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blue_bells» Title: You've Got a Friend
» Fandom: Glee
» Warnings: None
» Pairing(s)/Characters: Quinn/Rachel (pre-slash)
» Summary: Wherein Rachel shows support the way she does best.
» A/N: Written here for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
milleniumrex. The song is "You've Got a Friend" by James Taylor.
Quinn was resigned when she told Puck she would raise their baby alone.
She still doesn’t know how she’ll do it and hopes every day that she’ll answer a call from her parents asking her to come home, or find her Dad waiting for her outside the school with apology in his smile and his arms open for her.
It’s already the third trimester and the only word she’s heard was from her mother in a brief and hurried phone call to check that her daughter hadn’t fallen to rot in a ditch since she’d left them. Her mother’s voice had shaken as she asked, but there had been no invitation to come back. Not yet. Quinn had hung up the phone and cried.
Quinn sits alone in the auditorium after Glee practice one day. She drums her fingers quietly against the piano keys and keeps her hopes to herself.
She doesn’t notice Rachel until the girl clears her throat in that important and perfunctory manner of hers. Quinn startles and blinks through the sting in her eyes to see Rachel looking slightly ashamed. Or maybe that’s apology as she ducks her head, her hands wringing gently in front of her.
Shame isn’t a quality often seen on Rachel Berry, so it’s hard to tell.
Quinn shakes her head, already weary. “What?”
“Mr Shue seems to have double-booked us. I have permission to use the auditorium this afternoon –“
“Great. I was just leaving.” Quinn reaches down for her school bag, relieved for the excuse to leave.
“O-oh, no, it’s okay,” Rachel says hurriedly, making Quinn pause with suspicion. “I don’t mind sharing the piano.”
Rachel glances at Quinn’s belly swollen under her summer dress and Quinn follows her gaze self-consciously. Her stomach never got as big as she feared it would, but she's frustrated she can't avoid the tell-tale waddle.
“I wasn’t using it,” Quinn slings her bag over her shoulder, but Rachel steps in when Quinn goes to her feet.
“Maybe we could practice together?” Rachel offers hopefully and Quinn wonders if Rachel realises she’s breaching personal space. “I... I could use the assistance of someone to spot my melody in the new ballad, the high G can be slippery.”
Quinn stares at the girl who’s proven herself the paradigm of ‘diva’. “Rachel, your pitch is perfect, you remind us all the time.”
Rachel looks so disappointed and she glances again at Quinn’s belly. “Yes, that’s true, but I – there’s something I’ve been meaning to say for a while. I’ve noticed your pallor turning waxen indicating you’ve been losing sleep and negligence of a proper skin regime. Your energy in the last dance performance was severely lacking, but –“
Quinn feels her stomach drop, but her eyes narrow. “Are you asking me to leave the Glee club?”
Rachel’s eyes widen and she throws her hands up in defence. “No! No, quite the opposite. You have the most valid excuse of anybody to be distracted. I wanted to say it’s understandable.”
Quinn purses her lips, eyebrow approaching her hairline. “You understand?”
Rachel thrusts a hand at the piano. “Would you sit down?”
“If I’m going to stay for this, I’d rather stand.”
“... Okay,” Rachel blinks and hurries to the piano seat, her smile seems to say, 'Well, here goes!' in the pause before her fingers move to the first keys. Quinn frowns as the notes pass, the song sounds familiar and sad.
So far, she doesn’t like it.
“When you’re down and troubled and you need a helping hand, and nothing, oh nothing is going right,” Rachel glances at Quinn, voice soft, “Close your eyes and think of me, and soon I will be there to brighten up even your darkest night.”
Quinn frowns because Rachel had sung a similar song to uplift her once. That time the entire Glee club was behind her and Finn had been at her side. That was an era ago.
“You just call out my name and you know wherever I am, I’ll come running to see you again. Winter, spring, summer or fall: all you have to do is call.”
Quinn cants her head to the side and watches Rachel’s face for any hint of her motivation. But then Rachel turns, catches her eye. Rachel’s brief smile is tentative and these days, Quinn can recognise an olive branch when she sees one.
“And I’ll be there. Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Rachel sings without guile, arrogance, or excessive emotion for performance’s sake. There’s only kindness and it’s... refreshing. “You’ve got a friend.”
Quinn’s school bag slips from her shoulder and Rachel scoots over on the piano bench, hands still playing when Quinn slowly settles down beside her. Quinn continues watching Rachel’s face through the second verse, Rachel’s arm occasionally brushes hers when she reaches past for keys higher up the scale. By the third and final verse Rachel’s soft voice has lulled Quinn’s eyes closed.
“Ain’t it good to know you’ve got a friend?”
Quinn opens her eyes, wondering at the foreign calm humming through her and she looks at Rachel again. Rachel’s watching her and Quinn is pleasantly surprised by the promise she sees.
“You’ve got a friend.”
When the song ends Quinn can see the moment Rachel realises she's run out of notes and tenses. Unsure what to do next, she looks at Quinn for her reaction.
Quinn smiles shyly. “Again?”
Rachel beams.
» Fandom: Glee
» Warnings: None
» Pairing(s)/Characters: Quinn/Rachel (pre-slash)
» Summary: Wherein Rachel shows support the way she does best.
» A/N: Written here for
milleniumrex. The song is "You've Got a Friend" by James Taylor.Quinn was resigned when she told Puck she would raise their baby alone.
She still doesn’t know how she’ll do it and hopes every day that she’ll answer a call from her parents asking her to come home, or find her Dad waiting for her outside the school with apology in his smile and his arms open for her.
It’s already the third trimester and the only word she’s heard was from her mother in a brief and hurried phone call to check that her daughter hadn’t fallen to rot in a ditch since she’d left them. Her mother’s voice had shaken as she asked, but there had been no invitation to come back. Not yet. Quinn had hung up the phone and cried.
Quinn sits alone in the auditorium after Glee practice one day. She drums her fingers quietly against the piano keys and keeps her hopes to herself.
She doesn’t notice Rachel until the girl clears her throat in that important and perfunctory manner of hers. Quinn startles and blinks through the sting in her eyes to see Rachel looking slightly ashamed. Or maybe that’s apology as she ducks her head, her hands wringing gently in front of her.
Shame isn’t a quality often seen on Rachel Berry, so it’s hard to tell.
Quinn shakes her head, already weary. “What?”
“Mr Shue seems to have double-booked us. I have permission to use the auditorium this afternoon –“
“Great. I was just leaving.” Quinn reaches down for her school bag, relieved for the excuse to leave.
“O-oh, no, it’s okay,” Rachel says hurriedly, making Quinn pause with suspicion. “I don’t mind sharing the piano.”
Rachel glances at Quinn’s belly swollen under her summer dress and Quinn follows her gaze self-consciously. Her stomach never got as big as she feared it would, but she's frustrated she can't avoid the tell-tale waddle.
“I wasn’t using it,” Quinn slings her bag over her shoulder, but Rachel steps in when Quinn goes to her feet.
“Maybe we could practice together?” Rachel offers hopefully and Quinn wonders if Rachel realises she’s breaching personal space. “I... I could use the assistance of someone to spot my melody in the new ballad, the high G can be slippery.”
Quinn stares at the girl who’s proven herself the paradigm of ‘diva’. “Rachel, your pitch is perfect, you remind us all the time.”
Rachel looks so disappointed and she glances again at Quinn’s belly. “Yes, that’s true, but I – there’s something I’ve been meaning to say for a while. I’ve noticed your pallor turning waxen indicating you’ve been losing sleep and negligence of a proper skin regime. Your energy in the last dance performance was severely lacking, but –“
Quinn feels her stomach drop, but her eyes narrow. “Are you asking me to leave the Glee club?”
Rachel’s eyes widen and she throws her hands up in defence. “No! No, quite the opposite. You have the most valid excuse of anybody to be distracted. I wanted to say it’s understandable.”
Quinn purses her lips, eyebrow approaching her hairline. “You understand?”
Rachel thrusts a hand at the piano. “Would you sit down?”
“If I’m going to stay for this, I’d rather stand.”
“... Okay,” Rachel blinks and hurries to the piano seat, her smile seems to say, 'Well, here goes!' in the pause before her fingers move to the first keys. Quinn frowns as the notes pass, the song sounds familiar and sad.
So far, she doesn’t like it.
“When you’re down and troubled and you need a helping hand, and nothing, oh nothing is going right,” Rachel glances at Quinn, voice soft, “Close your eyes and think of me, and soon I will be there to brighten up even your darkest night.”
Quinn frowns because Rachel had sung a similar song to uplift her once. That time the entire Glee club was behind her and Finn had been at her side. That was an era ago.
“You just call out my name and you know wherever I am, I’ll come running to see you again. Winter, spring, summer or fall: all you have to do is call.”
Quinn cants her head to the side and watches Rachel’s face for any hint of her motivation. But then Rachel turns, catches her eye. Rachel’s brief smile is tentative and these days, Quinn can recognise an olive branch when she sees one.
“And I’ll be there. Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Rachel sings without guile, arrogance, or excessive emotion for performance’s sake. There’s only kindness and it’s... refreshing. “You’ve got a friend.”
Quinn’s school bag slips from her shoulder and Rachel scoots over on the piano bench, hands still playing when Quinn slowly settles down beside her. Quinn continues watching Rachel’s face through the second verse, Rachel’s arm occasionally brushes hers when she reaches past for keys higher up the scale. By the third and final verse Rachel’s soft voice has lulled Quinn’s eyes closed.
“Ain’t it good to know you’ve got a friend?”
Quinn opens her eyes, wondering at the foreign calm humming through her and she looks at Rachel again. Rachel’s watching her and Quinn is pleasantly surprised by the promise she sees.
“You’ve got a friend.”
When the song ends Quinn can see the moment Rachel realises she's run out of notes and tenses. Unsure what to do next, she looks at Quinn for her reaction.
Quinn smiles shyly. “Again?”
Rachel beams.
