Chapter 12

A story about genetically programmed soul mates.

It had been two weeks since their first date and Rachel was still enamored by Quinn. The two girls had not even had their first kiss, and yet it still felt as though they had known each other for years. Even though they were mates Rachel was still surprised at how well they got along. They had come a long way from the first day they had met. They had even formed a routine to keep Quinn from getting in trouble at home. Every day Quinn and Rachel would drive to school separately, and they would leave separately but always meet up at Rachel’s house after school. They would spend two and a half hours together, and then Quinn would drive home. 

Rachel had become very content with the way her life had changed over the past two weeks. She had a girl who was almost her girlfriend. But most importantly she had a friend. Quinn was the first friend Rachel had ever had besides her butler, Jerry. Rachel had always found acquaintances from moving around so much but never a real friend. Quinn, however, really seemed to be interested in her, which had boosted her self-esteem greatly. 

Rachel found herself walking down the hallways with her head held high - she was no longer the new girl-she was the girl who Quinn Fabray was secretly dating. Almost. 

Everything was going perfectly, except for one small detail. Quinn had not asked her to be her girlfriend yet, the blonde had not even asked her on a proper date. Rachel had made the first move by planning the first date, which had gone very well. The last few weeks in general had gone well and Rachel was amazed that she and Quinn were not (secretly) officially dating yet. The two girls were becoming closer much fast than Rachel had ever expected them to. 

Quinn and Rachel were texting nearly twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. They texted in class, they texted when they got home, they texted during Glee Club, after Glee Club, sometimes they even texted each other while they were together, but only when they couldn’t speak out loud due to company that were not aware of their secret.

Rachel could probably tell a complete stranger almost everything they needed to know about Quinn Fabray. Her favorite color was yellow, she had hazel eyes, genuine blonde hair, she was captain of the Cheerios, her favorite food was bacon-unfortunately-her favorite type of music was Christian rock, and she wished she could have a dog but her parents would never let her. And that was only off the top of her head. 

Rachel had come to know many things about Quinn, but there were still so many things she longed to know. Why was her father so awful to her? What had her father actually done to make her so scared? Why were her initials LF and not QF? 

Rachel longed to know these questions but she knew it was too early to ask, and she didn’t want to make Quinn shut her out after only two weeks. She had finally gotten to a place in life where she was happy and not just content. She didn’t want to ruin it by being nosy. She would wait for the right time and place to ask Quinn all of these questions. 

However, Rachel did want a girlfriend and she had no problem pushing Quinn to make that happen. How to get Quinn to ask her out was the question. She could sing, but that would be too obvious, Glee Club was a definite no. 

She needed to subtly direct the blonde into understanding that she was the one who needed to make the move now. As Rachel sat in fourth period she pulled out a piece of paper and began to list ways she could coax Quinn into asking her out. But none of them were good enough. When she got to twenty and she still wasn’t pleased with her planning skills, she simply resorted to an old fashioned method. Wait. Quinn would have to come around eventually.

~~~~~~~~

“Do you have any plans tomorrow?” Rachel looked up from her seat to find Quinn towering over her with an expectant look on her face. 

“No. I don’t think I have anything planned. Why do you ask?” Rachel tried not to get her hopes up, but she knew it wouldn’t be anything she wanted to hear. They were sitting in the middle of Glee Club, Quinn would never be so forward in front of so many people. 

“Could you help me with my pitch after school? I’ve been going flat lately. I’d really appreciate some help.” It was a strange question but Rachel was willing to play along.

“Uh-sure. I can help. Did you have a location in mind?” 

“Just meet my by my car. I know a place.” Quinn took her spot behind Rachel and folded her hands in her lap. When the brunette turned to see what was up with the blonde, she saw that the girl had a small smile on her face. 

~~~~~~~~

Rachel walked to Quinn’s car just as she had asked her too, but when she arrived at the yellow beetle, Quinn was nowhere to be found. Rachel waited for a few minutes before deciding Quinn had changed her mind and decided not to take Rachel wherever they were going. The brunette turned to leave and was met by Quinn, without her Cheerios uniform on. She had on a light yellow sundress with white flowers. 

Rachel jumped and her hand flew to her chest, “Quinn! You scared me.” 

“I’m sorry, Rach, I had to change before I came out here. I should have let you know. Are you ready?” Rachel nodded yes and Quinn pulled her keys out of her purse and unlocked the car. “Great. Let’s go.”

After fifteen minutes of silent driving, Rachel couldn’t take it anymore. “Where are we going?” Rachel asked as politely as she could. 

“You’ll see.” Quinn was being so secretive. Rachel was beginning to get her hopes up. Maybe this was the big day. Maybe Quinn was going to ask her. Rachel felt silly getting so excited for something so trivial. But Rachel couldn’t help but feel giddy at the fact that she was finally going to have someone who loved her and wasn’t afraid to admit it-other than her fathers of course.

“Okay,” Rachel folded her hands in her lap and stared out the window. She tapped her foot anxiously as her mind tried to wrap around what Quinn might have planned for today. She looked out the window for clues, but nothing that passed by helped. They were going nowhere near her house, nor Quinn’s, not that the blonde would take her there anyway. They drove past breadstix, the town’s most popular restaurant and, she gave up on the idea of a dinner date. “Quinn, will you please just give me a clue as to where we are going?” Rachel tried again. 

Quinn looked away from the road for a moment to look at the anxious brunette next to her and chuckled at the helpless look in her eyes. She knew Rachel would never be able to handle a surprise. “I can’t do that.” 

“Why? I need to know. You know that I plan almost every moment of every day. This is killing me.” Rachel whined. 

“You will know when we get there, okay?” Quinn smiled to herself, trying to hide her amusement but failing as she let out another quiet chuckle. 

Rachel folded her arms across her chest and huffed. “Quinn Fabray, I demand that you tell me where we are going this instant!”

A devious smile spread across Quinn’s lips, “And what are you going to do if I don’t tell you?” 

“Do you want to wait and find out?” Rachel challenged the blonde.

“I think I would, actually.” Quinn wasn’t going to give in to Rachel’s antics this time. She was going to stay strong. 

“Ugh! You are so stubborn!” Rachel yelled, which only made Quinn burst out in laughter. “Why are you laughing? This is not funny at all. Tell me now!” Rachel yelled again. But Quinn only laughed even harder. 

“You are such a diva and you’re kind of cute when you get mad, but I’m still not going to tell you where we are going.” Quinn said calmly. 

“Why not? Why are you torturing me? Is this a cruel joke are you going t -”

“Rachel. We’re here already. Look,” Quinn motioned towards the building they were parked in front of. 

“A book store? Why? Why would you put me through all of this trouble just to show me a bookstore?” 

“Because you showed me your favorite places in your house on our first date and now I am going to show you my favorite places in Lima on our second date.”

Rachel stared at the blonde with a mortified look on her face, “That is so sweet….I feel like a jerk now.” Rachel worried her hands in her lap, too ashamed to look at Quinn. 

“It’s okay, Rach, really. We’ve been-welll-I don’t know what we are, but we have been mates for long enough that I knew you would not react well to a surprise. I have to admit, I kind of wanted to see your diva tantrum and I was not disappointed.” 

Rachel’s jaw dropped in awe as she stared at Quinn. “I honestly felt bad, but now I just want to smack you. Take me in the bookstore before I lose control of my limbs.” Rachel stepped out of the car and slammed the door.

Quinn chuckled as she followed after the brunette and held open the door. “After you.” Rachel looked away from the blonde as she entered the store and Quinn kept the smirk on her face. The blonde followed the girl to the middle of the store and watched as she looked around. “This is probably my favorite place in Lima.” Quinn moved towards the literature section. “...and this is my favorite part of the store.” 

Rachel looked at the blonde as if she were crazy when she saw the books around them. Most of them were children’s books: Where the Wild thing Grow, Charlotte’s Webb, A Wrinkle in Time. “I know what you are thinking, ‘Quinn what are you doing reading children’s books?’ I promise you I’m not reading all children’s books. My favorite book is a children’s book though.” Quinn picked up a book and flipped through the pages, “I have my own copy at home, but I can’t bring you there so I figured, why not bring you to the place where my love of literature began?” 

Rachel took the book from Quinn and looked it over. Alice in Wonderland. She flipped through the pages and looked at the illustrations throughout the book. “This is absolutely precious, Quinn,” Rachel said as she flipped through the book. “But why is this your favorite book?”

“Well, it’s hard to explain. Alice is an innocent girl who is put into situations she cannot control nor is she ready for. But she is put into a world where everyone is crazy and she seems to be the only one who is sane. There are many more interpretations that I have noticed after reading it over and over, but I feel kind of connected to Alice in a way because of my family. I feel like I am the only sane one there.”

Rachel nodded in understanding. She looked down at Alice on the cover of the book. She looked so small and helpless in the big ‘wonderland’. It made her think of Quinn as a little girl walking around her big house terrified, that her father might come after her. “I can’t imagine feeling that way. Being afraid of the man who is supposed to love you the most. I’m so sorry you have to live this way, Quinn.” 

Quinn sighed quietly and look down at her feet as she dug her toes into the carpet. “It’s okay.” When Rachel gave her a pointed look, she explained further. “No, I know it’s not okay. I just mean. I’m used to it. It’s okay because I know that one day it will be over. I won’t be under my father’s thumb forever. Until I am done with my college expenses, I will be chained by him. But that’s okay now.” 

Rachel frowned at Quinn’s response, “Why is it okay? Nothing like that should ever be okay.” 

“It’s okay because after it’s all over, I have you. Through it all I have you. You are going to be here every step of the way. If my father ever hurts me again, I know that I can go to you. If he -” Quinn stopped herself before she said too much too soon. But Rachel had already caught on to the fact that Quinn was trying to hide something. 

“If he what?” Rachel asked calmly. 

Quinn didn’t want to scare Rachel away with how cruel her father could be. She wanted to keep her past away from Rachel until she was ready to face how the brunette might react to hearing that Quinn’s own father had lost control and almost killed her. Quinn knew that it would take a strong person to overcome that fact and she hoped that Rachel would be that person, but she was too scared to risk it now. 

“I’m just not ready to share that part of my life yet, I’m sorry.” Quinn took a step towards Rachel and took one of her hands in her own, the touch of the tan skin on her own sent a warmth through her body. She had learned to feel comfort in that warmth, it had made its way to rest in the pit of her stomach, willing her to push the boundaries on her relationship, but she knew she had to restrain. She wasn’t ready and her body needed to accept that. “I will tell you someday. Just not today.”

Rachel nodded in understanding and looked away from the blonde, not able to handle the intensity of the hazel eyes staring right through her. Over the past few weeks, Rachel had been diverting her gaze away from Quinn’s more and more often. The girl’s eyes had a power over her that she was struggling to overpower. But instead of allowing herself to drown in the hazel eyes, she cleared her throat and put the book back on the shelf. “I understand, Quinn. Are there anymore places you want to show me?” 

Quinn smiled and made her way towards the door. “We have many more places I need to show you actually.” 

“Are you going to tell me where we are going now?” Rachel asked hopefully. 

“Of course not. I enjoyed your first tantrum too much,” Quinn teased as she walked out of the bookstore. 

~~~~~~~~~

 

“You put me through all of that again just to bring me to another store? Are you trying to kill me with anticipation?” Rachel whined. 

“Of all people I thought you would have appreciated this particular store the most,” Quinn defended. 

“I do appreciate what pianos have to offer to my musical talent and my future career, but I don’t even even play the piano. I only know the basic scales for finding my pitch,” Rachel explained. 

“Well that may be, but I can play the piano.” Quinn stated as she walked towards the entrance of the store. 

“You are really enjoying making me look stupid today aren’t you?” Rachel pouted as she followed Quinn into the store. 

“You are making yourself look stupid,” Quinn said as she walked towards the back of the store. “I brought you here for two reasons.” Quinn walked to a room that had her name on it and opened the door for Rachel to walk in, “I want to play my favorite piano for you, but I also want to hear you sing. I mean really sing, not that classic rock crap Mr. Schue is always making us sing in Glee Club. I want to hear you sing from in here.” Quinn placed her hand on Rachel’s heart and felt the warmth travel up her arm again. She had to take a moment just to appreciate the fact that just touching Rachel had such an effect on her. No one had ever brought out any real emotion out in the blonde, but Rachel seemed to just break through every wall she had built without even trying. “So, will you sing for me?” Quinn asked hopefully.

“How did you even -” Rachel began to ask but Quinn cut her off.

“I know the owner. I come here on a weekly basis to test on grand pianos for him. Please sing.” Quinn pleaded. 

“You test grand pianos here? You must be amazing then.” Rachel was astounded at how much Quinn actually hid about herself. The girl had never even touched the piano in the Glee Club, not that it was worthy of her talents, considering the pianos in the store. “I’ll sing as long as you play for me first.” 

“Deal.” Quinn adjusted the bench in front of the piano and played a few basic warm ups to prepare for her piece. “I’m not sure what to play you. I-I guess I can play you my favorite piece,Ives: Piano Sonata No.2 It’s one of the hardest songs I have ever played. I couldn’t really tell you why it’s my favorite, I guess because…it kind of reminds me of winter” Quinn chuckled to herself before she placed her hands on the keys and closed her eyes, seeing the notes behind her eyelids she began to play. 

Rachel watched as Quinn’s hands glided over the keys, the music wasn’t fast, but her hands were confident about each note she played. She watched as Quinn slowly faded away into the music swaying forward and back, keeping time with her body. The blonde felt the music; she was the music. In that moment nothing existed except for Quinn and the grand piano she played so beautifully. 

Rachel could feel her eyes welling up at the sight of the blonde. She looked so happy, so at peace as she played. This was something that no one could ever take away from Quinn, and knowing that made Rachel feel just a little bit better about everything that was still to come.

When Quinn finally opened her eyes and looked up at Rachel, she saw her tear streaked face and instantly rose from her chair to wipe them dry. “Is something wrong?” Quinn asked gently. 

“No, of course not. That was just so - moving. You play beautifully. Quinn.” Rachel sniffled and wiped at her eyes. 

Quinn smiled and sat back down at the piano. “Thank you, Rachel, but nothing is ever going to be more beautiful than the sound of your voice accompanied by my piano.” 

Rachel rolled her eyes and scoffed at the blonde, “Do you have to ruin every moment we have together?”

“Yes, it’s my job. Do you have a song in mind?” 

“Well...I. My Man is my favorite song to sing, as well as the hardest.” Rachel thought out loud. She had to admit she was slightly intimidated by Quinn’s playing, “Is that okay?”

“Of course it’s okay. You just start singing and I will keep up with you. Okay?”

Rachel stood in front of Quinn and nodded when she was ready to begin. Rachel sang the first few words of the song before Quinn began to play along with a few soft chords under her voice. At first Rachel was a bit nervous, singing completely acoustic and alone with Quinn, singing a song that made her question her voice and talent and left her emotionally vulnerable. She was apprehensive to fully commit to the song, but quickly found her confidence as she lost herself in the song.

As Rachel came to the climax of the song Quinn followed and by the end of the song Rachel felt as though she might explode from the adrenaline rushing through her veins from the intensity of the music surrounding her. 

After the last note, Rachel wasn’t sure she could look at Quinn-or even move for that matter. She simply stood there, reflecting on what had just happened. She stared at the wall behind Quinn and thought about what she was feeling. She had already said enough stupid things, she didn’t need to make a fool of herself again. The brunette turned around and worried her hands in front of her. “Quinn...I...I didn’t know you could do that.”

“I didn’t either.” Quinn’s voice drifted up from behind her, but when Rachel turned around, the blonde was standing in front of her. “I -” But there were no more words. Quinn leaned down and brushed her lips against Rachel’s. She wrapped her arms around the girl’s waist and pulled her closer. Quinn hesitated before gently closing the distance between them. Quinn instantly felt the warmth take over her body, she could feel Rachel everywhere. She held Rachel closer not wanting to let go of the girl. 

As the kiss intensified, Quinn knew she needed to stop. They couldn’t go too far, they couldn’t let themselves bond to fast, but as she stood in the practice room and kissed Rachel Berry with everything she had, she wasn’t sure she could stop. Rachel’s hands tangled in her hair and Quinn’s hands balled into fists, grabbing Rachel’s shirt. It wasn’t until the blonde heard a low moan that she pushed the brunette away and tried to catch her breath. “Rachel...I-I’m sorry. I know you wanted to take it slow, we need to take it slow. I don’t know what came over me.”

Rachel just stared wide eyed at Quinn as she tried to calm the humming in her body, every part of her felt as though it were vibrating as she felt the chemicals racing through her veins. She knew that no damage had been done but she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed each time their bond became stronger. “It’s okay. We just have to be more careful. Are you okay?” Rachel asked still coming down from her slight high.

“Yeah, just a little lightheaded,” Quinn admitted. 

Rachel nodded, “I think...I think we should go home now.” 

Quinn nodded and the two girls headed out to the car. They drove home in silence, not because it was awkward but because they didn’t need to speak. They could both feel how happy the other was about the day they had just spent together. They both knew they could only go up from here. They had each other and that was all that mattered. 

When Quinn drove up to Rachel’s house at exactly six-forty-five the two girls didn’t kiss goodbye, they knew they couldn’t risk it. Rachel simply got out of the car and walked to her front door. Before she entered, she turned around and gave Quinn a timid wave before entering her house and closing the door behind her. 

Quinn drove the rest of the way home and went straight to her room, where she plopped onto her bed and stared at her ceiling as usual, except this time instead of thinking about everything she did wrong, everything she would never have, she thought about all the things that were in her future. She thought about Rachel Berry, the girl who had single - handedly saved her life.

Author's Note

I feel like I need to explain how the bond between mates works a little better. I'm not sure if it is actually clear.