( EIGHT; HOLD ONTO SIXTEEN )
WICKED.
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Rachel Berry hated Faye Hastings. It wasn't a secret that the brunette found the redhead to not only be one of the worst people she's ever met but also her biggest competition when it came to Finn. The girl would be lying if she said that when her boyfriend told her of Faye's dismissal of their friendship that she wasn't secretly beaming on the inside.
Could you blame her? She had spent years trying to get the football player to notice her but it only took Faye looking into the choir room for a split second to spark the boy's interest. Not to mention the boy chose the redhead every single time he had to make a choice.
Spend time with his girlfriend or watch Faye audition for West Side Story? Walk her to class or go tell Faye about his next great plan? Spend the summer alone having romantic dates or invite Faye along to every single event?
It didn't matter what the other option was or who it was with, he always chose her. But maybe what pissed Rachel off the most was the fact that Finn always went to Faye for advice—always. He would go to Faye for advice and then tell his girlfriend about how wonderful his best friend's advice was.
Bitch.
However, Rachel was in need of some good advice, and she only knew of one person that was good at both giving advice and keeping secrets. Although it annoyed her, the girl still ended up searching the halls for her redheaded nemesis, "Faye."
The Hastings girl turned around and looked at the brunette with her eyebrows furrowed. The two hardly ever talked, let alone approached one another willingly, "Aren't you supposed to be suspended or something?"
"Principal Figgins is allowing me to get my books out of my locker," Rachel states with a frown. Faye lets her eyes look down at the textbooks Rachel had pressed against her chest. Raising an eyebrow, the girl spoke boredly before turning around to walk away, "Well, it looks like you got them."
Rolling her eyes, the brunette jogged to catch up with the Hastings girl who obviously wanted nothing to do with her, "Actually, I needed to talk to you about something."
"Me," The redhead pointed at herself, confused by the request. Faye let out a sarcastic chuckle, "I'm sorry, don't we hate each other? I mean, I can barely stand to be in the same room as you, and you make it your mission to annoy the shit out of me—daily."
"I do not make it my mission-," Rachel starts to bark back but stops herself, taking a deep breath, the brunette closes her eyes, "Look, I'm only coming to you because there's nobody else, alright? Trust me, I don't want to be talking to you either!"
Rubbing her eyes, already exhausted by the Berry girl's voice Faye finally stops and looks to the equally annoyed girl beside her, "Fine, Rachel. What can I help you with?"
"It's about Quinn."
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"Out of everyone that you could have brought, I kind of thought you'd bring Faye."
Sam Evans sat in the passenger seat of Finn's truck, Rachel propped between the two boys, clutching her purse as if someone was attempting to take it. The girl rolled her eyes at what Sam had said. Of course, Faye would be brought up on this four-hour drive back to Lima. What else did she expect? The redhead was like poison ivy, she left an itch that wouldn't go away.
Finn frowned at the mention of his ex-best friend; he hadn't told many people about the split, hoping that he could get Faye back on his side sooner rather than later. Selfishly, that was part of the reason he brought Sam back. Not only did the New Direction need help, but maybe if the Hudson boy did more good to outweigh the bad—he could get back on Faye's good side.
The quarterback sighed and shook his head, "I messed things up with her. She's really mad at me."
"What did you do," The blue-eyed boy peered around Rachel, catching the frown tugging at Finn's lips.
"Nothing," Rachel answered for the boy, defending her boyfriend's honor, "She's mad at him for no real reason! She's just overreacting."
The blonde boy looked down at Rachel with furrowed eyebrows, at one point he used to think about how much he missed the glee club, including the brunette next to him. But now he was reminded of why she annoyed everyone. Finn gave his girlfriend a sharp look before sighing, "She didn't overreact, Rach! I did something bad, she had every right to do what she did."
"Do what she did," Sam echoed back, not understanding the severity of the situation.
"Yeah," The taller boy stated sheepishly, "She kind of broke up with me."
Sam let both of his eyebrows shoot up in surprise, he hadn't expected that. He thought it would've been something like a smack to the back of the head or a strong case of the silent treatment. But Finn and Faye not being best friends? It felt foreign to even think about.
Rachel smacked her hands down on her purse with a scoff, "It's not a breakup, Finn, you weren't together! We are together! She just stopped being your friend, not your lover."
"That's not fair," Finn started but was quickly cut off by the brunette, "No! Do you know what's not fair? Being the second most important woman in your boyfriend's life!"
"Well...actually my mom's pretty high on the list too."
Throwing her hands up, Rachel scoffed as Sam turned to look out the window, debating whether or not driving back to Lima with these two was such a great idea. Rachel glared at her boyfriend, "Well I should be pretty high on that list too, but apparently Faye is higher than me since you always let her treat me like crap!"
"What?"
"Seriously, Finn," Rachel asked as her voice rose over the soft music coming out from the radio, "You let her say awful things to me all the time! But if I say one bad thing about her, you tell me to stop?"
"Because you take it too far! You bring up her past, which isn't cool Rachel," The Evans boy glanced at the couple with a frown, he really wished Finn would've just brought Faye, "Besides, you have no idea how much Faye has done for us!"
"Us? She has done nothing for me," Rachel exclaimed with a huff.
Finn bit his cheek and shook his head, "That's not true, you just don't know what she did. Did you know that when I was with Quinn, Faye was the only one who called me out on it? She kept pushing for me to get back together with you. She knew that I loved you and even though she hated you, she wanted us to be happy together. Not to mention, since summer she's been biting her tongue around you. She didn't have to do any of that—but she did."
Rachel sat back in her seat and stared out the window in front of her, she hadn't known that Faye was pushing for the two of them to get together. If anything, she expected the redhead to throw a party at her disappearance from Finn's side.
It felt like a smack to the face, a wake-up call even. She had spent so much time holding every wrong decision Faye made against her, she never thought the Hastings girl had any good in her. Now Rachel felt like the bitch.
"I had no idea," the girl admitted quietly before looking at her boyfriend. She finally saw past her fury over his reaction and saw how lost he looked without his best friend. She finally saw the desperation on his face, Faye meant a lot to Finn, and she made him happy. Rachel knew that now, so looking at the quarterback with soft and motivated eyes the girl promised, "I'll help you get her back. I'll do whatever you want."
The two smiled softly at one another, completely lost in the newfound trust in their relationship. However, it was quickly cut off as the blonde boy spoke up from beside them, "Are you guys done? I really gotta pee."
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The only sound in the choir room was hushed whispers and sneakers squeaking on the floor. Rory, after nearly twenty minutes of looking at the redhead, had finally mustered up the courage to ask if she could help him with a dance move he was struggling with.
The Irish boy was quite fond of the Hastings girl, she was oddly intimidating but when she offered him a gracious smile and immediately jumped up to help him, he couldn't help but fancy her.
Faye liked Rory, she thought he was adorable and oblivious, his lack of direction and confused puppy-dog look brought a sudden soft spot for him causing her to take the newest member under her wing. Counting softly, the girl guided the boy through the dance move with slow instruction, picking up on the things that seemed harder for the boy to comprehend.
Just beside the two was the small group of what was left of the New Directions. They huddled together, whispering their concerns over which band members would be joining them for their performance and sharing their doubts about if they were going to win. What caught the Hastings girl's attention was the confidence of Quinn's statement, "I know for a fact that we're winning."
Faye looked over her shoulder toward the blonde who was staring at Puck with a suspicious smile. Her statement had been oddly layered, her words dripping with intention and trouble. The redhead frowned and thought back to her conversation with Rachel.
Just last week Faye was holding Quinn as she cried about how lost she was without Beth, a little part of her didn't want to think that the blonde would go behind her back and do something that she may regret. But the Fabray girl was lost, and she was trying to find any way to be found.
The questioning energy of the group toward Quinn's optimism is cut short as Finn and Mr. Shue walk in, just as confident about winning as the blonde girl just was, "Hey, great news everybody! Sectionals are going to be a challenge."
"Mr. Shue, we appreciate your endless supply of affirmations, but all the sparkling cider in the world can't deny the fact that the Titanic has hit the iceberg, and now we're on a sinking ship."
"Not if I can help it," Sam exclaims as he enters the room with a huge smile on his face.
Finn watched Faye closely as her eyes sparkled with happiness upon the arrival of the blonde boy, an excited noise escaping her lips as she stood with everyone else to get a hug. Releasing Quinn, the blonde boy made eye contact with his favorite friend, laughing excitedly, the boy picked the redhead off her feet and held her tightly.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming," Faye asks as the Evans boy puts her back on the ground. The boy glanced briefly at the quarterback, "Honestly, I didn't even know I was until today."
Faye grinned at the boy and hugged him once again. She would never say it aloud, but she really needed his return at this point. After the loss of one friend, it was good to have one back on her side.
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"He took it too far!"
Sam was storming down the hall, his fist balled at his side and his face screwed up in anger. Faye walked at a leisurely pace behind him, swinging her arms around and looking into the empty classrooms they passed.
Faye had just pulled Sam out of the choir room after he and Blaine got into a shoving war. Mr. Shue had taken it upon himself to call an emergency Booty Camp session with just the boys to catch them up on the dance moves for Sectionals, and he had called Faye to help out.
What started out as suggestions for Sectionals ended up with Blaine getting annoyed and bringing Sam's previous job up in a judgmental manner. This series of events led to an intense shoving match and Faye pulling Sam out of the room to calm him down.
"I agree with you," The redhead stated calmly as the blonde boy now paced in front of her. And she did agree. Blaine should have never said that Sam's body was up 'for sale', he had taken it too far and it was easy to recognize that, "Look, tensions are high, everyone's been pretty stressed out, but I promise Blaine isn't always like that. It's just been a weird year."
Sam sighed, attempting to calm himself down, the boy leaned against the lockers beside his redhead best friend, "Is that why you and Finn aren't friends anymore? Because it's been a weird year?"
"He told you about that, huh?"
The blonde boy nodded and gave the girl a tight-lipped smile, "Yeah, not to mention the tension between the two of you. He didn't tell me what all happened, but I know he feels really bad."
"Sometimes I feel bad—about cutting him off like that," Faye admits as she looks down at her shoes, "But I felt like I was back in a place that I once had to claw my way out of and I felt like now Santana was with me. I didn't want her to feel like that, and I knew I never wanted to feel like that again. So I pushed him as far away as I could."
"That's understandable," The boy comforted the girl, but he couldn't stop his follow-up question from flowing from his lips, "And what about Quinn? What happened there?"
"What do you mean," The Hastings girl asks, not looking the boy in the eyes even though she could feel them burning into the side of her face.
Sam chuckled at the girl who couldn't see what everyone else had, "When I was dating Quinn, you guys would constantly watch one another, it would be small moments. Glancing at each other during songs, holding eye contact for a moment too long, but you guys rarely spoke, if anything you hated each other. Before I left, you guys had seemed to grow closer, it was like you both had gotten past your stubbornness and were finally on the same page. Now you guys are right back where you started."
Faye thought back to Nationals, it had started so beautifully—Quinn admitting that she didn't want to hide who she was anymore and that she knew that Finn wasn't her person. It seemed like things would only go up from there, yet they came to a crashing stop. The development of their relationship going up in flames at the request to run away and avoid the truth and opinions of their town.
It was something that broke them both, they both knew that when they were together it felt right—but pressures were too high, and they were scared to face the consequences of their relationship. Rather that be in New York or in Lima.
"I think we both have gotten a little lost this year," The redhead whispered the truth of their status, scared of what it meant. She wanted nothing more than to be with Quinn, but she wondered if the blonde could ever overcome the years of fear and doubt. She also wondered if she could let the Fabray girl truly love her, or if she would always find a reason to keep her at arm's distance.
Both of their pasts held them tightly, only allowing them to graze their fingertips together before yanking them backward and letting that hellish cycle continue forever.
"You'll find your way back together."
Sam was so confident about it. He hadn't told Faye about his conversation with Quinn that he had in the very hallway they were standing in. He had told the blonde girl the same thing, it was the type of statement that threw them both off. They thought no one had seen it, that their love affair was a secret and unnoticed by everyone.
The Hastings girl laughed and shook her head, "You are such an optimist, you know that?"
"From what I've seen from you since I've gotten back, you need a little optimism," The boy admitted with a sly smile, however, his words held meaning. Faye had seemed off and Sam couldn't understand how no one had seen it. The girl seemed distracted, her mind not being all there.
He didn't know that Quinn had noticed, and she knew the reason why—those notes had taken a part of Faye away from the present. Pulling her mind back into the past and trapping her there.
The Hastings girl frowned at the statement, he was right, she could feel herself becoming more irritable and less approachable, it was something she hated but felt like she couldn't stop it. Nodding, the girl took a deep breath, "You're right. I really need that right now."
The two looked at one another and Sam wrapped his arm around the girl, suddenly overcome with love and admiration for her, "Don't tell anyone, but I think I missed you the most. And your mom. And your cooking"
Grinning teasingly, the redhead laughed, "Are you saying all of this so I'll invite you over for dinner?"
"Finally," Sam throws his hands up jokingly, "I thought you'd never pick it up. I've been dropping hints since the minute we saw each other!"
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Sectionals had finally arrived and plans were being set into motion. Quinn had waited for this night for a long time. She wasn't sure of the outcome, and a part of her didn't care, she just wanted to feel something again. Something that wasn't pain and anger. She wanted people to see that she was still powerful and that she still had the upper hand, even if she really didn't.
The blonde girl thought she had snuck out of the auditorium without being noticed but was proven wrong when she turned a corner to find Faye Hastings leaning against the lockers—awaiting her arrival.
Rolling her eyes, the Fabray girl approached the redhead with her arms crossed, "Aren't you supposed to be in the auditorium?"
"Aren't you?"
"What do you want, Faye," Quinn asked the girl, annoyed by her constant appearance and awaiting lectures. Looking up from her nails, the Hastings girl narrowed her eyes, "I want you to tell me what you're doing?"
Laughing softly to herself, Quinn shook her head, "I'm doing the right thing."
"Are you," The redhead asked as she stepped closer to the blonde, "Because from here—it looks like you're doing this for revenge."
"I'm an adult," Quinn exclaimed, "I can do whatever the hell I want!"
"Then act like one, Quinn. Tell Shelby what you're going to do, and understand that what you're about to do will affect a lot more than just her. It's going to affect her, it's going to affect Beth, and one day it'll affect you too."
That was all Faye felt the need to say, she knew that she couldn't stop Quinn, not entirely. Because the Fabray girl was right—she was an adult and she could do whatever she wanted. The Hastings girl just hoped to provide her with the reminder that her actions will always have consequences.
Walking past the girl, Faye turned around once more, making eye contact with the blonde girl, "I once reacted on strong emotions and revenge too, and look where it got me. I can't stop you from doing this, but I want you to understand you have a choice. Please make the right one."
And with that, the girl walked back into the auditorium, leaving Quinn to make her own decision and determine her own future.
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The New Directions were next to perform and everyone had found their way to the stage. Faye was standing in front of the band members and Rory, going over last-minute questions on the dances and calming self-doubts in their dancing abilities.
Quinn quietly made her way on stage, slowing to make eye contact with the redhead, the two held a wall up to prevent showing raw feelings and pushed the burning questions aside. It was time to perform, there was no time to stop and talk.
Sam came up behind Faye and twirled her around, "You ready?"
"I'm always ready," The redhead grinned as they ran to their starting positions. Giving one last look around, the curtains opened and the music began.
ABC by The Jackson 5 performed by The New Direction
The first performance was going well, the crowd had almost immediately stood at the singing and dancing and Faye grinned as she watched Rory conquer the dance he couldn't hit during rehearsals. As the song came to a close, the lights dimmed and the second song began.
Control by Janet Jackson performed by The New Directions
Quinn started the song with a powerful voice, the sound haunting the auditorium before the music started. Once again, the crowd cheered at the performance. Their dancing had been in sync and Artie and Blaine's voices went incredibly well together.
As Control ended, the group found themselves in new positions as the stage went dark again.
Man In The Mirror by Michael Jackson performed by The New Directions
The song came to an end and the teenagers all crowded together, soaking up the applause of the audience and hugging one another at their shared success. From across the stage, Quinn walked behind the group and wrapped her arms around Faye, holding her so delicately, that the redhead thought they might just shatter with emotion.
No conversation was needed, all of the answers were clarified within the heartfelt moment. Quinn chose right, she chose happiness over revenge—just as Faye believed she would.
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The New Directions had won Sectionals and the air around them felt lighter. But something was missing—the Trouble Tones.
The group had all agreed that they missed the girls that had left them, they felt incomplete and wanted nothing more than to have them back. And Quinn was the only one willing to see it through, but she had something to do first.
Approaching the redheaded girl who sat on the floor in the hallway, drawing small figures into the back of her notebook, the blonde smiled at the sight, "Hey."
Looking up, Faye sent the Fabray girl a small smile, "Hi."
"I've been looking for you," Quinn admitted as she sat down next to Faye. The redhead watched her hesitantly, the air around the blonde felt different. It felt calmer, it felt peaceful, and it felt pure and safe. Just as Faye remembered her feeling.
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to tell on Shelby. I love Beth and if I did that it would only hurt her. And I wanted to think you, for stopping me from doing something I'd regret."
"I knew you weren't going to do it," Faye whispers softly as she looks into Quinn's eyes, "You're a good person."
The Fabray girl nodded and spoke softly, her voice full of emotion, "You know, I think you are the only person who has ever said that to me. You're the only person who sees the good in me."
"Everyone sees the good in you, you're better than you know, Quinn. You just so happen to be like me—you get caught up and your mistakes and punish yourself forever; ignoring all the good that resides in you," The redhead's eyes were soft as she looked at the blonde before her, telling her nothing but the truth, "You're human, you get lost sometimes."
"Thank God I had you to guide me back," The Fabray girl states as her eyes flicker from Faye's eyes to her hand. A small debate happening in her head, one side ended up winning and Quinn was now holding Faye's hand, tracing her shapes on it, "I don't know how to make it up to you."
Looking down at their hands, Faye takes a deep breath, the warmth that spread through her body had never eased whenever they touched, it felt right—it felt like home. Making eye contact with the girl, the redhead smiled, "How about this, if I get lost—you'll come to find me and guide me back as well?"
"I think I can do that," The blonde smiled, feeling for the first time since New York, hope for the future. And this time, she knew with every bone in her body that Faye would be a part of it. But for right now, she wanted to live in the present and she wanted to live it right with the Hastings girl by her side.
We Are Young by fun performed by The New Directions
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( authors note. )
heyyy
i know its been forever. but this chapter took
forever! and i finally got it where i liked it!
i wanted to dedicate this chapter to Flixana
who never fails to message me
after every chapter to tell me
how much she loved it. it means
the world to me & i wanted to thank her
i also want to thank everyone
who votes, comments and shares
this story, i never thought that
anyone would read this book and
and it means so much to me that you are
i'm going to try to update more
and be more present on here.
also! be excited for next chapter
bc drama is gonna go down!
thank you again! i love you guys!
xoxo,
viviana. <3