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“Did you sleep okay?”
Quinn nodded as she plopped herself down into a chair at the kitchen table, gazing happily at the box of cereal, carton of milk and bowl in front of her. “Yeah. I still feel bad for making you sleep on the couch, though.”
“Dude, I sleep on the couch almost every night, anyways. Plus, you deserve a real bed after the shit you’ve gone through this weekend.”
“Can’t argue with that.” Quinn fixed herself a bowl of cereal while Holly flew around the apartment getting her things ready for the first day of her long-term sub job.
“Have you seen my left boot? The black leather one?” she called from the living room.
“It’s probably under the couch!” Quinn yelled back, and the warm feeling that had been in her chest since Sunday afternoon grew slightly. The comfort and safety that she was experiencing after one day in this apartment was more than she’d ever felt in 16 years in the Fabray household. There was one thing that festered in the back of her mind, though: How long would this last? How long would Holly let her stay here, let alone be in Lima? She was always just passing through, at least she had been the last few times Quinn had seen her. She didn’t know what other options she had besides staying here, and she frankly didn’t want to think about it. Quinn supposed that was probably something she needed to talk to Holly about soon.
“Hey, ready to go?” Holly said, poking her head into the kitchen. Quinn smiled and took her last bite of cereal before placing the bowl in the sink and following Holly to the door. “I can give you a ride, if you wanna save gas. Don’t worry, I’ll drop you off in the back so no one sees you get out of my car,” Holly offered.
“Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks.” The trip to Holly’s car was silent, and so was the first minute of the drive, until Holly broke it.
“What’s up with you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re being weird. All silent and mopey and shit. Are you okay?”
Quinn sighed. She really didn’t want to have this conversation this early in the morning. “I’m okay. I guess I’m… I’m just worried about where I’m gonna live now.” Holly laughed, then turned her head to look at Quinn, who was frowning.
“Seriously? You’re not joking?”
“No?”
“I think I made it pretty obvious I plan on having you stay with me, dumbass.” Quinn stared back at her now, open-mouthed.
“Really?”
“Yes, really. What would make you think I’d make you find somewhere else to stay? I’m not a monster, and I’ve got the room to have you. Speaking of, wanna go mattress-shopping later this week? So, y’know, you can have your own bedroom instead of stealing mine.” Quinn’s head was spinning. This woman was taking her in without hesitation, and was offering to buy her a mattress? No one had ever been this nice to her in her life, much less an adult. Holly must’ve sensed Quinn’s confusion, because she continued. “When I said we’d figure this out together, I meant it. It’s you and me, kid, alright? Get that through your head. You’re stuck with me for a while.” She grinned at Quinn, who returned the expression wholeheartedly.
“I still don’t understand why you would do all this for me.” Something flashed in Holly’s eyes, but it was gone before Quinn could identify it.
“Because I want to. Let’s just leave it at that for now,” Holly replied as she pulled into the back parking lot of WMHS. She parked the car around the corner from the front entrance. “Get outta here. I’ll see you in chemistry class.”
Quinn surprised herself and leaned over to pull Holly into a quick hug. “Thanks for everything. And for the ride.” They gave each other one last smile before Quinn was out of the car and on her way into McKinley.
Quinn was used to people staring as she walked down the hallway, but this time it felt different. This time, they were looking at her in surprise and confusion, probably all wondering why she had an unfortunately noticeable busted lip. She had managed to cover the bruise that had now spread the length of her jawline on the right side of her face, but at the rate her heart was beating, she was now worried she’d sweat off all of Holly’s concealer.
She had barely made it to her locker before Sam was approaching her.
“Why haven’t you been answering your phone? Holy fuck, Quinn, what happened to your face?” he asked in a harsh whisper, immediately trying to shield her from the view of everyone else in the hallway. She silently thanked him for that.
“None of your business,” she replied, not meeting his eyes and instead dialing in her locker combination.
“You and I both know damn well that isn’t true. Talk to me, Q.”
“I don’t want to. Not right now, Sam. Just leave me alone.” She grabbed her English textbook and slammed her locker shut before stomping away from him down the hall. She immediately felt a stab of guilt for blowing him off like that, but she couldn’t help it. She could feel everyone’s eyes on her, and it made her skin crawl. Beads of sweat trickled down the side of her face, and instead of making her way to her English classroom, she made a beeline for the girl’s bathroom on the second floor.
When she got there, she threw her bag on the ground and immediately braced herself on the sink, her head hung low as she tried to calm her breathing. She casted a glance up at the mirror, and saw that the makeup was indeed sweating off. That just made her breath more shallow. Her head was spinning. People couldn’t know that she was beat up and thrown out, because then they’d ask why. And she’d have to answer, and it would have to be the truth, and-
“Quinn? Are you alright?”
Of fucking course.
Quinn couldn’t respond, especially not after hearing her voice.
It got even harder to breathe. She tried to gasp in some air, but her throat felt like it was closing, and her hand slipped off of the sink, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.
Rachel Berry was beside her in an instant.
“Breathe, Quinn. Breathe for me. In and out. Focus on my voice, match my breaths.” Rachel was on the floor, on her knees in front of Quinn, cradling her face with both hands and staring into her eyes steadily, never breaking contact. Her eyes never left Quinn’s once, not even to look at her split lip or her now exposed bruise.
“Rachel, I-” Quinn started, her voice strangled, pained.
“Don’t try to talk. Just breathe.”
They sat there for a while, Quinn’s face in Rachel’s hands, staring into each other’s eyes, breathing slowly, in and out, until Quinn finally felt like she could move again.
“Thank you,” Quinn whispered, and she wasn’t even sure Rachel heard her until hands slowly fell from her face. She immediately missed their warmth.
“Would you like to talk about it?” Rachel asked quietly, and Quinn wasn’t sure if she was referring to the panic attack she had just had, or her bruised and cut face. Probably both.
“Not really.” Quinn sighed and moved to sit with her back against the wall. Rachel followed.
“You don’t have to, but I’m still going to sit here with you. Obviously you shouldn’t be alone right now.” Quinn nodded, and they sat in silence for a while. It wasn’t uncomfortable.
“If I tell you something. You have to promise not to tell anyone.”
“Okay.”
“I mean it.”
“Quinn, I know we aren’t the closest of friends, but I’d like you to think that you can trust me. I know I trust you,” Rachel said earnestly, and she was looking at Quinn with those fucking eyes again, those big brown doe eyes that made her heart melt in her chest, and it all came spilling out.
“I’m gay. My dad found out, and he beat the shit out of me. Threw me out of the house again. It’s okay though, because I have a place to stay. And it’s way better than where I was before.”
Rachel’s mouth dropped open, but she quickly shut it again. Her jaw clenched, and she reached out to hold Quinn’s hand between her own.
“Thank you for trusting me,” was all she said. Quinn released a small laugh.
“Oh, come on, Berry. I can tell you’re dying to ask questions. Go ahead.”
“Will you answer them?”
“Depends on what they are.”
“Okay. How long is the drive from here to your father’s house?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“So I know how long I have to wait before I can kick his fucking ass.”
Quinn’s eyebrows shot to her hairline at that. She had never heard Rachel curse before, like, in her whole life. Except when she sang ‘Gives You Hell,’ but that doesn’t even really count.
“He’s six foot two. You wouldn’t stand a chance. I couldn’t.”
“You’re unaware of my background in martial arts, Quinn. I’m a black belt in jiu-jitsu. That sport is all about how to tip the scale in the favor of the little guy.” Quinn laughed at that, and Rachel grinned at the sound. “I do have another question.”
“Shoot.”
“Where are you staying now?”
“Holly’s place.”
“Holly? As in, Holliday?”
“That’s the one.”
“I didn’t even know she was in town.”
“Me neither, until she knocked on my car window yesterday morning.”
“You… you slept in your car?”
“Only for one night. Holly let me crash at her place last night, and it looks like she’s gonna let me stay for a while. Which is cool, since she’s, like, really awesome.” Rachel smiled and squeezed Quinn’s hand.
“That’s great, Quinn. I’m glad you have a place to stay with someone who will accept you for who you are. If something happens, and my dads agree, our doors are always open.”
“Thanks, Rach.” The nickname slipped out before she could stop herself, and a blush quickly spread across her cheeks.
“I like that. Rach. You should call me that more. It sounds much better coming out of your mouth than Finn’s.”
Oh. Quinn’s blush intensified, something she didn’t even know possible. Was Rachel Berry flirting with her? On the floor of this bathroom at nine o’clock in the morning?
Well, no time like the present.
“Maybe I will.”
“Good.” Rachel stood, then held out a hand to help Quinn up. “We’ve already missed first period, and I know we have chemistry together next. Would you like to walk with me?”
Quinn grinned. “Yeah. Yes. Of course I would.” Quinn took Rachel’s hand, and the smaller girl lifted her up with surprising ease. Quinn moved back to her spot by the sink to assess her face.
“Shit. I need to reapply this fucking concealer,” she muttered, and dug in her bag until she found it.
“Here, let me help.”
Before Quinn could even think about protesting, Rachel snatched the concealer from her hands and went to work. She held Quinn’s jaw delicately between her thumb and her forefinger, her gaze hard in concentration as she lightly applied the concealer to Quinn’s face.
Quinn couldn’t help but stare.
Rachel. The way her brow knitted together as she focused, the way she bit her lip without even realizing it. The way she tilted her head slightly to take a better look, to make sure she was covering everything. The way her eyes shone in this light, brown and bright and beautiful. In that moment, Quinn wanted nothing more than to kiss her. To take her face in her hands and press her lips against Rachel’s, softly, tenderly, with feeling. She had so much she wanted to say to Rachel, and a kiss would say it all.
“Okay, done,” Rachel said with a smile, and Quinn ripped her eyes down to the floor.
She took the concealer from Rachel’s hands, their fingertips grazing a moment too long, and she tried not to shiver.
After shoving the concealer into her bag, Quinn opened the door of the bathroom and gestured for Rachel to go first. The hallway was already bustling with people on their way to second period.
“After you.”
“What a gentleman,” Rachel teased, curtsying before exiting the bathroom. Quinn giggled.
Yeah, she was a goner.
Quinn was packing up her chemistry books after class when Sam approached her again. This time he was with Santana.
“Bitch, seriously. What is up with you? Are you okay? You won’t even answer our texts. Who gave you that busted lip?” Santana asked, sliding into the chair beside her that was previously occupied by Rachel, who had already left, stating that there were pressing sheet-music matters to attend to in the choir room. Sam pulled a chair over from the table in front of them.
“My phone is broken.”
“You couldn’t have told me that this morning?” Sam shot back. Quinn looked around to see who was still in the room, who was still within earshot. Stoner Brett was in the back row, drooling onto his paper as he slept. Other than him, Holly Holliday was the only other person in the room, and she was definitely pretending not to listen as she cleaned off the chalkboard.
She turned her gaze to Santana. “If you must know, my father read your text.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Read between the fucking lines, Santana.”
There was a long silence as the gears in her friends’ brains turned.
“Oh. Oh fuck. Did he… Is he the one that did that to you?” Santana asked.
“Yeah. Kicked me out again, too.”
“ Fuck, Quinn, I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s mine, if anything.”
“Excuse me, it absolutely is not, Q. We’ve already been over this,” Holly interrupted from her spot by the chalkboard. She was now leaning against it with her arms crossed, staring back at Quinn.
“Sorry. You’re right. It’s not my fault. It’s my dad’s.”
“Thought we also agreed we weren’t calling him that anymore. I think I need to hear you say it again.”
Quinn rolled her eyes.
“Seriously?”
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
Quinn rolled her eyes again. Seriously, they had a permanent spot in the back of her head at this point. Holly had that effect on her.
“Fine. Russell is a fucking piece of shit. Happy?”
Holly grinned and nodded. “Yeah.” She turned back to the chalkboard and continued cleaning.
Sam and Santana were looking between them open-mouthed, confusion etched across their features.
“I’m sorry, but what the fuck just happened?” Santana asked, eyebrows raised.
“After my dad-”
“Who?” Holly interrupted.
“After Russell threw me out, I slept in my car in the McKinley parking lot, and Holly found me. I’m staying with her now.” Sam leaned back in his chair, and gave Holly an appreciative look.
“Wow. Okay. Well, that’s awesome. Not that you got kicked out, I mean, but that you have a place to stay. You know you can always come stay with me, Q,” he added, his voice dropping in volume at the last sentence.
“Or me,” Santana piped up.
Quinn looked over to Holly, who was hiding a smile, but just barely. Their eyes met and they shared a grin.
“Thanks, guys. But I think I found where I need to be.”