Never asked to feel your halo (Faberry)

35: You've got your head in the Clouds.

"What is it?" Rachel asked, uneasily.

How could she not assume the worst when faced with an expression of such abject fear. Quinn's fingers were even trembling as she handed over the phone for Rachel to read the text.

WTF? Something fishy this way comes. How come you and RuPaul are both absent from gym? Were you lying to me earlier, Q? You best have a damn good reason for this.

"Why does she care so much?" Rachel asked, handing the phone back.

"She's my friend."

"That text didn't sound very friendly."

Quinn sent a text back, reading it out as she typed. "Throwing up in the nurse's office. No idea where Manhands is. Glad to see you're still obsessed with her whereabouts though."

"Okay, the first two sentences make perfect sense. Explain the last one, please."

Quinn smirked, "I'm trying to convince her she has a crush on you, because if she starts questioning her own motives she'll take a break from questioning mine."

"You honestly think that will work?" It was a little flattering, she supposed, until . . .

"Honestly? No, but it's worth a try." Quinn dropped her head back to Rachel's neck and breathed deeply through her nose.

Rachel shivered, "And is this level of subterfuge really necessary?"

"I'm standing at the back of school kissing your neck, Rachel! Yes, subterfuge is necessary! I still can't believe . . . this isn't . . ." Quinn's head raised until they were resting temple to temple. ". . . we shouldn't be doing this!"

Rachel's heart sank but she was honest. "No, probably not."

"This is so wrong." Quinn's head slid away, pulling her hair slightly but Rachel didn't care seeing as the end result was a nose back against her neck. "This is really wrong."

"Yes."

"If Santana finds out . . . what am I saying, she already knows! She just doesn't have confirmation yet. How stupid do I have to be to keep doing this when she freaking knows?"

"What does it matter what Santana knows?" Rachel asked gently. "You two are friends, right? I doubt she'd think differently of you."

"She wants my spot on the Cheerios, always has. To be head cheerleader of the top ranking squad in the nation? It doesn't just earn you kudos in this school it takes you places. Whoever holds that title has a straight scholarship to any college that has cheerleaders in America. That's like . . . probably all of them! You have no idea how many times I've thwarted her attempts to take it from me in the past few months. And this . . ." Quinn pulled back again and her eyes were burning with a serious passion. ". . . You! That's her ticket in!"

Rachel had never been a cheerleader but she understood. Her dream was a straight pass to Julliard and it was the same thing. She hated what she was about to say next but she knew she'd want Quinn to say it if their roles were reversed.

"So we shouldn't do this anymore. I'll . . . I'll wash something of yours instead, like you said, or, I'll wash everything! Just bring all your clothes to my house later and I'll wash them. That'll be just as good, right?"

"No!" Were there tears in Quinn's eyes? "That's not enough anymore. I need . . . Oh, God, why is this happening to me? I need this, okay? I need . . ."

Rachel drew her back in until Quinn's forehead was resting against her neck. "It's okay. It's going to be okay."

"No it's not! It's not going to be okay. Oh, God, this is so wrong. I shouldn't be . . . this shouldn't be . . . I can't . . . Why are you making me feel like this?"