Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 61st cycle. Now cycle 62!

TOP 15 COUNTDOWN - Something I do once in a while, if you will recall, where I take my favorite characters, ships, friendships, series (from my daily stories) and put them in order, the number 1 of which gets a seven-chapter story in the end :)
Coming in at number 7: Runaway Bride series

This is a shift day. There are two updates today.

"Wouldn't Believe Me"
Quinn/Rachel
Runaway Bride series
(no listing yet; sequel to 'Roman Movies')

Everything was still so fresh and new, and even though they were only open about it when they were alone, it didn't take away the thrill of new romance. They were both protective of this relationship and of each other, there was no doubt to either of them how much it mattered.

The hard part would become the hiding. To go around McKinley, seeing this girl there and pretending like they didn't have her in their heart, it felt like they were being asked to walk around while holding their breath.

Rachel was terrified to be too close to Santana. She knew that, of all people who might take one good look at her and Quinn and connect the dots, she'd be most likely to do it.

"You need to breathe," Quinn had told her as they drove out Monday afternoon. Quinn's car was still 'in the shop.' "The weirder you act, the more suspicious you look."

"I know," she sighed. "I can't help it."

"You're going to have to. It's either that or we just tell them. And I don't think either of us is ready for that. Are you?"

"No, not really," Rachel admitted with a sigh. "I'll do better tomorrow."

The second day had been a vast improvement. Everyone minded their own business, and no one said a word. Rachel worried maybe they'd be doing too good a job. She had not so much as looked at Quinn from the moment they'd split up and met again in the parking lot. The first red light they had dropped at, she let out a breath and turned to Quinn.

"Hi," she smiled, and Quinn smirked.

"Hey," she replied. "What do you think we should do?" she asked as they drove on.

"I… really don't know. Part of me really doesn't care what they'll think or what they might say. I know what I think, what I feel, and they can't change that. But then there's the other part, and I know they can change what this time will be like for us. Everything is so good now, and I don't want them to cheapen it or tear it apart."

"Rachel…"

"And we only have so much time until graduation," she went on. "And we'll have summer, I know, but after that you'll be at Yale, and I'll be in New York. We already have that standing in our way, so why should they get to?"

"Rachel," Quinn raised her voice so she would stop and listen. The car settled in silence for a few seconds before Quinn spoke again. "I was asking about now, this afternoon."

"Oh…" Rachel breathed. "My house?"

"I think about those things, too," Quinn told her. "It's not that far, we can travel."

"Long distance doesn't work much," Rachel frowned to herself.

"It does, sometimes. We'll make it work, you and me. We'll break the mold."

"Pioneers," Rachel smirked.

"That'll be us," Quinn smirked back. "But we have to believe it."

"I do."

"And be honest with each other."

"I can do that."

"But that's for later. We've still got this, still got each other. So now what?" Quinn asked.

After that day, they had started to find the balance, to keep their relationship a private matter without acting like they had anything to hide. Quinn could feel Rachel grow more confident, in assuming the feelings she had for her, in showing it. And she was really happy, without any apology to it. Quinn could see it, feel it… She was feeling it for herself, too. The better things got between her and Rachel, it felt like she was lighter, and her shoulders rose taller.

She'd first accepted that she liked Rachel, and she'd admitted to her how it might even have been falling in love. Now in just a matter of weeks, she knew that had been the truth of it. She thought she'd known what love was, romantic love, but she'd had no clue. None of what she'd felt before could compare to this. Every time Rachel looked at her, smiled at her, laughed, touched her, kissed her… her heart felt too big for her chest and she just wanted it to keep going. She never wanted to stop feeling like this.

She knew Rachel still felt bad about how she'd hurt Finn in the process of their coming together. Quinn wished they could have spared him this, too, as much as it had been a necessary evil. But now it was done, and they had to find a way to live with it. Sometimes Quinn thought they should just tell him, if no one else. As upset as he'd be at first, she knew he wasn't a bad guy, and eventually the hurt would subside and lead to understanding. Of all people, she believed this of him. If they were ever to do this though, they both had to be on board, and Rachel wouldn't be, not yet.

The more days went by, the closer they'd get to slipping. It didn't happen, but it could get difficult sometimes, looking away. The urge would be there, to reach out, to touch, even for just a second, even if they knew one second could lead to two, and more…

It became inevitable and nothing short of expected that, at the end of the day, they couldn't wait to cash in their patience. Quinn's car had been all but abandoned by now, and Rachel 'insisted' that she didn't mind continuing to drive her home, even if sometimes this would only be after an afternoon at Rachel's house. But no matter the house, it never took very long before they ended up behind a closed bedroom door.

They were far from the three-kiss rule of their second movie night. This felt more like… ready, set, go. Their lips would meet, hands would reach… As heated as it could feel, it was a lot more reserved than it could seem. Quinn didn't want to push her into something she wasn't ready for, and Rachel didn't know how slow was too slow.

One afternoon at Rachel's though, they had been 'particularly tested,' as they would claim, and when the momentum had taken them to the edge of the bed, they'd shared a look. They could quicken their pace, if only a bit, couldn't they?

It had been Rachel who'd taken the initiative, recapturing the blonde's lips as she pulled for her to come and lie with her on the bed. Quinn pulled back to look at her again, smiling to see how nervous and happy she looked at once.

"If it's too much…" she started until she felt a hand at her back, grazing skin. She took this as Rachel saying 'I know.' She beamed, leaning in to kiss her again, and she was almost startled to find Rachel's tongue coming to meet hers. She welcomed the advance and, if that wasn't enough, feeling the fingers drawing lazy figures at her back only made her crave the kiss harder, want her more. When they'd parted for air, Quinn's lips had only travelled to her jaw, finding her neck. Rachel hummed, and she carried on. She could feel herself wanting to take things further, to reach down and touch her. In the heat of the moment, Rachel might have let her. But they'd both agreed, they needed their limits.

So instead she had returned to the lips, softer this time. When they had stopped, Rachel had revealed she wanted to tell her fathers.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!