of a conversation with Rachel, so if you don’t mind….”.

She ignored him in favor of looking at Rachel.

He couldn’t help but notice the way her eyes softened as soon as they’d shifted to the shorter girl, and the way that Rachel's face transformed from annoyed confusion and into a warm smile under Quinn’s regard.

Then he watched as Rachel lifted a hand to surreptitiously stroke Quinn’s arm.

Whatever small reverie they were caught in seemed to have made them completely forget his presence, but their attention snapped to him again when he spoke, his focus again on Rachel.

“I’d heard that prom was coming up and was going to see if you needed a date, but it appears that you’re already taken.”

He punctuated that statement with a significant look to where Rachel’s hand was still lightly curled around Quinn’s bicep.

While Rachel looked slightly worried at that, Quinn just raised her chin challengingly and reached down to take Rachel’s hand.

“I guess this proves once and for all that you’re smarter than Finn Hudson,” Quinn told him snarkily.

Jesse slapped a hand to his chest in a gesture of faux-hurt.

“I think it’s always been clear who the superior ex-boyfriend is.”

“Emphasis on the ex,” Quinn practically growled.

“Indeed.”

There was a long pause and then he sucked in a breath.

“Rachel, lovely to see you again. If you happen to find yourself single, do look me up.”

Before Quinn could do more than scowl at him, he gave them both a nod and spun away, walking briskly down the hallway.

A moment later, Santana came careening around the corner, nearly slamming into them as she came to a screeching halt.

“Where is he?” she demanded breathlessly.

“Everything is fine Santana,” Rachel assured her, “but thank you for your prompt response.”

“He just left,” Quinn added, “I think for good this time.”

Santana just scoffed and stared down the corridor to where his full head of tousled hair was just disappearing out of sight.

“Good. The last thing we need around here is more jackasses.”

“Agreed.”

---------------------------------------------------

Thankfully, Jesse had not shown his face again, and the preparations for prom continued without further interruption.

Rachel and Quinn had decided to get ready at Rachel’s house, and Judy was planning to come by for the pre-prom pictures.

Kurt had offered to pick them up from there so the four of them could all go to Breadstix together, where Brittany and Santana, along with Mercedes and Sam were scheduled to meet them.

At the moment, Rachel was getting ready in her bathroom, putting the final touches on her makeup.

Rachel’s dads had gallantly offered their master bath for Quinn to use and she had been tucked away there for quite some time.

As soon as Judy had shown up, she was handed a glass of wine and whisked into conversation with Hiram, while Leroy fluttered around making slight rearrangements to the living room furniture in an attempt to create “the perfect backdrop”.

Somewhat surprisingly, Rachel was ready first, and as soon as she made her appearance, her fathers immediately began to coo over her and her lovely pink dress.

Judy added her own, more restrained, but still authentic compliment.

“You look very pretty Rachel.”

“Thank you Judy. Quinn hasn’t come down yet?”

“No, but I went up and helped her with her hair a little while ago, so she should be ready soon.”

“Alright, excellent.”

Rachel then hustled off to the kitchen to collect Quinn’s corsage from the cool confines of the refrigerator.

It had taken her a bit of searching to find the perfect one, but when she looked down at it now, she knew that she’d made the right choice.

So now, she lingered at the bottom of the stairs and waited with nervous anticipation for her girlfriend to make her appearance.

True to Judy’s prediction, she didn’t have to wait for long.

The sound of footsteps in the upstairs hallway preceded Quinn’s appearance, and then, there she was, a vision in blue.

Though Rachel had always thought that the slow motion descent of a female character down a set of stairs was merely a movie cliche, it suddenly felt like she was living in a film scene as she watched her girlfriend’s approach, feeling like she could barely breathe.

Quinn’s blonde hair was twisted into an elegant updo, and the baby blue of her dress was perfect against her pale skin. There had been a smile on her face already, but it widened as she caught sight of the girl waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

As soon as Quinn had fully descended, Rachel wordlessly proffered the box that held a delicate wrist corsage, offering it up to the blonde’s appreciative gaze.

After of a moment, she said, softly, “The ribbon matches my eyes.”

“I know.”

They stood there, gazing into each other’s eyes for a moment, pulled in towards each other as if by a magnetic current, but just before their lips could touch, there was a sudden flash.

“Beautiful. Ah, young love.”

“Dad,” Rachel whined, regretfully pulling away from Quinn to glare at her camera wielding father.

Leroy grinned at her unrepentantly and then took a step back as Hiram and Judy both stepped forward, offering smiles and compliments.

As predicted, an abundance of pictures were taken, and when Kurt and Blaine showed up, they were roped into a set of group photos.

Finally, the four of them were in Kurt’s car and on the way to dinner, happily exchanging compliments and chatting about the upcoming night.

---------------------------------------------------

Their actual entrance into prom was, thankfully, very low key.

They did garner some attention, but that might have been because their group of eight included three Cheerios, two of whom were also on prom court and a boy in a fashionable kilt.

Rachel stuck very close to Quinn and was slightly surprised and extremely pleased, when the blonde girl took her hand, lacing their fingers together with intention.

It didn’t take long to find their way to a table where Artie was stationed, shaking his head at something Puck was saying, while Zizes was standing nearby, watching the crowd in a slightly intimidating way.

Mike and Tina were already on the dance floor, and Brittany waved at them enthusiastically before dragging Santana off to join them.

Artie looked relieved to see them and quickly wheeled himself over to Sam to start talking about the number they were scheduled to perform shortly.

Puck just shrugged and wandered over to where Quinn and Rachel were standing, still holding hands and they looked out over the crowd.

He gave them a classic Puck smirk.
“Hot jew…Fabray. You’re both looking sexy tonight.”

Quinn just rolled her eyes good-naturedly, while Rachel said, “Thank you Noah. You look quite dashing yourself.”

“Hell yeah I do. I’ve gotta look good when I’ve got the future prom queen on my arm.”

He glanced over at Zizes for a moment before returning his attention to them and leaning forward slightly to say, in a serious tone, “If any of these losers give you shit tonight…,” he paused and gave their linked hands a significant look, “you let me know. Puckasaurus has got your back.”

“Thanks Puck,” Quinn said.

“Not a problem. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a stage to tear up.”

He headed off, followed by Artie and Sam and soon the three of them were performing their prom number, a high energy cover of Friday by Rebecca Black.

Throughout the evening, Glee members (and Blaine) took their turns singing.
While everyone did an excellent job, Quinn’s attention wasn’t fully commanded until Rachel went up for a solo.

Before she’d left her girlfriend to climb onto the stage, she had leaned in to whisper, “This one is dedicated to you.”

Quinn wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but she did move closer, determined to have a good view.

When Rachel launched into A Thousand Years, it captured her from the first note and she found herself unable to look away.

The girl on the stage was directing her performance to the room at large, but her eyes continued to stray to the blonde who was watching her so reverently.

That rapt attention kept her from noticing Finn’s approach, but she became aware of his presence at her side and spared him only the briefest glance before returning her attention to Rachel.

He remained respectfully quiet until the song was finished, and as the applause died down he said, sounding a bit wistful, “You really love her, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I really do.”

“Good, that’s good. And um, you both look beautiful.”

With that, he quickly departed, and was nearly out of sight by the time Rachel rejoined her.
As soon as the brunette reached her side, she was pulled into a hug.

“That was amazing. Thank you.”

When Rachel replied, there was an unusually shy note in her voice.
“I really like singing to you. I realize that I have a history of serenading people, but with you it feels different. It feels…special.”

Quinn kept her solid hold on Rachel, wanting a moment to appreciate the feel of their bodies pressing together. That left her in an excellent position to teasingly murmur in her girlfriend’s ear.

“It feels special to me too, baby. Maybe later I can show you just how special.”

As close as they were, she could feel the sharp intake of breath in response to that comment.
Regretfully, she pulled away, well aware that this was not the proper time or place to escalate things further.

“Dance with me?”

Rachel’s cheeks were a little flushed, and she accepted Quinn’s offered hand without further comment.

They ended up in a loose cluster with their friends, dancing their hearts out to each new song.
Eventually though, Quinn and Santana had to make their way to the stage, lining up next to Lauren Zizes as Puck, Finn, and Rick Nelson did the same on the other side.

And then everyone was applauding as Rick the Stick and Zizes were being crowned.
In an alternate reality, Quinn would have probably been fighting back tears at this turn of events, but she felt genuinely pleased for the other girl.

The big brown eyes staring at her adoringly from the crowd felt like all the validation that she really needed.

As Lauren and Rick had their first dance together, which they managed to make into an intentionally ridiculous spectacle as they tried to lead each other in a strangely aggressive tango, she made her way back over to where Rachel was waiting.

She accepted a light kiss on the cheek with an authentic smile.

“Even though I know you didn’t care about winning, I still voted for you,” Rachel admitted.

They stood watching Lauren and Rick twirl through a growing crowd of fellow dancers, and then Quinn said, “You know, I think I need a short break somewhere quieter.”

“Oh, okay, of course. I suppose that it is getting a bit overstimulating.”

“Maybe you also need a break?” Quinn then suggested, giving the shorter girl a rather suggestive look.

It only took Rachel a moment to catch on, and when she answered there was an expectant glint in her eyes.

“Oh, yes. Now that you mention it, I find that I do.”

She willingly followed Quinn off the dance floor and out of the room, only slightly surprised when the blonde girl bypassed the nearest restroom and continued down the corridor and up the stairs, until the music was just the faintest sound in the distance.

They ended up in a different bathroom entirely, and it was blessedly empty.

Quinn was considering her reflection in the mirror, making a few minor adjustments to her hair as Rachel watched, feeling slightly spellbound despite their less than magical surroundings.

“You’re so pretty. The prettiest girl I’ve ever seen,” she said, before she’d even realized that she was about to voice those thoughts aloud.

Hazel eyes regarded her in the mirror for a moment, and then Quinn turned and came closer, raising a hand to lovingly stroke her fingers against Rachel’s cheek.

“You look beautiful,” were her accompanying words, and they sounded like she meant them with every fiber of her being.

In place of words, Rachel accepted the compliment by pressing a light kiss to Quinn’s lips.
The hand that was still pressed against her face now took a firmer hold of her jaw as the kiss deepened into something that made her regret the layers of inflexible fabric between them.

After a moment to take a breath, they were both leaning back in, this next kiss forcing a whimper from Rachel’s throat as Quinn’s tongue traced her lower lip.

Eventually, feeling somewhat dazed, she shifted back a step, staring into her girlfriend’s darkened eyes and wishing that they were not currently on school property.

“We’re going to have to fix our makeup,” Quinn said, an appealing, husky note in her voice as her gaze dropped to Rachel’s mouth.

“Or…we could perhaps…tarnish it further?”

A moment later she found herself pressed up against the wall as her suggestion was readily accepted.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Afterglow

The week after prom, a slight lull settled over the school.
The big spring event for the juniors was over, and the seniors were all counting down the days to graduation.

There had of course been post-prom buzz, some of which was focused on Lauren Zizes, who was giving out a lot of powerful high fives in the hallway after her prom queen win.

And then there were the comments about Quinn Fabray bringing Rachel Berry to prom.

So far, those comments had remained just whispers, with people either too intimidated by Quinn’s status and the way she floated down the halls looking perfectly poised and more confident than ever, or by the fact that she generally had either Santana or Puck hovering somewhere nearby, glaring at anyone who dared to wander too close.

True to his words at prom, Puck did seem to be keeping an eye on her, perhaps worried about some of the gossip he’d been hearing.

But no one was bold enough to confront her until one afternoon while she was alone at her locker.
Santana and Brittany had just headed off, presumably to sneak in a quickie before Cheerios practice, not that Quinn had asked.
But, unfortunately, Brittany had a tendency to accidentally give away too much information on a near daily basis.

She was just about to zip up her backpack when someone interrupted the silence in a very unwelcome way.

“Well well, if it isn’t Quinn Fabray. Or is that Queer Fabray now?”

She spun, instantly furious, and saw an extremely average looking dude in a letterman jacket standing there, a creepy smirk on his face.

Her tone was incredibly frosty as she raised an eyebrow and asked, “And who the hell are you?”

He was seemingly about to introduce himself, when someone behind her spoke.

“What did you just say to her?”

A moment later, Dave Karofsky was standing at her side, giving the boy across from her an extremely unfriendly look.

Faced with two angry opponents, the interloper shifted awkwardly in place, but then spoke again, trying to keep up a brave facade.

“Hey man, come on, you get it. The head cheerleader takes a girl to prom? Everyone’s talking about it.”

Karofsky’s fists clenched.
“You’re the only one I see harassing her though. You got a problem with gay people Colin?”

The other boy, Colin apparently, let out a scoff.
“Look who’s talking dude. Weren’t you slushied by the whole hockey team a few months ago for bullying that gay kid?”

Dave’s face went through a series of emotions, before settling into an icy calm.

“And I learned my lesson. Do I need to teach you one?”

Colin did take a small step back, seemingly to get out of easy reach, before replying with a sullen mutter.
“Why do you even care?”

Karofsky glanced over at Quinn for a moment, and she wasn’t sure how to interpret the look in his eyes.
But then he lifted his chin and announced, “Because I’m gay. So go ahead, call me Queerofsky and see what happens.”

Colin had no idea what to do in response, and he wisely kept his mouth shut, just staring at Dave in disbelief.

“Oh, and Colin,” Quinn added, her tone a terrifying mix of sweetness and steel, “this is the only time you get to walk away unscathed. Next time you want to be homophobic in public, I guarantee there will be consequences.”

His eyes widened further at her threat, and without wasting another second, he spun and scuttled off.

“You okay?”

At the question, Quinn turned to the boy next to her.
“Yeah, I’m good. Thank you.”

He looked slightly at a loss and stuffed his hands into his pockets, managing to give her a wan smile.

“No problem. If anyone else gives you any trouble, you let me know, okay?”

“Okay.”

After a quick nod, he started to walk away, and she called out after him.

“Dave, you do the same, alright?”

Over his shoulder, he gave her a grateful look before striding away and out of sight.

---------------------------------------------------

The next day at Glee, things seemed relatively peaceful, but then Mr. Schuester walked into the room with Jesse St. James.

There was an immediate disgruntled wave of muttering throughout the room, and Santana gave Jesse a very nasty glare.

Their teacher ignored all of that, or perhaps didn’t notice due to his inability to ever really read the room, and informed them that Jesse was going to be their show choir consultant as they continued to prepare for Nationals.

Everyone sat there silent, annoyed, and in shock.
Rachel had opened her mouth and then closed it again, unable to form words in response to this completely unwelcome news.

Finn was the first one who verbally replied.

“I don’t trust this guy. How do we know he’s not just going to trick us into doing something stupid so Vocal Adrenaline beats us?”

“I don’t think I need to resort to trickery to get you to do something stupid Finn,” was Jesse’s calm reply.

Santana was unable to keep her derisive snort locked down, which made Finn shoot her an aggrieved look, and several other people made quiet sounds of dismay or frustration.

Mr. Schue, as usual, made an unconvincing attempt to demonstrate his leadership.

“Guys, he’s just a consultant. I still make all the calls.”

Not surprisingly, that did not inspire much confidence from the Glee members, even though their teacher went on to tell them that he was actually confident in their abilities.

When he explained the plan to come up with new original numbers for Nationals, Rachel squirmed a bit in her seat, though she managed to restrain herself from verbally commenting.

This was partly due to the fact that Quinn had a calming hand resting on her leg, but also her discomfort at having one ex-boyfriend looming in the row of chairs behind her and the other standing in front of her, a bland, pleasant smile on his face.

That discomfort only grew when Finn boldly announced that the two of them should sing the duet together.
She growled slightly under her breath, but it was loud enough that her girlfriend heard her and the hand on her leg squeezed ever so lightly.

It was Quinn who responded, reminding Finn that the last duet that he’d participated in had not resulted in a win.

Helping ratchet up the tension further, Jesse agreed that Rachel should be a featured vocalist but Finn should not, going on to insult his singing and his dancing.

“You kind of sing and dance like a zombie who has to poop.”

Finn started to rage about the insult, but Santana just inspected her nails and said, sounding bored, “I still plan to rip the college drop-out’s hair straight outta his scalp, but he has a point.”

Jesse looked mildly alarmed at the threat and the shark-like grin Santana gave him right after delivering it.

They managed to make it through the rest of rehearsal without Finn kicking a chair, and after announcing the plan to hold auditions to determine who their star performer for Nationals would be, Jesse was wise enough to make a hasty exit.

Santana smirked at his retreating back and then turned to Quinn, who was looking at a surprisingly subdued Rachel with a concerned expression on her face.

“What’s wrong with the mini diva? I thought she’d be rushing off to bedazzle herself a star performer sash or something.”

“You know I can hear you Santana.”

The other girl shrugged, unrepentant.

Quinn was about to start questioning Rachel about what was on her mind, but Brittany leaned between them to ask, “Is it take your child to work day? Because I could have brought Lord Tubbington.”

“What?”

Brittany rolled her eyes at them.

“You know, because Mr. Schue brought in his son to help him coach the show choir?”

“But Jesse isn’t…,” Rachel started to say, but then wisely let it go.

Then her brow furrowed as she clearly started thinking about something else entirely.

Recognizing that expression, Quinn frowned.
“Rach?”

The shorter girl suddenly seemed infused with energy.
“There’s something I need to do. I’ll catch up with you later.”

She pressed a fleeting kiss to Quinn’s cheek and then strode out of the room, seemingly full of purpose.

“What was that all about?” Santana asked.

“I wish I knew.”

---------------------------------------------------

Quinn walked into the auditorium, feeling slightly apprehensive, with Santana trailing along after her.

Rachel had requested (demanded) their presence, but had not been forthcoming with any details about why, though surely it had to do with Nationals.

Despite Santana’s obnoxious questions, Quinn had been unable to provide any answers given that she had barely heard anything from her girlfriend since she’d rushed out of Glee the day before.

They made their way to the stage where Kurt and Mercedes were waiting, absently chatting as they looked around impatiently. At the moment, Rachel was nowhere to be seen.

“Alright, where’s baby Barbra? I don’t gots time to stand around and wait.”

“Santana, you literally just got here,” Kurt informed her huffily.

Before they could start sniping at each other, Rachel appeared from backstage and marched towards them.

“Thank you for gathering here.”

“You threatened me,” said Kurt.

“Quinn forced me,” Santana snarked.

“I was promised tots,” Mercedes added.

Rachel flapped her hands to dismiss their words and looked at all of them, a manic, determined glint in her eye.

“In an effort to avoid wasting your time, I will cut to the chase. I think we can all agree that despite continuously talking about how little time there is until Nationals, Mr. Schuester seems oddly uninterested in actually preparing us for it. And bringing in Jesse St. James at the last minute is only going to be a distraction.”

“No argument there,” Mercedes commented, crossing her arms, “but please tell me you didn’t bring us here to plan some kind of mutiny.”

“Not at all. I’ve gathered you here so we can start planning our setlist. Without our intervention, I fear that we’ll end up with some last minute, cobbled together songs with lackluster choreography not fit for the national stage.”

“I know you have a plan, short stack,” was Santana’s comment, “so just tell us what solo you want to sing so we can start arguing about it.”

Rachel clasped her hands in front of her and smiled as she looked around at all of them.

“In fact, what I propose is a mashup that features our combined vocals in an interweaving powerhouse of harmonies.”

She paused for a moment to let them absorb her idea, and then continued briskly.

“I know that Jesse wants to force us into the Vocal Adrenaline mold, but that would be a mistake. Their success is based on honing their members into perfect singing and dancing automatons, and while I feel that we have an immense amount of talent, we won’t be able to effectively emulate that.”

“I heard they recruit dancers from Eastern Europe who were kicked out of their dance companies for using steroids,” Santana said.

“I’m pretty sure one of the guys on their team is like 25,” Mercedes added, “And they just have him lip sync while he does backflips.”

Kurt was the next to chime in.
“Whether Jesse is trying to help us or sabotage us, his plan is clearly to elevate Rachel to head diva and relegate the rest of us to background scenery. I refuse to accept that role, and furthermore, I agree with Rachel…that is not where our strengths lie as a group.”

“So we’re in agreement then?”

Santana, Mercedes and Kurt all exchanged a look before they turned back to her.

“Alright tiny dancer,” Santana said, a smile playing about her lips, “show us what you’ve got.”

---------------------------------------------------

A few days later, Rachel had again demanded their presence in the auditorium, but this time it was to perform an initial version of the mashup that she had arranged.

Brittany and Mike were there as well as they had put together some choreography ideas to demonstrate while the others handled the singing.

The remaining club members along with Jesse and Mr. Schuester were seated in the audience.

When he had initially arrived and seen half the club standing on the stage, Jesse had started to protest, saying that they hadn’t held auditions yet and that they needed to follow his guidance.

But his words were completely disregarded by everyone they were directed at, and Mr. Schue wanted to see what they’d been working on.

Rachel was all too happy to show him.

Together, they performed a Taylor Swift mashup of “You Belong With Me” and “Mine” that, while it was still a little rough, featured powerful vocals and an interesting interweaving of the songs.

Rachel started things off, singing the lyrically gayer version of the first song that she’d previously shared a couple months back, with Kurt supporting her on vocals. It was interwoven with Santana and Mercedes belting out Mine while Quinn provided layered harmonies to both duos.

The choreography that Brittany and Mike showed off was dynamic, and kept things visually interesting.

Once they finished, they received enthusiastic applause from most of the members of their audience, though Finn looked sulky as he clapped, and Jesse was frowning.

Mr. Schue gave them some positive feedback, but when he was finished speaking, Jesse said, “While I can’t say that wasn’t an interesting vocal demonstration, I thought we’d agreed to hold auditions for the singer we were going to showcase.”

“We didn’t agree to that,” Rachel quickly replied, “that was your idea. But the group on stage includes the main divas of Glee, as well as our strongest dancers, and we would prefer not to be pitted against each other when we’re so much stronger together.”

Her speech garnered some cheers and shouts of agreement, both from the stage and from the audience.

Their teacher looked around and saw the smiles and determination on most faces and grinned.

“It looks like we’ve found one of our numbers for Nationals!”

While Jesse pouted, everyone else cheered, and soon the entire club was gathered on stage to start learning their singing parts and the associated choreography.

For a moment, Rachel looked over her shoulder and saw that Quinn was watching her, a proud smile on her face. She allowed herself an indulgent moment to bask in her girlfriend’s regard before refocusing on the situation at hand.

---------------------------------------------------

Rachel’s level of enthusiasm did not appreciably decrease in the days that followed, and while she still seemed mostly sane, Quinn was worried that she was going to crash before they even made it to New York City.

In an effort to get her girlfriend to relax, she had come over to the Berry house to provide distractions in the form of kisses and cuddles, but even that was only enough to temporarily slow Rachel down.

Soon enough, the brunette was wriggling out of Quinn’s arms and hurrying over to her desk, riffling through a pile of sheet music to find something that she’d mentioned earlier.

Quinn sat up on the bed and regarded her, deciding that it was time to bring something up that she found herself a bit nervous about.

“Hey Rach?”

“Hm?”

“So my mom told me something interesting today.”

While Rachel seemed to be listening, she was also only half paying attention as she continued to flip through the stack of music.

“Oh, and what was that?” she replied off-handedly.

“She’s going to be out of town all weekend for some work thing. And I thought…maybe you could come over?”

The sound of shuffling paper stopped abruptly, and Rachel turned to scrutinize the girl sitting on her bed.

“Come over?”

The question was laced with layers of meaning that Quinn immediately picked up on, especially given what she was attempting to suggest.

“Yes,” she said, unconsciously biting her lip.

Rachel’s eyes followed the motion and having done her best to memorize each one of Quinn Fabray’s facial expressions, she was able to determine that this was a nervous lip bite versus a flirtatious one, even though the look in those hazel eyes was bordering on sultry.

That interesting combination drew her attention and she took a few steps closer to the bed.

“You want me to come over?”

“I do.”

“While your mom is away and your house is empty?”

“Exactly.”

They just stared at each other for a long moment, both feeling the electric charge building in the room.

While they had thus far enjoyed a very tactile relationship, and had certainly had multiple experiences that Rachel considered sex adjacent, they hadn’t crossed through that gray area into actually having sex yet.

Part of this was intentional in consideration of Rachel’s lack of experience and desire for romance as well as the fact that Quinn was still coming to terms with her own sexuality and desire.

But at this point, the main issue was lack of opportunity.

They had both agreed that they wanted to be fully alone and be able to spend the night together afterwards.
And though Rachel’s dads were very supportive of their relationship, they were also around a lot.

They had discussed getting a hotel room after prom, but neither of them really wanted their first time to be part of a prom night cliche.

Judy was also much more involved these days, which in most respects was lovely, but it also meant that she kept much closer tabs on Quinn’s whereabouts.

Plus, now that she was in regular communication with Rachel’s dads, it really put a damper on the possibility of the two of them being able to sneak around without one or more parents finding out.

But her absence did provide an opportunity, and the thought of being alone with Quinn all night was making Rachel’s heart rate kick up.

She gave into the magnetic impulse and finished closing the distance between them, hopping on the bed and kneeling in front of her girlfriend.

“I would love to come over.”

Quinn’s eyes darkened and the rest of the meaning behind Rachel’s words was left unsaid as she leaned forward and captured the lips eagerly awaiting hers.

---------------------------------------------------

On Saturday night, Kurt found himself at the Lopez house, this time lounging comfortably on the bed of Santana Lopez herself.

A minute later, Santana returned from the kitchen with a big bowl of popcorn and a couple bottles of water.

She paused in the doorway, taking in the sight of him in his tasteful matching pajama set and shook her head, a small grin on her face.

“If someone would have told me six months ago that Kurt Hummel would one day be in my bed in his grandpa PJs, I would have slapped them upside the head.”

“This is very fashionable nighttime apparel Santana, but yes, I was having a similar thought before you walked in.”

After handing him the popcorn, she flopped down next to him.

“What, that you look like an old man in that outfit?” she teased.

He gave her a nudge with his shoulder as he rolled his eyes.

“No. I was just marveling at how far we’ve come this year.”

The corner of her mouth turned up in a small smile.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool I guess.”

Once she had settled herself on the bed more comfortably, she looked over at him with a more mischievous look on her face.

“Did you ever think the two of us would be providing alibis for Quinn and Berry so they could spend time together?”

“Honestly, in my wildest dreams, no. Even when we first started our scheme to get them together, I was not very confident that it would actually work. But now, here we are. I’m happy to pretend that I’m having a sleepover with Rachel if she needs a cover story.”

Kurt had told his dad that Rachel would also be with him at Santana’s, and since Santana’s parents were both working late shifts, they would not be able to contradict his story if for some reason his dad should ask.

And since Rachel’s dads had always been pretty lenient with their daughter regarding her whereabouts, they were unlikely to go to the trouble of trying to verify her story.

So she was free to go over to Quinn’s house while Kurt and Santana covered for both of them.
Personally, Kurt found the sneaking around part of it a little bit romantic.

But then Santana opened her mouth.

“You know what we’re their alibi for, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

She gave him a smirk.
“They’re doing it.”

“Doing what?”

Even as the question left his mouth, he understood Santana’s implication and immediately his face scrunched in dismay.

“Santana!”

At the look on his face, she burst out laughing.

“Don’t be such a prude Porcelain.”

“I’m not a prude,” he exclaimed, his voice at a much higher register than usual, “I just don’t care to speculate about the sex lives of my friends.”

He took a moment to collect himself before continuing, “Besides, I’m quite certain that Quinn did not tell you that’s what their plan for the evening was.”

His friend snorted.

“Of course not. Fabray is more of a prude than you are. It’s called context clues baby.”

She paused for a moment, and then added, “The two of them together though, it’s honestly kind of hot.”

Having said that, she gave him a sideways glance and waited for the expected admonishment.
Instead, he was silent for a long moment before replying with just one word.

“Wanky.”

After a few seconds of absolute silence, they both burst out laughing.

---------------------------------------------------

In Quinn Fabray’s bedroom, there were also two people in a bed, though the context was wildly different.

They had been there for a while, trading lazy kisses and enjoying their time alone.

Quinn had made them dinner, complete with candles and actual wine that she’d snuck from her mother’s collection, though they had only had one glass each because neither wanted to be intoxicated for what was to come.

They’d exchanged charged glances and light touches all through the meal, and once they’d gone up to Quinn’s room, the blonde girl had dimmed the lights and turned on some soft music in deference to Rachel’s romantic sensibilities.

Knowing that there would be no interruptions, they were taking their time, which also felt nice, especially considering that they were both feeling a little nervous.

After pressing a lingering kiss to her girlfriend’s lips, Rachel leaned back again and spent some time just looking at the girl lying next to her, searching her face for any sign of uncertainty and finding none.

“You’re sure about this?” she then asked in a near whisper, needing verbal confirmation.

The response she got was warm and reassuring, even though it was only two short words.

“I am.”

Without any further ceremony, Rachel sat up and slowly pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it away, leaving her in a red, lacy bra that Quinn recognized from Valentine’s Day.

The blonde took a slow breath in, allowing herself to fully appreciate what she was seeing, and giving herself a moment to hear and then ruthlessly squash the little voice in her head that was whispering words like “sin” and “wrong”.

When she met Rachel’s eyes again, her look was full of intent.
And when she spoke, her voice had the commanding edge that never failed to get a reaction.

“That’s the last thing you get to take off yourself, Berry. The rest is for me.”

Rachel’s throat moved as she swallowed reflexively, her pupils dilating as those hazel eyes raked across her skin, leaving trails of heat in their wake.

Bravely, she reached out and started to unbutton Quinn’s shirt, pleased when the blonde girl made no move to stop her, only pushing herself upright to allow Rachel better access.

When the button down had been fully removed and flung off the side of the bed, it was a little disappointing to discover that there was a white t-shirt underneath.

However, it was less disappointing when Rachel quickly realized that it was fairly see-through and that Quinn was quite clearly wearing nothing underneath.

The blonde girl reached out a hand and trailed it down Rachel’s cheek, tracing the line of her neck and continuing down the curve of her shoulder.

As her fingers slowly shifted aside one of the bra straps so it hung loosely along an upper arm, she leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Rachel’s cheek before continuing down, following the path that her fingers had just traced.

Her hands and mouth didn’t stop moving, going across the other girl’s collarbone, dipping down her chest, and skimming across her back, getting a series of breathy sighs in response.

When her fingers ultimately moved to the clasp at Rachel’s back, they only hesitated for a moment before, in one swift motion, it was unhooked and suddenly the bra was gone.

Quinn did pause then, pulling back far enough that she could take in the sight in front of her, and unconsciously licking her lips in reaction to what she saw.

The hungry, appreciative look on her face made Rachel let out a small whimper, which made Quinn’s eyes snap up to her face in concern.

There was unspoken worry in her eyes, but the brunette was quick to reassure her, her voice coming out in a more breathless tone than she’d expected.

“Quinn, I promise you, whatever you’re thinking of doing is fine. I want you to touch me. Please.”

At those words, all the worry faded out and was replaced by stark desire.

Rachel barely had time to register the anticipatory goosebumps skittering down her arms before Quinn’s mouth was on hers, and she was being kissed, hard and hungry as her girlfriend’s hands wandered, not leaving an inch of exposed skin unexplored.

Long minutes later, when Quinn drew back again, Rachel made an incoherent protest, finding herself dazed and more turned on than she’d ever been.

She stared at her girlfriend’s kiss swollen lips and watched as they curved into a very satisfied smirk.

“Baby, I need you to keep touching me,” she couldn’t help but whine as the very unwelcome pause in the proceedings extended. “And please don’t tell me it’s all about the teasing.”

Her words made Quinn look even more self-satisfied, but any further protest from Rachel was shut down by the blonde pulling off her t-shirt and carelessly sending it flying across the room.

“Don’t worry Rach. The teasing ends now.”

Rachel barely had time to register those words before she was being pushed down onto the bed and pinned in place by a topless Quinn Fabray.

All coherent thought abandoned her at the feel of their skin pressing together and the fact that her girlfriend’s tongue was slowly sliding into her mouth.

Everything faded into a very pleasant lustful haze.

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

Welcome to New York

Now that Nationals was so close, everyone in Glee, no matter how cool they usually tried to play it, was filled with nervous excitement.

Quinn and Rachel had been spending a lot of time together in the week leading up to the competition, though most of it was spent rehearsing.

The Glee co-captain had taken it upon herself to set a rather grueling practice schedule for the club, and even though there were certainly plenty of complaints and snarky comments (mostly from Santana), everyone was putting in the time and effort.

After having the power taken from his hands by the combined forces of the Glee divas, and getting little support from Mr. Schue, Jesse had faded into the background, not even attending most of the Glee rehearsals anymore.

Finn had stayed largely hands-off, and though he had been a little sulky upon finding out that he didn’t get to do a duet with Rachel, he had seemingly been trying his best to learn the choreography and nail his singing parts in the group number.

Along with the Taylor Swift mashup, the club had written a new original song as their second group number, one they had titled Light Up the World.

Brittany and Mike had also been working on choreography for that number, something that looked visually different than what they’d put together for the other song and managed to keep the most skillful dancers front and center without making it too obvious that others were left more in the background.

They had just finished a full run through of the set list and stood on the auditorium stage breathing heavily and waiting for Mr. Schue’s assessment.

He gave them enthusiastic applause and then released them for the evening, telling them to go home and get some sleep since they were leaving for their trip the next day.

While Rachel wished that she could spend the night with Quinn, knowing that it would help calm her pre-trip anxiety, she had to settle for a goodnight kiss and an extended hug. Both were very satisfying, but even so, she was sorry to say goodbye.

Thankfully though, her dad had volunteered to drive her, Quinn, Brittany and Santana to the Columbus airport in the morning so she only had to be apart from her girlfriend for approximately twelve hours.

---------------------------------------------------

The flight itself was uneventful, though unlike the handful of other times Quinn had been on a plane, this time she got to hold a pretty girl’s hand which definitely elevated the whole experience.

Watching Rachel’s eyes light up as she craned her neck to get a view of the city through the plane window was its own kind of thrill.
Even when Quinn had ostensibly despised the other girl, she had always known that Rachel was bigger than Lima, Ohio.

And now she was going to get to experience New York City for the first time with Rachel by her side, something that she was almost more excited about than the competition itself.

Once Mr. Schue had checked them all into the hotel, and had them gather in one room together to discuss the timeline for the trip, he’d left, giving them a flimsy excuse about paperwork and telling them to work on any choreography that they were feeling less confident about.

Quinn didn’t really care what their teacher was up to, all she was focused on was the fact that she was in New York City with her girlfriend, her two best friends, and no adult supervision.

Everyone was chatting excitedly, looking out the windows, or eating snacks they’d snagged from the vending machine on the way up.
No one seemed very interested in doing any kind of formal practice, and she would much rather be out exploring anyway.

So, using her cheerleader captain powers, she got everyone’s attention and proposed that they go out into the city. There were a few mild, token protests but overall it didn’t take much convincing to gather everyone up and usher them out of the hotel.

The bustle and energy of the place and the slightly illicit feeling of freedom as they wandered the streets had them giddily frolicking through Central Park, singing in Times Square, and staring up at skyscrapers with a sense of awe.

The luminous smile that barely left Rachel’s face was making it hard for Quinn to not keep grinning like an idiot, but she managed to contain herself, though she did keep hold of her girlfriend’s hand nearly the whole time, something that Rachel didn’t seem to mind at all.

She kept pointing things out to Quinn in an excited voice as the rest of the club buzzed around them like happy bees.

Eventually, they made their way back to the hotel, pleased to discover that their absence had apparently not been noted.

The boys all headed back to their room, with the exception of Kurt who remained perched in a chair next to Rachel as they talked a mile a minute about everything that they’d seen.
Quinn used that opportunity to go over to one of the large beds and sit down next to Brittany and Santana, who were huddled up together looking at something on Santana’s phone.

“Hey.”

“Hey Quinn,” Brittany replied, her blue eyes bright with excitement, “isn’t it so cool being here? I got to dance with some pigeons!”

“It is really cool, Britt.”

She paused and waited for Santana to look up before she said, more quietly, “Can you girls cover for me tonight? I have no idea if Mr. Schue is even going to come back and check on us, but just in case.”

Brittany was already smiling and nodding in agreement, but Santana gave her a shrewd look.

“Are you planning on sneaking out?”

For a moment, Quinn looked over at Rachel, an involuntary smile crossing her face as she saw her girlfriend laughing delightedly.
Then she returned her focus to her friend, who had definitely noted the interaction.

“I want to take Rachel on a date tonight.”

Brittany started clapping her hands delightedly, and Santana’s mouth curved into a grudging smile.

“Well, I’m sure Berry will find that shit totally romantic. Yeah, whatever, if Schuester pokes around I’ll tell him you’re in the bathroom or something.”

Impulsively, Quinn leaned forward and managed to wrap both her friends in a hug.
Brittany responded by returning the hug as enthusiastically as she could from the angle she was sitting at, and Santana just grumbled, “Ugh, yeah, we get it, you’re happy.”

But her grumpy tone was counteracted by the way she leaned in closer, bumping her head lightly against Quinn’s like a cat seeking affection.

---------------------------------------------------

About twenty minutes later, Rachel was still in an animated conversation with Kurt that now also included Tina and Mercedes.

But then she was distracted by Santana calling over to her.

“Hey Berry, check your phone.”

Confused, she looked up, and a quick glance around the hotel room showed her that Quinn was nowhere to be seen.

She scrambled up, climbing over Kurt’s outstretched legs and grabbed her phone.

There was one new message.

Meet me in the lobby. Dress nice. <3

With a grin, she hurried over to her suitcase and pulled out the nicest outfit she’d brought.

Once she was dressed, she did some quick touch ups to her hair and makeup, and when she came back out of the bathroom, everyone turned to smile at her knowingly.

“Have fun sweetie,” Kurt called out, which prompted a wave of both sincere and teasing comments from everyone else in the room.

Blushing slightly, she made her way out the door and down the hallway, thankful that she didn’t run into any of the Glee boys or their errant teacher.

Once she made it to the lobby, it only took a moment of searching for her to find Quinn, who was standing near the hotel entrance.

As soon as she caught sight of Rachel approaching, Quinn’s face relaxed into a sweet smile, and she pulled her hand out from behind her back to reveal a single gardenia.

Rachel quickened her pace, wanting to close the distance between them as quickly as possible.
And when she made it to her girlfriend, she initially ignored the flower and leaned in to steal a kiss instead.

By the time she pulled back, Quinn’s cheeks were a little pink, but she extended her hand to wordlessly offer the flower, and this time Rachel accepted it and carefully tucked it behind her ear.

“You look beautiful,” the blonde murmured, taking in Rachel’s blue dress.

“And you look…stunning.”

Quinn was wearing a black dress that Rachel had never seen before and she looked elegant, especially with the way she’d styled her hair.
The gold necklace with the piano key charm was hanging from her neck, an addition to the outfit that made Rachel’s heart swell.

“Really,” she added, after a long moment of appreciatively staring, “you’re gorgeous.”

The compliment had the effect that it often did, and Quinn’s response was a light blush across her cheekbones paired with a smirk and raised eyebrow. The combination of shy and sultry never failed to excite Rachel, but she took a slight step away, not wanting to cause a scene in public by kissing her girlfriend senseless in plain view of everyone in the lobby.

Quinn was apparently having a similar internal struggle, because she said, “We should get going. As much as I’d love to drag you off somewhere where we could be alone, I really want to take advantage of our time here. And I want to take you out on a romantic New York City date.”

“In that case, lead the way baby.”

Quinn gave her a flirty smile and extended her hand.
Rachel took it willingly and they headed out of the hotel and into the bustle of the city.

---------------------------------------------------

The date would have been special even without the bustling backdrop of the city.

They walked through Central Park holding hands and stopped to kiss on Bow Bridge. Whether by design or by happenstance, they were there at golden hour, and the late afternoon sun hitting Quinn’s face made Rachel’s heart want to explode with a potent combination of affection and desire.

Based on the look in those luminous hazel eyes that seemed to be memorizing her face, Quinn was feeling something similar.

But after one more soft, lingering kiss, she took Rachel’s hand and led her away to a cozy vegan restaurant where they shared a delicious meal.

By the time they got back to the hotel, they were both getting tired, though before they went to the room they did stop in a secluded alcove for a few minutes to partake in a make out session that quickly got more heated than either of them intended.

When Quinn pulled away, looking like she fully regretted that choice, Rachel leaned back in to rest her head on the blonde girl's shoulder.

“I want to cuddle with you tonight.”

“I’m going to make that happen, even if I have to kick someone out of bed,” Quinn replied in a throaty murmur as she held Rachel close for a long moment.

It turned out that she didn’t have to make good on that threat, because Santana and Brittany had saved them a spot in one of the beds.

That did mean that they had to squish in with the other two girls, but since Brittany was wrapped tightly around Santana like an octopus, there was actually ample room for them.

The last thing Rachel was aware of before she dropped off into sleep was the feel of Quinn’s lips gently brushing against her cheek.

---------------------------------------------------

When she woke, Rachel was in a pocket of lovely warmth, being gently anchored by Quinn’s arms.

That had all barely registered when she heard a whisper from very close by.

“Rachel. Wake up.”

She managed to turn her head enough to see Kurt crouched near the foot of the bed.

“Kurt?” she muttered blearily, “what are you doing?”

“Come on. We’re going to have breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

That got her eyes opened wider, and she started moving, doing her best to gently extricate herself from her girlfriend’s embrace.

The motion made Quinn let out a soft grumble as she half woke up, but Rachel quickly reached out to smooth down her hair, following that gentle motion with a kiss to the other girl’s forehead.

“Go back to sleep baby.”

Quinn mumbled something in response, and then her expression cleared as she drifted back off.

When Rachel looked up, Kurt was looking at her with a very soft smile.

“Sometimes I forget how adorable the two of you are together, and then something like this happens.”

Rachel blushed a little, but looked back down at Quinn’s sleeping face with an extremely fond expression.

After a few seconds, she shook herself out of her reverie and started quietly moving around the room to grab her clothes. A few minutes later, she and Kurt were slipping from the room and heading out for another small New York City adventure.

It was a couple hours before they returned, and by that point everyone else was up and had eaten breakfast, though the Unholy Trinity was nowhere to be found, and no one else seemed to know where they were.

Rachel assumed that the three friends had gone out for their own mini-adventure, and was pleased for them, though she was bursting to share her morning’s experiences with Quinn.
Especially getting to sing on a real Broadway stage!

Mr. Schue had finally reappeared, though he offered no explanation for his absence.
He had managed to secure them a small conference room where they could do a few run-throughs of their choreography before they needed to prepare to leave for the venue.

After sending a quick text to Quinn to inform her of their whereabouts, Rachel hurried after the rest of the group, the excitement of the morning’s adventures transitioning into pre-competition jitters.

They had just assembled in their temporary practice space when the door swung open and the Unholy Trinity sauntered in.

When Rachel caught sight of Quinn, she froze, and the comment that she’d been making to Kurt trailed off.

As her sudden silence registered, he looked up at her, confused.

“Rachel, what…,” he started to say, but then glanced over to see what she was staring at and continued, “oh, I see.”

A second later, he was standing alone as he watched the brunette walk hastily over to her girlfriend.

Quinn’s head was cocked to the side as she waited for Rachel’s verdict.

“You cut your hair.”

“Yeah, Fabray wanted to go even more gay,” Santana teased, “maybe next she’ll get a nose ring and start wearing Docs.”

“That would be hot,” Brittany replied.

Evidently, Rachel agreed, if the look on her face was any indication.
She continued to stand there staring and finally Quinn spoke.
“I wanted to do something different. Being here in the city is inspiring and it made me want a change.”

“Yes, this look is indeed…inspiring,” Rachel finally managed to say.

The way that her eyes were roaming over Quinn so intently made the blonde flush a little, even as a very satisfied smirk crossed her face. Eventually their eyes met, and their gaze held for a long moment.

Finally the mood was broken by, unsurprisingly, Santana interjecting.

“Hey losers, the rest of us don’t need to see your weird foreplay.”

“I mean…I don’t mind,” Puck muttered.

He was promptly slapped on the back of the head by Mercedes.

That interlude was enough to break the spell, though Rachel continued to shoot appreciative looks across the room for the remainder of rehearsal.

When they eventually took a water break, Rachel hurried over to Quinn, this time reaching out so she could run her fingers through the shorter locks.

“It’s so soft,” she marveled.

“They put some fancy product in it at the salon,” Quinn replied, her eyes never leaving Rachel’s face.

“Well, whatever they used it looks amazing, and…,”.

Her words were cut off by an insistent pair of lips, and she melted into the kiss, her fingers still idly running through Quinn’s hair.

“Oi! What did I say about the foreplay!”

“Aw, leave them alone San. They’re really cute. And hot.”

Santana rolled her eyes, but didn’t make any further comments, choosing instead to sling her arm around Brittany’s waist.

“Perhaps we should do another run through?” Kurt suggested. “The choreography for the second song still feels sloppy.”

Regretfully, Rachel disengaged from her girlfriend so they could take their places.

By the time they had to return to their hotel rooms to get dressed, they’d nailed the final run-though and the entire club was feeling confident, though the nervous anticipation was really starting to hit all of them.

An hour later, dressed in their competition best, they exited the hotel.

Rachel’s hand was held securely in Quinn’s, and as they stood on the sidewalk for a moment, taking in the sights and sounds of the city, she felt imbued with a powerful confidence.

No matter what happened today, she had Quinn, and her friends, and a whole bright future in front of her. The buoyant sense of happiness that filled her at that thought made her feel like she could fly.

“I love you.”

Quinn’s sudden, soft declaration only made that feeling of happiness more expansive.
She turned and flung her arms around the blonde girl, squeezing tightly and murmuring, “I love you too,” into the side of her sweet smelling neck.

Then she stepped back and took a deep breath.

“Let’s go win this thing.”

---------------------------------------------------

Chapter Text

Curious Minds

End Game

The return to school after Nationals was not as epic as Rachel had hoped.

In her wildest imaginings, she had pictured a giant banner covered in gold stars, confetti cannons blasting, wild applause from their fellow students, and a first place trophy so massive that it took multiple people to carry it.

Instead, there was a small 11th place trophy and a lot of amazing memories.

She was grounded in reality enough to know that, though they had worked very hard, this was their first Nationals appearance and nearly making it to the top ten was something to be proud of.

Which was something that she had announced, basically verbatim, to the entire Glee Club once they’d gathered together in the choir room to place their trophy into the trophy case.

It seemed that none of them had expected her to handle the loss with such grace, but the heartfelt delivery of her words had thankfully made people (including Mr. Schue) stop looking at her like she was a bomb about to go off.

Of course, her present decorum was, at least in part, due to the fact that upon their return from New York, Quinn had snuggled her while she cried for almost an hour.

Her dads had also bought her favorite vegan ice cream, and she’d eaten the entire carton while watching Funny Girl with Quinn’s arm around her, a combination of things that had cheered her up significantly.

Now, in the present, after her short speech to her fellow Glee members, she walked back across the choir room and seated herself.

As soon as she was back in her chair, Quinn leaned in to say, softly, “You know Rach, I really am impressed with how well you’re taking all of this.”

Her comment was acknowledged with a thoughtful nod and then Rachel replied, “While I do wish we had placed higher, I refuse to see this as a setback. This is just the beginning for us.”

She paused to smile at the girl next to her before adding, more quietly, though still managing to sound incredibly smug, “Besides, I have an extremely hot girlfriend. And I find that makes up for a lot.”

“What a coincidence,” Quinn replied, her voice dropping into the deeper register that Rachel loved, “so do I.”

She was just leaning in to try and sneak a quick kiss when she was interrupted by a loud and frustrated exclamation.

“Dios mio! Can you not keep your lips to yourselves for five minutes?”

Rachel rolled her eyes in Santana’s direction, but faced forward again, though she did rest her head against Quinn’s shoulder, unwilling to forgo all contact.

--------------------------------------------------

Getting interviewed by Jacob Ben Israel about her lesbian relationship was not something that Quinn Fabray had expected would happen during her junior year.

Though ostensibly, the topic of said interview was supposed to be the New Directions trip to Nationals, after just a few lukewarm questions about the competition, the interviewer had veered wildly off course.

Quinn had been sitting there next to Rachel, allowing the brunette to take the lead when it came to answering questions, but her pleasantly neutral expression shifted into icy warning when she heard the next question.

“So, what’s it like to be McKinley’s new power couple?”

Jacob stared at them with a creepy level of excitement as he awaited their answer.

Rachel made an affronted noise and narrowed her eyes, but before she could answer, Quinn asked, very coolly, “What does that mean?”

“A poll on my blog had you beating out every senior couple plus Puckerman and Zizes to win the title of the hottest couple at the school.”

“Wait, are Puck and Lauren even dating?”, Rachel asked, sounding confused, then shook her head and leveled a glare at Jacob, “That’s beside the point. Why are you posting about us on your wretched little blog?”

He seemed undeterred by the question and the colorful language, instead choosing to continue the interview.

“After you soft launched your relationship at junior prom, the interest in you as a couple is off the charts. I like to cater to my audience and give the people what they want.”

“Soft launched?”, Quinn asked with a scowl, “What are you talking about?”

Jacob leaned forward with an unsettling gleam in his eye.

“You showed up together and acted like a couple all night according to several sources, but haven’t officially confirmed your relationship. Care to do that now? On the record?”

Quinn glanced over at Rachel and upon coming to an unspoken understanding, her shoulders relaxed and she shrugged carelessly.

“We have no problem confirming it. We’re dating, and we have been for five months. If anyone has a problem with that, they’re welcome to come to a GSA meeting and find out just how wrong they are.”

“And we ask that our privacy be respected. Our relationship does not exist to be gawked at or dissected by unscrupulous pseudo-journalists,” Rachel added.

Ignoring her dig, and clearly beside himself at getting this scoop, Jacob plowed ahead.

“You can’t expect the public not to be titillated by this announcement. It’s the biggest breaking news since babygate!”

Quinn’s eyes flashed a warning.
“If you use the word “titillated” in conjunction with our relationship ever again, I’ll choke you with your own glasses.”

It was a Santana level threat, and Jacob was wise enough to look afraid.

He didn’t expect that an icy glare from Rachel Berry would ratchet up his threat assessment, but it was intimidating enough to make him actually lean back in his chair as she delivered an additional warning.

“Also, I would advise you never to speak of the so-called “babygate” incident ever again. Not in print, and certainly not in Quinn’s presence.”

Jacob quickly vacated his chair and took a step back to place the furniture between himself and the two girls.

“Thank you for your time!”

Having said that, he scurried out of the room, intent on updating his blog as quickly as possible.

The two girls sat in silence for a moment, and then Rachel said, tentatively, “I suppose that being the school power couple isn’t such a bad thing.”

“Excuse me,” Quinn said, a teasing note in her tone, “I have a long history of being part of power couples at this school.”

Rachel rolled her eyes.
“Right, of course, I am in the presence of the great Quinn Fabray after all.”

“And don’t you forget it.”

Quinn followed up this bit of banter with an intense kiss that, ironically, did make Rachel forget what they were talking about.

---------------------------------------------------

The remainder of the school year quickly slipped by, and almost before they knew it, junior year was over.

To celebrate making it through the school year, three queer couples had gathered at the Lima Bean to toast the freedom of the upcoming summer and reflect on what a wild ride the last six months had been.

When Kurt and Blaine arrived, Quinn and Rachel were already sitting at a table, chairs pressed close together even though there was ample room.

They had just gotten settled at the table when Brittany and Santana walked into the coffee shop, pinkies linked.
They headed for the register, Santana snapping her fingers aggressively to convince a random patron that he needed to let them cut him in line.

Kurt watched the scene unfold and rolled his eyes affectionately.

“She never changes, does she?”

The two girls joined them a few minutes later, Brittany sitting practically on Santana’s lap as she carefully sipped at something that appeared to be mostly whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles.

“Kurt filled me in on Nationals,” Blaine said smiling at all of them, “it sucks that you guys didn’t place in the top ten, but it’s amazing that you made it there. I wish I could have gone.”

“Perhaps you should come to McKinley next year and join the New Directions,” Rachel informed him jokingly, “that would provide me with a talented leading man with superior dancing skills to Finn’s and a less awkward height difference.”

Santana snickered.
“A banana has superior dancing skills than Hudson.”

Quinn gave out a huff of laughter and Kurt poked Santana, while Brittany started musing aloud about what a banana’s favorite style of dance would be.

In the ensuing shenanigans, no one noticed the thoughtful look on Blaine’s face.

A few minutes later, they had settled down a bit, and Rachel lifted her mug and held it in the air.

“I would like to propose a toast. To an unexpectedly excellent junior year, and to our future win at Nationals!”

They all clinked their cups and mugs together, big smiles on their faces.

Then Santana leaned back in her chair and regarded them all with a smirk.

“So what are you bitches planning on doing this summer?”

Kurt shook his head at her a little before replying, “Ignoring the unnecessary expletive, I plan to spend quality time with Blaine and work on some fashion projects. Now that we’ve eliminated slushies from the school, I’ll be able to wear even more fabulous outfits without the threat of destruction via artificial coloring.”

“You already look fabulous though, so if you’re more fabulous it will make my eyes even more happy.”

“Thank you Brittany.”

Unsurprisingly, Rachel was the next one to chime in.
“I intend to increase both my singing and dancing practice schedules as well as put together an outline of ways that the New Directions can improve in order to secure a Nationals win.”

On receiving a light shoulder bump from the blonde next to her, she added, “And of course spend as much time as possible with my lovely and charming girlfriend.”

Having delivered those words, she bestowed a brilliant smile upon that girlfriend, who responded with a smile of her own.

“Alright, alright,” Santana said, “before you two get lost in heart eye land…Fabray, what about you?”

Quinn gazed at Rachel for another long moment, and then rested an arm across the back of the other girl’s chair before facing forward again and answering the question.

“While I obviously also want to win show choir Nationals, what I’d really like is to have a double Nationals win our senior year.”

Santana looked intrigued.
“You mean…”.

Quinn nodded, a bit of HBIC energy now present in her facial expression.
“I mean I want us, the three of us, to lead the Cheerios to another Nationals win.”

Across the table from her, the other two members of the Unholy Trinity exchanged a look before turning back to Quinn.

Brittany looked uncharacteristically serious when she said, “Totally. I’m in.”

Santana crossed her arms and looked smug.
“Hell yeah Fabray. Let’s do it.”

A second later though she added, “But I still plan to have fun this summer, and spend a lot of time sitting by the pool.”

“You have a pool?” Kurt asked.

“Sure do. And you’re all invited.”

At that last casual sentence, Kurt and Rachel both smiled and exchanged a glance.
It was clear that they were both trying to be chill about the fact that they were being invited to hang out at Santana Lopez’s house, which even after everything that had happened in the last few months, still felt like a bit of a thrill.

Santana caught their interaction, and correctly interpreted it, smiling as she said, “Fair warning though, show up looking hot or entry is denied.”

“Santana,” Quinn chastised lightly.

In response, her friend just shrugged and gave her a faux-innocent look.
“What? Aren’t you happy that I can at least admit that your girl can be hot?”

“Of course she can be hot,” Quinn huffed.

Rachel laid a hand on her forearm, which as usual, had a calming effect on her girlfriend.

“While I would prefer not to be objectified, I will take that compliment at face value and accept the invitation including your “hotness” requirement.”

At her words, the girl across from her rolled her eyes, but whatever comeback she was planning to make was interrupted by Brittany.

“There’s going to be so much hotness. Because of all of us, but also because it’s going to be summer.”

“Right you are Brittany,” Kurt quickly replied, wanting to avoid the conversation devolving into bickering between Santana and Rachel.

“Oh also,” the girl added, “I’m going to teach everyone how to dance better.”

Everyone nodded seriously at that, and Brittany beamed, tapping her foot under the table as if she was already coming up with a dance routine in her head.

After a short stretch of silence, Rachel piped up again, saying in a bright tone, “I don’t know about the rest of you, but our trip to New York City made it even more clear in my mind that it's the place I’m meant to be. So I suppose that’s another thing I’ll be doing this summer…coming up with a plan to make that happen.”

“I second that ambition. Whether it’s to be on stage, or to be behind the scenes working on exquisite fashion concepts, I’m determined to also make it to the city.”

Blaine gave Kurt a shy little smile.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to moving there after graduation. Though I’d be a year behind you.”

Kurt smiled softly at him in return, and then Santana said, surprising them all, “Who knows, maybe I’ll end up there too. I’m sure the city can use another hot Latina.”

“Undoubtedly,” Kurt replied in a dry tone. “Can you imagine if we all ended up as roommates?”

Santana gave a bark of laughter.
“What, you, me, and Berry? We’d kill each other in less than a week.”

Rachel had a comical expression on her face as she tried to wrap her brain around that scenario.