A/N: It's okay everyone, you can stop pinning up missing posters—it's me again! I'd like to thank my most recent reviewer for giving me the inspiration I needed to finish this story and I'm sorry to anyone who I have disappointed with my absence. It's been a really hectic time in my life (and although it's no secret, I won't bore you with the details) but I am now in my break from uni and I hope to use it to finish this story once and for all. A huge thank you to everyone who has stuck with me and my writing since this fic was first published in 2010. I hope that I can finally live up to your expectations. Your feedback is appreciated, whether it's good or bad. Now, please enjoy the long awaited Chapter 6 of Project for Improvement.

The first thing Quinn felt as their lips parted was Rachel's palm connecting with her face, leaving her with a faint stinging sensation and tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.

"I am not high maintenance!" the brunette exclaimed indignantly, her touch on the other girl's face softening into a gentle caress from a playful slap. It was only then that she noted her companion's expression. "Oh, Quinn..." her hand moved from its position, her thumb slowly stretching out to wipe away the signs of Quinn's sadness. "I'm sorry." She truly was; in her haste to make a silly joke— a joke that was supposed to make the blonde feel at ease—she had crushed what little self confidence she possessed. There had to be a way for her to fix this: and quickly, before the look on Quinn's face succeeded in tearing a hole through her heart. "Come here," she murmured, her free hand grabbing a fistful of shirt and pulling the other girl's body flush against her own—she silently thanked god that she had been allowed to do so. Her right hand, hardly having moved since its monumental mistake, snaked around Quinn's neck and was swiftly tangled in the messy blonde locks that fell around her shoulders. With reckless abandon, their lips were forced together and both girls let out a soft moan that drifted away on the wind: Rachel's laced with hunger and Quinn's surprise.

For it only being the second kiss in her short life, the older teen felt she was doing quite well. She had mostly decided that it was best to go with the flow, allowing the younger girl to lead—from the noises that the brunette was making, the ones that lit a fire in her belly that was quickly working its way south, it was safe to say that it had been a good choice. Several long seconds passed, feeling to Quinn like both forever and no time at all, as their mouths moved in sync and gradually slowed to a reluctant stop. Their foreheads met, laboured breathing the only evidence the pokémon trainer had that she wasn't in a brilliantly elaborate dream. Truth be told, it was better than anything she could have ever imagined: it was real.

"I'm sorry," broke through the silence for a second time, but she shook her head. For the moment, words still escaped her. "I should have known better than to-" the singer tried to continue but was again cut off by a movement from Quinn, this time a gentle hand pressing an index finger to the pouting lips she had been kissing mere moments before.

"It's okay."

"But-"

"It's okay," the girl repeated, fully intent on doing so until her affirmation sunk in. "It's really okay. You just caught me off guard, that's all. I'm not really good at this..."

"Could have fooled me," Rachel responded, her bruised lips spreading into a sly grin which Quinn happily returned.

Although she knew she would come to regret it, the future champion stole a glance at the silver watch adorning her wrist. It was only a few minutes shy of ten o'clock but Quinn still clambered to her feet, extending a careful hand to assist Rachel to her own. "We're leaving already?" Rachel asked, her brows furrowed in both confusion and disappointment. "I thought we were doing well."

Quinn wasn't quite sure what that last sentence meant but now didn't seem like quite the time to broach it. "We're doing swimmingly," the blonde quipped, although she had no idea of what that meant either. "I just want to make sure I get you home to your parents on time tonight—I'm hoping that maybe, if I'm more responsible, they'll let me date their daughter."

"Oh yeah?" said daughter asked with a delighted laugh, "Does she get a say in this?"

"Of course," the taller of the two confirmed, casually linking their hands together, "But I'm pretty sure she'll say yes. I've been told I'm quite a catch."

A bubble of laughter rippled up Rachel's throat and burst out onto the night air. This was the real Quinn; the Quinn she had feelings for. This was the Quinn who made silly jokes with false bravado, the Quinn who was brimming with well-placed confidence. This was the Quinn who no one else knew.

Much sooner than either girl wanted, they made it to the front door of the Berry household. Through the window they could see the men of the family cuddled on the sofa, their attention glued to the TV that lit the entire room with a faint glow. Quinn took this to mean it was a good time to make her move and she glued her hands to the shorter girl's hips, slowly but surely pushing her against the bright red door that seemed to correspond with her view of the younger girl perfectly. Vibrant. With barely even a pause for breath, their lips collided—initial innocent pecks were exchanged but soon neither girl could contain her hunger and for the first time, Quinn Fabray's teeth grazed the perfect, pouting lips she had been infatuated with for days. Rachel's groan filled her mouth, only encouraging the animalistic urges that the brunette's every movement brought to the surface. Quinn didn't feel like anything in the world could ruin this moment, as she revelled in the feel of her crush's mouth melding with her's—and then the door opened and all of her optimism came, literally, tumbling to the ground.

"I told you I heard something, LeRoy," the man at the door grumbled, not unpleasantly, to his partner whose head was poking out from behind the living room door to observe the commotion. "You never listen to me."

"I stand corrected, Hiram," the older gentleman placated his husband, his eyes flickering amusedly over the tangle of limbs blocking the front door. Meanwhile, Quinn Fabray flushed a brilliant shade of crimson that allowed her to blend effortlessly with the door she lay next to; oh how she wished that she could genuinely disappear. Her companion also blushed, although significantly less so.

"Well, this is not how I had imagined this meeting. Dad, Daddy: to the living room!" the two adults did as they were told, slinking off almost ashamedly into the other room. "Honestly, they're like children!" the brunette told the blonde with an eyeroll, although she truly seemed to traumatised to care. "If you would kindly accompany me, Quinn?" she requested, picking herself and dusting herself off. Quinn looked like that was the last thing on earth she wanted to do, her wide eyes betraying her instinct to run away and never look back, but she nodded despite herself. Rachel smiled. Quinn couldn't help but feel it was worth it.

When they entered the room where the two Berry fathers sat like chastised children, the blonde found her eyes firmly rooted to the floor. "Dad, Daddy—this is Quinn. We go to school together."

"We know, honey, you've been talking about her all week."

It was Rachel's turn to clamp her mouth shut in embarrassment, glaring silently at her dad as Quinn felt the smallest of smiles tug at her lips.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Fabray—we've heard a lot about you."

The teenager willed herself to find something pleasant and endearing to say but no words would come; she could only nod.

"Well, then," Rachel said, flustered beyond belief, "I suppose Quinn better head off home. We have school in the morning, you know!" The brunette began to usher her new friend out of the room as quickly as they had entered it, no longer keen on spending any more time than necessary with her parents—why she had ever thought that was a good idea she would never know.

"You have two minutes, Rachel," Hiram called after their retreating forms pseudosternly, "We'll be counting!"

With another flamboyant eyeroll, Rachel flounced out of the room and through the hallway onto the porch with Quinn in tow. "Despite everything, I had a really great time tonight," she admitted, smiling coyly. Her companion was quick to agree.

"Me too." There was a slight pause. "I really like you, y'know."

The diva smiled, "I know, Quinn. I really like you too."

"Ten, nine, eight..." the pair heard being called from inside the house and Rachel huffed her discontentment.

"So I'll see you at school tomorrow then?"

"Of course. Save me a seat?"

"Of course," Rachel echoed and, just as her father reached 'one', she leaned forward to place a gentle peck on Quinn's lips. "I can't wait."

The door swung open dramatically, both Hiram and LeRoy standing there with silly smiles on their faces. "Ahh, to be young and in love!" the latter proclaimed, hand over his heart.

A dark eyebrow arched on the other man's face, "And what is that supposed to mean?"

LeRoy smiled sheepishly and quickly corrected himself, "Ahh, to be young!"

Quinn found herself amused by their antics and decided that, for all their eccentricities, she was quite taken with the Berry men—and if their expressions were any indication, they seemed to like her too. Everything had turned out much better than she expected and when she finally forced herself to turn and take her first step down the stairs, it was with a much lighter heart than she had ever had before. Not even her parents could bring her down now, no matter how little they made her house feel like home. Not so long as she always had Rachel Berry's arms; they were what she would call home.

"Quinn!" The blonde in question turned on her heel, having just set foot on the gravel path leading her back to the road. Her eyes found Rachel's, where she stood huddled between her parents. In typical, over-the-top Berry fashion a kiss made its way across the air and Quinn caught it lovingly in her palm before pressing it to her lips. With Rachel's blush and her fathers' laughs, she knew she had done well. The smile couldn't be wiped off of her face for the whole walk home—helped, of course, by the incessant texts they sent back and forth until both decided to crawl under their respective covers and say good night.

When the blonde's bleary eyes finally opened the following morning, it was to check the PokéGear by her bedside in the hopes of finding a greeting from the girl who had spent all night in her dreams.

Rachel (1.45pm): I understand if you have regrets but that's no reason to compromise your education. Please Quinn.

The teenager was suddenly drowned by a wave of dread. What time was it? A quick glance at the status bar on the device in her hand told her it was three o'clock—there was only an hour left before school ended for the day. Fuck.

Scrolling down to the first message her crush had sent, Quinn read through them all. Each one made her feel worse.

Rachel (8:31am): Good morning sunshine! I can't wait to see you today.

Rachel (9:03am): Running late, sleepyhead? Don't worry, I've saved you a seat.

Rachel (10:17am): Quinn, is everything okay? I didn't mean to put undue pressure on you last night.

Rachel (11:07am): Quinn?

Rachel (12:00pm): I don't know what I did but I'm sorry.

Rachel (1:11pm): I get that you don't want to talk to me right now, but maybe you could just give me a text later and let me know you're safe. I'm worried about you.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Fuck, fuck, fucking fuck. Every message she read left Quinn feeling more desperate than the last. She had to fix this. Now. Clothes were thrown on at break neck speed and before she knew it, the trainer found herself hurtling down the stairs and out of the door. Her bike lay against the pole at the bottom of their garden, abandoned there from days before, and she quickly grabbed it and jumped on. She had never been the best of cyclists but today she flew down the road at the speed of an Olympic champion: she had no choice—nothing had ever been more important than this. Nothing would ever be more important in her life than Rachel Berry. Their friendship was short but she was sure of it.

She arrived at the entrance to the school with just five minutes to spare, or so a glance at her PokéGear told her. It also told her their was a final new message sent while she was riding.

Rachel (3:47pm): I thought we had something, Quinn. Don't we?

"We do," the blonde told the device under her breath, as she slid it back into her pocket, "Of course, we do. I promise."

The bell rang at four o'clock promptly and all Quinn could do was pace anxiously back and forth as she waited for Rachel to vacate their classroom. It seemed that everyone but her friend was spilling out through the doors, unleashing their pokémon for the trek home. Where they hell was she?

Finally, just as Quinn was getting ready to give up and go, the door opened one last time and out walked one Miss Rachel Berry. It didn't take the blonde long to deduce what had happened: her red rimmed eyes made that a dead give away.

"Rach."

The brunette's head snapped up instantly, her face torn between disbelief and annoyance.

"'Rach'? You have me worried sick all day and all you have to say is 'Rach'?" The diva knew she was being unreasonable but she couldn't find it in herself to care. She didn't spend all day worrying just to throw herself into the girl's arms and tell herself everything would be all right—no matter how much every fibre in her body willed her to do so. Within seconds, she had unleashed her pidgeotto from its pokéball and given it the instruction to fly home. "I don't want to talk to you right now, Quinn." With that she was gone; merely a shadow on the horizon.

"Goddamnit," the future champion growled, kicking at a rock lying by her feet. "God fucking damnit."

Her hands instantly reached for her PokéGear and opened a blank message but she soon shook her head. There was nothing she could think of to say.

It was several hours later that Quinn's phone finally rang out with a text notification. She dived on it instantly.

Rachel (7:23pm): After much deliberation and a consultation with my fathers, I have to come to the conclusion that I must concede that my reaction this afternoon may have been irrational. Consequently, I am willing to hear what you have to say.

Quinn had to smile despite herself; Rachel was adorably verbose when annoyed.

Quinn (7:26pm): Rachel, I am so sorry. I couldn't sleep last night, I was way too excited to see you again. I must have slept in. I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean to make you worry, I promise.

Rachel (7:26pm): Baby? (:

Quinn flushed instantly upon reading Rachel's words. She must have hit send before she had fully proof-read the message. She couldn't deny that the words just seemed to trip off the tongue (and onto the keyboard, as a result). All manner of gooey things that Quinn Fabray would never have dreamt of saying not two weeks ago all seemed to want to fall out of her mouth at the sight of Rachel Berry. She wasn't sure if that was a bad thing.

Quinn (7:27pm): That's all you got from that? Really?

Rachel (7:28pm): What can I say? You're quite the charmer.

Quinn (7:28pm): Does that mean you want to meet me in the usual place? Twenty minutes?

Rachel (7:29pm): I don't know, are you going to show up this time?

Quinn (7:30pm): Well, I'm not planning a nap so...

Rachel (7:30pm): I'll be there, butthead.

'Butthead', Quinn mimed to herself with a shake of her head. It wasn't quite as endearing as 'baby' but she would take it. It was better than the many variations of the conversation that had played in her head in the few hours they hadn't spoken: most ending in 'Go fuck yourself.'

It seemed to take hours for the brunette to arrive by the water where they had shared their first kiss. Quinn had arrived there mere minutes after they had agreed to meet and could now do nothing but, again, anxiously await Rachel. It seemed to be becoming a theme. She was just getting ready to do her twelfth retread of the small area they had made their own when she felt a pair of gentle hands wrap around her from behind. Instantly her troubles seemed to fall away as she melted into the shorter girl's embrace.

"Don't ever do that to me again."

"I won't."

Before anything else could be said, Rachel spun the blonde around and pulled her into their most passionate kiss yet. Once again, Quinn was home.