Title: And Then There Was None

Author: Mina Robins

Fandom: Glee

Pairing: Quinn/Rachel, Quinn/Sam, Rachel/Finn

Rating: T

…

It's Saturday and the pair had just left Rachel's party.

…..

The entire glee club had gathered to celebrate the diva's birthday and of course Puck had supplied the liquor. Mercedes', Kurt and Tina had gone all out and baked a triple layer cake; due to some mishaps or perhaps intentional interference by none other than Puck, the cake had a substantial amount of a certain Captain Morgan in it. Sam was a little uncertain on what to get his glee mate and had inquired Quinn for assistance. The cheer captain had shrugged her shoulders and tried to nonchalantly hint towards a musical selection. Thus Matt, Artie, Sam and Mike had gotten Rachel a gift card to a local music store. Brittany had gotten Rachel a nice light purple shirt from Bang On that said "Barbra Streisand" in fine cursive within a gold star outline, Brittany had insisted in a practiced and evidently scripted tone that the idea came from her cat. Rachel was very grateful and a little skeptical that the cat and not Santana had something to do with the gift. The latina vehemently tried to deny her connection to the present though it was clear that there was a mutual camaraderie between her and glee captain. When questioned by the birthday girl Santana rolled her eyes instead of making a quip on Rachel once again looking like the argyle monster has bitten and taken over her body. Finn had brought a whole bouquet of flowers for Rachel. The tiny brunette smile politely and gave Finn her thanks and a kiss on the cheek. Finn at times could be a little insensitive and maybe their romance wasn't as Harlequinesque and he was a rather boring kisser, at least he was entirely hers. If Rachel had paid a bit of attention to the rest of her house guest she would have seen a discreet but visible grimace on Quinn's face. Quinn was last to offer a gift, it was a simple pearl coloured envelope with Rachel's name elegantly calligraphed in ink.

Rachel had been hesitant to take Quinn's present. The blonde and she had been at odds since the Rocky Horror after party. She reached out and gently took the gift from Quinn's hand, accidentally brushing her finger tips against smooth skin. Rachel caught the sincerity that shone from Quinn's hazel eyes and felt her heart squeeze painfully. She knew that no matter how sweet Quinn can be within closed quarters the blonde still had a horrid time being herself under the judgment of her peers and neighbours. Quinn was about to say something when Puck had ran into the house and called for everybody to get their asses into gear cause he wasn't going to be the only one carrying the whole keg of beer into the house.

….

Rachel had been resistant to start drinking at the beginning, addressing her concern for the cleanup and the consequences of showing up to church with a hangover. Just because her father's had decided to take a weekend trip did not mean the brunette had to loose complete regard.

"I also detest the taste of beer." Rachel wrinkled her nose as if the vapors from the keg had already infiltrated her nostrils.

Puck eyes had gone so wide with disbelief that Brittany had commented on Puck being the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland causing everyone to start giggling.

"Fine, fine." Puck sighed with resignation as he threw his hands in the air but a moment later a devious smile sprung onto his face. "You asked for it!"

"What did I exactly ask for?" The petite girl shifted around a bit and looked to Finn for support but he just shrugged.

Tina blinked and Mercedes nudged Kurt. The group had known of Rachel's dislike for beer and had planned accordingly. Mike had rocked, paper, scissor Matt to see who had to get up but while they were going tie after tie Santana had groaned 'boys' and marched into the kitchen to retrieve a small pitcher of orange juice and Brittany had placed a blue shot glass with a golden star in front of the confused starlet.

"Quinn said we should get one with a star on it." Finn smiled encouragingly at his girlfriend as Rachel spun her head to face Quinn, giving her a 'you knew and had part in plotting this?' expression.

The startled cheer captain shook her head. "Hey, I just said you like gold stars."

"Don't blame baby mama, we were just all brainstorming and shit and she had reminded us of your kinda creepy love for gold stars."

Quinn frowned at Puck, "Don't call me that."

Rachel pouted and sat down when Puck began to pour her drink. "Quinn, fortunately you were there, who knows what kind of glass they would have gotten me." The brunette teasingly said with a smile.

It was so easy to fall back into a light hearted routine.

"It was penis shaped." Puck informed with a smirk.

Kurt choked on his beer and Finn turned red. Santana and Brittany had already disappeared upstairs and everyone else was laughing.

"I would not have enjoyed using a phallic shot glass."

The group laughed harder.

"Okay my fellow Jew, bottoms up."

Rachel shifted in her seat and brought the glass up to her lips. The orange juice was doing hardly anything to mask the scent of cheap vodka.

"Shot, Shot, Shot!" the glee club chanted while Puck and Sam even began pounding on the floor in rhythm.

Rachel took a breath and poured the contents of the glass into her mouth and felt the unfamiliar but searing burn on her tongue. She slammed the glass down onto the table, managing to hold the liquid in her mouth for another minute before Puck got annoyed.

"Geeze Rachel, you got to swallow it." Puck said as he already started filling the little glass up again, after a moment he grinned. "THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!"

The gang groaned and an assortment of cushions was thrown in Puck's general direction. This was followed up with a round of cushion fighting and alcohol related dares.

…..

When everyone had settled down and inebriation had begun to tighten her hold, the gang had pushed the furniture away to give them room to sit in a complete circle. Santana had returned looking rather disheveled while Brittany looked meticulous. In her rush the shorter girl had only had time to make sure Brittany looked presentable before Puck made good his threat to pull the two back into the room for cake, whether or not if they had their shirts on.

In the middle of the glee club's lopsided circle stood the triple layered, heavily rum saturated cake. Rachel stood up on unsteady legs and cleared her throat. "I would like to thank everyone, everyone here, for being present for the occasion of my birthday, which is today, today is my birthday." Rachel took a breath and tried to remember why she had stood up in the first place, and when had she gotten so tall. She took another deep breath and regained her disposure "I sincerely believe it is possible when I say I can envision our team this year winning regions and bring-"

A chorus of grumbling and laughter interrupted Rachel before she could give her speech.

"Seriously, Berry, you're drunk as a skunk and all you can think about is the singing competition?" Santana rose her eyebrow and quirked her lip.

Rachel's eyes quickly darted to Quinn to find that the blonde returning her gaze. She felt her cheeks heat up and bit her lip before answering the bemused Santana. "I will have you know, that singing, that singing, is not and does not have a complete hold of my attention at all times."

The latina didn't miss the subtle glance her two captains' shared and decided to press onto the subject. "So, what else goes on in the cluttered and upside down mind you have?"

The diva closed her eyes and tried to focus on her side of the argument but had completely forgotten what started this little tiff with Santana, a moment later, "What?" was articulated from the house owner's lips.

Mercedes snorted, "My lord, Rachel, light weight much?"

Tina who was now leaning heavily on Mike nodded; the girl had only 4 shots of a screw driver. Artie frowned at the two Asians and tried to focus on the others but found himself annoyed that he was girlfriendless and both his girls were happy without him.

"Rachel, honestly the thing you had was like 3 parts orange juice and one part vodka." Kurt added, "You've had like 'a' shot."

Brittany giggled and shook her head when Rachel frowned and tried to look dignified in her intoxication. Quinn had somehow ended up sitting next to the starlet and had gently tugged on the brunette's hand. Rachel had at first thought it was Finn and had annoyingly brushed the jock away until she felt the electrifying shock that always accompanied Quinn's caress. Glancing down the birthday girl smiled and practically curled herself against the blushing blonde.

"Hey!" Finn yelped, wasn't he the boyfriend, shouldn't he get the cuddling? Scratching his head the boy stared at his girlfriend's drink accusingly. Finn took Rachel glass and downed the shot. He started coughing the moment he managed to force the disgusting mixture down. "Whoa."

Quinn remembered her ex's light weight tendencies but knew that even Finn had a high tolerance for strong shots. Being best friends with Puck and what not, "How much vodka did you guys put in this thing?"

Brittany smiled pleasantly, "What do you mean how much?" the blonde looked to Santana and tilted her head. "Weren't we supposed to just pour the whole mickey in?"

The other cheer leader chewed her cheek, it wasn't their fault that the Berry household didn't have a lot of orange juice and she didn't really want to just mix water into the pitcher.

Puck who was at first perfectly content to hide under a huge collection of cushions decided that he did not want to get wrangled to death by an over protective cheer captain. He sprung from his hiding place and bellowed "Surprise!" Puck grasp onto Rachel's hand and placed a cake slicing knife into it. "Time to cut the cake."

"Whoa," Quinn wrapped her arms behind the struggling brunette and guided her hands through the motions to ensure no one was in danger of losing digits. Rachel sighed and leaned back so their bodies were flushed against one another, the familiar tingling returning in multitudes.

Sam was staring at Kurt and Finn was staring at the two girls.

"What the hell are you doing Quinn?" Finn's face was blotchy and flushed by both anger and alcohol, not the best combination.

Quinn glared at Finn like he was stupid, which at this moment was particularly obvious. "Do you want blood with your cake?"

"NO." Finn said a bit too loudly causing everyone to fall into a giggling fit.

The moment the cake had been properly distributed the tall boy had plucked Rachel out of Quinn's hold and settled his girlfriend onto his lap. The smaller girl's face held a disgruntled expression but was replaced with jealousy when Sam had also gotten up and pulled Quinn into his arms.

"I need air." With that the diva jumped up from Finn's grasp and albeit stumbling a little, she still managed a perfect diva storm out.

"She does know it's her house right?" Brittany asked, when Santana nodded confirmation the Swedish girl smiled. "Well good, cause sometimes I forget what house I'm in."

Quinn got up as well and rushed after the birthday girl. When Santana saw Finn and Sam also motioning to get up and follow the pair she quickly purpose beer pong, girls against guys, and declared that they were losers if Sam and Finn decided to forfeit and leave.

The boys glared at Santana and then looked at each other, they weren't freaking losers!

…

"You do realize you just left your own party."

Rachel refused to answer and remain stock still staring out into her lawn. It was freezing. She heard the door open and close but had hoped it was Finn; it was easier dealing with him.

"Ray, please." Quinn placed her hand on the brunette's shoulder and tried to lightly turn the other girl around. "You know I would break up with Sam if you asked me."

Rachel spun around so quickly she almost toppled over due to the liquor she had consumed; she had tears glimmering in her eyes, "That is not the issue here, Quinn Fabray!"

"What is it darling, please." Quinn moved her hands up the brunette's chilled frame and used her thumbs to softly wipe away Rachel's tears. When she was done she kept her hands on the shorter girl's face, caressing the skin she was once allowed to touch. "I've missed you."

The two girls kissed, neither knew who started it first but no one was stopping to ask. And like the touch before, the kiss is sensational, electrifying and exquisite.

It was Rachel who pulled back first. "We cannot continue."

The blonde sighed, frustrated, they were so good, so good, together, why can't they continue?

"Do not make me go through this again, Quinn." The starlet's normally strong voice wavered and her tears started anewed. "I refuse to be this, this, dirty little secret of yours, I hate that you even suggested we needed to get gay beards!"

"Rachel, you have to understand, I just manage to reconcile with my mother," Quinn ran a hand through her blond hair. "I don't want her to hate me; I want her to like me."

"She loves you, Quinn!" the diva hissed when she realized their voices had been rising. "She will accept you just the way you are."

"I don't understand why we can't be together in secret, it's just till we leave Lima," Quinn whispered back, trying to once again be soothing. "It's what Santana and Brittany have planned; Brittany accepts that Santana isn't ready to be the gayest thing on earth in a small hick town."

"I would have thought that my fathers are the 'gayest thing on earth'." Rachel looked up and away from Quinn, willing her tears to stop. It was acceptable to be quiet about their love at first. The diva tried to accept it and for a long time, she did. When she had first invited Quinn to live in the Berry household, she was content with the shy smiles and restrained touches. When Quinn had given her daughter away, Rachel was there, supportive and offering a shoulder to lean on. They had both cried when Quinn had given away her daughter, it hurt to see her lover in anguish.

When Quinn's mother had invited the blonde back home Rachel accepted that Quinn was not ready to inform her only parent left of her orientation. They spent the whole summer together, going to the mall, camping (which she and Quinn had hated but it was a glee club excursion), reading to one another, singing, being just together, kissing under the moonlight and falling in love.

However, once school started they had to separate, be less demonstrative, or so the cheerleader had asked. Rachel tried to accept it, she did, but it was darn near impossible, it was against her very nature to keep her love quiet. Rachel wanted to stand on the top of the school and sing of her love to Quinn for everyone willing to listen. Nonetheless, it was what Quinn wanted and she wanted nothing more than the blonde's happiness. So she kept all the love she had for Quinn bottled up, almost making her heart burst, never even bringing the subject up to Quinn.

The cheerleader allowed hand holding only when the moonlight was the only thing lighting their path. It made Rachel feel like something Quinn was ashamed of, their love felt cheapened. At the Rocky Horror after party Rachel had been taking care of a soundly intoxicated Quinn when Sam had walked into a rather intimate embrace. Quinn had taken one second to untangle herself from Rachel and then practically launched herself into Sam arms and ordering the startled boy to take her back home.

Rachel had stood gawking at the door to the washroom with her hands still up and stuck in the position they were in when they were once wrapped around her love's waist.

She had had enough.