Work Text:
First days are usually not your strong point. You hate school and you hate new beginnings, so right now, you’re in hell. After moving every other month because of your Dad’s job, your family finally settles in Lima, Ohio. Probably the worst decision ever made by your family. It’s your first day of highschool and you’re a junior. You’re to attend McKinley High and needless to say, you want to die. Hey, that kind of rhymes. You sigh and clear your thoughts before entering the school. All eyes are trained on you as if the school hasn’t seen a new kid before. They probably haven’t, since the population of Lima is less than 3,000. But, you’re glad you moved.
A teacher immediately stops you, and drags you to her office. Her name is Sue Sylvester and she tries forcing you to join her cheerleading team; the Cheerios. You decline the offer — a big mistake — and leave her office. You walk to the counselor’s office and look at the bulletin board and you see a faded paper that has the words McKinley High Show Choir! Join New Directions Today! The paper has tons of drawings on it, mainly things that are not school friendly. You grimace at the crude drawings and write your name down to join the New Directions. Mr. Shuester, who happened to be walking by when you did so, smiles at you (which definitely creeped you out) and tells you to join their practice after school. You just nod, because if you smiled, it would turn out as a nauseous smile rather than a genuine one. But, joining was probably the best thing that happened to you in Lima.
You enter your first class and the only seat open is next to a rather short brunette with bangs and an ugly outfit. You feel guilty that one of your first thoughts on her was her outfit. So, to try to relieve your guilt, you sit next to the girl. Her chestnut eyes brighten like she’s the biggest star on Earth, and you can’t help but smile back. She introduces herself as Rachel Berry and you just know she’s going places. A girl in a cheerleading outfit walks in the class and walks to Rachel’s desk. She glares at you and then speaks to Rachel.
“Hey, Rach.” A soft, smooth voice fills your ears.
“Hey, Quinn.” The two share a secret smile. You can’t help but feel the tension rising between the two girls, who have ignored your presence and are lost in each other’s eyes. You try not to roll your eyes when Quinn’s glare fixes back on you, so you introduce yourself. The blonde seems taken aback and she quirks an eyebrow (something you will see a lot of in the future) and shakes your hand. But, little did you know that these two girls will become the most important people in your life, sooner or later.
It’s now lunch and Rachel drags you with her. The singer is extremely nice and you always feel like you’re happy near her. She’s like this light for everyone, and you know others can feel it too. She introduces you to the New Directions table sans a boy named Puck (weird name) and a girl named Lauren. You sit next to Quinn and she smiles at you, something you can’t help but return. An angry Latina stands behind you.
“You’re in my seat.” You start to move, but Quinn stops you.
“Santana, go find another seat.” Santana Lopez, definitely a keeper. But, little did you know that Santana would be your number one supporter.
It’s finally time for glee club and once again, you’re with Rachel, who is listening to you rant about performing in front of the group. Rachel soothes your nerves and says,
“The people you met there are the only ones. Trust me.” And you do. You sing Love Shack , something Rachel had begged you to sing after hearing your voice. You couldn’t help but agree. Mr. Shue smiles again (still think it’s creepy!) and allows you into the club. You sit in between Quinn and Rachel, Rachel had saved a seat. Quinn is once again glaring at you, but this time you know why. So, you lean into her ear and whisper,
“She’s all yours.” Quinn freezes and you think you’ve done something wrong before a small smile spreads across her face. She nods — barely there — and you try giving her a sign that you’ll help her no matter what. You definitely did help them.
“Newbie!” Quinn calls, walking to your locker. It’s the day before winter break and you and Quinn are as close as ever. She has opened up to you about her sexuality, family life, Rachel, hobbies, Rachel, her academics, and did I mention Rachel? Yeah, the blonde was head over heels for the future starlet and it warmed your heart.
“Hey.” You say back. The blonde slings her arm over your shoulder and you two start walking to class.
“Since it’s almost Christmas, I need your help on wooing Rachel.”
“Haven’t you been doing that since Freshman year, Q?” Santana asks, linking her arm with you. You’ve also gotten extremely close with Santana, seen as her and Quinn are kind of a package deal. Quinn rolls her eyes and flicks Santana in the head, getting a laugh from you.
You sniff the air and groan, “San, you smell like sex.” Santana smirks.
“Britt and I-”
“No one needs to know that!” You scream and shove her away, her cackles fading behind you. You look up at Quinn and nod.
“I’ll ask her what she wants, but you need to make it special.” Quinn kisses you on the cheek in thanks and enters the classroom, you being right on her tail. You sit next to Rachel, who is throwing a questioning glance your way.
“Did you ask Quinn what she wanted?” Rachel bounces in her seat. You sigh.
“No. Speaking of Christmas, what do you want?” Rachel shrugs.
“I want something that means something.” You furrow your eyebrows but tell her to continue. “I want something that has a significant memory, or something that I can look at and remember the person that gave it to me? You know?”
On Christmas, you show up to Rachel’s house and give her a signed playbill from Barbra Streisand. You find out later that Quinn gave Rachel a set of jewelry and a promise ring.
You then show up to Quinn’s house and hand her a How to Get a Girlfriend book that you wrote, a lighter (just in case she wants to burn it), and a scrapbook of pictures of you guys. Most of them are you and Quinn, but others are of Quinn and Rachel, Santana and Quinn, Rachel, Quinn, Santana, Brittany — all pictures you secretly took, so the girls would never lose each other. She rolls her eyes at the book you wrote, but after seeing the scrapbook you handed to her, she’s in tears and is sobbing on your shoulder, incoherently sputtering on how thankful she is of you. You can’t help but start crying too, and by the time your tears stop, Rachel shows up on Quinn’s doorstep to give the blonde a present. You hide from behind the couch and watch the exchange.
“Oh, hey, Rachel.”
“Hi, Quinn!” The girl bounces slightly on her toes and then hands the cheerleader a bag.
“I can see you, you know.” Rachel bemusedly says when Quinn goes to the kitchen to put the roses she received in the pot. You smirk in reply and sit next to a jittery Rachel, who watches Quinn’s every move. The first thing in the bag is a diamond ring with the initials R + Q engraved in the shank. The next thing is a book that is titled 100 Things Rachel Berry Loves About Quinn Fabray (you raise your eyebrows at this, because, love?!). The last thing in the box is a framed picture of the two girls, one that you printed for Rachel. It shows Quinn and Rachel on a couch, Quinn’s head in Rachel’s lap, pinching Rachel’s cheeks, and Rachel’s arms spread around the rim of the couch, nose scrunched. Their smiles are blinding, even though you can barely see Quinn’s. You leave to the bathroom to leave the two girls some privacy.
“You didn’t have to get me all this.” Quinn says, hiccupping.
“Yes I did.” Rachel sighs. “Quinn, I love you.”
Silence.
“Quinn? Ple-”
“I love you too.”
You’re sure that they’re kissing, so you give them a little more time and decide to send Santana a bunch of keyboard smashes that would take forever to decode. You calm yourself down and splash water on your face before retyping your message. Q and Rachel are getting it on!
It’s now the beginning of senior year, and you’re happy. The happiest you’ve ever been. Quinn and Rachel made it official not too long after they confessed their undying love for each other last Christmas and you’re happy for them.
“Hey.” Rachel walks up to you and hands you an envelope. “I need you to open this. It’s my NYADA letter.” The brunette is fidgeting and you take the letter from her shaking hands.
“I’m proud of you, Rach.” The girl smiles and you embrace her. Quinn walks down the hall at this moment and sees her two favorite people.
“How are my two best people ever?” Quinn giggles, kissing you on the cheek and pecking Rachel’s lips.
“Rach got her NYADA letter.” You tell her and the girl gasps. She congratulates Rachel with a deeper kiss while you open the letter. Rachel hides in Quinn’s shoulder and the blonde looks at you expectantly. You scan the letter as fast as you can and catch words like pleased, next round, and many other positive affirmations. Your smile is growing and Quinn sees it, mirroring it. Rachel hasn’t revealed herself from Quinn’s shoulder and is still shaking.
“You’re going to the final round, Rachel Berry.”
You manage to say, after finally forming the words to tell the girl. You guys cheer in the hallway, ignoring the looks given to you.
You’re in Quinn’s room now, after a gruesome last final. You guys both have your letters to Yale and are waiting on Rachel and Santana to come over. It’s March and graduation is only two months away. You got accepted into tons of colleges, but Yale is definitely your top one.
“We’re here!” Rachel stumbles in the room. A cool Santana walks in, with sunglasses and hands stuffed in her jacket.
“At least someone wants to be here.” You mused. Santana takes her sunglasses off and kisses you on the cheek.
“You know I love you, but being in a car with Berry who can’t stop talking about Quinn makes me want to rip my ears out and feed them to Mr. Shue.” You shudder at the image and glance at Rachel and Quinn who are whispering to each other and giggling. You snap your fingers in front of them and grab Quinn’s hand, squeezing it once before going to open your letter. The two of you opted to make you open your letter first, because Quinn, being the drama queen she is (definitely got that trait from Rachel) had wanted to “save best for last” or whatever that’s supposed to mean.
Your eyes fly from left to right as you try to absorb what the letter is telling you. You look up to Santana, Quinn, and Rachel, and open your mouth.
“I got in.” You’re immediately flooded with hugs and kisses and you can’t help but laugh and feel giddy. In this moment, you knew that these people are the people you want to surround yourself with forever.
It was Quinn’s turn and Rachel was gripping your hand like her life depended on it. After Quinn had gotten put on the waitlist from NYU, this was Rachel’s only hope at being near the blonde during college. Quinn reads the letter slowly and gasps.
“I got in, also.” You’re the first one to tackle Quinn and everyone starts celebrating.
You and Quinn Fabray are going to be roommates at Yale University.
A few weeks after graduation you and Quinn helped Rachel and Santana move into their apartment. Now, here you were, trying to console a crying Quinn and Rachel who are hugging as if they’ll never see each other again.
“Rachel, we’ll be at your apartment next weekend. I promise. Now Quinn and I really have to go to orientation. Rachel turns to you with tears in her eyes and you know you’re her next victim.
“I can’t believe I’m going to lose you too!” She sobs into your shoulder. You glance over at Quinn for some help, but she’s nodding with Rachel.
You sigh, “Rach.” You say softly. She sniffles in response. “We’ll see each other every weekend. That’s 104 days, including summer, so imagine how much we’ll see each other. I won’t forget you and you’re not losing me. Plus, I know you’re going to Skype Q every day.” Rachel reluctantly nods and lets you and Quinn head to orientation.
You trudge to your cheap apartment with Quinn after the longest shift ever at the café and shuffle through your mail. You see your job application at a New York law firm and you got the job. You rush to your room and burst through the door. Big mistake. You hear moaning and a very loud “Oh, Rachel!” that bounces off the walls of the apartment, but you’re pretty sure all of New Haven can hear them. You roll your eyes and shove earbuds in your ears before starting to cook dinner.
After a long fifteen minutes, a smug Quinn and timid Rachel leave the blonde’s bedroom.
“Don’t act so smug Q, I know you just bottomed.” You smirk. She ignores you and plants a kiss on Rachel’s temple before filling her and Rachel a glass of water. When you ask for one, she just says.
“Get your own.” You roll your eyes.
“I got a job at a law firm in New York.” You tell them during dinner. Quinn congratulates you and tells you she got an acting gig that’s filmed in New York too. The two of you decide to move in with Santana and Rachel.
It’s been four years since you’ve graduated, and now you have a steady job and are still living with Quinn and Rachel. Santana moved out when she got married to Brittany. The wedding was fun, just way too many ducks. Your significant other and you met at work and have been going steady ever since, so life is good.
When you enter the apartment, you're greeted with silence. Before you can even speak, music starts playing.
Fuck.
Quinn emerges from a bedroom dressed in all white and freezes seeing you. You just smile uneasily and try not to flush too much.
“Are you…”
“Yes.” You squeal and hug Quinn as tight as you can.
“She’s going to say yes. Now get back there before she actually comes home.” You grin giddily.
You try to find a place to hide and are scrambling around the apartment when Rachel comes home.
“Hi, Rachel!” You greet loudly, hoping Quinn gets the hint. You sneak out of the front door with a kiss to Rachel’s cheek as you hear the music start to play.
You put your ear on the door and can already hear Rachel’s sobs.
“Rachel Barbra Berry, will you make me the happiest woman alive and marry me?”
There it was. The question was out there.
You then hear a yes followed by tons of sobbing. You shove the front door open and cry with them after giving them a respectable amount of time and kiss them both on the cheeks. They’re your girls, after all.
“Would you stop moving, please!?” You groan frustratingly as you try to fix Quinn’s hair.
“I don’t know if you could tell, but I’m getting married today!” She retorts. You roll your eyes but smile.
“You’re gonna do great.” She smiles back and the wedding starts.
You give your speech and there are tears flowing freely between everyone and you are just so happy.
It’s now been ten years since Rachel and Quinn got married. They live in a house with their daughter Elizabeth Judy Berry-Fabray and have a son on the way, whose name you get to choose.
You’re married, also, and are living in a house. Your significant other and you are not planning for any kids any time soon.
You knock on the Berry-Fabray’s door and you’re met with a smiling Rachel.
“Hey,” She kisses your cheek and embraces you. “Everyone’s out in the back.” You grab your lovers hand and head to their backyard. You see the whole glee club for the New Directions’ twentieth anniversary.
You glance at everyone who has made you who you are today.
Quinn Berry-Fabray and Rachel Berry-Fabray were your first friends in Lima.
Santana Lopez-Pierce was one of the people you could trust the most.
And the New Directions were filled with people you loved.
You were happy.
