This is a little (early) Christmas surprise for my best friend. It's a one-shot in the "Out of Reach" verse, showing Quinn and Rachel during their second Christmas together. I know, a lot of people were hoping for a sequel of the story. Maybe, this will at least make you smile a little.

"For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself."
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol ―

To say that Rachel was excited was a huge understatement. Quinn and she had spent Thanksgiving and the week after in Lima with their parents, celebrating Hanukkah as the new Berry-Fabray family unit. To make the Faberry Christmukkah 2013 perfect, they were expecting Judy and her dads that night, on Christmas Eve. However, the three would have to spend Christmas Eve without Quinn and Rachel, as the two of them had decided to have a little recreation of their first Christmas together.

Quinn had convinced Santana to join Kurt, Blaine and the parents for dinner in Little Italy. Convincing in this case meant paying for the Latina's food, of course. Little did Santana know that she wouldn't be eating with only Kurt, Blaine, Judy and the Berry men.

Brittany had talked to Quinn on Thanksgiving about visiting Santana on Christmas and Quinn was supposed to make it happen. Brittany had hoped that Santana would come to Lima for Thanksgiving but her great plan of finally getting the Latina back failed when the girl refused to come home and instead spent the holiday with Kurt, Blaine and some friends from NYU.

What mattered, however, was that Santana was out of the way for the night, and Rachel was getting dressed for her Christmas Eve dinner with her beautiful girlfriend. Quinn had insisted that she'd do the cooking, the exact menu from last year's Christmas Day dinner, so they could combine both of their Christmukkah days from last year.

She looked at herself once more before nodding at the mirror. She was wearing the short black dress that she had worn for this occasion last year and had her hair curled like she knew Quinn loved. She couldn't wait for the evening to start.

Christmas Day would be a huge event with their parents, Brittany and Santana (provided that Santana finally managed to get her head out of her ass), Kurt and Blaine as well as Shelby and Beth. Rachel was very excited to see the little blonde bundle of joy again. She hadn't been able to join Quinn when they met up in October and November (Shelby and Quinn tried to get together at least once a month now and Rachel knew that it meant the world to her girlfriend), so she hadn't seen Beth since September. She's probably grown like three inches again. It was absurd how fast the little one grew – or maybe, Rachel was just afraid that her sister would outgrow her before she even reached her teens.

Rachel couldn't help but smile when she stepped into Quinn and Santana's apartment using her new key. Quinn had given her a key to their apartment for Hanukkah, much to Santana's dismay – "Are you insane Fabray? She's already here like twenty four seven. She'll probably show up with a stupid U-Haul tomorrow!" She hadn't used it too often yet, trying not to anger the Latina. She knew Santana was feeling very lonely during family holidays so she was trying to act sympathetically. The Latina still didn't feel very welcome at home in Lima and she refused to date anyone, claiming that they weren't worth her time – yeah, sure, because that's the reason she's not dating.

Once she entered the living room quietly – the smell of Quinn's delicious cooking wafting through the air of the apartment – she found the blonde lazily sitting on the couch with her completely worn out copy of Charles Dickens' "The Christmas Carol". It looked like she had started over yet again – for the second time this year. It was a good thing she was getting a new and robust copy for Christmas this year because Quinn's copy looked very close to falling apart.

Rachel walked towards her girlfriend, bending down to kiss her forehead in order to get her attention away from the book. "Don't you know it by heart by now?" She smiled at the blonde and was rewarded with a warm smile in return as Quinn pulled her down on her lap to peck her lips. "Not quite. There are still a few pages I just can't seem to get into my scull," she tells you, smiling brightly.

She settled into her, curling up in her embrace, letting the smell of her take over her for just a few quiet moments. Quinn had always been her kryptonite and maybe – just maybe – kryptonite wasn't such a bad thing after all. Everyone has something or someone that can bring them down and Rachel knew – without a doubt – that for her it was Quinn. But, at the same time, Quinn brought a joy and happiness to her world that no one and nothing else ever could.

When they were in New York for Nationals, she told Kurt that Broadway was her true love. Back then, it might have been true. As much as she had loved Finn, she had never loved him enough to give up Broadway for him. For Quinn, however, she would, without thinking twice. Maybe because she knew the blonde – other than Finn – would never ask her to in the first place.

"Dinner should be done by now. Are you ready to be wined and dined, Ms Berry?"

"Why, of course I am, Ms Fabray," the brunette answered, a smile – reserved for the blonde only – spreading across her face. She pressed her lips against the pink ones in front of her and lingered for just a second longer. "You look beautiful," the blonde told her when she pulled back and kissed her nose before motioning for her to get up.

Being with Quinn was simple in a way that Rachel never expected it to be. Of course, they had their ups and downs and it wasn't always easy to just be with Rachel's shows, NYADA and Quinn's classes at Columbia. But, all in all, it felt absolutely natural to be with Quinn. There was nothing to be forced. Quinn was easy. Quinn was it.

They sat across from each other, sharing their fruit and nut truffles and banana ice cream, while a pale thumb drew tender patterns on the back of her hand. And, in that moment, Rachel realized that she had never felt happier than in that very moment. It had been almost a year since they had made it official and Quinn had been nothing short of amazing and in that very moment, Rachel knew that Quinn was here to stay. So, she said the only thing that came to mind when looking at the blonde beauty sitting across from her: "I love you, Quinn!"

"And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!"
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol ―