The Running Back

Chapter 18

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't upset you." "Let's just forget about this and move on, okay?" "It's not that easy Rachel."
"What do you mean?"

"He..." Quinn stumbled on her words. "Jesse... he... he pretty much threatened to out me."

The pain and sorrow that Rachel felt was suddenly replaced with complete and utter rage. "He what?" A few tears fell down her face; ones of anger as opposed to sadness. She got to her feet and headed to the door. "That bastard! I'll kill him!" Quickly, Quinn was upon her. Her girlfriend held her back and tried to lead Rachel back to the bed.

"Rachel, please don't."
"I can't let him get away with this!"

"If you do anything Rachel, he'll tell." Rachel stopped. Quinn was right. Confronting Jesse would do nothing but provoke him. He'd follow through with his threat. He'd out Quinn to her parents. Rachel couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't let that happen. But at the same time she couldn't just stand by and let him take advantage of Quinn. But there nothing she could do. "I'm sorry Rachel. I'm so sorry," Quinn sobbed into Rachel's shoulder.

"It'll be okay," Rachel promised. "We'll get through this. Together."

For a while after that there wasn't much talk. The two of them got back into Rachel's bed and mostly just held each other. Over time though, Quinn fully explained the details. The idea of setting her up with Jesse had first come up in her father's mind the night that Jesse's family had dinner at their place. He had come to Quinn's room after their guests had left and had all but pleaded with her daughter to accept a date with him. At seeing her father's desperation, Quinn couldn't say no. She knew that he only had her best interest in heart, and bad-mouthing the son of one of his best friends was completely out of the question.

Jesse knew how to play his part when needed. As far as Russell and Judy saw, Jesse was the perfect gentleman, a fine match for their daughter. Quinn had gone out with him as agreed. She put up with him for a night where all he did was brag about this or that. Just hearing about it would have made Rachel gag if not for her lack of a gag reflex. When her father asked how it went Quinn hid her disgust with Jesse and acted as though she had a pleasant time, while also saying that she wasn't sure if she would go out with him again in the future.

It was all supposed to be over after that, and for a while it seemed that way. But then one day Jesse came over and asked Quinn out on another date. Since her parents weren't in earshot, Quinn laughed in his face. That was until he decided to subtly mention Rachel. At that point he had her full attention. His intentions were clear even if he chose not to speak straight. When he left, Jesse told Quinn to call him if she changed her mind.

There was no actual deal made but the choices were clear; stay with Rachel and be outed, or cheat on Rachel and play along with Jesse's sick game. Rachel would have been okay if Quinn simply needed a beard, someone to show off to her parents. There were plenty of guys at school who could fit the role perfectly; guys who wouldn't take advantage of her. She'd probably get a little jealous from time to time, but Rachel would learn to get over it. Things weren't that simple though, and getting a friend from school to pretend to be her boyfriend would do nothing to help.

For once in her life Rachel wanted to resort to violence. She wanted to march straight up to Jesse and knock his lights out. Admittedly, she probably wouldn't be able to knock him out so easily but she'd at least have Noah for backup and maybe even Finn, Sam and the rest of the football team. And the only thing that stopped her from calling them up and gathering them together was the fact that Quinn needed her.

"What do you want to do?" Rachel asked once Quinn was finished. It wasn't until after she had spoken that she realized that she had made a poor choice upon her words. Regardless of what she chose to do, it wouldn't be something that Quinn would want to do. "What do you think we should do?" Quinn forced on a small smile at the acknowledgment that they were in this together. She took a deep breath. Rachel wasn't sure which answer she preferred, but the one she was given surprised her.

"I want to tell my parents." "Quinn... you don't have to."

"I want to." The way her voice cracked seemed to say otherwise. "I always knew that I'd have to tell them eventually. I just hoped that I'd have more time and that I'd be able to tell them when I knew I was ready. I'm not sure that I am," she admitted. "But I'd rather tell them myself rather than have that asshole out me." She started to cry and Rachel pulled her into a hug. After holding onto her for just a few seconds, tears began to fall from Rachel's eyes as well. "Would you come along with me? It'd be easier with you there." Rachel simply nodded and held her girlfriend tighter.

There was no discussion about when Quinn wanted to come out to her parents and Rachel didn't want to ask. She didn't want to force the topic, especially since Quinn was practically being forced into making her decision. Besides, it was clear that she wasn't planning on coming out to them on that day. For the rest of the day Rachel just wanted them to be happy, or at least try to be. Eventually, Rachel spoke to her dads. Regardless of what happened with her parents, Quinn was guaranteed to have a place to stay.

The guestroom would be open to her, or if she chose, she could sleep in Rachel's room just as she would whenever she stayed over. Rachel offered to have Quinn stay over another night, but Quinn refused. She wanted to assure that she'd be able to sleep in her own bed at least one last time. She wanted to hug her mom and dad, and tell them that she loved them. She wanted them to say that they loved her back.

She needed to hear them say it, to give herself some assurance that they wouldn't just turn their backs on her once they learned that she was gay. And she needed at least one last happy memory to go with the possible rejected that was likely to come. Regardless of how they would end up reacting, Quinn would always love her parents. But she wasn't going to deny how she felt about Rachel and she wasn't going to give her up.

Maybe she was being naïve. She probably was. But Quinn knew that Rachel was special, that she was the love of her life. Sure they were young and they hadn't been together long but sometimes you just meet someone and you get this feeling and you just know. Rachel was her soulmate.