𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 ! * ✧ ⊹

12

Her face paled when she realized that they likely also knew about Friday night. Oh God. She spun around and headed back toward the car, not sure she could face this.

"Quinn?" She stopped and slammed her eyes shut. Rachel. Slowly she turned around and came face to face with the girl for the first time in four days. She looked exhausted, her skin looked pale and dull, her eyes had dark circles, and her hair was a little bit unkempt. Quinn had never seen a more gorgeous sight.

"Hey." Quinn felt like an idiot. She had been trying for days to get the other girl to talk to her and once she finally got to see her, she was struck mute.

Rachel opened the door a little wider and stepped out onto the small front porch. "Were you leaving?" She questioned uncertainly.

"No I was just..." Quinn trailed off. This was ridiculous. "Santana told me what happened." Quinn quickly walked towards Rachel, finally finding her resolve. "I swear Rachel, I had no idea they were going to do that." Rachel looked at her quietly before nodding her head slightly.

"Come inside where we can talk, I don't really want to air all of the details to my neighbors." It wasn't the immediate fall in to each other's arms reunion that Quinn had dared to let herself hope for, but at least Rachel wasn't slamming the door in her face. She would take it.

Entering the house behind Rachel, Quinn looked around nervously. "Are your dad's home?" Quinn better understood the look that Rachel's father had given her when she had stopped by after school on Monday.

"No. Dad doesn't get home until 7 and Daddy went to the store to pick up a few things for dinner." Quinn sighed; relieved that she wouldn't have to face Rachel's parents just yet and ignored the twinge of hurt she felt when the other girl didn't automatically extend a dinner invitation; Rachel always invited her over for dinner. Quinn followed Rachel quietly up the stairs and into the brunette's bedroom.

Quinn stopped just inside the doorway, not sure just how welcome she truly was in the room. Rachel walked over and sat down on her bed. "So Santana told you about our talk?" Rachel finally broke the awkward silence that had fallen.

Quinn nodded, and took a few tentative steps further into the room. "I promise you I had no idea they were going to do anything like that, and I certainly wasn't in on it," Quinn pleaded. "You believe me right?"

Rachel didn't answer right away, taking a long look at the blonde. She looked haggard. Even when she was going through all the drama surrounding Babygate, Rachel didn't recall her looking this drained. Her first instinct upon seeing the blonde on her doorstep had been to wrap her in a big hug and tell her everything would be fine. Rachel had quashed that desire, determined to find out the truth before putting herself out there again.

"I want to," she finally answered honestly. "It's just hard Quinn. There's a part of me that knows that you would never have done anything like this, not after how close we became this summer." Quinn smiled at her tremulously. "Then there's another part that thinks maybe I just want this to be true so badly I am just overlooking the obvious, and that I am nothing but a trusting naïve fool." Rachel dropped her gaze to her lap, not able to maintain eye contact with the blonde.

The tentative smile slid off Quinn's face and she finally walked over and sat beside Rachel on the bed. "You're not a fool." Gathering her courage, and bracing herself for rejection, Quinn reached over and grasped one of Rachel's hands. "Look at me," she pleaded.

Rachel reluctantly lifted her gaze and met the blonde's hazel stare. "You are one of the sweetest people I have ever met. You're willingness to forgive people that have been horrible to you is one of the things I most envy. That generosity of spirit is a rare thing, and it doesn't make you a fool. The only fools are the ones that take advantage of it." Quinn reached up and unconsciously brushed a lock of hair behind Rachel's ear, causing the smaller girl to close her eyes briefly and lean into the touch. "Don't let three small minded cheerleaders take that away from you Rachel."