Quinn didn't know what the hell Santana's problem was for her to bitch out on Rachel like that by announcing to the whole Glee club that the only reason she gave her prom queen win to Rachel was because she pitied her. She might have tolerated Santana's bitching out before, but this she can't forgive.
No later than a minute, Rachel was already running out of the choir room, with Quinn immediately hot on her heels. There was going to be a lot of explaining to do, but heaven knows that pity wasn't the reason she gave up her dream of being prom queen to pass it on to Rachel.
She didn't know why, but she wasn't surprised when Rachel entered the bathroom that was all too familiar to the both of them. It was always the bathroom that brought them together. And it was the place that somehow always managed to become their meeting place for their talks.
And this was just one of those many, many times.
Her heart dropped to her stomach when she saw Rachel crying. It was a sight she absolutely hated to see.
"Rachel…" Quinn said softly, locking the door behind her.
"What do you want, Quinn?" Rachel asked, her voice defeated as she turned to face Quinn. "If what Santana said was true, then I don't know why you bothered to come after me."
"That's exactly the reason I chased you. Rachel, believe me when I say that I never meant to hurt you. I would never do that to you," Quinn said slowly, staring straight into Rachel's eyes. No matter how many people she had lied to in the past, Rachel had never been one of them. And Rachel will never be one of those people.
"Why did you do it, then? That was your dream, not mine. I don't understand why you would give all that up for the loser Glee club captain," Rachel challenged, though her voice shook and her lips quivered.
Quinn said nothing and cautiously took a step forward, then another, making sure that Rachel wasn't going to back away. She sighed and danced her fingers across the sink, her gaze dropping to the floor. Her thoughts raced back to prom during junior year, where she had been the one crying and Rachel the one comforting her.
And now, the roles were reversed. Rachel was the one hurting, and there was nothing more Quinn wanted than for time to go in reverse and for her to shut Santana's damned mouth.
"I won by one vote… That was your vote, Rachel," Quinn whispered, shaking her head as though she still couldn't believe it. In some ways, maybe she still didn't. Rachel's vote was the only one that mattered to her, truth be told. It might have been her dream, but Rachel was the one who taught her not to be selfish.
Rachel deserved that crown better than she did.
"I still don't understand," Rachel shook her head disbelievingly.
Quinn smiled sadly and looked at Rachel, a soft expression painted on her face. It stung that Rachel chose to believe Santana's lies before allowing her to explain, but then again, she would have reacted the same way had she been in Rachel's place.
"You… you deserved that crown better than I did. Rachel, you were the only person that has been completely honest with me," Quinn strained out and took another step, until she was mere inches away from Rachel, her hazel eyes desperate for Rachel's understanding.
The understanding that was ever-present in all the conversations they've had before.
"You were the only one that never gave up on me. And I wish I could have thanked you sooner for that. Believe me when I say that I never did it for you out of pity," Quinn whispered, her voice laced with nothing but the simple truth. "I'm sorry if it came across as me playing you. But that had never been my intention, Rachel."
Rachel swallowed, and Quinn had to blink upon realizing that she had unknowingly taken another step, the space in between their bodies practically diminished. What she had been yearning for was finally so close to her again, her fingers itching to reach out and stroke Rachel's arm, to feel her skin underneath the pads of her thumbs.
It's a deep-burning temptation that never went away even after years of remaining close friends with Rachel. She wanted to act on it, but she wasn't sure if Rachel even wanted it to happen.
"Quinn," Rachel choked, her voice jumpstarting Quinn's heart against her chest.
Quinn made a soft noise at the back of her throat, watching Rachel's thick eyelashes flutter while her brown eyes stared longingly at her. Part of her wondered if Finn was seeing this, and that fleeting thought was more than enough to make her back a few steps away.
"Quinn?" Rachel repeated, her face masked with confusion at the sudden retreat. "What's wrong?"
She wasn't even sure if she should be thinking of kissing Rachel when their shared ex-boyfriend was still coming in between them, even in his death. For years, she'd watched Rachel keep running back into his arms, and it killed her every time because all she ever wanted was to be the one that would make her happy.
Rachel shifted closer to her, and Quinn couldn't bring herself to fight it. All she could see was Rachel wearing the crown, looking absolutely happy even though she didn't know what went on. And in Finn's arms. But now, Rachel was inching closer and closer, her deep, brown eyes staring soulfully at her, as though trying to grasp at what Quinn wanted to do.
And then Rachel was curling her fingers around her dress, going on tiptoe to attach their lips together. It shocked Quinn, because she'd never dreamt that Rachel would be the one to make the first move at kissing her, but it was happening. Rachel was kissing her, pressing her mouth more insistently when she didn't respond.
Quinn moaned and submitted herself to the explosion of emotions that burst inside her chest, tilting her head to angle their lips together more comfortably. No amount of time could have ever prepared her for this day, the day when she was finally kissing Rachel.
Rachel felt soft and small in her arms, her plump lips tasting remotely of strawberries as Quinn darted out her tongue to trace them. It was euphoric, the way Rachel's mouth pushed and pulled firmly against hers, and all she could think of was how all roads always seemed to lead them back inside this very place.
It made sense for them to have their first kiss in this bathroom, the very place where they had most of their heart-to-heart talks all throughout high school. In a way, it was her safe haven, where Rachel would always find her, and she Rachel.
What surprised her even more was when Rachel pushed her against the wall, kissing her more forcefully as she yielded their bodies together. Years of pent-up emotions that Quinn hadn't been able to deal with came pouring out, and she just wanted Rachel to keep kissing her forever.
But it couldn't last forever. Soon, they were out of breath and Quinn had to pull away first because she lacked the breath control that Rachel had mastered a long time ago. She sank against the wall and closed her eyes as she tried to catch up on her breath, her lips swollen from Rachel's biting and tugging.
"I've always wanted to do that," Rachel confessed, her eyes screwed shut as she took deep breaths. "Kiss you, I mean. I've never felt this way about anyone, Quinn. I don't- I don't even know why I dated Finn. Or why it took me so long to figure things out when it came to my feelings for you," she gasped for air, shaking her head while she stared up at Quinn, her brown eyes filled with sorrow and guilt.
"Rachel…"
"I'm sorry for being such a terrible mess," Rachel laughed self-deprecatingly through her tears, her hands trembling against her sides. "And for choosing to believe in Santana immediately instead of hearing your side of the story. And for kissing you out of the blue. You must hate me right now."
Rachel made a move to leave, but Quinn grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to her, shaking her head vigorously.
"I could never hate you," she whispered, echoing the very same words that Rachel told her all those years ago. "And Rachel, I feel the same way about you."
"You do?" Rachel asked, eyes widened in surprise.
"Yeah. I was just surprised when you suddenly kissed me. I never expected that-" she sucked in a deep breath and shook her head, smiling fondly. "-that you would be kissing me first."
Smile still in place, Quinn reached for Rachel's hand and locked their fingers together, holding up their intertwined hands for both of them to see. Rachel looked at their hands, pale and bronze skin contrasting each other.
"It's weird… but I feel so safe right now. With you," Quinn confessed, a deep sigh falling from her lips. "I don't know why, but we always end up in here when we want to find each other."
"We always do, don't we?" Rachel giggled, the expression on her face nostalgic. "Even now, when we already left high school. It's basic instinct for both of us, I guess."
Quinn laughed and nodded in agreement, smiling as Rachel slid her hands to her waist, bottom lip tucked in between her teeth.
"So, what happens now?" Quinn asked, motioning to their still intertwined fingers.
She chewed on her lip, hoping that Rachel would say that they would leave this safe haven of theirs with the possibility of them taking on a romantic relationship. It's something that her heart has been asking for since the beginning, and now that it was at the tip of her fingers, she was afraid of saying the words out loud first.
"This." Rachel kissed her again, her breath hot against Quinn's lips.
Quinn's toes curled as Rachel kissed her deeply, her tongue gliding against the seam of her lips. She took short gasps of breath as Rachel slid her tongue inside her mouth and ran her tongue against the back of her teeth, her knees shaking as she braced herself against the wall to keep herself on her feet.
"I want you, Quinn…" Rachel murmured, her voice thick with arousal and laced with the desire to be with her. With love.
"My god, I want you too, Rachel. So much," Quinn whimpered as Rachel slid her hand underneath her dress, fingertips dancing against her skin. "But what happens after this? I need to know, Rachel. I can't- I won't be able to deal with you leaving me…"
Tears started streaming down Quinn's face as her emotions started to boil over. For so long, she'd wanted this. Wanted to be with Rachel. To have no obstacles when it comes to Rachel's heart and love.
"We'll work things out. We'll be together," Rachel promised, and Quinn whined and rolled her hips, desperate for Rachel's fingers to touch her. "I'm not letting you go, Quinn. Never."
Quinn moaned as she felt Rachel's hand slip underneath the garter of her panties, her lips parted as she panted heavily, her vision starting to blur with the heat. Rachel stroked her sex to the point where she was soaked, and Quinn threw her head back against the wall as she felt the brunette's fingers sliding against her slick folds.
"You're so beautiful, Quinn," Rachel whispered and slipped two fingers inside Quinn's tight heat, causing the blonde to gasp in surprise.
And she felt beautiful with the way Rachel looked at her with a loving expression, with how her fingers stroked and explored her walls with much gentleness. It didn't matter that they were doing it in a bathroom. If anything, it was appropriate, because these four walls witnessed their changing and evolving relationship throughout the years.
Their first kiss, and Quinn's first time to feel Rachel's fingers pumping inside her grasping heat. She felt full and complete with Rachel's fingers filling her tight heat deliciously.
"Kiss me," Quinn moaned as she scratched the nape of Rachel's neck with her fingernails.
Rachel closed her eyes and kissed her, pouring out all her emotions as their lips glided against each other. Quinn sighed and ground down against Rachel's hand, her moans of ecstasy echoing across the bathroom as slender fingers thrust wetly inside of her.
"That feels good," Quinn sighed against Rachel's lips, her body on fire as she clenched her walls around the brunette's fingers.
"You feel good, too," Rachel mumbled and fused their lips back together to swallow Quinn's rising moans.
Her panties restricted any further movements, and Quinn whimpered for Rachel to take them off, to which the brunette did swiftly. It pooled at her ankles, and she spread her legs wide open for Rachel. Desire coursed through her veins as she focused on the sensation of Rachel's fingers stroking her walls, her mouth hung open as she kissed Rachel with burning intensity.
The pleasure shook her to the core, and she dropped her gaze to watch Rachel's fingers pumping in and out of her wet heat, biting her lip at its eroticism. She gripped Rachel's shoulders and ground down in heat, her sex dripping with cum that soaked the brunette's fingers.
"Rachel, I can't-" Quinn panted desperately, whimpering and moaning in bliss as she felt her orgasm come to its peak.
"It's okay, Quinn. Let go," Rachel gasped, stilling her fingers inside Quinn's heat as she came in a wild rush, all breath being sucked out of her lungs as cum gushed out of her sex in steady streams.
"Oh my god," Quinn moaned in ecstasy, her hips jerking from the force of her orgasm. She pulled Rachel in for a deep kiss, knees buckling underneath her as their tongues danced around each other.
Rachel sighed and withdrew her cum-soaked fingers, and Quinn whimpered at the loss. She smiled as Rachel peppered her face with sweet kisses as she recovered from her high, a longing sigh tearing through her lips.
"Are you okay?" Rachel asked softly as she pulled Quinn's panties back up.
"More than," Quinn answered and kissed Rachel tenderly. "It was perfect, Rach."
Rachel smiled and washed her hands, erasing the evidence of Quinn's cum on her fingers. Quinn bit her lip and wrapped her arms around Rachel's waist, tucking her chin against the crook of her neck. Giggling softly, Rachel leaned back against Quinn's embrace, both of them enjoying the silence as they merely stood there, enjoying each other's company.
Quinn didn't feel scared. Not any longer. This place had always been her safe haven, where she could be herself and pour out all her emotions to Rachel. It was a special place to the both of them, mostly to her because this was where Rachel first told her that she was more than a pretty face. This was where Rachel always found her when she wanted to hide from the rest of the world, and where their relationship transcended into something deeper.
All roads always lead her back to here, in Rachel's warmth and comfort.
And they would be leaving it as more than friends, because it seemed that their relationship progressed and developed into something much more meaningful whenever they did.