#thinking........... about faberry..........

★★★★★

I'll Be by stix04

Can Quinn pretend to be in love with Rachel just to get out of Lima? Can Rachel pretend to love Quinn so she's not so lonely in New York? And what happens when both girls realize they're no longer pretending?

This fic is fucking INSANE (affectionate). It's one that, for me at least, I had to get a ways into before I learned its language. It's just so unique and the way the characters were written is sooo...deranged? (lmao!) But it was constantly laugh out loud funny, the angst was very much believable and bearable, and more than anything, and most importantly, - it was able to capture the ooey gooey faberry feelings. You know what I'm talking about with that? Some fics just have it, you know what I mean? They just wrap around your heart and squeeze. This one does that. And at the same time, it was just soooo silly goofy ridiculous stupid - and perfect. Kind of a masterpiece tbh.

★★★★★

Comfort of Love by ForForever19

More than a decade after the death of Tony Stark, a blonde teenager walks into a diner looking for a cheeseburger, and finds more than she expected. OR Faberry in the MCU. Sort of.

Do not, I repeat do not let the summary for this one put you off, in case you are averse to crossovers or the MCU or both. For one thing, ForForever19 is a master of the crossover and can make anything work seamlessly, it's actually SHOCKING. And for another, the MCU is more of the backdrop for this Faberry story. It's so good, it's stupid. I loved the Quinn and Rachel characters in this one - it was the sort of story I never wanted to leave. Some might quirk an eyebrow at their age difference, but I think the story justified it. It's difficult for me to say more without giving gifts of the fic away so just know that this is one of my favorites and give it a chance.

★★★★★

these strange steps by thememoriesfire

Rachel, bottoming out completely, is doing a show in Vegas and, as a distraction from her life, gets dragged to a strip club by Puck. She hasn't seen Quinn in 8 years. This isn't how she wanted them to see each other again. Warning: D/s overtones.

There are some stories that reach further than other fics, that are trying to tell a different story than one of two girls who fall in love, and this is one of them. The author says in a note that this is more a character story than a relationship story and that’s certainly true. It’s beautiful and painful and cathartic, much more than being just a romance. But it’s perfect for exactly what it is.

★★★★★

this is me trying by ForForever19

'Lena takes steps forward, eyes searching for a free seat near the back, but it seems she's not the only one with that idea. There is a blonde woman sitting very stiffly right in the back, and Lena imagines that's what she's about to look like once she takes her seat. Which she does, two seats over from the woman. Then she waits. Listens and learns.' OR Lena and Quinn, an adoption scandal, heartbreak, and the foreign concept of actually trying to be happy.

Oh my god, whaaattt, another ForForever19 crossover fic?? No way!! Okay so, disclaimer with this one is that Supergirl is definitely more than just a backdrop in this story - it's half the story, as half the story is about Kara and Lena. But like, who doesn't love Supercorp! Anyway, if you do, read this. The craziest thing is, my favorite part of this story isn't even Faberry, because while I did love them (as well as the Supercorp of it all), my favorite part was actually Quinn and Lena's relationship! It was so incredibly beautiful. I wrote in my notes for this fic "I ached every moment they were together, and when they weren’t, I just wanted them to go back." So, well, yeah - open yourself up to possibilities, I say! This one might just blow your mind.

★★★★★

Didn't See It Coming by ForForever19

After a devastating breakup, Quinn turns to Rachel in need of a friend, and ends up with so much more. - "If, one day, someone asks me how it all started; I'll have to say it was a granola bar that finally did me in."

This one is an absolute epic. It's a monster of a fic, but it's wonderful. To be honest, there was a lot of darkness in this story, but throughout it all, Quinn and Rachel had this deep and profound love for each other that held so strong, and it was so so lovely to read. And even the background characters felt really special in this story - Hiram and LeRoy, and Santana and Brittany. I'll also note, this fic has a song used in this fic that I became obsessed with after, and is one of my top-played songs now lmao. And every time I listen to it, I think about the specific scene from this fic!! So good.

★★★★★

I've Been Trying to Reach You by thememoriesfire

After falling pregnant in sophomore year, Quinn Fabray plummets from the top of the teen hierarchy at McKinley High to the very bottom. In an effort to give her a chance to start over, her parents transfer her to Carmel, a private school in the area with a blossoming arts program. It's supposed to be a new beginning, but what she doesn't count on is immediately becoming enemies with the most popular girl in school: Rachel Berry, co-captain of Vocal Adrenaline.

Sometimes you read a fic over six months ago and you can't remember the specifics anymore of what you loved about it. And that's okay! I still remember loving it. It still goes on this list. And to the top of my re-read list since I've forgotten everything about it apparently. Yay!

★★★★★

Never Asked To Feel Your Halo by BattleKitten

The thing was, neither of them wanted this-whatever it was, but since when did the Universe care about what Rachel or Quinn wanted? Their cards had been dealt the moment they'd entered that shower together. Now it came down to how well they played them.

This was one of the first Faberry fics I read, and it kind of took over my life when I did lmao. My wife was really concerned actually! Anyway, haters will say that Faberry is too toxic in this fic. I don't know! Maybe so! Personally I loved it. This fic also did this really specific thing that I love, which might honestly be why I love it so much, best described by this bit I wrote in my notes for it: “I loved how much stupid ridiculous attention every little detail got. Every brush of a hand sent them into a frenzy that would last a whole chapter.” There's also an incomplete sequel, so while this one is technically complete, it's also lowkey not so...proceed with caution, if that sort of thing matters to you? (*warning that there’s some transphobic language used in this fic a few times, in a “making fun of rachel” scenario*)

★★★★★

Temporary Love by ForForever19

'As far as first impressions go, Quinn Fabray would definitely sell part of her soul for a do-over.'

God, this story is so good, but so angsty. Long and heartbreaking and painful and so so so good. And painful! Did I mention painful? But seriously, it's a beautiful story, and, spoiler alert, it has a happy ending. But I think like 2/3 of the story is spent in a state of distress, if I'm gonna be honest lmao. But you know, as Taylor Swift would say - sad, beautiful, tragic love affair with a happy ending, or whatever.

★★★★★

Whenever You're Ready by ForForever19

'If anyone were to ask Quinn Fabray just what she was thinking, she'd be unable to answer. She wasn't thinking, maybe, because even she can't bring herself to rationalise just what possesses her to kidnap someone else's children. God. She's pretty sure she's just committed a felony.'

Oh, I love this fic so much, and I think about it all the time. This awoken something in me. I think that I think about it a lot because it made me want more of this very specific genre of both Quinn and Rachel being moms, and then meeting and falling in love. I just, ooooh, that's so good. I also love when an author nails writing kids, and the kids in this fic are soooo cute. It's such a good time all around, I loved it.

★★★★★

a first glance feeling on new york time by overnights

“I never doubted that you’d end up here,” Quinn says. “In New York. On Broadway. I always knew you’d be the one to make it out of Lima.” “You did too,” Rachel points out. “I wasn’t ever a given, though,” Quinn says quietly. “You were always the sure thing.”

"fairly quinntrospective" reads one of the tags on this fic, and well, yes. And I love Quinn soooo much, just so so so so much, and this author wrote her so beautifully. And I loved how full her world felt in this fic. This story was just so wonderful at the details. Not overbearing but just RICH. And Quinn's love for Rachel was just, oooh baby - good stuff. Reading this story made me feel like I was floating on a cloud as I read it and existed in its world. So beautiful.

★★★★★

Enough To Believe by ForForever19

Years after Shelby ups and disappears from Lima with Beth, a blonde girl shows up on Rachel and Quinn's doorstep, armed with a lot of questions, and very familiar cheekbones.

Okay, disclaimer that this one is an established relationship story, but I just loooove a Beth story so much. And teenage Beth at that! Who I am imagining in my head as Kathryn Newton and it’s perfect. This story was so sweet and warm and compelling and just niiceeeee, I loved it. I loved Beth, I loved Quinn and Rachel’s relationship. I loved all the complexities of their fucked up little family. It’s not an especially long story and it only covers like two days of time but the world feels so full and I felt so immersed in it.

★★★★★

A Matter of Timing by ForForever19

'If anyone were to ask Rachel Berry how or when it happens, she probably wouldn't be able to say. The why is much, much easier. It's Quinn. There's really no other explanation needed.'

Absolutely wonderful, painful, beautiful, tragic, angsty, mess of a story, which I loved. It was not warm feelings ooey gooey faberry - it was a pure and true angst. But it was written so so well. A story of unrequited love, and well, the title says it best - a matter of timing. It was so painful to read, and it hurt so much, but it made sense, which matters. If you're looking for or okay with something that's gonna hurt you, but you're gonna like it - this is the fic for you.

★★★★★

Past Mistakes by InvisMeg

Rachel makes a wish and finds herself in a place she never thought she'd be again. Now she's she reliving her senior year, trying to fix everything that went wrong and trying to find what she's been missing in her life.

Here's the thing, I love time travel soooo much!! So so so very much. I'll read any time travel Fabery fic you put in front of me. (Truly any one. Do it. Right now. Give me a Faberry time travel fic to read, I dare you.) But not all time travel fics are created equal, and this is one of my favorites. I love when they have a little mission that they're going back for, something to fight for, something to change. This one does that well. It was just an all around good time and a great concept - a great story to tell. YAY TIME TRAVEL!

★★★★★

Stays in Vegas by gayerfurtherfaster

Ten years after high school, Quinn and Rachel wake up after a one night stand only to find out they can't remember some very important events from the night before.

I loved this. It was so well-written and funny and cute. And just overall a fun story!! A little bit The Hangover-esque trying to retrace their steps from the night before. And this wonderful chemistry and immediate spark between them that makes their relationship fun and interesting. Just a super cute story that I really enjoyed!

★★★★★

Nineteen by ForForever19

Quinn Fabray has eighteen tattoos, and Rachel is on a mission to discover every single one.

This one is a quickie, but it's so good and so sweet! It's short, but it's still sort of a slow-burn almost. It's a slow and beautiful unfurling. A slow-building intimacy.

★★★★★

celebrate the art of dreaming by gayerfurtherfaste

What happens when your two best friends become something more?

A biiiiig disclaimer here! This is not a Faberry fic, but it is a throuple fic where two-thirds of the throuple is Faberry! That is not for everyone! It is for me! If you are like me, and a throuple fic is for you, then read this fic! If it is not for you, then carry on! Good day!!

★★★★★

take these broken wings by celaenos

Begins in Season one and follows Quinn through her life should she have chosen to keep Beth, realize she is queer, and fall in love with Rachel Berry. The main romantic relationship will be Faberry, with a bit of Hevans and Brittana, but apart from Faberry it will be very heavy on friendship and Quinn&Beth oriented.

This is a beautiful and thoughtful series of fics. It's very sweet and done really interestingly with each fic being from a different character's POV. It starts in high school, then moves us to New York and college, and - it has one of my favorite things - Quinn as a mom! To Beth! Who we love!! Yay Beth!!

★★★★★

dear your name here by thememoriesfire

Future AU; Quinn and Rachel meet up again in college.

A fun fact about this fic is that it's the first Faberry fic I ever read. A second fun fact about this fic is that by "read" I mean that my wife read it out loud to me while we were on a roadtrip and I was driving. Twice! Two different roadtrips! Over a year and a half apart! So this seems like a good fic to end this list on. Maybe one day I'll read this fic with my own two eyes instead of my wife reading it out loud to me in a car. Not today though!

He knows how he ended up sharing a cabin with a swathe of anxiously awake Cheerios. Girly tittering whispers floating in the dark around his bottom bunk. Some of them had let their eyes roll over him upon his arrival. The absence of threat to them made him equally as absent of any identity. Others glowered and glared from their stock still place in the rows of military-esque formation. They knew enough of him to know he stuck out like a nail begging to be hammered. Dozens of mouths running over with whispers and insults the second they had an inch of freedom to do so. 

Sue, perfectly aware of the malignancy oozing off teenage girls and yet entirely in spite of it, had sorted him into one of several all girl cabins. Something about how he was like Pinocchio and a Ken doll’s lovechild, not yet a real boy packing anything of threat. Her voice had simply blasted through the megaphone with a command to unpack and he was marched away into a purposefully shabby cabin while the Cheerios were instructed to begin their “Death Sprints.” They had all collapsed bonelessly up and down the rows of bunk beds after the blue of night ate up the last wisps of pink sunset. It was cold, he pulls his blanket tighter over him.

“Hummel, come with me if you want to live.”

Kurt opens an eye into the thickening dark, “I'm not surprised to learn you're an evil robot from the future. It really explains your vicious absence of a soul.”

“Y'know what? Get comfortable, Andy Dick. I hope Sue drags you straight out of bed when you don't wake up fast enough when the sirens go off.”

“Santana.” A lower voice comes from further in the dark, cautioning sweetly.

“I didn't even want him joining us to begin with. I don't know why you two sent me to wake his fairy ass up.” Kurt can just make out the shape of Santana's shoulders hunching as she speaks.

There's a sigh in the dark, a new voice, “Come on, S. He's closer to one of us than any of the weaklings in this cabin.” Quinn's words stoke up the embers of whispers into a hushed chatter.

“Fine,” There's a grunt of disgust as she throws his feeble blankets off of him and pulls him to his feet. 

She weaves them through the dark with a crushing grip on his wrist. Pulling him to a slip of moonlight escaping through a crack in the door - the ease with which Santana does this is more evidence that she inspired Schwarzenegger's iconic automaton.

“Hi,” Brittany whispers to him on his arrival, taking Santana's hand away to claim as her own, “We're being sneaky.”

“You're sn-” all three shush him at once. An unidentified hand slamming over his mouth. “-you’re sneaking out? With Sue around? Won't she, I don't know - kill us and put our heads on pikes as warning?” He continues much quieter than before.

“Only if we get caught and we won't. Follow me and don't say a word until it's safe to do so.” Quinn whispers firmly, pulling the door open in silence. Kurt could've sworn those hinges squeaked nonstop earlier. He truly needs to take the time to admire whatever Regina George/Queen Bee power Quinn has roaring through her tiny body.

They trail behind her like ducklings. He watches the blonde bounce of her ponytail catch the small lights as they weave between buildings and looming trees. He tries not to complain about the ground jabbing at his socked feet. Whispers and giggles float behind him, abruptly starting and stopping as they pass through shadow. Sue's prized possessions make sneaking about look like easy work.

Their trek ends at a small wooden building. Small like the pitiful accomodations they call the lavatories. He couldn't even do his skincare in there. His Dad owes him an increase on his fashion allowance for doing this to him.

Shuffling him through the door, it takes a moment for one to light the lanterns and melt the dark away. It's small as expected. Three made-up mattress circling a lantern in the middle. There's bags of food and water shoved into one corner and a stack of magazines next to a radio in the other.

Brittany throws herself onto the mattress laden in pink floral bedding with a happy little squeal.

“We sneak to camp a week and set this up before it starts. Every year since seventh grade, keeps us from going insane from the starvation and insomnia.” Quinn whispers as they watch Santana sit down next to Brittany with far more restraint.

Kurt raises his perfectly manicured eyebrow, “You're not telling me Sue doesn't know.”

“Oh, you can bet your sweet feminine ass she knows, Whitest Liberace. She's just never caught us in the act. Game respect game, not that you would know anything about that.” Santana pipes up from below while Brittany undoes her ponytail.

Brittany smiles up at him, her fingers combing through dark hair, “I think you're a great kisser.” 

Kurt can't help but smile back, “Thanks, Britt.”

Quinn daintily places herself upon one of the beds. The soft pastel blues and yellows royal and girl next door-ish. Kurt twists around and stares at the last bed. Black and red entirely given away the owner.

Quinn clears her throat to draw his eyes, “That one is yours.” She says. Smiling a little as he glances at Santana nervously, “She’s sharing with Britt. They usually end up together anyways so it's not a bother. Sit.”

Kurt is not strong enough to resist a command from Quinn The Great and Powerful.

“Are you a Cheerio again, Kurtie?” Brittany asks, petting Santana like she's a cat.

Kurt shrugs, picking at the hems of his pajamas, “Sue wants to keep me on retainer.”

“You're too big to fit in her mouth.”

Santana snaps out of her haze to let out a bark of laughter, “Is he, Britt? Is he really?”

“Well,” and he can see Brittany honestly consider it before she speaks, “her mouth opens really wide when she yells so maybe.”

Santana snickers a little. Just long enough while staring at Kurt like he's a punchline she can't wait to hit. It's melted a way by a stroke of Brittany's hands across her shoulders and down her arms.

He shares a look with Quinn. She passes him a bottle of water. They both take a long drink.

“You will never breath a word about anything that happens at Cheer Camp to anyone.” Her raspy whisper cuts through the space between them and the look in her eyes makes the command a threat.

Kurt takes another long drink of water.

“What am I supposed to expect?” He asks after a moment.

“Cardio, lots of cardio,” Quinn sighs as she fully reclines.

“Lots of crying. If you brought money you can join the betting pool on how many will cry each day,” Santana adds, negotiating the girl next to her into a perfect seat.

“The sunrise is pretty if you position yourself right while doing your sit-ups,” Brittany wraps her arms around the waist of the girl in her lap as she speaks.

Kurt decides to get more comfortable himself. The mattress beneath him far comfier than the one in the cabin. No plastic to crinkle loudly from the tiniest movement and twice the thread count on the sheets.

“Cardio, crying, and sit-ups. I'm so glad I'm wasting my summer here.”

Quinn lets out a wry laugh, “The price we pay for the things we want.”

That sets a hush across their lantern lit bubble. They all sit, uncomfortable with themselves and feeling entirely too much of their teen age.

“I miss Glee Club. I wish Glee Club had summer camp.” Brittany mutters as she burrows her face into Santana's skin.

Santana reaches up to scratch her head, “No, you don't. You'd hate seeing Schue everyday.” 

“I'm scared of what lives in his hair but I like the singing and the dancing. We can't dance with each other during Cheerios. It's only, like, dancing near each other.”

Santana hums and slowly untwines their limbs from each other to get on her feet. The radio crackles to life while she rocks the knob until something half-music weakly crackles through the cabin. 

“Let's do some dancing, Britt,” She offers her hand with a bow and Brittany’s smile outshines the flickering lanterns as she takes it.

Kurt looks at Quinn. She doesn't look back. He takes a long slow drink.

Quinn nods her head along to the music instead, eyes trained in the middle distance between long slow blinks.

He needs something to focus on, something to preoccupy him from the taste of a comeback for every one of Santana's insults bubbling at the back of his tongue like bile.

“Happy to be a Cheerio again?”

“Mmm.”

“Got big plans for school in the fall?”

“Mhmm.”

“I'm sure the three of you have been excited about not seeing Rachel and the rest of the Glee losers all the time."

Quinn finally looks at him. “I'm excited to get what I deserve: Head Cheerio, Prom Queen, another nationals win.”

“You think we're going to make nationals this year?” Kurt tries to keep his surprise to himself. It's a struggle to believe any of the Cheerios enjoy Glee Club to begin with, much less believe in their little rag-tag gang.

Quinn snorts, “No.” Every mean girl to ever iconically grace cinema reflecting on her features, “maybe. Berry could take us there.”

Kurt lets out a low whistle, watching Brittany spin Santana through the small slivers of space on the floor, “A compliment for Rachel? From The Quinn Fabray? I must've stumbled into bizarro world.”

The Queen of McKinley straightens up, “Berry is an annoying little troll who needs somebody to burn her wardrobe but, I'm not going to pretend she's not talented.”

Kurt watches her drain her water bottle and twist the cap back on. The dim lighting paints her in highlights and shadows and, somehow, Kurt finds her entirely human.

“Either way, you must really want us to win.” 

Quinn finally looks at the girls dancing through the room. The beat on the radio abandoned for whatever one exists solely their heads. Each move pulling smiles and laughs and whispers from the other. They bump hips, shoulders, foreheads. Something shines elusively from the abyss behind hazel eyes.

“I'll never have what I want but I'm going to make damn sure I have everything else.” Quinn says, tone hushed and restrained.

Kurt watches her like she's a mirage in the sun burnt desert, blurring and focusing against the smallest shift in the air. He flattens entirely into the bed. Nothing in this little shack in the woods will ever leave its walls, even if he doesn't understand entirely what some of that nothing is. Not the dancing girls or the sad eyes or the loneliness that's bubbling up inside of him.

He doesn't know why he's here.

Saying no to Sue would've haunted his sleep far less.