Title: That Night

Summary: While out drinking with her friends one night, Quinn meets a younger girl named Rachel and ends up going home with her. She thinks that's the last she'll ever see of her, but life seems to have other plans.

Warnings: Sexual content in this chapter

A/N: First off, I sincerely apologize for yet another delayed chapter. As you can probably tell by now, it's just getting harder and harder for me to find time to write these days.

On the plus side, this is maybe the longest chapter I've written to date. I hope you all enjoy reading it.

So, without further ado, here is the final chapter...

"How does the color white make you feel?" Finn frowns as he re-reads the piece of paper, squinting his eyes.

"What?" one of the volunteers asks, confused as he is.

"Does it make you feel relaxed, tense…"

Quinn watches through a two-way mirror as Finn interviews a group of random people while she occasionally jots down notes on a clipboard. He seems to be bewildered by the questions because they are a bit odd at first glance, but he keeps reciting them anyway like she had told him to. She'd be lying if she said she didn't find his puzzled facial expressions entertaining.

"Does yellow or pink make you feel happy?" he says slowly.

Santana suddenly enters the dark room where Quinn is with a Burger King bag. "Hey. Want some fries?"

Quinn shakes her head. "What are you doing here?"

Santana puts the bag down on the table Quinn is sitting at and reaches into her purse. "I had some free time to get out. And besides, you – " She stops when she notices Finn. "You're seriously having Finessa do this? He looks so constipated right now."

"Questions like these are more effective than you think with focus groups. It's the key to product positioning. He has to learn that," Quinn explains.

"Of all the protégés you could've had, you had to pick the dumbest one," Santana says as she continues watching Finn.

Quinn shrugs. Somebody's got to teach him.

"And I still don't see why we have to come all the way over here to do these things."

"They give us a discount for renting this place out," Quinn responds as she writes more notes down. "And we'll have our own room like this once we upgrade to a bigger office."

"But that's not for another year or two."

"There's no rush. We've been doing great with our budgeting," Quinn says as she finishes writing. She then looks up at her friend. "What did you need?"

"Oh yeah." Santana hands Quinn's phone over to her and says, "You left this at the office. It looks like the Mrs. is trying to get a hold of you."

Quinn knows exactly who she's referring to. "We're not – "

"Yeah, yeah. You're not together, I know," Santana waves her off with a smirk.

The blonde rolls her eyes and checks her phone to see a new message.

Rachel: Can you call me when you get a chance?

Quinn: Sure. Is everything okay?

Rachel: Yes :)

She glances up at Finn and decides that he's doing okay for the most part. Especially considering it's his first time with a focus group. She hands the clipboard over to Santana and says, "Can you take over for a minute?"

Santana takes it with a sigh and says, "Fine."

Quinn steps out of the room and into the empty hallway. She dials Rachel's number and brings the phone up to her ear.

"Hey," Rachel answers.

Quinn notices that she sounds out of breath. "What are you doing?"

"I just got home," Rachel says.

"How did the audition go?" She remembers Rachel telling her about an audition when they spoke last week.

"It went fine. I actually have a good feeling about this one. Keep your fingers crossed!"

Quinn smiles. "I will. But I'm sure you're going to get it."

Ever since Rachel moved back to New York nearly six months ago, Quinn has so far been keeping her promise of being a friend to her, which included talking whenever they both had time. They didn't see each other much these days since Rachel was so busy with school and auditions, but Quinn always made sure to put time aside to at least talk.

"Are you busy with work today?" Rachel asks.

She glances back at the door and listens as Finn continues reading off questions. "I just have a focus group to finish up with, and then I'm done for the day." Working off her own schedule is one of the perks of being her own boss.

"Oh, well then I'll let you get back to it."

Quinn frowns. "Didn't you want to talk about something?"

"Oh, right!" Rachel giggles to herself. "I wanted to formally invite you to my graduation dinner next week. So far, it's just going to be Sam and my dads and I, but I wanted you to come as well. No pressure though."

"There isn't going to be a ceremony?" Quinn asks.

"That's only for students that graduate in the spring. And since I finished a semester late…"

"Ah, right. Well, I would love to go. You said the dinner is next week?"

"Yes. How does next Friday at eight o'clock sound?"

"That sounds perfect," Quinn says.

"Great! I'm still deciding on where, but I'll keep you updated."

Quinn leans one shoulder against the wall. "Okay. Thanks for inviting me."

"Well I want you to be there," Rachel says. "Anyway, get back to work!"

Quinn smiles. "Bye, Rachel."

"Bye!"

The line goes silent. Quinn looks down at the blank screen and grins to herself before going back inside the room.

Quinn had been looking forward to spending the weekend at her mother's place for a while now. So as soon as it hits five o'clock on Friday, she's out the door and making the drive to Judy's house.

As she pulls onto the street of her old neighborhood, she frowns when she sees a familiar car parked in front of the house. "What the hell…" she mutters to herself.

She quickly parks and hurries inside. "Mom?" she calls out.

"In here," she hears coming from the living room. She walks to the room and her suspicion is confirmed when she sees Russell sitting on the couch with Judy and Beth.

"What's going on?" Quinn asks.

"Quinn!" Beth jumps up from Russell's lap and runs over to give her a hug. "Grandpa's here!" she says excitedly. The man smiles at his granddaughter.

"I can see that," Quinn says, still wondering what he's doing there.

"Your father showed up a little while ago," Judy says as she tugs Beth away from Quinn. "He would like to speak with you."

Quinn glances over at him. He seems to be just as nervous as she is. "If you have time," he adds.

She nods slowly. "Okay."

"Let's go upstairs for a little while, okay?" Judy tells Beth.

When the two disappear up the stairs, Quinn makes no movement to sit down and crosses her arms instead. "It's been a while," she says.

He nods. "Indeed it has been." He looks at her and smiles. "I hear that your agency is really taking off."

"Yeah. Santana and I have been working hard, and it's really paying off," she answers. "Is that why you're here? To convince me to partner up with you or something? All of those accounts would mean good business for you." She doesn't really mean what she's saying, but she's still angry with him.

"No." He sighs and stands up to walk over to her. "I just wanted to say congratulations, and that I'm proud of you."

"Are you?"

He nods before smiling to himself. "A few weeks ago I was at a meeting, and your agency was brought up. Nothing but good things were said, of course. And you don't know how happy it made me to tell them that you were my daughter."

She laughs humorlessly. "If only i had always known it would be this easy. All I had to do was start my own company, gain prestige, and make a name for myself for you to finally notice me."

"You're upset, I understand that."

"Upset doesn't even begin to explain how I feel, Russell."

"Quinn," he says, "I know I wasn't the best father. I wasn't much of a father at all to you since..." he trails off. "But I've always been proud of you, even when I don't show it. So, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for everything, and I wish you the best of luck on this new endeavor."

She furrows her brow. "Thank you...I guess?"

"And if you ever need any advice on a project or a client or something..." he nods, "you can call me."

Quinn purses her lips. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good."

She doesn't know if he's trying to rebuild whatever relationship they had before, but it looks like this is where he's choosing to start. She supposes she'll just have to wait and see where he goes from here.

Her phone begins ringing in her pocket. She pulls it out to see that it's Rachel calling. She looks back up at him and says, "I have to take this."

He nods. "Okay. I'll be here for a while. Beth has a lot of artwork she wants to show me," he says with a smile.

Quinn turns and hurries out the front door. Once she closes it, she answers the phone, "Hey."

"Hey!" Rachel says on the other end. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

Quinn shakes her head. "Not at all. What's up?"

"I just wanted to confirm that you're still coming to dinner next Friday."

She chuckles with a shake of her head. "I said that I would, Rachel."

"I know. But sometimes things come up. And I would completely understand if something did in fact come up, and you had simply forgotten about the dinner and therefore failed to tell - "

"I'm going," Quinn says. "I promise."

"Good," Rachel says. "I'll let my fathers know so that they can make the reservations. They keep insisting they'll do it, but I don't trust them. I don't want them to call too late and not be able to get us a table."

Quinn snickers silently. "Okay, Rachel."

"Why are you laughing?"

"I'm not laughing."

"I can tell you are," Rachel says. "Does my excessive eagerness amuse you?"

Quinn smiles. "A little. But it's cute." When the door opens, she glances up to see Beth looking at her expectantly and says, "I have to go now. But I'll see you next week, okay?"

"I can't wait! You'd better not be late!"

She laughs. "I won't be."

After she hangs up, she looks at her niece and says, "What's up?"

"Was that Rachel?" Beth asks.

Quinn narrows her eyes playfully. "How did you know?"

"Because she smiles like that too!" Beth points at her face.

Quinn laughs and picks her up. "Let's go inside."

The week flies by and Friday comes quicker than she expected, so now Quinn is scrambling to get to the restaurant Rachel said they were meeting at. She wasn't exactly late, but she wasn't ten minutes early either like Rachel normally prefers.

She picks up her stride when she's a couple blocks away. She stops once she's just outside and looks through the window of the restaurant. It's completely packed, but she's still able to spot Rachel sitting at a table with her fathers, laughing at something one of them is saying. Quinn smiles.

Someone grabs her shoulder from behind. "Quinn?"

"Fuck!" she screams. She turns around to see Sam stifling a laugh. "Sorry. You scared me," she says as she puts a hand over her heart.

"My bad," he says. "Are you planning on going in or are you just going to stay out here all night?"

She clears her throat and nods. "Let's go." She follows him into the restaurant and they're immediately shown to their table. Rachel sees them coming in and is quick to get up to greet them. Her fathers follow her lead. "You both made it!" she says.

She gives Sam a hug first. He then goes to say hello to her fathers. Rachel turns to Quinn and beams, pulling her into a hug as well.

"I got you this," Quinn says as they pull apart. She holds out a narrow jewelry case.

Rachel takes it and opens it, finding a really nice ballpoint pen. She looks back up at Quinn with a peculiar smile. "A pen?"

"You're going to need one since you'll be signing a lot of autographs soon," Quinn explains lamely. She's suddenly starting to regret this stupid gift.

But that changes when Rachel gives her another hugs. "That's really sweet of you. I love it. Thank you."

She turns to the men and says, "Dad, Daddy, you remember Quinn, don't you?"

Quinn smiles at them. "It's nice to see you both again."

"Likewise," Leroy says with a grin as he shakes her hand. "And might I say, you look absolutely stunning tonight."

Quinn's cheeks rapidly heat up. "Thank you."

"Doesn't she, Hiram?" he asks his husband.

Hiram smiles and clasps one of her hands between his own. "Of course she does."

"And that dress is just amazing," Leroy continues.

"Okay. Can we stop checking out Quinn now? You're married, remember?" Rachel reminds Leroy teasingly.

Quinn blushes even more and is thankful when they all finally take their seats. At this particular round table, she ends up seated between Sam and Leroy, which she's fine with. She's directly across from Rachel. The waiter soon comes and takes all of their orders.

"And can I get a bottle of your best Chardonnay, please?" Hiram asks the waiter before he leaves.

"Certainly." The waiter scurries off to put their orders in.

"You don't have to order wine," Rachel says.

"Nonsense. We're celebrating!"

Quinn smiles at the two. Their relationship seems a lot more open compared to what it was when she went to Lima. There's no tension in the air anymore.

"So what are you going to do now, baby girl?" Leroy asks. "Are you still going to be living with Sam?" He turns to the blond man and says, "Not that I disagree with it or anything."

Sam smiles. "Rachel's welcome to stay there for as long as she wants to."

"I think I'll have to be earning a decent income before I can get my own place," Rachel adds.

"Speaking of which," Quinn says. "How did that audition go? The one you were telling me about last week. Did you get a callback?"

Rachel beams. "I actually wasn't going to bring that up until later, but I have some news to share with all of you."

Quinn straightens her back and leans forward in her seat, a grin already forming. If Rachel's excitement is anything to go by, she already knows what the girl is going to say.

"Well, let's hear it," Hiram says as he turns to her.

Rachel looks at all of them slowly, in an attempt to build the suspense. Quinn shakes her head and laughs to herself. But they don't have to wait much longer when Rachel says, "I got the part!"

The group erupts into cheers as everyone begins congratulating Rachel. Hiram is the first to pull her into a hug. And then Leroy and Sam do the same. Quinn simply reaches across the table and squeezes her hand. "I'm so proud of you," she says. Rachel smiles at her.

The waiter shows up with the bottle of wine and five glasses. Hiram taps the bottle and says, "We're gonna need another one of these."

After dinner, which mostly consisted of wine, the group gathers outside of the restaurant to part ways, which was quickly turning into a difficult task since Rachel's fathers were incredibly drunk after all of the celebrating.

"I left my glasses inside!" Hiram cries as Sam holds him up to keep from from stumbling over.

"You left them at the hotel, remember?" Leroy says. He pulls Rachel into what's probably their tenth hug since they stood up from the table. "You're going to be great, baby girl."

Rachel laughs. "I know. You keep telling me that."

"Because it's true!"

Quinn laughs and steps out to the curb to hail a cab for them. After one stops for her, Sam helps the two men inside while she gives the driver some cash to pay for their ride.

Rachel notices and tries to stop her. "You don't have to do that, Quinn."

Quinn shakes her head and gives the driver the money anyway. "It's fine, Rachel."

"Are you sure?"

They both look at the two men stumbling into the cab. "I don't think they even know what money is right now," Quinn says jokingly.

Rachel huffs. "Goodnight, dads! I'll see you both tomorrow."

"We love you, Rachel!" Leroy shouts out the window as the cab drives away. "I love New York!"

The remaining three burst out into laughter at the scene, each of them also buzzing from all of the alcohol. Once they settle down, Rachel turns to Sam and says, "Are you heading home?"

"Yeah," he says with a nod. "I have an early wake-up call. Are you coming?"

Rachel looks at Quinn for a moment, then back at him. "I'm actually not ready to go home yet."

Sam looks between them and nods. "Okay. Be careful."

"Goodnight, Sam," Quinn says as he leaves to hail his own cab. When he's gone, she turns to Rachel. "So, what do you want to do now?"

Rachel shrugs. "What do you want to do?"

"Whatever you want. This is your night."

"Can we maybe just walk around?" Rachel says. "I don't really get the chance to see you these days, and this is nice."

Quinn smiles. She had walked there from her apartment anyway. And spending more time with Rachel is perfectly okay with her. She holds her elbow out and says, "Lead the way."

They spend their time catching up as they walk around the nearby area. Quinn fills Rachel in on everything going on at work, which Quinn admits can may sound boring, but Rachel's intrigued and keeps asking her questions. Rachel also describes the play she's going to be starring in. It sounds like an interesting role to Quinn, and she's sure that Rachel's going to kill it. She just can't wait to see it firsthand.

Their conversations don't get too deep. And Quinn doesn't mind because they're just enjoying each other's company. It was perfect to her.

After a while, they end up at Quinn's apartment building. She has a feeling that Rachel is probably going to say good night, but Quinn doesn't want to part just yet.

"Do you want to come up for a little while?" she asks. "Or is it too late?"

Rachel chews on her bottom lip as she thinks about it. "I'm not that tired, actually."

Quinn smiles. "Great."

They go inside and take the elevator up to her floor. Once in her apartment, she takes Rachel's coat and hangs it up. "Do you want anything to drink?" she asks as the brunette sits dow.

"More wine would be nice."

Quinn laughs and goes to the kitchen. She grabs a bottle out of the fridge as well as two glasses. She then goes back to the living room and sits down next to Rachel, handing her a glass.

"Thank you," Rachel says as she takes it.

"You're welcome," Quinn replies. They spend a few minutes sipping their glasses quietly. When she can think of something to say, she clears her throat. "So, can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything."

"Are you still going to your therapy sessions?" She knows that it's none of her business, but she still wonders.

Rachel nods. "Twice a week."

"How's that going?" When Rachel doesn't immediately respond, she quickly adds, "We don't have to talk about it."

"No, it's fine," Rachel says. "They've been going really well. My therapist is really patient when listening to me, which is good because I tend to talk nonstop."

Quinn laughs lightly. She touches Rachel's arm and says, "I'm really happy that it's all going well for you."

"Me too," Rachel says as she gazes down at the hand touching her. Quinn notices and pulls away. "Being here and focusing on auditioning has also been helping a lot."

"I can imagine. It's going to get even better when you're famous." When Rachel smiles shyly and looks away, Quinn nudges her. "I'm serious. Just wait and see, Rachel."

"You'll come to one of my shows, right?"

"I promise I'll be there opening night, front and center. I'll be the one screaming the loudest at the end," Quinn jokes.

"Good. It would really mean a lot to see you there," Rachel says. She downs the rest of her wine and holds up her glass and says, "Looks like I'm finished."

"Me too." Quinn gets up and takes their empty glasses to the kitchen. "I can drive you home whenever you're ready," she calls out as she places them in the sink."

"You've had too much to drink, Quinn," Rachel yells back. She quickly joins Quinn in the kitchen. "I don't want you to take that risk. I'll just take a cab home, okay?"

"Fine. But I'm paying for it."

"You don't have to do that. You already paid for my dads' cab. I'll pay for it."

"Rachel, let me pay for it."

"No."

Quinn sighs. "You're so difficult."

Rachel smiles. "I know. But you've already done enough tonight. So there's no need for you to do this too."

"Well I'm not letting you leave unless I pay for your cab." Quinn crosses her arms stubbornly.

"And I'm not leaving until you allow me to pay for one myself," Rachel retorts.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is."

"Looks like you're stuck here, then."

"It seems that way."

Quinn drops her arms and walks across the kitchen until their faces are mere inches apart. She feels a rush being so close together. She stares down at Rachel when she says, "You might as well stay the night."

Rachel's breath hitches at the close proximity. She lowers her voice from their previous banter. "I suppose that would be the most logical option. But only if it's alright with you."

Without thinking, Quinn closes the gap between them and kisses her suddenly. But as soon as she does, she pulls back in realization of what she's done.

They both stare at each other, wide-eyed, and equally shocked. Rachel doesn't say anything.

"I'm sorry," Quinn rushes out. "I just - "

She's cut off when Rachel surges forward and crashes their lips together again. The brunette grips her shirt tightly, not allowing them to pull apart this time. Quinn finds herself eagerly returning the kiss, pushing forward until Rachel's back hits the wall behind her.

The ethical part of Quinn's mind forces her to pull back for a moment to gasp out, "Is this okay with you?"

"It's more than okay." Rachel wraps a hand around the back of her neck and leans forward, only to pout when Quinn pulls back once more.

"Listen, we've both had a lot to drink, and I don't want you to think I'm taking advantage of you or anything," Quinn explains.

Rachel rolls her eyes. "You're not taking advantage of me. Trust me, I want this just as much as you do. Now shut up and kiss me."

Any other objections Quinn might have die in her throat as soon as their lips touch. She kisses her more softly this time, sighing in content when she feels a hand run through her hair. She then breaks the kiss to say, "Come with me."

Rachel nods and whispers, "Okay."

With their hands linked together, the pair makes their way to Quinn's bedroom. Rachel lies down on the bed first, pulling Quinn down next to her. Before they do anything, Quinn sits back up.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asks.

Quinn turns on the bedside lamp, lighting the room with a soft glow. She faces the brunette and leans over her, running her fingertips along her cheek. "I just want to see you."

Rachel brings her own hand up to link their fingers together. "Quinn, I'm not going anywhere."

Quinn smiles and brings her head down, pressing their lips together again. She didn't realize how much she missed the feeling of kissing Rachel. They try to hold each other impossibly closer. But after a few minutes, Rachel breaks the embrace.

"What are we doing?" she asks.

"What do you want to do?" Quinn repeats the words Rachel said to her over a year ago.

She watches as Rachel arches off the bed and reaches behind her back to unzip her dress. "I want you."

Quinn's breathing slows. She reaches down and pulls the straps of Rachel's dress off her shoulders, then slides it down her body with the brunette's help. She tosses it aside before sitting up on her knees, pulling her own dress over her head. She's momentarily startled when Rachel sits up to trail her lips lightly along her chest and stomach, but she keeps her balance by placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," she says softly, tilting Rachel's chin up.

When Rachel looks up at her, she carefully pushes the girl down onto her back and climbs over her, settling in between her legs. They meet in another passionate kiss, growing more desperate and ripping all of the clothing they have until there's nothing separating them. Quinn is incredibly hard and ready, so she reaches down to Rachel's center, swiping up and down her slit a few times before sliding two fingers inside of her warm and wet opening.

"Quinn," Rachel whimpers, digging her nails into the blonde's shoulders. She gasps when Quinn begins sucking on her neck. "That feels so good."

Quinn withdraws her fingers and brings them up to her clit, massaging it in a circular motion. "You feel good," she murmurs against her neck.

"Oh..." Rachel moans.

Once she's satisfied that Rachel is ready, Quinn pushes herself up on one hand and uses the other to pump her shaft a few times.

"Wait," Rachel says suddenly.

Quinn freezes. "What's wrong?"

She's hesitant when she asks, "Should we use protection?"

Sighing to herself, Quinn remembers that she doesn't have any.

"But just so you know," Rachel continues, "I haven't been with anybody else..."

Quinn licks her lips before she says, "I haven't either."

There's a flash of genuine surprise on Rachel's face. "Really?"

She shakes her head. "But if you still don't feel comfortable, we don't have to - "

"I want to," Rachel cuts her off.

"Are you sure?"

She reaches between them and softly strokes her member, bringing it to her entrance. "I'm sure."

With those words, Quinn rests their foreheads together before slowly pushing inside. "Oh god..."

A strangled cry escapes Rachel's throat. She wraps her arms around Quinn's neck and her legs around her waist as she squeezes her eyes shut and drops her mouth open. "Quinn..." she groans out when their rhythm picks up.

The bed squeaks with every movement. Quinn balls the sheets underneath them into her fists as their bodies move together.

She lifts her head up and brings their lips together. The feeling of Rachel's walls clamping down on her cock was always complete heaven to her, and this time is no different. "Rachel?" she forces out once they break the kiss. Rachel opens her eyes and gives her a questioning look. "It's been a while," she pants out between breathes, "and I'm already close. I don't know if I'm going to last very long..."

"I'm close too, baby," Rachel says.

Quinn ignores the way her heart flutters when Rachel calls her 'baby', and focuses on her thrusting. She angles her hips to the the spot that she knows drives Rachel crazy.

"Quinn!" Rachel cries out and grasps at her tighter.

It's not long before Quinn feels her walls clenching tightly around her, and she knows that Rachel's reached her climax. She's right behind her.

"Rachel," she says quickly, "can I..."

"Yes. Do it inside me."

Quinn doesn't spare another moment and pumps a few more times before she releases her seed. She makes sure to stay as deep as she can inside of Rachel while she does so.

"Oh..." she moans out. "Rach."

"I'm right here," Rachel says, running her hands up and down her back.

When she's completely finished, Quinn buries her face in her neck, feeling her cheeks turn red. She waits until she can breathe again to speak. "I swear I usually last a lot longer."

Rachel laughs. "I know. But that was perfect." She lifts Quinn's head and pushes her hair away from her forehead. "We can always try again..."

Quinn smiles. "You're amazing."

Rachel kisses her briefly. "So are you."

Reaching down, Quinn carefully pulls herself out and settles onto her side. Rachel turns to mimic her position. She scoots closer and takes Quinn's hand as she silently stares into her eyes.

Quinn swallows. The words are right on the tip of her tongue, but she forces them down. "You know, you mean a lot to me," she says instead.

Rachel smiles. "You're only saying that because we just had sex," she says jokingly.

"Really, Rach. You do," Quinn says in a sincerer tone.

Rachel squeezes her hand. "You mean a lot to me too." She glances down at their hands, then back up when she whispers, "You're my best friend. And I'm never going to hurt you again."

Quinn tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know."

What she wants to do is ask is where this puts them now, but she's too afraid. She doesn't want to let the uncertainty of the future ruin the moment. So she kisses Rachel with every intention of making love again tonight, and decides that they can talk about it tomorrow.

There's a distinct sound of something dropping, and then Quinn hears a whispered, "Shit!" She frowns and slowly opens her eyes, noting that the space next to her on the bed is empty. She turns onto her side and sees Rachel already dressed and standing near the bathroom.

"Sorry," the girl says when she notices Quinn staring at her. "I didn't mean to wake you. I'm just trying to find something..."

Quinn smirks and points to the other side of the room, where Rachel's bra had landed on her bookshelf the night before.

Rachel huffs and hurries over to grab the garment and retreats into the bathroom. She comes out a few minutes later and says, "I hope it's okay, but I borrowed some of your clothes to wear. I'll return them soon."

"I don't mind," Quinn says with a yawn. "Why are you up so early anyway?"

"I'm going to breakfast with my dads before they catch their flight back home."

Quinn nods. "Can you hand me some shorts and a shirt from the drawer?" she asks. When Rachel does as she's requested, Quinn quickly gets dressed and hops out of the bed to make her way over to the brunette. She cups her face and kisses her tenderly, smiling when Rachel kisses her back. "Last night was amazing," she says.

"it really was," Rachel answers with a soft smile. "Thank you for making it a night I'll never forget."

She turns away before anything else is said and grabs her purse. Quinn frowns and wonders if they should talk more about what happened, but it looks like Rachel is in a hurry. "I'll talk to you later?" she says.

Rachel nods. "Bye, Quinn." She reaches up and brushes Quinn's hair out of her face. "Go back to sleep," she says with a giggle.

"Hey," Quinn says, catching her by the wrist before she turns to leave. She doesn't hesitate when she leaves one last kiss on her lips.

Rachel pulls back with a smile. She ducks her head shyly and leaves the room.

The following Monday, Quinn leans back in her desk chair with a sigh, exhausted over how much work she's done today. And to top it off, the day is only halfway over.

"You sound bored," Kitty says from across the room after hanging up the phone. "You have an eleven a.m. meeting tomorrow at the Plaza, by the way."

"Thanks," Quinn replies. It was just her and the secretary at the office while everyone else was still out at lunch. Quinn didn't even bother eating lunch at all that day. She's had a lot of work to catch up on after being distracted all weekend. She's been like this since the night she spent with Rachel.

Kitty gets up and grabs her purse. "Is it okay if I go to lunch now? They've been gone for a while."

Quinn nods. "I'll have a talk with them when they get back. You can take two hours if you want."

Kitty beams. "Thanks, Quinn," she says before leaving.

Quinn decides to swallow her pride and picks up her phone from the desk to send a message.

Quinn: Hey, I haven't heard from you. Just checking to see if you're still alive ;)

It was lame, Quinn knows. But she just wants to make sure that they're okay.

The reply takes a few minutes to come.

Rachel: I'm sorry! I've been terribly busy because my director has us starting rehearsals already. I haven't had a lot of free time.

Quinn nods to herself in understanding. Part of Rachel being an actress means she's going to have a hectic schedule.

She smiles when another message comes in.

Rachel: I'm not ignoring you if that's what you're thinking.

Quinn: Totally wasn't. Do you like rehearsal so far?

Rachel: I love it :)

Quinn finds herself typing 'I miss you', but quickly deletes it. So she instead types something else.

Quinn: Do you want to do something whenever you're free?

Rachel: I have rehearsal until 8 tonight. I'm free after then.

Quinn: I'll pick you up from the theater?

Rachel: Great! See you later!

Quinn smiles to herself. She looks at the time and starts counting down the minutes with a groan.

She decides to stay at work a little later than usual to finish catching up on all of her work. Once she's satisfied, Quinn packs up her things and turns all of the lights off before locking up the office.

As she walk to her car, she feels her phone vibrate in her purse. She pulls it out to see a new message from Rachel.

Rachel: I'm going to be out ten minutes late. I'm so sorry :(

Quinn rolls her eyes and chuckles at Rachel's need to always be punctual. She was used to her antics though.

She hasn't stopped thinking about the girl for even one minute since the last time they were together. She just wants to be around her. More than she normally is. She doesn't know what this means for them or if anything has changed. Is their relationship going somewhere again? Does Quinn even want that?

Maybe she'll know if she spends more time with her.

Quinn: No problem.

She adds a heart symbol at the end and pushes send. She realizes exactly what she did and sighs because it's already sent.

After going home to change, Quinn drives to the theater and parks on the side of the building away from the main street. She sends Rachel a text to let her know where she is.

She only has to wait a couple of minutes before the brunette appears from around the corner and rushes to Quinn's car in the lightly falling snow. She jumps in and quickly slams the door shut. "It's freezing out there!" she exclaims.

Quinn takes in her frazzled state, with the disheveled hair, pink cheeks, and pouty lips. She nearly starts leaning over the center console, but stops herself. She doesn't know if that would be appropriate.

Rachel doesn't seem to notice and puts on her seatbelt before smiling at her. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

The blonde shakes her head. "Not at all. How did it go?"

Rachel sighs. "Not so great today. I was having trouble with one scene and the director was getting frustrated with me." Quinn frowns at this. "I think I just need to practice more when he's not around to make me nervous." She looks at Quinn and asks, "Would you maybe want to run lines with me?"

Quinn answers right away. "Of course."

When she initially agreed to do this, Quinn really didn't think running line would entail three hours of going over the same scene continuously. But here she was, sitting in Rachel's living room, repeating the same line monotonously for the millionth time while Rachel recites her part flawlessly.

"Rach," Quinn interrupts her mid-line and puts the script down on the coffee table. Rachel frowns at her. "I think you've nailed this scene. You really don't need to practice anymore tonight."

Rachel shakes her head, clearly annoyed with herself. "It's not quite right. I just know it."

"I think you're just letting the director get to you. You're overthinking it."

Rachel laughs at the statement. "Probably. But I suppose I could continue this another time with a new take."

"Great," Quinn says, relieved. "How much longer is there until the premiere anyway?"

"It's over a month away," Rachel answers.

"Then you have plenty of time to practice. And if you're that worried about it, I'll help you every day if I have to."

"You will?"

Quinn shrugs. "Well yeah."

Rachel grins before sitting down next to her. "I'm sorry for wasting your night," she says. "I know there's probably a million other things you could've been doing."

Quinn scoots closer. "It wasn't a waste because I got to spend time with you."

Rachel smiles and looks down at the floor. Quinn decides to go for it and presses a soft kiss to her cheek. When Rachel doesn't move away, she moves lower and ghosts her lips over her jawline. "Is this okay?" she asks.

Rachel nods before clearing her throat. She turns to Quinn. "Long day?" she says.

"You have no idea. Work was so draining."

Rachel puts a hand on her thigh and slowly grazes her up and down, causing Quinn to shiver at the contact. Rachel connects their lips, but only for a brief moment as she pulls away before Quinn has a chance to respond to the kiss. "You do seem a little tense."

Quinn kisses her back more fully and pulls back just enough to say, "Maybe you can help me relieve some of the tension."

"I can do that."

Bringing her hands up to cup Quinn's face, Rachel deepens the kiss, moaning when Quinn slides her tongue into her mouth. She lays back on the couch and pulls the blonde to settle on top of her.

Quinn gasps when Rachel reaches between them and starts caressing her through her pants. "Is this helping at all?" Rachel says huskily.

Quinn brings one hand up and begins massaging one of Rachel's breasts through her blouse. "It's helping a lot," she responds.

Before they can go any further, they hear the front door unlocking. Quinn quickly scrambles off of Rachel and launches herself to the other end of the couch. She curses and snatches up the script to cover the obvious bulge in the front of her pants.

Rachel sits up and runs a hand through her hair a few times before straightening out her skirt. As soon as the door opens, she gleefully says, "Hi, Sam!"

He closes the door and, sensing the awkward atmosphere, gives them a confused look. "Hey..."

"Quinn was just helping me run through lines for the show," Rachel explains.

Quinn smiles and nods her agreement, a little too enthusiastically.

Sam suddenly blushes. It's clear he's figured out what he's just walked into. He clears his throat and mumbles, "I'm going to bed now." Quinn blushes just as hard as he does when he grabs a pair of headphones off the table.

"Good night!" Rachel says as he hurriedly walks away. When they hear the door close, she gets up and takes Quinn's hand, pulling her up from the couch. "Come on." Quinn eagerly follows her to her bedroom.

Rachel yanks her inside. She shuts the door and turns to Quinn. "We have to be quiet," she says.

Quinn smirks. "Speak for yourself." She yelps when she's promptly pushed back onto the bed. "God, Rachel..." she whispers.

Rachel climbs on the bed and leans over her, unfastening Quinn's pants in a rush. She then starts pulling them down her legs.

When she gets the pants all the way off and grips her hard member, she begins stroking it at a fast pace, causing Quinn to choke on a breath. "Okay...this is already happening."

Rachel pauses and looks up at her "Do you not want to do this?"

Quinn shakes her head rapidly. "No! I want to!" She props herself up on her elbows and takes Rachel's hand to pull her up closer. "But we don't have to rush like this."

Realization strikes Rachel and she smiles softly. "Okay." She leans her head down to kiss Quinn more chastely compared to how they were earlier. She moves her lips to Quinn's jaw, then her neck. And while she's there, she reaches down for the hem of the blonde's shirt.

Taking the hint, Quinn sits up and pulls it over her head. She goes ahead and unfastens her bra and tosses it away while she's at it. Rachel then pushes her back down by the shoulders.

It's clear that Rachel wants to take charge this time, and Quinn is perfectly content in letting her.

The girl continues laying soft kisses on her neck and slowly works er way down her chest and abdomen. Quinn inhales when she reaches her lower stomach and feels her cock twitch.

She hears Rachel murmur, "You seem excited," before dragging her lips over the smooth shaft.

Quinn grips the sheets beneath her. "Just a little bit," she grits out. When Rachel wraps her lips around the tip of her member, she drops her head back and says, "God, I love when you do this."

Using one hand to stoke the rest of Quinn's dick, Rachel brings her other hand up to scrape her nails up and down her torso.

"Fuck," Quinn moans. She runs a hand through the girl's hair, encouraging her. As Rachel's mouth continues to suck, her cock goes in deeper and deeper until she feels the back of her throat. "Oh god..."

Rachel works her head up and down faster and faster, and Quinn can tell that she's expecting her to finish in her mouth. But Quinn doesn't want to do that right now. She wants to take care of her first.

"Rachel," she says.

The brunette stops and releases her. She frowns up at Quinn. "What's wrong?"

She pulls her up to where she's straddling Quinn. "You're wearing too much," she says as she starts unbuttoning Rachel's blouse.

Rachel smirks and helps her, shrugging it off and throwing it to the side of the bed. Quinn swallows when she sees that Rachel hap apparently decided to go braless that day. "Wow," she whispers. "You're beautiful."

Rachel takes her hand and places it over one of her breasts. She then leans down and pull Quinn in for a deep kiss before saying, "What are you waiting for?"

Quinn wastes no time and flips their positions. She sits up and rips Rachel's underwear away from her body. She then spreads her legs apart and lines her cock up with her entrance, pushing in hard. She grips her waist and starts slamming mercilessly into her. So much for slowing things down, she thinks.

"Quinn!" Rachel screams. She reaches up to grip the headboard to keep from thrashing around on the bed. "Fuck!"

So much for being quiet too, Quinn thinks. Fuck it. She doesn't care right now. She spreads Rachel's legs even wider and fucks her harder.

"Oh fuck, yes," Rachel pants with her eyes squeezed shut. "That...feels..." she gasps. "So good."

Quinn lets go of her legs and drops down onto her hands. Rachel immediately begins clawing at her back, chanting her name over and over. When their lips meet, she feels the walls of Rachel's pussy tightening hard around her. She soon follows and her body starts shuddering as she comes deep inside of her. She doesn't stop thrusting until she feels that she can't even move anymore.

When she finally does stop, she exhales and rests her head on Rachel's chest.

"You okay?" the girl asks as she presses a kiss to the top of her head.

Quinn nods. "That was fun," she says.

Rachel laughs. "That's one way to put it."

Quinn sits up and pulls herself out. She then rolls onto her side and props her head up on one arm, staring down at Rachel.

"What?" Rachel nudges her, still trying to even out her breathing.

Touching their foreheads together, Quinn murmurs, "You're so beautiful."

Rachel smiles. "You're sweet. But I know I look like a mess right now." She turns her head away.

Quinn tilts her chin back to her. "You're still a beautiful mess."

Laughing, Rachel turns to face Quinn and rests her head against her chest. She sighs in content when the blonde begins trailing her fingers up and down her back. "That feels nice," she mumbles.

"Don't tell me you're already falling asleep," Quinn says.

Rachel looks at her with a frown. "You're not tired? Don't you have work in the morning?"

Quinn shrugs. "I can always go in a little bit late."

"Quinn! You're not setting a good example as the boss."

She laughs. "Fine. I'll go to work on time, okay?"

Rachel nods. "Good. You're more than welcome to sleep here, you know."

Quinn yawns. "If it's okay with you."

Pulling her closer, Rachel whispers, "Of course."

Quinn's internal clock wakes her up right at about six in the morning. She opens her eyes slowly to look at the ceiling, smiling when she feels a weight still pressed against her side. She turns her head to see Rachel still fast asleep.

She sighs because she knows she has to go home to get ready for work soon. So she presses a kiss against the girl's temple and slowly climbs out of the bed, being careful not to wake her. She quickly gets dressed, then sits down on the edge of the bed next to the sleeping brunette.

She gently nudges her and whispers, "Rachel."

Brown eyes slowly blink open. Rachel looks at her and smiles. She sits up and stretches her arms. "Are you leaving?" she asks with a yawn.

"Yeah." Quinn leans forward to kiss her gently. "I'll miss you." She goes to kiss her again, but pauses when Rachel puts a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She frowns. "What's wrong?"

Rachel is silent for a moment. Quinn can see that she's having an internal battle, so she tries again. "Rach?"

"Do you have to leave right this instant, or do you have time to stay and talk for a minute?"

"Of course I have time," Quinn says softly. She lifts a hand and cups her cheek.

Rachel covers the hand with her own and lets it linger for a moment, stroking lightly with her thumb. She drops her hand and sighs. "I don't think that this should become a regular thing between us."

Quinn retracts her hand. "You don't want to do this anymore?"

"It's not that I don't want to." Rachel shakes her head. "As much as I love being close to you like this, I don't think it's good for me." It almost seems like she's ashamed of herself.

"Rachel, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to make you feel - "

"I know you weren't," Rachel cuts her off with a sad smile. "And maybe this all isn't a big deal to you, but it is to me."

Quinn feels her stomach flip. "Yeah?"

Rachel looks down when she whispers, "I'm still very much in love with you, Quinn."

She only voices what they both already now. But actually hearing it just brings the reality of the words crashing into Quinn. "Oh," is the only sentence she can form right now."

"And I think that I'm always going to love you," Rachel says, louder. "So if you don't want to be my friend because of this, then I understand. I just want to be honest with you. I promised you I would be."

The idea of not wanting anything to do with Rachel now was absurd to Quinn. "We put all of the drama from the past behind us, remember? Just because you feel this way doesn't mean I'm going to run away. I'm not just going to drop out of your life again. I promised you that."

"You don't have to be friends with me just because you feel sorry for me," Rachel says.

"That's not why I'm still around," Quinn answers, becoming frustrated.

"If it is," Rachel continues, "then I'm telling you that you really don't have to stick around just because you feel obligated to, Quinn. I'll be okay. I'm more than stable than I was before. I'm in a good place, and I don't need anyone to be happy. I know that now."

"That's a good thing, alright?"

Tears begin to pool in Rachel's eyes. "But that doesn't mean that everything I felt, feel for you isn't still there. I love being around you. But it hurts, Quinn. It hurts being around the person you love more than anything, knowing that you can't be with them because you're just so screwed up."

Quinn swallows. "So you want me to leave you alone then?"

Rachel shakes her head. "Of course not. I always want you around, only if you want to be. But I just have to be honest with you about how I feel. And if this changes anything, then I understand."

Quinn is quiet as she thinks about how to respond to this fragile girl. Instead, she pulls her into her arms and whispers, "You're not getting rid of me that easy."

She smiles when she hears Rachel laugh though her tears as she hugs her back. Quinn doesn't let go as she says, "You don't have to be afraid to talk to me about anything, okay?"

She feels Rachel squeeze her shoulders. "Okay."

She pulls back and sighs. "But there is a lot we still need to talk about."

"I think there is too," Rachel says. "But you should probably go so you're not late for work."

Quinn nods sadly. "We'll talk again soon." She leans forward and leaves one last lingering kiss on her lips, feeling it's the right thing to do. They continue to stare at each other for a moment when she pulls back. She then gets up from the bed and slowly pulls her hand out of Rachel's grasp, then leaves.

After going to the stupid meeting at the Plaza, Quinn makes it back to the office just after lunch. She sighs when she sees that Kitty is once again by herself. "They're still not back?" she asks.

"Nope," Kitty says without looking up from her phone.

Quinn drops her bag on her desk and leans against the edge.

"How was the meeting?" Kitty asks.

"It was good. I got a couple of free cocktails out of it," Quinn replies with a chuckle. She definitely needed a drink.

"Cool. There's a few messages on your desk."

She nods and sits in her chair. After she reads through the messages, she powers up her computer to respond to some of the thousands of emails she has waiting. She's had a headache all day, and she just wants to go home and lie down.

Sometimes later, Santana, Puck, Finn, and Mike shuffle through the door, laughing loudly at whatever they're talking about. Quinn fumes.

"Oh hey, Quinn. Didn't know you were back already," Finn says with a goofy grin.

"Did I not talk to all of you just yesterday about this?" she asks lowly, but everyone hears it. "Kitty, you can go now," she says. Kitty quickly grabs her purse and coat, wanting to get out of there before the inevitable shit-storm happens. Quinn turns to the others. "How many times am I going to have to repeat myself for you all to fucking listen to me for once?"

"Q, chill," Santana says in an attempt to keep her friend from exploding.

"Do not tell me to 'chill', Santana. You should know better. You're my partner, and you need to be setting an example. You guys can't just disappear from the office for hours while I'm out at meetings."

"It's not like we do it every day."

"Shut up, Puckerman," Quinn snaps. She glares at all three of the men. "Get back to work. Now."

They all wordlessly scramble back to their respective desks. Santana stays put and crosses her arms, frowning at Quinn. "What's with you?"

"Nothing," Quinn says, irritated. "I would just like for everyone to do as I say for once."

"You're not normally this uptight about it." Santana lifts an eyebrow and rolls her eyes. "What did Rachel do now?"

"Don't," Quinn says.

"Don't what?"

"Do not start with me again, Santana. I'm so tired of you always ripping into Rachel every chance you get. What did she ever do to you. She's nothing but nice to you and Brittany an everyone else. So how about you fucking lay off of her for once?"

"It's not about what she does to me. It's what she's doing to you," Santana says loudly. "I get that you're only still friends with her out of pity or something, but she's not worth all this trouble."

Everyone else in the office is clearly eavesdropping, but Quinn doesn't care anymore. She gets up from her chair and looks her friend straight in the eye. "That's enough. You're going to shut the hell up, and not say anything bad about Rachel, or anything that has to do with me and her from now on, got it?"

"Quinn - "

"This isn't an option, Santana."

The men in the room are leaning forward in their seats as they watch the scene before them. Quinn throws them another vicious glare before they turn back to their computers. She walks to the door, knowing Santana is following her, and steps out.

As soon as they're outside in the hallway, she looks and Santana and says, "Yes, maybe something did happen with her, but it wasn't her fault this time. And you need to stop assuming that everything is always her fault. If you don't like Rachel, then fine. I'll live with that. But you need to accept the fact that she's always going to be a part of my life."

Santana sighs. "You and I both know she's hoping that something will happen between you two again one day."

Quinn pauses for a moment. "Something already did."

"Fucking seriously, Quinn? What happened?"

"That doesn't matter."

"Are you back together?"

"No!"

"Do you want to be?"

Quinn pinches the bridge of her nose. "It's not that simple."

"Because you complicate everything, Quinn." Santana rolls her eyes again. "Look, I'm always going to be happy for you, no matter what. And okay, I'll stop ragging on Rachel because you're asking me to. But whatever confusing shit you're going through, you need to figure everything out already so you're not such a hormonal bitch to everyone."

Quinn scoffs. "I'm not hormonal. You guys just need to - "

"I know. Not be away from the office for so long. Fine. I'll have a talk with the guys, and it won't happen again. Happy?" When Quinn nods, Santana says, "And you really need to stop with the random emotional outbursts and taking it out on everyone else. I'm seriously going to start throwing tampons at you."

Quinn laughs for the first time in hours. "Fine. It's a deal." She knows Santana is at least right about that. It's not fair for everyone else to have to deal with her on her off days.

"And whatever soul-searching you're doing to figure out what's going on with you and Rachel, it's all pointless. You know that, right? Either you want to be with her, or you don't, and you probably already know which one it is. She probably knows what she wants too. So you'll be saving yourself a lot of time if you just skip to the end where you tell yourself what you've known all along."

Quinn snorts. "You should be a therapist."

"I hate people too much to listen to their problems." She puts a hand on Quinn's shoulder. "But I love you." Santana wrinkles her nose. "That's weird to say, so don't get used to it. Anyway, I'm just trying to help you out. You know I've always got your back."

Quinn nods. "Thank you."

"Okay. Well let's go get back to work," Santana says with a groan. "And maybe get a drink later."

"Sounds good." Quinn smiles.

Two long days go by and Quinn still hasn't heard from Rachel. She knows how pathetic she's probably being, waiting around like a desperate teenager for Rachel to call.

But that's literally what she's doing. Sitting at home, doing nothing, and waiting to hear from Rachel. This is one way to waste a Saturday, she thinks.

She flips through the channels on her tv absently, checking her phone ever couple of minutes. This is stupid, she tells herself. She should just call her if she wants to talk to her so badly. She doesn't even know what she wants to say, she just needs to hear the sound of her voice. Maybe that can make everything better.

But she thinks that maybe Rachel isn't ready to talk just yet. Or maybe she's just waiting to hear from Quinn, just like Quinn is waiting to hear from her.

Quinn shakes her head at herself and sighs. Rachel is way better than this. She has a show to worry about.

She's still not sure where they stand right now. She hates to admit it, but Santana is right. She complicates every situation possible for no reason.

Her phone suddenly goes off and she snatches it up, sighing in relief when she sees that it's a message from Rachel.

Rachel: Opening night is the fourteenth. Would you still like to go?

Quinn responds right away.

Quinn: Of course I'll be going.

She would go to all of them, if Rachel was okay with that. She wants to be there to support her every night, and be beside her as she only continues to grow more and more. Quinn wants to be there for it all.

She puts the phone down and shakes her head at herself. Santana is right about something else. She needs to stop wasting time because she already knows what she wants.

She gets up from the couch and hurries to her room to get dressed. She gives herself a once-over in the bathroom mirror, feeling that she looks decent enough to go out. She then puts on her coat and grabs her purse.

She knows that Rachel mentioned weekend rehearsals, so she's likely at the theater right now. Quinn nods. There's where she's going to find her.

She goes outside and decides to walk since it's not too far away. The roads were covered in ice and snow, so it'd be crazy to drive anyway. And besides, taking the time to think as she heads over will give her an idea of what exactly she's going to say. Because right now, she still doesn't know.

The wind picks up as she's makes her way to the theater, so she picks up the pace because she was seriously starting to regret walking. Luckily there weren't too many people on the streets today.

Once she's there, Quinn hurries over to the front of the building and finds that the entrance doors are unlocked, so she quietly sneaks inside. She can hear that there's obviously a scene playing out, meaning that they're in the middle of rehearsal. But she can also hear Rachel's voice loud and clear.

She walks to the main area to see the brunette with another actor on the stage. Quinn doesn't want to cause any trouble, so she silently slips into a seat in the back. It seems like Rachel's character is arguing in this specific scene with the other lead. She's even fake-crying as she shouts at him.

She's a natural, Quinn thinks. She has no doubt that Rachel is going to blow everyone in the audience away on opening night.

For a fleeting moment, Rachel makes eye contact with her and breaks character by smiling, but it goes unnoticed as she quickly turns her attention back to the scene. Quinn continues to simply sit there in silence.

After another few run-throughs of the same scene, the director gets up from his seat and says, "Let's take twenty." He then pulls one of the production assistants aside to go over something that Quinn assumes is bothering him. She doesn't really care, she's just glad that she has this time to talk to Rachel.

Speaking of which, the brunette hops off the stage and makes her way down the aisle to her. Quinn gets up from her seat to meet her.

"I wasn't expecting to see you today," Rachel says.

Quinn shrugs. "Sorry I came by unannounced."

"It's no problem. Did you need something?"

"Yeah." Quinn nods. "Can we talk?" She glances around at some of the people that were nearby them. "In private?"

"Okay," Rachel says quietly. "We can go to my dressing room."

Quinn follows Rachel behind the stage and down a long corridor. They stop at a door halfway down and go inside.

"This is nice," Quinn says as she looks around at the spacious room.

Rachel nods with a smile. "I was lucky enough to get my own private room."

After Quinn's done looking around, she turns back to Rachel. "So…"

"So is this the part where we have that talk?" Rachel finishes for her.

Quinn can hear the sadness in her voice and she wants to so badly to make all of her sorrow and worries go away. "Yes. But can I talk first?"

Rachel nods. "You look like you really want to say something," she says nervously.

"I do."

"Okay."

Quinn takes a deep breath. She knows that they don't have much time to talk, so she can't drag this out anymore. So here goes nothing. "You know how you said that you still love me?" She cringes at the way she worded that.

Rachel nods silently. Quinn waits for her to say something, but she doesn't.

So she continues. "I should've told you right then and there that I still love you too."

Rachel blinks twice, then crosses her arms while looking down at the floor. She clears her throat. "You do?"

"Of course I do. I never stopped."

"I know how you feel…"

Quinn sighs. "Rachel, everything between us has been so damn complicated from the start, and a lot of that was my fault." Rachel lifts her head to locks eyes with Quinn again. "But I want to make it simple for once. I want to be with you."

Rachel squeezes her eyes shut and lets out a shaky breath. "Quinn, just because I said I still love you doesn't mean that I think trying again is what's best for us. Because we already tried, and we failed. I can't lose you again."

"I know that's not what you were saying you wanted," Quinn says. "But I want us to give this another shot. I know it can work. We're both finally where we need to be to make it work."

Rachel shakes her head. "We have too much history, Quinn. You're right, we're both in a good place in our lives for once, but it would be impossible to start over."

"I know that we can't forget the past. No one can. But we can start over." She takes a step closer. "I love you so much, and I would give anything for a chance to make it work again."

Rachel looks back down at the ground with a sigh. "Listen to yourself. Is this really what you want, Quinn? To be with the high-maintenance, crazy girl again?"

"You're not crazy," Quinn says quickly. She tilts Rachel's chin to look back up at her. "I think that maybe I'm the crazy one for not admitting that I loved you from the very beginning. I was crazy to ever push you away like I did. But that will never happen again, because I know I'll never want to spend another minute apart from you for the rest of my life."

Rachel continues staring at her, trying to process everything that's being told to her. Quinn knows she's probably really confused about it all right now.

She steps back. "Look, I'm not expecting you to tell me that you want to try again too. But we agreed to be honest with each other, and this is what I want. I thought it would be worth a shot at least telling you. But if you truly feel that it's not what you want, then I'm okay with just being your friend. I just…" Quinn shrugs. "I had to tell you."

There's a sudden knock at the door, causing them both to jump. A voice on the other side says, "Rachel? You're needed back on the stage in five."

Rachel sighs. "I'll be right there," she calls back. She turns back to Quinn. "I need to get back to rehearsal."

Quinn nods. "Okay. I know that this is a lot to take in, and I get if you need your space. But I'll still be here whenever you need me. I promise."

Rachel opens her mouth to say something, but she then closes it. After a minute, she whispers, "Okay."

Feeling that she's said everything she's needed to, Quinn wordlessly steps around Rachel and leaves.

She makes her way down the hallway and decides to go out the back exit. She stuffs her hands into her pockets as soon as she's outside because it was still freezing cold. She walks around to the front of the theater and pauses to glance at it. She sighs, and keeps walking.

It didn't end up being a total disaster, but she still feels a heavy weight on her heart. She put everything out there, and Rachel couldn't even come up with anything to respond with. But now she knows that maybe this is how she made Rachel feel so many times before. Quinn thinks this is probably what she deserves.

She walks slowly, not really in any hurry to get back home. All she's going to do once she gets there is wait. Just wait to hear from Rachel again. That could be days, weeks, or maybe never.

Quinn shakes her head. It's too soon to be thinking like that. Rachel will talk to her again. She knows it.

It's just the waiting part that she hates.

"Quinn!"

She stops dead in her tracks. It's faint and distant, but she still hears it. She whips her head around to see Rachel hurrying after her from the theater only a block away. Quinn doesn't hesitate and starts jogging over to meet her halfway.

As soon as she reaches her, she stops short with a few feet between them. "Hey," she says as she waits for her to say something.

"Hi," Rachel replies, out of breath. She inhales before she says. "So, one of my cast-mates is having a birthday party next week, and the whole cast and crew is invited. It's going to be this big event."

"Oh?" Quinn says. "That sounds like fun. Are you going?"

Rachel nods. "And she says that if I want to…I can bring a date."

Quinn suppresses a smile. "Did you have someone in mind?"

"I was wondering if maybe you would like to go with me?"

"As your date?"

Rachel smiles. "Yes, as my date. But it's just a date. No strings attached," she clarifies.

It takes everything in Quinn not to fist-pump right then and there. She returns the smile. "I'd love to."

Rachel beams. "Great. So…I'll see you then?"

Quinn nods. "I'll pick you up."

"Okay." The smile never leaves Rachel's face as she starts to back away. "I really have to get back to rehearsals now. But you'll call me?"

"I'll call you," Quinn confirms as she watches her go. "Bye, Rachel."

"Bye, Quinn." Rachel finally turns around to go back to the theater.

And just like that, the weight that Quinn was feeling on her heart is gone.

One Year Later

Quinn pulls the car into the driveway and kills the engine. She takes a deep breath before looking at the person next to her with a smile. "You ready?"

"Let's do this." Rachel unbuckles her seatbelt and leans over the center console. "I love you," she says for the thousandth time that day.

Quinn closes the distance and kisses her briefly. "I love you too," she says when she pulls back. She takes off her own seatbelt. "Let's go see everybody."

They get out of the car and make their way hand in hand up the snow-covered walkway. Quinn lets go for a moment to ring the doorbell. Rachel clutches her arm and leans her head on her shoulder while they wait.

The door opens to reveal a little blonde girl grinning up at them. "Rachel!"

"I like how she's only excited to see you now," Quinn says with a huff.

Rachel laughs. "Hi, Beth," she says as she leans down to give her a hug. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas!" Beth replies. "Come on!" She pulls them both inside. She then takes off running down the hallway. "Grandma, they're here!"

Rachel and Quinn make their way into the kitchen, where Santana, Brittany, Puck, and Finn were already standing around and talking.

"Finally!" Finn says as soon as they walk in. "Can we eat now?"

Puck nudges him in the ribs. "Dude, seriously?"

"For real, what took you guys so long?" Santana asks from her spot next to Brittany on the counter.

"I apologize for our tardiness. I'm afraid we just got a bit carried aw—"

"Rachel!" Quinn shushes her with a blush.

Santana holds a hand up. "I don't even want to know."

"Babe, this eggnog is awesome!" Brittany says as she hands a cup over to her. Santana takes it and starts drinking it.

Judy suddenly appears in the kitchen. "You're here!" She says as she pulls Quinn into a hug.

Quinn laughs. "Yes, yes…we're finally here."

Her mother releases her and turns to Rachel with a knowing smile. "Can I see the ring?"

Santana spits out her eggnog. "Ring?" she squeaks with wide eyes. She watches as Rachel holds up her left hand and shows Judy a diamond ring that she's wearing on a very important finger. "Quinn, what is that?" she points.

"Is that the big news?" Puck asks as Quinn makes her way over to them with a grin. "Congratulations!" He pulls her into a hug. Finn and Brittany also pull her into a congratulatory embrace, all of them full of joy at the news.

"Thanks," she replies. She looks at Santana and says, "I asked her just this morning. After she said yes, I had to call my mom first, but I wanted to tell all of you guys here."

Santana hops off the counter and pulls her to the side and whispers, "You should've talked to me about this. You just moved in together a month ago. What's going on?"

Quinn smiles. "What's going on is that I want to marry her, so I'm going to."

Santana's eyes narrow, before suddenly widening a moment later. "Is she pregnant?"

"No, she's not pregnant," Quinn says with a chuckle.

"Oh, thank god." Santana sighs in relief. She then smiles before taking her half-empty cup of eggnog. She holds it up and says, "Well, here's to you two. You're getting married!"

Quinn goes in for a surprise hug instead, knocking her friend off balance.

"Why is everybody yelling?" Beth shouts over the noise as she joins them in the kitchen.

"Quinn and I are engaged," Rachel answers with a laugh.

Beth frowns. "What does that mean?"

"We're getting married," Quinn explains. "Rachel's going to be your aunt too."

The little girl's jaw drops open as a smile spreads across her face. She quickly runs over to Rachel and jumps into her arms. "Yes!" Everyone laughs at the adorable scene.

Once all of the commotion calms down, they all proceed with the meal Judy had prepared for them. The house is full of laughter, excitement, and talks about the future. Mainly Quinn and Rachel's future.

They were bombarded with questions that they didn't know the answer to yet, like when the wedding would be or who was going to be in it, which immediately leads to Beth and Brittany both calling dibs on being flower girls. Quinn laughs and has to assure everyone that they would all be kept in the loop.

All of the talk about the future and uncertainty doesn't seem so scary to her anymore. Not with Rachel's hand in her own, like it has been from the moment they sat down. The only time she lets go is to get up and sneak away to get Beth's Christmas present out of the car.

She grabs the wrapped gift from the backseat and turns to see someone leaving the house. She smiles. "Hey you."

Rachel carefully steps through the snow to reach Quinn. "I'm not sure when I'll get you alone again today. So…" She leans up and leaves a gentle kiss on her lips.

Quinn wraps an arm around her back and pulls her in closer. She stares down at her for a moment. "You make me really happy, you know that?"

"Good. Because it looks like you're officially stuck with me for a while." Rachel laughs.

They lean in for another kiss, but stop when someone shrieks, "Ew!" They look up to see Beth standing by the door. "You can do that at home! We're about to open presents!" she shouts before running back inside.

Quinn chuckles. "Let's go before she yells at us again."

As they walk back to the house, Quinn notices that Rachel is latching tightly against her side. She stops. "What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking," Rachel says. She looks at Quinn and places a kiss on her cheek. "I'm just really glad we ran into each other that night."

"You mean that night you bumped into me?" Quinn asks jokingly.

"You bumped into me," Rachel corrects. "But yes."

They continue walking. Quinn wraps an arm around her shoulders and presses a kiss to her temple. "So am I."

A/N: There you have it. I really hope that you all enjoyed this story! I want to thank all of you for taking the time to read the whole thing as well as for being patient with me.

Be sure to drop a line if you'd like :)

Bye everybody!