Finding Rachel

"What if that bus crashed into us?"

Quinn turned in the driver's seat, startled to hear Rachel's speaking voice interrupting her singing voice. Not disappointed, perhaps, as her girlfriend had been belting out "The Climb" along with Miley on the radio, but startled nevertheless. It was extremely rare for anything to distract Rachel Berry from even the most casual vehicular performance.

"What?"

"That bus. The one that just drove by. What if it hit us?"

Quinn stared at Rachel in confusion.

"It…didn't."

Exasperated, Rachel rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to launch, presumably, into some explanation of why Quinn's answer to her bizarre question was exasperating, but a loud honk from behind them forced Quinn's attention back to the task of driving and the fact that the light was now green. Rachel seemed satisfied to let Quinn focus on getting them back to Rachel's house for after school cookies and kissing and let the topic drop.

"What if Noah hit me?"

Feeling a sudden rush of rage at the image that Rachel forced into her brain, Quinn spun sharply in her seat to look at Rachel sitting at the table behind her. The singer looked calm, curious, but definitely not like she had recently been threatened with physical violence.

"What are you talking about?" Quinn whispered harshly, trying not to draw the attention of the other students, or God forbid, Mr. Scheuster, to their exchange.

"I'm asking what you would do if Noah hit me," Rachel said slowly, as though explaining a simple process to a small child.

"Why? Did he threaten to hurt you? Why would he do that?"

Rachel's eyes rolled so hard Quinn could practically hear her retinas detaching.

"Of course he didn't threaten me. Do you think I would be sitting in Spanish class asking you hypothetical questions if my health and safety had been threatened? I would go to the police if I were assaulted by Noah. What would you do?"

Quinn gaped at her (most likely insane) girlfriend. The brunette was giving her a look that seemed in equal parts genuine curiosity and growing agitation that Quinn had not yet offered an answer to what Rachel seemed to think was a perfectly legitimate question.

"What do you mean, what would I do? Why would that happen?"

"Girls! Conversations after class, please. Unless you want to try it in front of the class en espanol?" Mr. Scheuster interrupted.

Since Quinn didn't know the Spanish words for "delusional" OR "lunatic" she just shook her head at the teacher and turned back to face the front of the room. She could swear she could feel Rachel's angry glare burning the back of her neck.

"What if we got lost in the woods?"

Quinn put her sandwich down and glared at her girlfriend.

"What woods?"

"Stop asking stupid questions!"

Quinn's eyes widened incredulously.

"Me stop asking stupid questions? Seriously?"

"Quinn! I'm asking a simple question. All I require from you is a simple answer. The question is what would you do if we got lost in the woods. Your answer should be an explanation of how you would respond in that situation, not another question about how the situation came to be or particulars about where the situation takes place. This is not hard."

Quinn took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She loved Rachel. Rachel was weird, in many, many ways. Some of the ways in which she was weird made Quinn smile behind her hand and muse on the lovable quirks of the girl she adored. Other ways made Quinn clench her teeth and breathe slowly and speak slowly and sometimes lose her temper and yell. This little newfound quirk was neither. It just made Quinn confused and slightly frustrated that she couldn't figure out what the hell Rachel was getting at.

She opened her eyes and looked at the brunette across the table, who was sitting with an expectant and hopeful look on her lovely face. Okay, fine. Forget the fact that there weren't any woods large enough to get lost in within a hundred miles of Lima, Ohio.

Quinn reached across the table to cover one of Rachel's (decidedly NOT manly) hands with her own. She squeezed lightly and smiled at her girlfriend.

"I won't let us get lost in the woods. I'll bring a map and a compass. Which I know how to use, by the way. We won't get lost."

Rachel's lips thinned into a grim line and her eyebrows drew together in consternation.

"That's not – we're already lost is the situation, Quinn."

"No. I won't let it happen. I will keep us on the path and we will be safe and happy and fine." Quinn smiled reassuringly across the table.

Her smile fell when Rachel slowly slid her hand out from under Quinn's and dropped her gaze to her lap. Quinn tried to ignore the sudden tightness in her stomach as they finished their lunch in silence.

"What if that dog attacked me?"

"I'd…kill it?"

Rachel's shocked wide eyes and outraged gasp were enough to tell Quinn that was the wrong answer.

"What if I went missing?"

"I'd find you." Quinn answered quickly, stated it calmly, and did her best to not sigh in relief at being given another chance at this.

"But what if I couldn't be found? What if my abductors were the best in their field and left absolutely no trace of me anywhere?"

"I'd find you." She answered again, putting her book down on the couch to look Rachel in the eye this time. She was sure it was the right answer. Even though the brunette appeared dubious at the moment, Quinn was absolutely sure she was right.

"But what if there wasn't any way to do that? What if the police gave up after a year of intense and thorough investigation? What if all the news sources stopped running stories about it and all the nightly neighborhood search parties gave up and stopped organizing?"

Quinn stared at Rachel, now actually unable to look away from the depths of her questioning dark eyes. She hoped she wasn't coming off as creepy. There wasn't another answer she could give.

"Rachel. I'd find you." It was the right answer. It had to be. Not because it was what Rachel wanted to hear. Quinn couldn't even come close to figuring out what it was that Rachel wanted to hear, and she'd been very bad at guessing over the last few days. It was just the truth. If Rachel went missing, Quinn couldn't imagine what else she would do but find her.

"What if the police hindered your efforts? What if you started to go crazy when it became apparent that there was no way to uncover my whereabouts? What if my fathers gave up and mourned my loss and bought a burial plot and– "

Quinn cut her off with a kiss. Whatever elaborate twists and turns this hypothetical situation was about to develop, Quinn was sure she wouldn't want to hear them. It didn't matter. Nothing would matter.

She pulled back just far enough to ghost her lips across Rachel's cheek, press a gentle kiss to her temple. Whisper in her ear.

"I'd find you, Rach."

When she finally pulled back to meet Rachel's gaze, the smaller girl gifted her with a smile so gentle and soft and grateful that Quinn's throat closed around tears that suddenly wanted to form. The breath was forced out of her when Rachel propelled herself suddenly forward against Quinn once again and pressed her face into the blond girl's neck.

"Thank you," she whispered, her breath fluttering the blond tresses at Quinn's neck. Quinn smiled and held the girl tighter against her chest. Just as she was about to whisper one more assurance to her girlfriend that Quinn would find her, would always find her, would always know where to look to find her, Rachel broke the silence herself.

"Though, with my resourcefulness and preparedness for any situation, I'd probably find my way back to you first. In fact, I suppose it would be best for you to wait here, lest I return and you're not here to greet me tearfully because you're out trying to be the big hero."

It was strangle her or kiss her. Quinn found it much more prudent and pleasurable to do the latter.