Of Video Games and Dorkiness
Faberry – In which I attempt the pregnancy storyline by adding dork!Quinn into the mix, and of course it ends with her getting everyone obsessed with video games. A testament to how I can't write things without adding a weird gimmick.
Basically the Breath of the Wild sequel announcement got me pumped up and I accidentally wrote some dork!Quinn into You're Mine, but then I realized it wouldn't make sense there so it ended up spiraling into this.
Note: No Lucy, takes place after Finn kicks Quinn out, so around December. Let's pretend that all the stuff mentioned was already out in 2009. There's maybe an Undertale spoiler or two, but it's pretty minor.
x.X.x
When Rachel takes Quinn in, the last thing she expects the blonde to unpack first is a Nintendo Switch, complete with a cartridge holder chock-full with games.
"I didn't pack the dock with me since it would've taken up too much space," Quinn needlessly explains with a pink tint to her cheeks, shuffling her weight from one foot to the other.
Rachel blinks; once, twice. She notices Quinn's hand shaking lightly, and she shakes her head to clear her thoughts, sending the pregnant girl a soft smile. "Do you need help unpacking?"
They both know the hidden meaning behind her offer of help – Quinn's bag is barely any bigger than a trash bag, and Rachel watches as multiple emotions flicker across her normally perfected mask of melancholy.
A few seconds pass, Rachel's heart steadily thumping, and Quinn finally nods, small and would-be imperceptible if Rachel wasn't already well-acquainted with the ex-Cheerio's body language, and Rachel silently moves to help her.
Which is why later, after twenty minutes of soundless companionship, Quinn grabs her hand gingerly, and in a broken voice no louder than a whisper croaks out, "Thank you."
Rachel feels her heart glaze over with something, and she swallows, throat suddenly feeling dry and constricted. "You're welcome."
Squeezing Quinn's hand gently one last time, she gets up and walks out of the guest room.
Actually no, she corrects herself. It's Quinn's room now.
x.X.x
Dinner is a strange affair, with both her and her parents trying hard to make Quinn comfortable.
The girl's been offering to do chores the entire day, trying to help wherever she can, and Rachel can already tell that her fathers adore her, but Quinn evidently doesn't feel at ease, fiddling in her seat even though she's acting like the poster child for primp and proper.
It settles on Rachel's chest uncomfortably when she realizes that Quinn's obviously been brought up to do this, to sit and nod politely without saying anything else like the perfect Stepford Wife. Not for the first time, she wonders what kind of people Russell and Judy Fabray had to be to inspire such behavior, and when she made just one mistake, kick out their own daughter.
She thinks that she wouldn't like them much.
Conversation flows without a problem across the table, with Quinn saying all the right words, but it's clear that they're just that, words and pleasantries that have been imprinted in the blonde's mind, and Rachel longs to see what really lies beneath that jagged and cold exterior.
She has a feeling that it would be something broken and raw, but she also has a feeling that it would be the most beautiful thing she'd ever had the pleasure to witness.
It all comes to a halt when Quinn evidently can't take whatever this is anymore, and she blurts out, "Why?"
Leroy's lips quirk up wryly, as if the tension in the room is nothing at all. "I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific, or you're going to end up hearing the reason why Hiram and Rachel are terrible cooks."
"I can cook," Quinn immediately offers, and when she's sent pointed looks from all three Berrys – Berries? – and almost sheepish expression dawns on her face. "I mean, it's just that- I don't…Why did you take me in?"
Before any of them can even open their mouths, Quinn shakes her head, and it's like all the words that have been bubbling under the surface all night rush out at once, the dam broken. "I bullied you daughter," she says, as if she needs it to mean something. "I tormented her, I ordered Slushies on her, and I made her life a living hell."
Leroy is unfazed. "And my daughter helped Finn cheat on you and got you kicked out. Your point?"
Quinn looks down, gaze flickering all over the place. "I don't- I don't deserve this. Any of this."
"You're right," Rachel speaks up with a fierce voice, unable to keep her silence any longer. "You don't deserve to go through a teenage pregnancy alone, and you definitely don't deserve being kicked out of your home by your own parents, honestly Quinn I don't know how-"
"Rachel," Hiram gently chides, before turning to face Quinn with a contemplative look. "Are you sorry for your actions?"
Quinn swallows, and Rachel's taken aback at the utter remorse she sees on delicate features, sorrowful and so tired that she just wants to wrap the girl up in a hug. "More than anything."
"Then you have nothing to worry about," he shrugs, sending a soft smile at her. "You will always have a place here with us, no matter what."
A myriad of emotions display themselves on Quinn's face, and when it's clear that the pregnant girl is holding back tears, Rachel can't help but reach out to take her hand from where she's sitting next to her, squeezing once.
Quinn can't seem to form words, simply looking at them with tearful eyes and a choked-up expression, but no one seems to care. They just respond by sending her beaming smiles, and they change the topic to something lighter, the relief and gratitude that shows on Quinn's face telling them that they did the right thing.
For the first time in perhaps forever, Rachel gets to truly see Quinn Fabray in all her glory, with her walls slowly letting themselves down as she eases into things, and when she gets the blonde to laugh, Rachel thinks that it's the best sound that she's ever heard.
She's sure Barbra wouldn't mind.
x.X.x
That night, she's awoken by a heart-shrilling scream.
The clock to her right shows a big red 3:46 am, and she throws the blankets off her with sleepy movements, though her mind is wide-awake with concern.
She rushes into Quinn's bedroom without a second thought, and she finds the blonde shaking in her sleep, softly mummering through her nightmare. As Rachel creeps closer, she hears the words loud and clear, and she feels her heart pang heavily. 'Please don't leave me.'
Gently, she tries to shake Quinn awake, but it's no use, the girl trapped in her dream, and she feels helplessness coarse through her body. When she starts to take her hand away, Quinn whimpers and turns around, holding on tight, and Rachel lets out a surprised squeak.
Quinn's crying.
Without really comprehending what she's doing, Rachel moves to get into the bed with Quinn, wrapping the blonde up in her arms, and Quinn grasps on even harder, burrowing her head into her neck as she sobs.
That's when Rachel realizes that Quinn's awake, and the pure pain she feels radiating off the girl is heartbreaking. "I've got you," she whispers, holding on to Quinn's back as it shakes with choked sobs. "I've got you."
x.X.x
They don't mention anything about it the next day, but Quinn drives her to school and back, and when a jock heads her way with a gleam in his eyes and a Slushy in hand, Quinn pulls her out of the way without even so much as a grunt.
Rachel figures they can call that progress.
x.X.x
A few days later, when she's paddling her way to the bathroom after staying up till 2am to study, she notices with bleary eyes that the light in Quinn's room is still on, and she makes her way across the hallway with a small yawn.
She's met with the sight of the ex-Cheerio curled up in the corner, sitting on the floor with her back hunched and attention focused on her Switch.
It's a surreal experience and a sight to behold, and Rachel rubs her eyes wearily, sure that she's either dreaming, in an alternate dimension, or just completely insane, but when she opens her eyes and Quinn is still furiously mashing buttons with a fervor, she sighs.
Well, she had to go crazy and start hallucinating at some point.
She swallows back a yawn, and she figures that her tragic devolution to the clinically insane would make for a good chapter in her future memoir anyway, so she shrugs and prompts, "Quinn?"
Quinn doesn't bat an eyelash, probably knowing she was there all along, and the girl's lips quirk dryly. "Nightmares. Couldn't sleep."
Feeling emboldened because she's pretty sure freshman year Quinn would've attacked her by now, Rachel thinks 'eh, to hell with it,' and goes up to Quinn. The blonde's lips quirk into a half-smirk again, and she places her Switch on the tabletop next to her with a sigh as she gets up to her feet.
Rachel tugs at Quinn's hand gently to drag her to the bed, and in a few seconds, she's snuggling into a surprisingly (or not-so-surprisingly) warm and soft body. Quinn doesn't resist, and ten minutes later, when Rachel's almost asleep, she feels a pair of strong arms circle around her waist and a baby bump against her side.
She smiles into alabaster skin.
x.X.x
When the next night, Quinn shuffles into her room with an unreadable expression, Rachel simply sends her a droopy smile and scoots over on her bed to make room, patting it lightly in an almost expectant gesture.
As Quinn's body envelopes hers, she briefly wonders if this is going to be a thing now, and if so, if that means that her bed is now their bed, but then Quinn just makes the most adorable of purring sounds, content and pleased, and Rachel frankly doesn't care anymore.
She tries to ignore the fact that she still smiles into Quinn's neck before she falls into her slumber.
(She tries even harder not to freak out when she feels Quinn's lips morph into a smile of her own against her head.)
x.X.x
Puck storms into the choir room a week later with accusing eyes. "Finn told me he kicked you out."
The chatter of the glee kids ceases immediately, and from where Quinn's sitting next to her, the blonde tenses, face hardening. Rachel squeezes her hand slightly to show that she's there with her, and when Quinn squeezes back, Rachel sends her a little nod and goes back to reading her singing arrangements.
Ultimately, it's Santana who breaks the silence. "Well then, where the hell has preggers been staying?"
At this, Rachel can't help but hold her breath, but Quinn meets Santana's gaze steadily. "Rachel's."
There's utter silence, and then Santana is barking out a laugh. "Fucking Rachel's?" she scoffs, "You gots to be kidding me."
"Well I didn't see you line up to take me in," Quinn retorts with her jaw set in a hard line. "Ever since people found out I was pregnant you've been either taking shots at me or avoiding me like the plague."
"It didn't mean you had to fall as low as Berry though," Santana rolls her eyes. "Brittany would've if you asked, you know."
The thing is, Quinn didn't ask, Rachel thinks, I just kinda forced her out of her car and into my house. She's half-expecting the blonde to take Santana up on her offer and leave her- her house, but what happens next surprises them all.
"Don't insult Rachel," Quinn growls, "You can throw all the shade you want at me like insinuating like you and Brittany actually give a shit about me, but you don't get to stand there and stomp down on her any more than you already have."
"Oh, so now it's Rachel and not Manhands now that you've finally gotten that stick out of your repressed ass?" Santana snarks, "Attention everybody, head bitch Quinn Fabray actually grew a fucking heart!"
"No, I just grew a spine, and maybe you should too," Quinn states calmly, cool and collected compared to the brash and fiery bite of the Latina. She glances at Brittany, "Or Brittany here would be sitting with you instead of Artie."
There's eerie quiet for all but one millisecond, and then there's utter chaos as all hell lets loose, Santana rushing towards Quinn while yelling Spanish profanities at the top of her lungs.
It takes almost the entirety of the boys to hold her back and restrain her – Finn is predictably sitting on his chair with his arms crossed petulantly – and Quinn goads her on, "Oh, you want to hit a pregnant girl now? You prepared to sink that low, Santana?"
It only makes Santana roar with rage even louder, and finally, Rachel can't take it anymore. Rubbing her thumb over the back of Quinn's hand in an attempt to soothe the girl, she moves to stand up, shielding the blonde.
"That's enough." It's in a tone of voice so firm and commanding that the entire Glee club falls silent, even Santana.
The Latina stops in her tracks, before sneering, "Oh yeah? What you gonna do about it, puta?"
Rachel takes in a deep breath, and lets it go. "Stop attacking Quinn," she says softly. "Or I'd be happy to provide Coach Sylvester with evidence of you inhaling a cheeseburger at McDonald's."
Santana narrows her eyes. "How did you-"
"You'll find it very easy to find Cheerios sneaking into the school with take-out in hand when you spend the majority of your time in the restroom near the exit cleaning up."
A haunting beat passes, and she can feel Quinn's form turning rigid behind her, but then Santana's posture relaxes, and she steps away with her hands raised in surrender. "You got me Berry," she sighs, and with a grudging respect, she turns to Quinn. "…Sorry, Q. But hey, at least now you know that you made a good choice."
With that out of the way, Santana walks out of the choir room, and it's not long until Brittany trails behind. Like usual, Mr. Schue chooses that time to stroll in, late and with the worst timing as always. "Hey guys, what did I miss?"
When Quinn shakes her head with an annoyed grunt and leaves, Rachel doesn't hesitate to follow after her.
But unlike all the other times Rachel had chased after Quinn before, this time, they walk side by side instead, as equals.
x.X.x
Santana storms up to them the next morning with Brittany at her side. They're linking pinkies though, and Rachel's pretty sure she's never seen the Latina look so content yet uncomfortable at the same time.
"Look Q…I admit that I was a shitty friend and an asshole," she says, looking away with a grimace as if it physically pains her to spit out the words. "But, you gotta admit, you were a bitch too, I mean, you-"
Brittany jabs an elbow into Santana's side, and she sighs. "I guess what I'm saying is that…Britts and I want to be your friends this time, for reals. But you have to actually try this time too."
"No more insults at Rachel," Quinn instantly bargains.
Santana purses her lips, clearly debating if it's worth it or not. "Fine," she finally decides. "But only if they're not potshots."
"Fine by me," Quinn shrugs, and a bare hint of a smile plays on both the pregnant girl and the Latina's face.
"Santana, I think you forgot something," Brittany raises her brow, and when the shorter Cheerio obstinately refuses to respond, she shakes her head, turning to Rachel instead. "San wants you to know that the offer extends to you too."
Rachel blinks, taken aback, and a reassuring look from Quinn spurs her on. "Oh. Well-Well I certainly appreciate your offer, Brittany and Santana, and though I'm slightly worried that this is just all a well-thought-out way to humiliate me once more, I- I would very much like to be your friend."
Santana groans. "Ay dios, is she always like this? I swear Q, you could've gotten anyone, even with your bun in the oven, but you just had to go with her, didn't you?"
Quinn's eyes narrow. "I said no insults."
"Bitch, you've gots to be kidding me," Santana protests, "That was like the tamest thing I've said to her in like forever!"
The ex-Cheerio doesn't look impressed, and Rachel's about to intervene, but Brittany beats her to it. "Santana, be nice. And Quinn, stop being so stuck-up."
Both of them tense at the tall blonde, and for a second, Rachel briefly wonders if she should call in an ambulance just in case, but then they grunt and look away with their arms crossed.
"So," Rachel starts, sounding light and chipper. "…Friends?"
x.X.x
When they get home after hanging out with Santana and Brittany at the mall, Rachel's met with a bone-crushing hug from Quinn.
"Thank you."
Rachel sends her a beaming smile. "You're welcome."
x.X.x
Ten minutes later, the blonde quietly shuffles into her (their now?) room, and she holds out a Joy-Con. "Wanna play Mario Kart with me?"
"I don't know how to play."
"I can teach you, if you want."
Rachel looks to the stack of homework piled up on her desk, then to the lightly hopeful look on Quinn's face. "Sure."
x.X.x
"I hate this game."
"I mean, getting eleventh place isn't that bad, all things considered. Plus, this is Rainbow-"
"Don't patronize me, Quinn Fabray!" Rachel warns.
"We could switch to another game if you want."
She narrows her eyes at the blonde's thinly veiled laughter, and she grips the controller tighter. "There's no way in hell we're switching games until I beat you in this."
"You're talking to someone who has multiple Time Trial world records under her belt, Berry," Quinn snorts. "Even hell would've frozen over by then."
That gives Rachel pause, but then she sees Quinn's smug smirk. Her competitive streak strikes with a vengeance, and she growls, "Game on."
x.X.x
"Hey girls, what do you want for dinner? We have-"
"Dad, stop talking, you're ruining my concentration!"
Leroy looks nonplused, and Quinn glances at him apologetically. "Sorry 'bout that, your daughter's currently on quite a losing streak, and so she's grumpy."
The black man simply waves her off and steps into the room to look closer at what exactly they're playing. After a beat or two focusing on the small screen, he raises a brow. "Mario Kart, seriously?"
"Yeah, I should be done in around 3- there!" Quinn grins in victory, haughtily smiling at Rachel who's still on her second lap. At Rachel's unhappy grunt, the blonde laughs and moves to stand, handing over her Joy-Con to Leroy.
"I'm going to go set the table," she says, "You can try to fail harder than Rachel, but I don't really think that it's possible at this point."
"I mean, I've never really played video games before, so it's certainly possible."
"Oh trust me sir, short of a miracle, she's not going to win the 150cc cup anytime soon."
Rachel lets out a small whine of protest at that, but she's unable to act unhappy, because Quinn's interactions with Leroy and Hiram feel so natural and light now, and every time she thinks about it her chest just swells and a smile stubbornly appears on her face.
"Now what did I say about calling me sir and helping around the house?"
"Same thing with me calling your husband Mr. Berry," Quinn grins, "But I'm not going to stop anytime soon."
"You don't have you earn your keep here Quinn," Rachel frowns.
"I know, and that's why I want to do those things." The blonde shrugs, before walking out of the room. "I'll call you guys when food's ready."
Leroy shakes his head. "So well-mannered and polite," he sighs, "If only she was my daughter instead."
"Well for one thing, you wouldn't kick her out," Rachel huffs, not even bothering to address the insult at her. "Not like Russell and Judy."
"She turned out pretty alright though," Leroy hums.
She certainly turned out to be very pretty, she thinks. And promptly tries to clamp down on her racing heart, because when did she start having thoughts like that?"
x.X.x
Apparently the 'when' is all the damn time, because Rachel starts noticing things.
Like how Quinn is utterly adorable when she's fiddling with her pen as she thinks, tongue jutted out in concentration, or how she still manages to move with so much grace and elegance even when pregnant. Or most importantly, how the blonde makes her heart speed up rapidly when she grins at her.
She tries to negate it to a simple crush that will pass away, but it doesn't.
Because one morning, when Quinn is dry-heaving into the toilet bowl and Rachel is gladly there to support her, the ex-Cheerio enwraps her in a hug, and even caked in sweat and tired to the bone, she's never felt warmth spread across her body quite like the electricity that jolts through her entire being.
In another world where Quinn was still the ruthless Head Cheerleader and Rachel was still the loser freak of the school, she probably would've freaked out while hyperventilating, but Quinn chooses that moment to send her an exhausted but genuine smile, and Rachel thinks that she might have a chance after all.
x.X.x
"Oh my god I fucking hate you!"
"You hate me? I hate you!" Quinn screeches back in return, "How the hell did we manage to tie?"
"How should I know!" Rachel huffs in response, "I spend the entire week playing against you nonstop and when I finally one-up you, we tie? Fuck this!"
Quinn lets out a sound of agreement, and a contemplative look crosses her face. "Wanna play Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime with me?"
Rachel looks at her wearily. "I'm not sure I can take much more competitive gaming."
"It's co-op," the blonde promises. "And I'd invite your dads to play as well, but I kinda left my extra controllers back…there."
The mention of Quinn's old residence brings them to a somber mood, and before Rachel can even register what's happening, Quinn's sobbing into her shirt and Rachel's mentally cursing Russell Fabray to hell.
x.X.x
Quinn gets gifted a new dock, two pro controllers, and a PS4 Pro for Chrismukkah, and when the blonde looks at her with a teary smile, she pretends to have had nothing to do with it.
She still gets a kiss on the cheek though.
(It makes up for when the entire Berry household practically erupts in flames when they all play Overcooked together shortly afterwards.)
x.X.x
The next day, after Rachel's finished with her Saturday morning vocal warmups, Quinn walks up to her and practically shoves her Switch in Rachel's face.
Furrowing her brow, she takes the device gingerly, and she's met with the title screen of Undertale.
"What's this?"
"Ascension," Quinn says, completely serious and solemnly nodding.
Rachel almost laughs in the blonde's face, but then she realizes that she's actually serious, and she tries to get her jaw to move in a way that isn't going to offend her. "Okay."
She's already finished her homework anyway, and she could use some stress-relief.
x.X.x
"Holy crap holy crap holy crap why are those bullets so fucking hard to dodge?"
"You're only on the first boss fight Rach."
"What? Oh fuck I'm down to two health points, help!"
"Just wait and see what happens."
"What do you mean- Wait, she's not aiming at us on purpose?"
"Goat mama Toriel loves us, she's not going to kill us."
"That just makes me feel even worse!"
"Just wait till you go with the evil route, the game's dialogue is fucking gut-wrenching."
"I think I'm gonna combust into tears."
"We're barely an hour in, stay hydrated Berry."
x.X.x
"You have to eat lunch at some point, you know."
"I don't care, I'm almost done with this boss battle, I can feel it!"
"Oh yeah, you should probably watch out for his-"
"Nooooooo!" she cries, "I am…defeated."
"Eh, we're still got a way to go."
"I'm seriously going to murder you one day."
"I don't think that would look good on your Julliard applications."
"Oh har har, you're so funny."
"I suppose I am, yes. Though, you should still watch out for that attack, it's going to swerve-"
"Fuck!"
x.X.x
"What the hell is this game doing, I swear, the developer must've been high and on drugs while making this, I have half a mind to accuse him of being an addict!"
"And I have half a mind to snatch back my Switch and get back to beating Skyrim for like the fiftieth time again."
"Oh like hell you will, I'm finishing this game and this fucking flower off today, goddammit!"
"Technically this isn't the final boss, you know."
"…There's more?"
"Just keep playing Berry."
x.X.x
"Wait, is this the end?"
"Depends on what you want to do."
"But- It's so sad, there's no way it can end like this!"
"Told you Berry, there's still some things you can do."
"Honestly I'm getting really sick of your vague non-answers, Quinn Fabray," she grumbles, "One of these days I really ought to-"
She's silenced with a kiss, and she shuts up immediately, kissing back with all she's worth.
Quinn's the first to pull away, a secret little smile tugging at the edges of her lips. "You still have to keep playing though."
Rachel just nods dumbly, because she's pretty sure her grin will wreak her face if she doesn't do anything soon.
x.X.x
It's 10pm at night, and she can't bring herself to do anything.
"Rachel?"
"…"
"Yeah, it took me a few minutes to process it the first time around too."
"…"
"Wait…are you…crying?"
She doesn't speak for a second, and then she's crying in Quinn's arms and bawling her eyes out. "It's just- I can't," she cries, "What am I even supposed to do with myself after that?"
"Uh, do a few more runs?" Quinn suggests (rather unhelpfully, she might add). "Through I do wonder what would you do if you finish one of the evil runs."
Rachel's jaw opens and closes without a sound, before her chest contracts with indignation and she's huffing, "Why, I would never!"
"The temptation will be too hard to resist eventually," Quinn shrugs in response. "Now gimme back my Switch, I want to play some more Zelda."
"…I'm assuming that the game is fun since you seem to hold it in so high regard."
"It's literally my Game Of All Time, it's so good- Rachel, what are you doing, give it back!"
"No!"
"Get your own dammit!"
x.X.x
Rachel tries to ignore Quinn's grin of triumph when she requests a detour to the nearest Gamestop on the ride home from school the next day.
She also tries to ignore the butterflies causing a storm in her stomach when she sees that same grin turn into something much sweeter at her pout, because they haven't talked about their kiss yet, having fallen asleep from exhaustion after playing Breath of the Wild until the early hours of daylight the night before.
"I don't- I don't want to label what we have," Quinn says to her when she finally musters up the courage to ask a few days later, while they're playing Splatoon 2 side by side. "There's just…There's just too much on my plate right now, but I really want to see where this is going, so…can we just go with the flow and see where it takes us?"
In Rachel's heart, she knows that she wants more, to a degree that almost terrifies her, but then Quinn's blushing and smiling bashfully and she's agreeing.
The twenty-minute make-out session that occurs afterwards definitely is a bonus.
x.X.x
"I want to keep her Rachel," Quinn cries into her neck, sobs wracking through her entire body in waves. "But- But I can't, and I want to keep her so badly."
"Then we'll keep her," Rachel shrugs, as if it's as easy as that.
"Raising a baby is expensive, and I've already taken so much from you already, I can't possibly-"
"What you've given us has been so much more then that Quinn, and if you want to keep her, then we'll keep her. Nothing else to be considered."
The next day, when the Berrymen show them a blackboard with options for baby names and the like, Rachel doesn't even bother to pretend that she had no part in it.
She totally calls Quinn out for purposely letting her win in Mario Kart later that night though.
x.X.x
She finds Quinn one day screaming at her laptop.
"Dammit! I've beaten Sekiro and Super Meat Boy, you won't beat me anytime soon! I won't let you prevail, dammit!"
She walks closer to see what had the blonde so wound up, and she's expecting to see something along the ranks of Dark Souls, but what she gazes upon is probably laughable.
A half-naked man residing inside a pot holding a hammer, using it to stick to the side of a mountain.
"What?" she deadpans.
From where Quinn is, moving her mouse frantically, she screams in frustration as the man falls down the mountain he's climbing, and she shoves her laptop towards her. "You try it."
Without another word, the pregnant girl storms off downstairs, and vaguely worried that Quinn's temper has something to do with the baby, she scrunches up her brow and sits down at her desk, looking upon the title screen. Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy.
There's no way someone with the last name Foddy would be so terrible.
Right?
x.X.x
"Fuck you fuck you fuck you!" she rages at the laptop. "BennettFoddy, I hate you!"
She wonders how would someone be so cruel as to make this stupid fucking game, and as Cliff Carlisle's Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad fills her ears right when she falls down the mountain once again, she suddenly is filled with an urge to find Bennett Foddyand murder him with a hammer.
Before her plotting can go beyond the initial stages of a PowerPoint however, Quinn strides into the room with her Switch in hand, now appropriately calmed down, and sends her a sheepish smile. "How about we play Skyrim?"
Watching the gleam in the blonde's eyes, Rachel is filled with a sense of both anticipation and terror, because her chest warms in a way that can't be anything but love.
Ten minutes later, when she learns that Quinn knows the entire Dragon language of Skyrim, Dovahzul, that only seems to reinforce that belief.
This girl is going to be the end of her, isn't she?
x.X.x
When she finds a note with some strange words on her desk the next day, she has the good sense to run it through a Dovahzul translator.
Opening up a tab on her browser, she types the words fen hi bo nau aan grind voth zu'u into it, and what it returns gives her a light heart attack. Will you go on a date with me?
It's at right that moment that Quinn rushes into the room, and panic fills her immediately. What if Quinn's changed her mind, or what if Quinn's in trouble, or – oh god, what if the baby is in trouble?
"The baby's kicking," is what Quinn's breathy voice says instead, and the dread in Rachel's stomach is replaced with a sense of overwhelming happiness and joy instead, a grin stretching across her face.
"Can I- Can I feel her?"
Quinn gives her a nod with teary eyes, and Rachel moves to put her hand on the blonde's stomach.
It's right then that she feels it, a light kick, and she nearly bursts into tears right then and there. "That's the feet of a dancer," she decides.
"I'm not complaining," Quinn laughs, and then their bodies are mashed together and they're kissing like no tomorrow.
Rachel thinks, yes, this is definitely what love feels like, and she never wants it to end.
x.X.x
After their date, when they're walking home together, they see Judy and Russell Fabray.
Russell yells. Judy cries. Quinn kisses her in front of them, and then there's more yelling. Rachel maybe participates in it too.
When Quinn chokes out, "I just wanted daddy and mommy to tell me that everything would be okay', everything stills to a halt, and the next thing they know, Russell is pulling Judy away down the opposite end of the street.
After Quinn finishes breaking down that night, Rachel kisses her gently and wipes away her tears with tender hands. "I'm proud of you," she says.
"What, for having daddy issues?"
"I mean, I have mommy issues, so I guess put together we make a perfect family unit."
"…I don't think that a loudmouthed Jewish girl, a depressed teenage almost-mom and a not-even-yet borne baby makes a perfect family unit, but…okay."
x.X.x
The next day, Quinn gains access to her trust fund.
There are millions in it, and the first thing Quinn does is buy up everything in the Berry Wishlist posted on the fridge. Rachel manages to convince the blonde to buy the parts to rebuild her old pc though, and they spend the rest of the day playing Rocket League.
x.X.x
When Rachel realizes that Quinn basically considers them to be a family unit, she slips her a note.
Fen hi kos dii mon fahdon – or as she had translated it from, 'will you be my girlfriend'.
When she gets back the note, there's only one simple word on it, written in Quinn's elegant and neat script. Geh.
Rachel knows that it means 'yes', because she had spent the night before memorizing the basic words of Dovahzul.
She tells Quinn that, and the infectious grin she gets in return makes her heart thunder loudly. "I love you," she sighs out.
"I love you too."
Rachel won't be too proud to admit that it's probably one of the best days of her life.
She finds that she doesn't mind the fact that it's related to video games and dorkiness rather than Broadway.
x.X.x
When she finds Quinn in the bathroom crying on the floor next to a scale, she simply ushers the blonde onto bed and gives her a massage, whispering words of love and affection the entire way through.
They come out to the Glee club the next day, and the day after that they receive a song of support, with even Finn participating. Mr. Schue moves to say something, but then Quinn needs to use the toilet again.
Rachel runs after her, but she reckons that she'd gladly follow this girl for the rest of her life anyway.
x.X.x
When Quinn sees the new nursery room unveiled, she cries.
But then again, the Berrymen also cry way before the blonde does, and well – Rachel's always been a crier.
An hour later, after Hiram and Leroy have gone to work and she's making out with Quinn like no tomorrow, she faintly thinks that it's inappropriate to break in the new room like this, but then Quinn's hand is over her breast and she can't think of anything else.
x.X.x
They soon find out that the baby kicks up a storm when Rachel sings.
She is happy to oblige, since she's already got a forty-two step plan to bring up the baby in a musical environment.
(It occurs to her that shit, she's going to be this kid's mom, but Quinn's shining eyes tell her that she probably wants it that way, and then she's not afraid anymore.)
x.X.x
Quinn accidentally trips in Glee while doing a dance step.
Even before the entire club can crowd around her, Rachel's there and frantically worrying over her.
The blonde's fine in the end of course, but that doesn't stop her from fawning over her like no tomorrow the rest of the day. Or the week. Or really, just all the time.
"You spoil me," Quinn says to her one day.
She shrugs in reply. "I don't see a problem with that."
"…I'm not going to let you win in Mario Kart tonight though."
"I'm going to beat you fair and square one of these days, so game on, Fabray."
"What I was going to do, was let you get laid tonight, but now I don't think so-"
She's cut off by Rachel crashing her lips to hers, and she lets out a little sound that could be interpreted as displeasure, but Rachel knows that Quinn secretly enjoys these romantic little moments, and well – there's no way there won't be any pleasing tonight, since Rachel takes her duties very seriously, and they both know it.
x.X.x
Quinn drives them somewhere while refusing to tell Rachel where they're going or what they're doing, and she complains the entire drive through.
When she realizes that they're going PC part shopping, she also complains about not having enough time to prepare, even though she knows that Quinn will take good care of her.
(Yes, she's well aware that that last sentence could go many ways, but she still thinks it true, no complaining on that front.)
x.X.x
A few weeks before the baby comes, they hold a little baby shower.
They receive designer babywear, a stuffed duck, a football (to Rachel's great disapproval), a rattle in the shape of a microphone, and a guitar, among many others.
Rachel gives Quinn a baby blanket she had knitted herself, with a big gold star right in the middle, and plays her a video of her singing a mashup of epic love songs that even includes a song or two from a video game in there.
"You should've sung What Is This Feeling?" is what Quinn finally says after a moment, though her giant smile is undeniable.
"It's love, actually," Rachel says with a matching beam, hand over Quinn's stomach as she feels the baby kicking.
"Oh yeah?"
"We're having a baby Fabray, it better be."
x.X.x
When the day that the baby finally comes, Rachel thinks that she's never been so simultaneously happy and scared to her wits all at once.
Seeing the blonde in so much pain instills a sense of helplessness in her that she never wants to feel again, so when Quinn almost breaks her fingers by squeezing them too hard, she doesn't even bring herself to care.
Puck stands to the far side of the room, very much grossed out but still listening to every command and order that she barks out, and she wipes away the sweat on Quinn's forehead. "You're doing great baby," she says. "Just one more big push, and then we'll play as much Zelda as you want, okay?"
"It fucking hurts Rae," Quinn cries, "Fuck!"
"I'll kill Puck for you later," Rachel promises. "But for now, just push baby, push."
And then, a minute later, the sound of a baby crying fills everybody's ears.
Right after Quinn holds the baby for the first time, Rachel gets to too, and the feeling she gets is so immeasurably joyful that she cries, and from where Quinn is panting with a bone-tired expression, the blonde manages an exhausted smile. "You're having the next one, because I am never doing that again."
"You'd have to find a way to knock me up though," Rachel grins back.
"Eh, I'm sure I'll manage."
She giggles, beaming bright, and she presses a kiss on the side of Quinn's head. "We've come a long way from being mortal enemies, haven't we?"
"Yeah, and now we're soulmates."
"Is that what we are?"
"You're this kid's mother Berry, no turning back now."
"And to think that this all started with video games and dorkiness."
"What an adventure," Quinn laughs.
Rachel's eyes twinkle with something that can't be anything but pure love. "Oh, it's definitely one for the consoles."
FIN