Your eyes do not deceive you, I am in fact updating a fic. actually, i completed it. Sorry it took so long. Please excuse any mistakes. Next chapter either tomorrow or monday. 5 in all. you should probably reread chapter 1 because it's been so long. again, sorry. enjoy your weekend!
She loved this place. Then again, she'd love any place that let her drink while being under aged. It was where the Skanks hung out every weekend over the summer, and since she was a Skank now, she hung out here, too.
"What even is this song?" Mac commented.
Quinn tilted her head as she heard Loveshack come over the jukebox and rolled her eyes.
"I don't know," she lied with a shrug, "But if I find out who put this on, they're going to get a beat down."
No one knew her as Quinn Fabray. Most people didn't even know her real name. She was with Mac, Ronnie, and Sheila, and that made her good people. No one raised an eyebrow when they saw her nose ring, no one judged her ironic tattoo, and not one person batted an eyelash at her pink hair. She fit in, for the most part.
Jeremy, one of the skaters at the skate park they hung out near, was getting another round of drinks for their table when she spotted the one thing that could ruin her buzz.
"You've got to be kidding me," she mumbled under her breath.
Mac turned around with a pop of her gum and questioned Quinn, "Don't we go to school with her? Didn't know she was legit."
"She's not," Quinn replied as she put out her cigarette on the napkin holder. It was one of those bars. Mac wouldn't think Rachel was very legit if she found out that Rachel had been the culprit that put on Loveshack.
"What are you doing here?"
Rachel's path was cut short by a pissed off Quinn Fabray equipped with crossed arms and a cold glare.
Rachel swallowed her fear, "I come here every Friday night, what are you doing here?"
"Liar."
"It was nice seeing you Quinn, now if you'll excuse me, I'm meeting someone here."
Quinn could tell she was lying but she'd play along for the time being. Rachel drove her crazy, but she wasn't sure if it was a good kind of crazy or a bad one. She still had flashbacks about her one night with Rachel two months prior. She found herself occasionally thinking back to it when she couldn't sleep, and she almost always ended up having a dream about her when that was the case. It made her shiver. Rachel's wine scented breath, her cool lips covering Quinn's with the slightest bit of authority, and her giggle that occasionally drifted between them that let her know that it was a harmless drunken accident but reassuring her that it was entirely real. That the two of them, on different levels of consciousness, somehow both wanted the exact same thing at the exact same moment. Whether it was comfort or a warm body to be with, they both somehow ended up settling for each other.
Rachel drew in her breath, something Quinn noticed happening more and more when she would be around the girl, and she decided that she didn't want to torture Rachel in the middle of the dimly lit bar. She had appearances to keep up.
She went back to her table and allowed Rachel to continue on to the bar, where she tapped one of the gentlemen on the shoulder and asked him if he wouldn't mind sliding down.
"She like, can't even see over the bar."
Quinn ignored Mac's comment and continued to watch Rachel attempt to order a drink while she traced the rim of her beer glass.
She couldn't figure out the brunette's angle. She was sure that Rachel was there for her but she just couldn't understand why. They'd barely said one word to each other the morning they woke up on the couch together, and they never acknowledged anything about that night. How did Rachel even know that she hung out at the bar?
It infuriated her that Rachel seemed to know everything about her but she knew nothing about the brunette. Like, why was she so ballsy and determined?
Quinn got up from the table and walked over to the bar, ignoring Jeremy's catcall as he was walking back with drinks. She wasn't even sure why she got stuck with entertaining him for the evening. Something about scoring weed and he took a liking to her. She had bigger things to worry about, like the fact that Rachel was wearing a summer dress at a biker bar and casually sipping water.
"Who are you meeting here?"
"My friend."
Quinn's eyebrow quirked, "Oh yeah? What's their name?"
"Big Ed."
"Big Ed?"
Rachel nodded, "Yes."
"You're full of shit."
"I understand that you have appearances to keep up but you don't have to swear at me."
"Do you think there's someone named 'Big Ed' at every bar like this?"
"Presumably, yes."
"Just go home."
"Not without you."
"I'm not leaving with you."
Rachel stood her ground, much to Quinn's dismay, "Then I'm not leaving."
Her confidence had Quinn quite intrigued.
"Did you come here just to bother me?"
"No, I came here to talk."
"You want to talk?" Rachel nodded, "About what?"
"We missed you the other day at bowling."
She snorted under her breath. She'd gotten the Facebook invite but there was no way in hell that she would be caught dead in a bowling alley with the glee club. It was so childish and innocent. She'd rather hang out at the 7/11 than go to the Memory Lanes bowling alley.
"Pathetic."
"You have a lot of resentment for a group of people that's always been there for you."
Quinn bit her tongue. Rachel wasn't the focal point of her rage, she was a mere bystander that tended to get too close to the battle grounds.
"How did you know where I was?"
Rachel glanced down and slightly coughed into her palm.
Quinn didn't catch what she said, but she knew that she said something that would potentially get her in trouble, "Sorry, what?"
Rachel huffed, as if it was a whole 'nother form of inconvenience entirely, "I followed you."
Part of her, the one that allowed her to smirk to herself, kind of liked the idea of someone following her. It excited her a bit to realize that someone spent time out of their day to watch what she did with her's. The bigger part, the one that had her eyes growing rabidly, was furious.
"You followed me?"
Rachel nodded.
"For how long?"
Once again, Rachel masked her voice when she replied to Quinn.
"How. Long."
"Just since you left Thompson park."
Quinn nodded but then started to silently think about all she did between leaving Thompson Park and arriving at the Pour House. Tattoo parlor, pizza place, the arcade on Main, Griffin skate park, Dunkin' Donuts…she was all over town.
"You're not going to shank me are you?"
"Shank you? With what?" she briefly imagined herself breaking the beer bottle over the bar but the thought left her mind just as quickly.
"I don't know, don't you guys shank people?"
Quinn rolled her eyes. Though, just because she'd never seen one of the Skanks shank someone, didn't mean that they weren't capable of it.
"I can't believe you followed me all day."
"Do you do that every day? Loiter, drink, and smoke?"
Quinn glanced away at that, she didn't mean for anyone to find out that she had started smoking. She felt oddly ashamed and she hated it.
"So what if I do?"
"I'm not even going to go into the health risks of such a lifestyle, but Quinn, your voice."
"Are you done lecturing me?"
Rachel shrugged sadly, somewhat giving up on the girl but not quite making a move to leave.
"C-could you, um, could you maybe get me a drink?"
Quinn stared at her in the dim light of the bar, the two stood silent as the rest of the crowd noisily went about their business. Quinn could ask why she was going to stay for a drink after she just acted like an overprotective mother but something told her that Rachel somewhat craved to know what it felt like to forget her responsibilities. Quinn loved it and Rachel just wanted to be accepted. In a way, she could appreciate it.
"What do you want?"
"Shots! No, a beer." Rachel bit her lip, "It doesn't matter."
Quinn moved closer towards the bar, waiting to get the bartender's attention and giving him the drink order. She felt a tug at her shirt and turned to find Rachel smiling.
"This is so exciting!"
"Take it easy."
"Do they have karaoke here? We should do a song!"
Quinn turned around fully, "No."
"Okay, jeeze."
"Just keep to yourself and drink your drink," Quinn told her, handing her the glass, and pulling her away from the bar.
"Wait, I didn't pay! I don't want them to think I stole it."
"Relax, I paid for it."
"Well, at least let me give you some money."
"It's fine."
"I'll buy you a gift card to Dunkin' Donuts," she nodded thoughtfully as she sipped her drink and smiled to herself for being so clever.
"You don't have to do that."
"Do I get to hang out with you and your friends?"
"Keep your mouth shut as much as possible," Quinn warned her.
"This is good, what is it?"
"Iced tea."
"Is there even alcohol in it?"
Quinn laughed as she walked ahead of Rachel, only turning her head to answer, "Yes."
"Yum!"
"Don't say things like that."
"Wait!" Quinn stopped and turned around to find Rachel free of emotion.
"What?"
"This is my 'brooding' look, how is it?"
Quinn stared at her for a few seconds and reminded herself to remain neutral. Rachel was going to give her a heart attack.
"Do you want them to cut you?"
"So I shouldn't open by telling them about my gay dads?"
Quinn stepped closer, ready to shake some sense into Rachel when she saw the glimmer in her eye, "I'm just kidding. Don't worry, I won't embarrass you in front of your friends."
Quinn sighed and nodded her head, "C'mon."
Rachel followed dutifully and sat when Quinn motioned towards the high chair while the blonde chose to stand next to the girl at the corner of the table.
"Who's your friend, Q-ball?"
"This is Rachel."
Jeremy held out his hand, "Beautiful name for a beautiful girl," he leered. Rachel politely took his hand, "I'm Jeremy."
"It's very nice to meet you Jeremy," she pulled her head back and nodded towards the other three girls, "Skanks."
Mac cleared her throat when everyone at the table noticed Jeremy staring at Rachel for an inappropriate amount of time, "You were saying." She prompted him.
"Oh, right..."
Quinn shifted closer and rested her arm on the back of Rachel's chair. She was somewhat listening to the story Jeremy was telling them but only paying enough attention to follow along. Rachel, however, was just about on the edge of her seat.
"So then what did you do?" She asked after some time, eyes wide.
Quinn found herself paying more attention to Rachel than she was the rest of her friends. How she seemed to consistently sip her drink through the small straw as she fell under the spell of Jeremy's exaggerated story, or how every so often she'd glance up to see if Quinn was just as enthralled as she was. Those were the times that Quinn would take mouthfuls of beer. Both of their drinks were nearly gone by the end of the story for two entirely different reasons.
"Wow," Rachel commented, "And you didn't go to jail?" she asked.
Jeremy leaned back in his chair, chest puffed out in pride, his lips smirking around the rim of his beer bottle, "I'm that good."
Quinn scrunched her nose in disgust at his behavior, she was already aware he was a big tool, but something about him attempting to lure Rachel towards him by acting the way that he was unsettled her.
"Do you want to leave?" Quinn asked as she dipped in closer to her.
Rachel turned sharply, nearly butting heads with the blonde, "You're not having fun?" she looked around to make sure the others were preoccupied, "Do your friends not like me?" she whispered. "Because I'll try harder."
Quinn sighed, "No, you're fine. Do you want another drink?"
"Okay."
"I'll be right back," Quinn told her.
Rachel reached out and grabbed her forearm as she turned to walk away.
"You're not going to leave me are you?"
Maybe it was the fact that it was Rachel's first time in the bar, or that she was hanging out with the Skanks, or maybe it was the fact that they spent a night together, but Quinn was oddly protective of her in the moment. Inconvenient or not, Quinn was now responsible for this girl.
She squeezed her hand, "No."
Rachel nodded and Quinn felt that it was okay to go back up to the bar to get them some more drinks.
She got Rachel the same drink, and got one for herself before she made her way back to the table.
"Forgot about us?" Ronnie replied, tilting her empty glass back and forth.
She absolutely did forget about the others and the unspoken rule of buying the round if you were going to the bar.
"I forgot what you were drinking," she lied, sliding Rachel's drink toward her.
"Whatever," Ronnie rolled her eyes, "Let's go get someone to buy us shots."
Sheila responded positively and jumped down from her stool, which Quinn took as a chance to finally sit down. Jeremy also joined the other three girls before turning, "You guys coming?"
Rachel glanced to Quinn for an answer, "We'll be there in a second."
The four disappeared in the crowd while Rachel and Quinn were left sitting next to each other at their table.
Quinn peeled at the wrapper of one of the empty beer bottles to give her something to do while she struggled to find something they could talk about.
"So you come here a lot?" Rachel asked.
Quinn shrugged, "I guess."
"Are you happy?"
Quinn's gaze pierced Rachel's, "Don't."
The brunette held up her hands in defense, "You're right, I'm sorry."
"Why did you follow me?"
Rachel took some time to answer, clearly stalling by watching Quinn pick at the beer bottle, "You didn't show up to bowling, and when I asked everyone where you were, no one knew…" She trailed off, "Or seemed to care."
Quinn's throat felt dry suddenly, having this discussion with Rachel probably wasn't the best idea.
"Well, good."
"You don't mean that."
"You just said it yourself, no one cares about me, why should I care about them?"
Rachel rested her crossed arms on the table and ducked in towards Quinn, "I care about you."
Quinn sighed heavily, "Clearly."
"Don't do that. Don't act like it's an inconvenience that I care about you."
Quinn bit the inside of her lip as she continued to play with the beer bottle. She was avoiding Rachel's prying eyes at all cost. Part of her felt like pushing the empty bottles off the table and storming out of the bar to get some air. A bigger part of her craved to know what she did to deserve Rachel's presence at the bar that night, "What do you want from me?"
Rachel reached across the table and stilled the blonde's hands on the beer bottle, "I don't want anything from you."
Quinn slowly lifted her eyes away from their touching hands to find Rachel's eyes. She could hear the sincerity behind Rachel's voice but she needed to see it. Someone that didn't want something from her? That was a myth. Her ex boyfriends wanted sex, her friends used her status, Coach Sylvester required excellence, Mr. Schuester needed loyalty, Terri asked for her baby, Shelby took her baby, her mother craved forgiveness, and her father demanded perfection. She was supposed to believe Rachel didn't want anything?
She may have stopped caring but that didn't mean she was naive.
"You should go," Quinn replied, "There isn't room for you in this life."
Rachel's self-deprecating nod summed up just about everything, "Was there ever room for me in your old life?"
Her response lingered heavily between them and Quinn suddenly hated this small, smoky bar.
Quinn never responded. It was a lose-lose for her. If she were honest, she'd be showing her hand, and if she took one lesson from her father it was to never show your hand too early. If she lied, she'd hurt Rachel's feelings and suddenly that seemed like something too harsh to live with.
Damn this girl for walking into the bar with her perfectly brushed hair, yellow sundress, wedges, and matching headband. How was she even supposed to process this?
"Whattttup bitches," Sheila smacked the table, startling the two entranced girls. Mac placed two shot glasses full of amber colored liquor onto the table, "Fireball shots. Man up."
Rachel backed away slightly and smiled tightly, "That's okay. I should get going anyway. Thank you for having me."
Mac shrugged, "More for me."
Quinn snapped out of her own mind for a few seconds to realize that Rachel was shrinking into herself.
"No." Rachel turned to look at her so it was clear that she needed to elaborate, "You can't leave. The party is just getting started." She reached forward and grabbed one of the shot glasses and toasted the others before downing it in a swift motion.
Rachel smiled and shook her head before also reaching forward and grabbing her shot glass. She followed Quinn's actions and swallowed the liquor before she could worry too much about what she was about to consume. Or what it meant.
She gasped out and held her chest after the liquid burned her throat on it's way down, "What was that!" She coughed out and sucked her Long Island Iced Tea down, nearly finishing it in one gulp. "It was like liquid fire!"
"I like this chick. She makes me laugh." Sheila stated.
Quinn smiled proudly, Sheila was a tough critic.
"It kind of tastes like Big Red gum," Mac shrugged, "Want another one?"
Rachel looked towards Quinn for a proper response and the blonde shook her head, "She'll stick to the Iced Teas." And the brunette nodded.
/
"I love this song," Rachel bounced off the barstool and grabbed Quinn's forearm, "Dance with me!"
Quinn shook her head with a laugh as she was pulled toward an empty space in the middle of the bar. "This isn't that type of bar," the blonde shouted over the sound of gongs.
Sheila suddenly appeared in front of them, "This is my jam," she said as Rachel high fived her on her excellent taste in songs.
Quinn felt absolutely foolish as she awkwardly swayed in front of Rachel but more and more people began to crowd around to dance with them and she relaxed a bit.
"Quinn! You have to walk like an Egyptian! See?" she began to walk like an Egyptian, "Like this," she continued to dance as the lyrics broke for the whistle interlude. Rachel laughed out loud and moved closer, "C'mon! You have to do it," she stopped and stared with an amused smirk and hands on her hips until Quinn gave in.
"Fine," the blonde threw her hands up, "Happy?"
Rachel smiled wide and began ducking in and out of the crowd. It was absolutely a sight to see.
"Egyptians don't walk like this," Quinn pointed out.
"Buzz kill."
They were drunk. It didn't take much for Rachel to get silly and Quinn realized that it didn't really take much for her to get drunk around Rachel. Was it adrenaline that took the steering wheel and fueled her buzz?
The lyrics were beginning to repeat and the song was ending soon and it appeared that Rachel simply couldn't have that. Her eyes lit up, "Do you have a dollar?!"
Quinn scrunched her face and patted her pockets, she found her cash and handed Rachel some money, assuming that she was going to get them some more drinks.
She continued to dance with Sheila while Rachel skipped away and once Walk Like An Egyptian faded out, she heard the opening piano chords to the next song and she realized exactly why Rachel wanted her money.
"Ab. Solutely. Not." Quinn glared when Rachel hopped back over with a grin so big, she could give the Cheshire cat a run for his money. She began to nod to the music as Quinn shook her head, "No."
The brunette reached out for her hand and Quinn ignored her. She was undeterred, "Just a small town girl," Rachel sang into an empty beer bottle she quickly grabbed off a table, "Livin' in a lonely world," she gestured around the bar dramatically, thoroughly pleased with herself.
Quinn continued to shake her head, "No." She couldn't break, she couldn't crack a smile or smirk because then Rachel would have won, and Quinn refused to let her win.
"Hidin' somewhere in the niiiiiiiiighhtttt."
"Shut your mouth," Quinn replied but couldn't stop the smile that crept onto her face. Damn this girl.
Rachel held the beer bottle towards Quinn, "C'mon! Duet with me!"
Quinn rolled her eyes playfully and she found herself stepping towards the bubbly brunette, simply unable to refuse the girl anything she asked for in the moment.
She ducked in close, "I'm not singing with you," she lied as she pulled Rachel towards her. Her veins felt like they were pumping with liquid giddiness. Seriously, damn this girl.
"Sing to me," Rachel replied as Quinn pushed her away and held onto her hand before bringing her back closer. Rachel laughed into her chest as she put her arms around her neck.
"I'd rather dance," Quinn responded, allowing her eyes to slip closed as she got lost in the moment. She didn't need to think about it.
Rachel pulled back and glanced up at her curiously. Playfully. "With me?"
Quinn smiled, "With you."
"I think you should dance for me."
Quinn threw her head back and chuckled. Her cheeks felt funny from smiling so wide, "In your dreams, Berry."
"Yes. You're right."
Quinn peered down, "You're kind of frisky when you're drunk."
"And you're…" Rachel trailed off and shrugged. Quinn quirked an eyebrow in expectation, "Just something."
"I'm something?"
Rachel nodded, "Twirl me."
Quinn pushed off of Rachel and held her arm in the air so the brunette could duck underneath, "What does that mean?" she shouted over the drunken singing coming from the people around her.
The girls came back together sloppily, "You're just something."
"I think the alcohol is going straight to your head," Quinn shouted over the music.
"I think you're going straight to my head," she said back.
Quinn leaned closer and gestured to her ear, "What?"
Rachel shook her head, "Nothing."
The song started to fade and Quinn waited to see what the next song would be, "Did you play another one?"
"No."
The song segued into a song that neither of them recognized and they mutually stepped away from each other.
"Do you want another drink?" Quinn asked, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand. She could faintly feel where Rachel's nail scratched her lightly.
She wobbled slightly as she held the tabletop to stable herself, "I don't think I should."
"You okay?" Quinn asked through a tiny chuckle, her hand finding the small of Rachel's back to keep her steady.
The brunette ran her hand over her forehead, "I don't think I should drink with you anymore."
Quinn smirked, "Probably not. C'mon," she nodded toward the door, "Let's go."
"But your friends."
Quinn was slowly pulling her towards the door and shrugging her off, "They've left me plenty of times."
"That's not very nice," Quinn didn't need to see Rachel's face to know she was frowning.
They weaved in and out of small groups of people and finally found the door, "See you later, Ed," Quinn said and Rachel dragged her eyes up from the floor in front of her to survey the bouncer. He was a tall, bulky man with a leather jacket and a black bandana around his head.
"Big Ed," Rachel whispered in awe as she passed him and Quinn laughed as she felt Rachel settle into her side, "That's Big Ed," she said again.
"It is."
Rachel leaned further into her pink haired friend a little more and allowed Quinn to lead her through the parking lot and to the sidewalk in front of the bar. Her locked car parked a few feet away long forgotten as she let herself be blindly led to wherever Quinn was taking her.
"I think your hair looks nice," Rachel said after a while.
Quinn peered down, "What?"
She felt Rachel shrug against her as she hiccupped softly, "It's different, I like it."
"You like it?"
"You're like Avril Lavigne."
Quinn rolled her eyes, "Don't call me Avril Lavigne."
"Okay."
They walked under streetlight after streetlight, attached at the hip, talking about whatever crossed Rachel's drunken mind. Quinn mostly hummed along as she listened to the girl mumble about her life so far during the summer. She didn't mind for some reason. She talked about the upcoming Senior year, and how she couldn't believe Finn kissed her at Nationals, and how she was thinking about college choices. It didn't really matter what they talked about, Quinn was quite content to listen.
"Hey Avril?"
She blew out a breath, "Yeah?"
"Where are you taking me?"
She laughed as she adjusted her arm as Rachel glanced up at her, "I'm walking you home."
"Oh," she replied lightly before untangling herself entirely from Quinn after she processed where exactly they were in town, only a few blocks from Rachel's street, "But you live on the other side of town."
As it turned out, the bar they left was smack in the middle of both their houses.
"It's okay."
Rachel stopped walking, "No." she shook her head, determined as she tried to grab Quinn's arm, "I'll walk you home."
Quinn continued to walk, indifferent to her attempts, "Don't be ridiculous."
She tilted her head back and glanced up at the sky. She may have changed her clothes, and her hair, and her general attitude towards life, but it'd never change the fact that she truly enjoyed summer nights. The occasional cool breeze that hit her hot face, and the way everything was just more relaxed. She searched for the big dipper through her foggy haze and smiled to herself as she heard Rachel continue to huff and puff about being tricked on this walk.
"Stop your complaining," Quinn called behind her before hearing Rachel's wedges thump against the pavement.
"Where's my car?"
"At the bar."
"And how exactly am I going to retrieve it?"
"You can have your dad take you tomorrow."
"Oh sure, 'hey daddy? Would you mind taking me to pick up my brand new car that I left at a BAR because Quinn Fabray and her skank friends got me drunk against my will?'"
Quinn whirled around, "You are so dramatic. And you're a pathological liar."
"I am not."
She held her hand out as Rachel approached, "You asked me for a drink."
Rachel slid back into her side without question, "Neither here nor there."
Quinn guided the girl up over the curb and across Rachel's front lawn. The front porch light was on but no one seemed to be home. Quinn stepped back as Rachel looked around for her house keys. She lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply, allowing the nicotine to soak into her system. She blew the smoke and looked over to see why Rachel was huffing and puffing again.
"I've been robbed," Rachel said seriously.
Quinn stood at full attention and walked forward, "What?"
"My keys are gone." Rachel held her small clutch out for Quinn to inspect.
Quinn pulled out a set of keys and dangled them in front of her face, "These keys?"
"Those are my car keys," She replied before lighting up, "My house keys are in my car! Oh thank goodness," she sighed in relief. "That was a close one."
Quinn hummed and brought the cigarette back to her lips as she waited for Rachel to realize that her car was still at the bar.
She finally turned to her in panic, "I'm locked out of my house." Quinn rolled her eyes and began walking, "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't smoke around me."
Quinn tossed the cigarette onto the driveway and mashed it with her shoe as she stepped over it. She opened the gate to the back yard and began to feel around near the windows to see if she could somehow pry one open. She was becoming sort of an expert at sneaking in and out of her own house so breaking into someone else's could be that hard.
"Why do you smoke?" Rachel asked with mild disgust, "You're jeopardizing your singing voice."
"God forbid," She mumbled as she found a small window that she was able to push up. She turned around, "What window is this?"
Rachel looked up, eyes glancing over each of the windows, as she mentally mapped out her house, "Bathroom."
Quinn stepped forward and prepared to hoist Rachel up so she could shimmy through the extremely small window. "What are you doing?" Rachel shrieked, pushing Quinn's hands away from being tickled.
"I'm certainly not going to fit through that window."
"So I have to be the one?"
"You're tiny."
Rachel brushed her hands down her dress in confidence, "I work out." She said proudly.
"I see that."
Rachel stepped towards the window. It wasn't high off the ground but she would need a bit of a push because she was a little too short to do it herself. Quinn's hands circled her waist and helped her through the window. Rachel gave confirmation when her foot was securely on the toilet seat. Once safely inside, she turned around and leant through the window so she was facing Quinn, "Are you coming?"
Quinn bit her lip in hesitation. She really shouldn't. "It's a long walk back, I should get going."
"I'll come with you," Rachel said quickly, "You can't walk by yourself."
"And how will you get back?" Quinn questioned, "You can't walk by yourself either."
"So sleep over," Rachel shrugged innocently.
Quinn debated.
She wanted to. She really, really did. She wasn't sure why but she knew that she didn't want to quite leave Rachel yet. She was currently attempting to come up with excuses. Excuses to leave and excuses to stay.
"I don't want you to leave."
"Rachel…"
"I know we were drunk…" She started before trailing off. Quinn turned her attention back to the girl, "But I can't stop thinking about that night."
Her breath caught in her throat at Rachel's honesty. Her stomach pulled and her palms tingled. She ran a hand through her short hair to steady herself and met the brunette's gaze.
"Unlock the door," she said before she could change her mind.
Rachel disappeared from the window and a few seconds later, the back door unlocked and opened to reveal Rachel in the darkness.
"Where are your dads?"
She shrugged.
"You're sure?" Quinn asked as she stepped closer.
She couldn't deny that she wanted the same thing all of a sudden but she wouldn't continue if it wasn't anything but mutual.
Rachel nodded this time and blindly reached for Quinn's wrist. The blonde allowed herself to be pulled inside and the glass door shut behind her.
It was dark.
The only source of light came from a small night-light that was plugged into the wall behind the kitchen counter. The refrigerator hummed across the room and in the distance she could hear the central air as it kicked on. It was cool in the house. A welcomed change from the warm summer air they were just in.
Rachel turned and began walking down the long hallway. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and peered over her shoulder to see if Quinn was following her.
She gestured to the sink, "I'll be right there. I'm going to get some water."
Rachel nodded and began to walk up the steps as Quinn walked to the cabinet and pulled down a glass. She turned the sink on and ran her fingers under the water as she waited for it to get cold.
She could leave. She should leave.
Letting it happen once could clearly be written off as a simple fling. But twice? She couldn't ignore twice. She closed her eyes as the cold water coated her throat and Rachel's face flashed through her mind subliminally. Her feet began to carry her towards the stairs. The prospect of Rachel upstairs, waiting for her, with the clear intention of spending the night together excited her. It was something she wasn't used to feeling.
She found herself standing in the doorframe, silently watching Rachel shimmy out of her yellow sundress in the corner of the room, completely unaware of the blonde's presence. Her shoulders tensed ever so slightly as the dress pooled at her feet. She turned around, realizing she had company, and ducked her gaze bashfully.
Quinn licked her lips as she studied Rachel carefully.
Was it possible that this girl had no idea how intoxicating she actually was? Surely she knew the affect that she had on Quinn. Is this what Rachel had in mind when she decided to show herself at the bar earlier in the night?
Was she supposed to be dwelling on the details? The brunette was half naked on the other side of the room and Quinn was wasting precious seconds that could be otherwise spent underneath that perfect body.
Quinn softly closed the door behind her, stepped further into the room, and met Rachel for the first of many times that night.