Second Chances

Chapter 3

When they finally left the park, Quinn took Beth to the Disney store and let her look at all the pretty princess dresses. Quinn couldn't afford to buy her a dress, but Beth insisted they stay so she could look at everything. Quinn ended up buying Beth a tiara just so they could leave, because if she heard Let It Go one more time she was going to scream.
After their adventure at the Disney store, and what Beth was calling 'the best place in the whole entire world', Quinn drove them to Kurt and Rachel's.
Before she knocked on the door of their apartment, she knelt down to Beths height.
"Beth remember what we talked about in the car?" Quinn asked.
Beth nodded. "Always say please and thank you, don't interrupt and never mention Barbra Streisand."
"That's right, good girl," Quinn said with a smile and kissed Beth on the top of her head.
She stood up and after an internal pep talk, knocked on the door.
"Quinn! Come in!" Kurt exclaimed with the same excitement Rachel had had as earlier.
He lead Quinn and Beth inside to his apartment, that was at least twice the size of her own.
"Beth, Rachel's in the kitchen making cookies, do you want to go help her?" Kurt asked, and with that Beth ran away and into the kitchen.
"Quinn I'm so glad you're here," Kurt said softly.
Quinn blushed. "Really?"
Kurt nodded and walked her over to the couch. "Yeah, when you kind of disappeared after high school Rachel was really worried for a long time. She would call you almost every day, and when you didn't answer she would get so upset."
"Why? She never liked me," Quinn asked.
"Quinn, did you ever listen to the messages she sent you?"
"No," she admitted.
"You really should, you meant a lot to her. Do you remember when you asked her if she loved Finn and only FInn?" Kurt started.
Quinn nodded.
"When you asked her that, Rachel said yes. But after you lost contact with everyone, she kept talking about how you asked her that. Sometimes she was really mad and would say it was none of your business, other times she would get super emotional and start imposing psychological questions as to why you asked her that. What I'm trying to say, is you said things that meant a lot to her. And maybe the things you said when you were friends meant nothing to you, but they meant the world to her. They still do." Kurt smiled sadly.
"I didn't even realize she'd considered me her friend," Quinn admitted.
Secretly, she'd always admired Rachel. Rachel was beautiful, confident, talented and a good person. Rachel had everything, a good support system, loving parents, friends in glee club and a future that had been planned to perfection. And on top of that Rachel had always been there for Quinn. When Quinn got pregnant Rachel supported her and never made fun of her, even though they both knew that if the the roles were reversed Quinn would of given Rachel hell. When Quinn quit glee club and the cheerios and had a full downward spiral where she ended up smoking and dying her hair hair pink, Rachel had been there to take care of Beth when Quinn didn't. Rachel was the one who told Quinn that she didn't have to change who she was because she was perfect the way she was. And it was Rachel who'd bleached her hair back to its normal color, and took her shopping for new clothes so that she could still reinvent herself without destroying herself in the process. But in spite of all of this, Quinn hated Rachel. She hated her because Rachel was such a good person, because after all the horrible things she'd done to her, Rachel was still the only consistency in her life. And the fact that Rachel was everything she could never be made Quinn so incredibly angry. So when she got her ticket out of Lima Ohio, Quinn left without a trace because staying around Rachel made her feel things she didn't understand.
Quinn didn't realize how out of it she was until Beth came running over to her with flour on her nose.
"Mommy Rachel and I made cookies!" She said excitedly.
Quinn smiled and pulled Beth into her lap.
"Were you a good little helper?" She asked.
"She was the best," Rachel said with smile and sat down next to Quinn.
Quinn looked into Rachel's eyes, and tried to imagine someone as broken as Kurt had described, but she couldn't becuase Rachel just seemed so put together.
"Hey are you okay Quinn?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah, just tired," Quinn lied. She couldn't tell Rachel that she was starting to feel those feelings she'd been having in high school. The same feelings that she'd been escaping when she started her new life in New Haven.
"Where are you guys staying tonight?" Rachel asked.
"Were staying at a hotel tonight then tomorrow I'm gonna start look into renting an apartment," Quinn explained.
"Oh no I'm not letting you stay in a disgusting NYC apartment, you're staying here tonight," Rachel said matter of factly.
"What?" Quinn and Kurt asked in unison.
"Of course! You and Beth can take my bed and I can sleep on the couch," Rachel decided.
"No, I can't make you sleep on the couch in your own home," Quinn argued. "Besides I don't want to impose."
"Yes Rachel, she doesn't want to impose," Kurt said, a little to quickly for Quinns liking.
"Kurt we can't just let her stay in a hotel," Rachel said.
"Yes we can, I lived in a hotel for a month before I moved in with you!" Kurt argued.
Quinn pretended not to listen to the conversation and brushed Beth's hair with her fingers.
"Quinn, I insist," Rachel almost demanded.
"Are you sure?" Quinn asked shyly.
    Rachel nodded.
    "Ok, but only if Beth and I sleep on the couch." Quinn said and smiled. Maybe reconnecting with an old friend wouldn't be as terrible as she thought.

AN: I promise Rachel and Quinn will eventually get closer, and it'll start in the next chapter! Also I'm trying to find a regular updating schedule, would you guys rather once a day or once a week?