"Uh, what? No! Not- not date like that! It is! One date, I mean, or, unless you want it to be more, I wouldn't argue," the brunette backtracked. "Look, I just want to get out of this unscathed. That's all. I just did this as a favor for my best friend and it has escalated into this whole debacle-" Rachel stopped and squeezed her eyes shut, praying to whoever was listening that Quinn hadn't caught it.

"Hold up, what did you just say?"

Oh, shit.

"Rachel! Answer me!" Quinn barked, pinning her other arm on the other side of Rachel's head.

The little brunette stood petrified against the lockers, finding herself for the second time this week the subject of Quinn's interrogatory glare.

"Q-Quinn-"

"Was this some kind of joke to you? Did you set out to humiliate me, Rachel? Because that is not how this dynamic works." Quinn was turning red, from anger or embarassment, Rachel couldn't tell for shit. Either way, she was six feet under.

"No! Not a joke, in fact I didn't even want to at first!" Rachel tried (and failed) to dig herself out. She winced as a fleeting look of hurt passed over Quinn's face before it hardened once more. Rachel pleaded, "Please, before you get angry, Quinn, let me explain. Let me explain."

She summoned everything she'd learned from her acting classes about using her face to convey your sentiments and attempted to communicate her desperate sincerity to Quinn. She congratulated herself when the blonde sighed, uncrossing her arms. Thank you, Mrs. Bradshaw.

"Not here."

Rachel nodded quickly, ready to agree to anything for the oppurtunity to make this right. Her nodding slowed and then ceased when Quinn leaned in toward her, stopping within two inches of Rachel's face. Her eyes bore into the shorter girl's, and Rachel fought a squiirm under the intense scrutiny. Quinn seemed to be searching for something...something that apparently she couldn't look for from a normal, conversational distance. She was Rachel's whole world right then. She couldn't see, smell, touch, or hear anything but Quinn. God, did she want to taste her.

If Quinn was feeling even half the desire Rachel held in the pit of her stomach at the moment, she sure as hell didn't show it. Her face remained stoic and almost cold as she pulled back and Rachel sucked in some much-needed oxygen.

"Meet me in the choir room in two hours. I'll be waiting." She began to walk away.

Rachel glanced at the clock on the wall in the hallway and called after her, "But that's in the middle of second period!"

Quinn paused and turned around, tilting her head and tapping her chin almost tauntingly. "So it is." Rachel caught the tail end of a barely-there smile as the girl turned and left.

Rachel narrowed her eyes. She thinks I won't go. I'll show her. I've never skipped before, but there's a first time for everything, right? But wait! I don't know how to skip! How am I supposed to get out of class? I should ask Puck for tips.

"I can't believe that worked," Rachel breathed as she exited Mr. Feeney's English class. When Puck told her all she had to do was feign a headache or any minor illness and she'd be dismissed to the 'nurse's office', she'd been a little skeptical. He had topped off his suggestion with a confident "Trust me", and, well, she wasn't about to forget exactly what happened the last time he had said that.

Nevertheless, she succeeded, and had gotten out thirty minutes before Quinn's requested time so she would have time to sort out her thoughts. She would pay for it later, as they were going over material in class today that would be crucial to passing next week's test, but she felt this particular endeavor was worth it- English be damned.

She rounded the corner of the hallway and was met with the sight of Finn Hudson exiting the restroom. She bit her lip as she looked at him, guilt washing over her; she had to tell him.

"Finn!"

The boy turned around at the sound of his name, his expression morphing smoothly from surprise into joy when he saw who it was that was calling him. He smiled and jogged towards her.

"Rach! Where have you been? I thought you like, died until I saw you this morning." He puffed.

Rachel smiled sheepishly, "Yeah..." Here it comes. Man up! Balls- think balls. Er, no, scratch that, do not think balls.

"Why have you been avoiding me? Did I do something?"

"No no, of course not, Finn, I-"

"Then what? Because the only other time I can remember you avoiding me for this long was when I stole your vintage 'Funny Girl' playbill from '64."

Rachel scoffed, "You deserved it. That was completely uncalled for. Bitch move, Finn."

Finn laughed, "Whatever, stop avoiding the question."

"...What was the question, again?"

"Rachel."

She sighed, defeated. Rachel smoothed out the front of her sweater before looking up at Finn. "I have something to tell you."

Finn rolled his eyes, "Really? I couldn't have guessed."

She scowled at his lack of appreciation for dramatics. Then she steeled herself and said in an almost whisper, "Quinn said yes."

Finn scratched his head, "What? Speak up, Rach."

Louder this time, she said, "Quinn said yes. Monday, when I asked her out, she said...yes." Once she started with the confession, Rachel couldn't stop. She wanted to tell him everything, or she'd regret it. "I swear I didn't expect it! I- and when she said yes, I freaked and I didn't know what to do so I said I'd pick her up Friday and then I didn't want to face you, so I avoided both of you for the next couple of days-"

"Rach-"

"-during which I developed very real, very intense feelings for your girlfriend, so I was actually kind of looking forward to tomorrow even though I was guilt-ridden, then I saw you two holding hands this morning," she took a breath, "and I got so irrationally angry and I wanted to punch your face in-"

"Rach!"

"-So I dragged her away and I was furious and I asked her why she hadn't broken up with you then this freshman came up and asked us to move but I though he was hitting on Quinn so I almost punched his face in, but then I let it slip that I only asked her out in the first place as a favor to you and she got angry and now I'm fu-"

"RACHEL!"

"WHAT?" She reflexively screeched at the sound of her name being yelled, then cleared her throat and repeated, calmer this time, "I mean, yes?"

Finn let out a breath in exasperation, "Are you done now? Nothing else you wanna tell me?"

Rachel kept her mouth shut and shook her head. Where was the anger? She had been fully prepared to grab some chairs out of the nearest classroom and let Finn have at it, but he didn't appear to be flaring up. She inched closer to Room 113, just in case.

"Good. Then you'll hear me when I say I already knew."

"What." Rachel deadpanned, staring him down.

Finn blushed, "Yeah..."

"Why didn't you tell me? I just wasted all that precious time explaining this to you and you didn't think to stop me?" She looked irritated now.

"I did!" Finn began to point out, but then thought better of it. "You're right. Sorry, Rach."

"Apology accepted. Now explain." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

He sighed, "Alright, well, I guess...I have a confession of my own." He carefully watched her face for a reaction as he recounted his story, "Last Saturday, the day after I asked for your help, Quinn asked me to come hang out, so I did. I spent the whole time like, psycho-analyzing everything she did and said, looking for signs that she was straying. And I got a little suspicious. At one point, we were talking about music, and she somehow segued into talking about you," Rachel stiffened,"Well, I know I'm not the most perceptive guy- you've told me many, many a time, but even I picked up on the way she kind of...well, don't call me cheesy or anything for this, but she glowed when she talked about you. Which was really an impressing feat, considering she was talking about how irritating you are.

"My point is, she just, I don't know, got really passionate and had this kind of light in her eye and I was having a hard time believing that was hate. Anyway, she went to the bathroom later on, and I opened up her laptop to put on some music..."

Finn paused for dramatic effect and Rachel rolled her eyes (So it was acceptable when he did it?) even though she'd totally bought into it; she was leaning forward and waiting with baited breath.

"...and she had about seven windows open, all videos from your Myspace. Needless to say, I was a little wierded out. At this point I was pretty sure of my theory: Quinn liked you. And the most surprising part was...I wasn't mad. I mean, you'd think if I found out my girlfriend liked someone else, my best friend nonetheless, I'd be a little peeved, but I just wasn't. The more I sat on her bed and thought about it, the more sense it made, and by the time she came back I had closed her laptop, assumed an innocent position on the bed, and formulated a plan.

"Well, actually, I didn't really need to make a plan because I had already asked you to ask her out, although for a totally different reason, the day before. I decided it was fate that that had happened, like it was a sign or something. Anyway, fast forward to Monday, you asked her out, I had no doubt she said yes, and, I don't know, it kind of made me feel really really really happy. Like I was making a difference in someone's life."

Rachel raised an eyebrow, "Is that why you were acting like the lovechild of the Energizer Bunny and Ronald McDonald mixed with a heaping helping of crack-cocaine Monday afternoon?"

Finn flushed, "Shut up! I was happy for you! Although I couldn't say the same about you; why were you so mad that day?"

"Finn, I was under the impression that you had no idea your girlfriend had accepted a date with me and was going to break up with you because of me. I felt terrible and pissed off at the world! As was the case for the following two days as well! You should feel ashamed that you put me through that." She sniffed.

"Please, woman, I called and texted a bunch, and the only reason I didn't actively seek you out was because you're mega scary when you're mad, and I didn't feel like being maimed."

Rachel let out a small giggle at that because, well, it was true. "Wait. How did you know I liked Quinn?"

Finn shrugged, "I didn't. That was a risk I was willing to take. I did know that Quinn's super hot and you're not opposed to it, so I felt comfortable enough to try. And if it didn't work out, hey, at least you both wouldn't be wondering forever what could've happened." He smiled his trademark charmer smile while Rachel stared at him disbelievingly.

"Finn...when the shit did you get so smart?"

"Hey! I can be smart if I want to!" He said, affronted.

"Yeah, I know." Rachel smiled, "I'm going to hug you now."

"Also, I might have turned up the charming puppy-dog boyfriend factor so that Quinn wouldn't break up with me and you would get jealous." He laughed when she slapped his chest.

When she pulled away, Finn checked his wristwatch and frowned, "I should probably get back to class; I think this has officially been the longest bathroom break ever."

Rachel gasped, "What time is it?"

"9:55, why?"

"Dammit! I was supposed to meet Quinn in the choir room ten minutes ago! She probably thinks I blew her off! Finn, what do I do?"

Finn put his hands up, "Hey, don't look at me, just because I did one insightful thing doesn't mean I know all the answers, Rach. I'd probably steer you wrong."

Rachel gripped the front of his letterman jacket, "But you must have some semblance of an idea of what I should say to her! I really don't want to fuck this up Finn." She looked at him with pleading brown eyes and he melted. He pulled her into a gentle hug and ignored her muttered curse words, stroking her hair a few times.

Finn pulled away and straightened out his jacket. He clapped his hand on her shoulder, "Rach..." she stopped cursing long enough to look at him, eagerly awaiting his next words.

"Just tell her the truth."

When Rachel reached the choir room, breathless from sprinting through the halls, she was met with emptiness. There was no sound but her labored breaths as she slumped against the door, running a hand through her hair. She would talk to Quinn. The girl agreed to let Rachel take her on a date tomorrow evening, and Rachel was going to make it happen or her name was Mud. Or Puck.

Ding Dong

Rachel waited with her hands in the pockets of her sweatpants. She looked up when she heard the door open and was met with the face of a woman who looked like Quin plus twenty-five years. She cleared her throat,

"Hello, ma'am, you must be Mrs. Fabray." She stuck her hand out.

The woman hesitated briefly before accepting the handshake, "Yes. And you are?"

"Rachel Berry, Quinn's friend. I was wondering if she was here?"

More hesitation, "She's...not feeling well."

Rachel internally rolled her eyes, "Mrs. Fabray, with all due respect, I know Quinn isn't sick. I spoke with her this morning, and something transpired in the time since our conversation that I know she'd want to know, and I must express to you how utterly important it is that you let me-"

Mrs. Fabray held up her hand to cut her off, "Ah, Rachel." She opened the door wider and made room for Rachel to pass, "Go on up." She smiled.

Rachel's brow creased, "Erm...thank...you?" She decided not to think too much about it and headed up the stairs.

Knock Knock

"Not in the mood, Mom."

Rachel took that as a "Come on in!" and gently nudged the door open, experimentally poking her head through the threshold, as if she might explode if she went in all at once.

Quinn looked up from her laptop and narrowed her eyes, "I don't want to talk to you."

This time, and in this place, Quinn's own home, Rachel could tell that she infact did want to talk to her. But that is how Quinn worked, she'd figured out. To Quinn Fabray, pushing people away was not a means of ending a conversation, but one to weigh if the conversation was worth having in the first place. If the other person wasn't invested enough to push a little, well, she didn't want to waste time. Rachel thought it was actually quite ingenious. She wondered if anyone had ever passed the test before.

She would be the first.

"Silence is a viable option. I'll just be over here." She smiled in triumph as she turned away from Quinn to sit in the desk chair. She'd seen the shock in the blonde's eyes; maybe she really was the first one.

She plopped into the swivelling chair and spun it around to look at Quinn, who was staring at her in turn. Upon getting caught staring, Quinn quickly tore her gaze away and glued her eyes to the computer screen, the tips of her ears turning pink. She was out of her uniform now, dressed in gray shorts and an oversized ASPCA t-shirt- yeah, she had to blink a couple times to confirm that that wasn't an illusion. Her golden hair was down and ruffled, giving her an I-just-woke-up kind of look. Rachel nearly swooned.

After ten minutes of Rachel silently admiring Quinn and Quinn silently staring at her laptop, pretending to be paying attention to it and not the girl sitting at her desk, Quinn spoke up.

"Could you stop that?"

Rachel bit her lip innocently, "Stop what?"

"Staring at me. It's creepy." Quinn bit.

The brunette grinned, "You like it." Trying to keep things light as long as possible.

Quinn stared at her a moment before groaning, "You're not leaving, are you?"

"Nope!" Rachel chirped.

Quinn patted the bed beside her and closed her laptop, "Come here then."

Rachel gladly obliged, skipping to Quinn's bed and settling in against the headboard beside the other girl.

The silence quickly became too stifling when she was so close to Quinn, so Rachel broke it, "I didn't know you supported the ASPCA."

"Why are you here?"

Rachel paused; was she ready to come clean? "I wanted to apologize for the choir room earlier." Quinn scoffed. "No really, Quinn, I was going to be there. I even got out of class thirty minutes before the appointed time to make sure I was fully prepared for our conversation. Noah gave me some helpful tips on getting out of class. But when I got there

This caught Quinn's attention, "What the hell took you so long to get there then? I was waiting forever."

Rachel frowned, "I wasn't that late..."

She looked to Quinn for explanation, who spoke a little quieter, "Well, technically I didn't wait very long, but I didn't think you'd come."

"Why?"

"I don't know, just because! Now forget about that, what I really want to know is what this whole favor business is about."

Rachel swallowed thickly, and Quinn said nothing to prompt her.

"It...did start out as a favor to Finn." Rachel admitted quietly, and Quinn closed her eyes and looked away. Rachel reached over and gently, with her thumb and forefinger resting under Quinn's chin, turned the girl back towards her. She was shocked to find a tear sliding down the porcelain cheek. She reached to wipe it away but Quinn beat her to it, wiping her arm over her face.

"Go on."

Rachel took a breath, "Last week, he convinced me to accompany him on a little...reconiassance mission. While on this mission, we may or may not have seen you outside of Sam's motel room."

"Yeah I know about that, he told me when I broke up with him today."

"You broke up with him?"

Quinn pinned her with an annoyed look, "Just finish the story."

Rachel nodded, "Well Friday he called me over and asked for a favor. He...well, he was feeling insecure about his and your relationship, and he wanted to, I guess, test it out. In short, he asked me to ask you out to see if you would be faithful."

At Quinn's deliciously confused expression, Rachel laughed, "I know, my sentiments exactly. I initially questioned his sanity, but he insisted and, well, I'm a good friend. Who am I to turn down a favor?"

Quinn tilted her head back onto the headboard and snorted, "And of course I failed the fidelity test miserably." She turned her head to the side and faced Rachel, vulnerability written in her features, "So...you don't actually...like me?"

Rachel held up a finger, "Let me finish. Come Monday morning when you said yes, which by the way, I almost passed out from shock-"

"You did pass out."

"-I couldn't exactly refuse you-"

"Why?"

"So you know what happened then. Over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday, I studiously avoided Finn and yourself because I was kind of confused out of my mind. But what I did realise was that yes, I did like you. Yes, I wanted to go out on a date with you. And that right there threw me through a goddamn loop. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. But today, I decided to just get it over with- telling Finn, I mean. Then you hadn't broken up with him yet, and I was pissed."

Quinn was half-smiling now, hearing that yes, Rachel liked her. They were going on a date. Now all that had to be done was clear the smoke from the air. She blushed, "Sorry about that. I meant it when I said I didn't want him to be hurt. Everytime I would open my mouth to say 'I think we should be friends' he'd be all 'Quinn here's a teddy bear, Quinn you're the best.'" Rachel snorted at Quinn's impression of Finn's voice. "I mean, It's not like I found that charming, it's just that I felt like if I broke up after he said stuff like that, It'd be like ripping away a kid's ice cream cone and stomping it into the ground...

"And maybe I wanted to make you a little jealous..." She added with a coy smile.

"Quinn Fabray!" Rachel admonished in mock outrage. "It's okay, Finn did the same thing."

Quinn's expression darkened, "He likes you?"

Rachel burst out laughing, "As if! No, he wanted me to be jealous of him."

"Huh?"

"There's the rest of my story. When I left English, I ran into Finn and confessed to him about the date and turns out, he knew already. He had been planning this all along. Well, not all along, but most along."

Quinn's brow creased, "I don't understand."

"He knew you liked me. He found out Last Saturday, and I guess intuition told him that I would like you too, and since he had already asked me to ask you out, he decided it was fate. So he played up the boyfriend thing to get me all jelly, and Lord knows it worked. I think it's safe to say, we've been played by Finn Hudson." She laughed.

Quinn took a moment to soak it all in. "Finn...Finn's smart?" She asked, incredulous.

Rachel chuckled, "The sky's falling, too, right?"

They shared a laugh, and then the tension returned. But this time, it was welcome tension.

Quinn scooted closer, "So you like me, huh?"

She smirked when Rachel was stuck staring at her lips and could only say, "Uh huh."

The blonde leaned in a little closer, "Well you wanna know a secret?" Just a liiiiittle bit closer, "I like you, too." She barely whispered the words before closing the gap she'd been wanting to close since god knows when.

Rachel took a moment to catch up to reality before she was kissing back, reaching with her arm to snake around behind Quinn and pull her closer. It was just that, lips moving on lips, neither one of them feeling the need to deepen it- they hadn't even been on a first date yet.

Rachel pulled away first, breathing a little harder than before, "I..." She was too dazed to say anything more. Her mind, however, had no such qualms. Fuck yeah! Who's got the head cheerleader now? Quarterback, maybe? No, fucking Rachel Badass Berry does, yo. Rachel smiled to herself; Quinn brought out her inner gangster.

"Yeah..."

Rachel reached forward to thread her fingers in Quinn's unruly hair. Quinn smiled blissfully at the feeling, and Rachel took advantage of her distraction to tilt the blonde's head back and press light kisses to the warm skin of Quinn's neck. She pulled back and looked at the other girl,

"We're going on a date tomorrow." She was almost giddy with excitement.

"We are." The taller girl smiled and brought Rachel's wrist up to kiss the soft flesh below her palm. She could feel Rachel's racing heartbeat. "I think we owe Mr. Hudson a thank you."

"I'm inclined to agree."

With a last kiss and the promise of tomorrow, Rachel left the house thinking that yeah, she was right-being a good friend always paid off.

Whew! So in the end, the date was not included, but I think it's fine. This is unedited, so if you see any grammar mistakes, words misused, anything that should be fixed please tell me so I can get on it. Review and voice what you thought of it so I can improve and write even better stories for your enjoyment in le future! Hope it was up to par and thank you for reading.

P.S: Do any of you watch SIMGM's glee spoofs on youtube? They're hilarious- if you haven't seen them, you should. And they made a Sim!Faberry duet that I'm in love with, it's been perpetually stuck in my head since I heard it.