It's another day in the Bookshop for Quinn. She has bought it a while ago. It's a small shop, slightly chaotic, with bookshelves everywhere and with little secret corners with even more books.

She is working, like every day, with her loyal employee, Martin, who is enthusiastically waiting for her to end her paperwork. He is very keen, an uncrushable optimist. Perhaps without cause.

"Classic!" Quinn groaned behind the desk, as her fingers pushed the buttons on her calculator. "Profit from major sales push... minus £ 347?" she concluded looking up from her papers to land her eyes on Martin, with a painful and disappointed look.

Martin grimaced and shrugged his shoulders trying to come up with something to make her feel better. "Shall I... huh, go and get you a cappuccino? You know, to ease the pain a bit?" he offered trying to be supportive.

"Yeah, that would help!" Quinn said as she looked at the numbers one last time before giving him a thankful smile. "But make it a half, that's all I can afford" Quinn joked but knowing deep inside that it was kind of true. At least if she only focused on the money that the business was making.

Martin joined Quinn's giggles and decided to play along. "I get your logic, so demi-cappu coming right up!"

Quinn smiled gratefully before burying herself in the rest of papers still waiting for her on her desk, while Martin went out quickly to get their drinks.

As he left, someone entered the store and Quinn spotted the figure of a woman dressed in black, with glasses and hat but decided not to care and engrossed herself again in her paperwork until the woman asked her for help.

But something had caught her attention, something had clicked in her head... those legs, those long, tanned and toned legs. She would recognize them anywhere in the world, it didn't matter how much time had passed. She couldn´t be wrong. She slowly looked up and saw the woman searching in one of the bookshelves, her back to Quinn. But Quinn knew she was right, even more sure when she caught a brief glimpse of the brunette's profile and recognized this particular, and in her opinion, perfect nose. It was Rachel, she knew it, but she needed total confirmation.

"Can I help you?" she asked trying to sound nonchalant, but her voice could not hide her nerves.

Rachel drifted her eyes from the book to the blonde, she took off her sunglasses and let her eyes show her excitement to see her but just for a brief second. They suddenly showed sadness and pain. "Quinn…" Rachel sighed, almost out of habit, but when the blonde was about to speak the emotions disappeared from her face completely, but not from their eyes. She cleared her throat before speaking again. "No, thank you. I'm just browsing"

"Alright …" Quinn said unsure how to proceed after the restraint Rachel showed her. But her eyes never left the brunette who was browsing through the books. When she decided to take a closer look at one of those books, the blonde spoke without thinking. "That book's really not good" Quinn said and when she saw Rachel's dazzled look she realized her sudden intrusion. "Just in case... you know, browsing turned to buying. You'd be wasting your money" Quinn stuttered, forcing a smile that could hide her nerves a bit. "But, if it's Turkey you are interested in, um, this one on the other hand, is very good…" Quinn added taking a book that was on her desk and gave it to Rachel who had still that puzzled look on her face but visibly amused by the blonde's behavior. "Um, I think the man who wrote it has actually been in Turkey, which helps"she added smiling about her own joke.

When she recognized the serious look on the brunette's face, she had to turn her attention elsewhere to avoid further embarrassment, cursing under her breathe.

'What's wrong with me? God, it's Rachel! Rachel who must surely hate me for the way I treated her my entire pathetic life. She clearly does if all she could say to me was 'Quinn'. Crap, I need to control myself once and for all! And I have to stop with these stupid jokes that are a product of my nerves. I'm Quinn Fabray and I am 26 years old, come on!'

"Thanks, I'll think about it…" Rachel replied only with a dull smile not looking at her and returning her attention to book.

"Okay, there are several more on..." Quinn was distracted by what she saw on the screen of the security camera. She observed a man trying to hide a book under his clothes. "Um, give me a second" muttered before moving to the back of the shop, feeling Rachel's eyes on her the whole time.

If there was something that the blonde had learned in all those years, it was to control her emotions and her temper. She had become calmer over the years, there was nothing to fuel the inner fire which turned her into the Quinn Fabray that almost all of her old friends still remembered. And even such a weirdo stealing her books couldn't throw her off. So she decided to deal with it in the same way she always did these days.

"Bad news, sir" Quinn stated. "We have a security camera right there" Quinn pointed to the device that was in the corner above their heads.

"And?" the man asked carefree, showing his disinterest in whatever Quinn wanted to tell him.

"And?" Quinn said incredulously. "I saw you put that book under your clothes so..."

"What book?"

"The one down your trousers."

"No, I do not have a book down my trousers…"

Quinn rolled her eyes and huffed losing patience, but not her calmness. "Right. Well... I tell you what, I'll call the police and If I'm wrong about the whole book-down-the-trousers scenario, I really apologize!"

"Okay, what if I do have a book down my trousers?"

"Well, ideally, when I go back to the desk, you remove the Cadogan guide to Bali from your trousers, and either wipe it and put it back, or buy it. See you in a sec…" Quinn concluded ending the issue, and turning around to find Rachel standing next to the counter with an amused smile on her face. But her smile disappeared the moment their eyes met.

"Sorry about that..." Quinn babbled somehow confused about Rachel's attitude giving her an impression of indifference again.

"Nonesense, Quinn. It's okay" Rachel assured her without looking up. Instead she was roaming through the book in her hand. "I was going to steal one but now I've changed my mind" Rachel joked finally looking up and smiled at her genuinely, leaving Quinn speechless with that simple gesture which was gone again in seconds. "Signed by the author, I see" Rachel said quickly changing the subject.

"Yes, couldn't stop him. If you can find an unsigned one, it's worth an absolute fortune!" Quinn said dead serious but just feigning it and the brunette chuckled, unable to keep up that cold attitude thanks to the goofy side of Quinn that she had missed so much and that she loved. Especially because it was a clear indication of how authentic the blonde was around her.

The smile faded leaving them with a strange but familiar feeling when they were disturbed by the inexperienced thief.

"Sorry, can you give me your autograph?" the man approached Rachel and handed her a small paper.

"Yeah, what's your name?"

"Rufus"

Rachel took a pen and without saying anything else, she proceeded and fulfilled the wish quickly before returning the paper.

"What does it say?"

"Well, that's my signature, and it says... Rufus, you belong in jail" Rachel said with such sarcasm that Quinn was surprised and couldn't help but smile.

"Good one…" smiled the man. "Do you want my phone number?" he asked seductively causing Rachel to give him incredulous look before responding even more sarcastic.

"Tempting, but... no. Thank you!" Rachel declined his offer. When the man left the store, the brunette pointed at the book in her hands, showing Quinn that she had made her decision. "I'm taking this…"

"Oh, right... on second thoughts maybe it wasn't that bad. Actually it's a sort of masterpiece really. None of those childish kebab stories you get in so many travel books these days!" she rambled. "And I'll throw in one of these for free" concluded Quinn, handing Rachel the bag with the chosen book and another one as a gift. "It's very useful for lighting fires, wrapping fish, that sort of things" she joked in hopes of generating another sincere and radiant smile on Rachel.

"Thank you, Quinn…" Rachel answered letting the words at the end slip, as if she wanted to say more, but only her eyes were able to transmit some kind of emotion that Quinn couldn't decode.

"My pleasure" the blonde nodded, not knowing what else to say. Even if something inside screamed at her to say more, but she never did. She just watched Rachel walk away leaving the store, and leaving a kind of emptiness that not only referred to the physical space in the room.

The sound of the doorbell got her attention again. Martin came in with two cappuccinos and brought her back into the real world.

"Thank you!" Quinn smiled taking a sip of her drink as she looked at her employee. "I don't think you'll believe who was just in here."

"Who?" Martin asked taking a sip of his own drink. "Someone famous?" he added quickly when he saw Quinn's smirk.

"No…" Quinn refused, already regretting asking him, knowing that telling him will generate a lot of questions.

"Would be exciting, thoughif someone famous did come into the shop, wouldn't it? Hmm? Do you know, this is pretty incredible actually, but I once saw Amy Winehouse."

"Oh, yeah? Where?"

"Kensington High Street. I mean, at least I think it was Amy. It might have been that girl from that pop band, the one who is married with the football player. Beckim?"

"Beckham, Victoria Beckham" Quinn corrected him trying to figure out their similarities. "Actually, Amy didn't look at all like, uh, Victoria Beckham"

"Yeah, but she was..." Martin stuttered. "She was quite a long way away from me"

"So it could've been actually neither of them?"

"I suppose so" Martin reluctantly agreed.

Quinn gave him a smile and drank the rest of the coffee.

"Want another one?" She asked, shrugging her shoulders when she saw the two empty paper cups.

"Yes, no, wait... let's go crazy! I'll have an orange juice" Martin suggested smiling at Quinn, infecting her with his bliss before the blonde took her purse and left the bookshop.

Quinn stepped outside the store, breathed the fresh air of the city and watched as everything around her continued to move at its usual rhythm. She tried to silence her thoughts about Rachel that clogged her mind.

The coffee shop was just around the corner from her little store, so she arrived there soon after and made her order and quickly returned to continue with her daily routine.

But she was completely lost in her thoughts and didn't pay attention to the world around her. As she turned around the corner she collided with another person.

It was not just any person.

When she looked up she saw Rachel cursing under her breathe because Quinn had spilt orange juice all over her white shirt.

"Oh, shit…" Quinn said, approaching the brunette to help her. She took the napkin that was still in her hand and unintentionally started to rub it against the brunette's torso, coming dangerously close to her breasts.

"Get your hands off me, Quinn!" Rachel growled annoyed, and Quinn stepped back, surprised by her attitude, and also by the movement she had made.

"I'm really sorry, Rach" Quinn said dropping her gaze visibly embarrassed about her action. "Look, I live just over the street. I have, um ... water and soap. You can get cleaned up ..." Quinn stuttered in panic trying to make it up to her.

Rachel took a deep breath and answered without even looking at the blonde: "No, thank you, Quinn. You have done enough already, don't you think?" Both looked into each other's eyes and the blonde understood that the comment not only referred to the little incident but to their loaded past, too. "I just... I just need to get my car back" Rachel already felt sorry for being so harsh to the blonde.

Quinn was confused, but determined to help her. "I also have a phone and I'm really confident that in five minutes we could have you spick and span back on the street again... in the non-prostitute sense, obviously" She mentally kicked herself for this comment.

"Quinn!" Rachel groaned but actually feeling a bit amused about the cute ramble that Quinn was performing. "All right. Well, what do you mean, 'just over the street'? Give it to me in yards"

Quinn smiled a bit, pleased to see a hint of Rachel Berry, Broadway and Hollywood diva, standing in front of her. "Uh, 18 yards…" the blonde smiled and looked over Rachel's shoulder, waiting for her to follow her eyes to see the exact spot on the other side of the street. "That's my house there with the blue front door"

Rachel nodded and the two began to walk in silence, Quinn opened the door and entered first. She had totally forgotten that it was a huge mess and that it looked as if a war had taken place in there. She tried to save the situation by grabbing some of the clothes that were lying on the floor and removing the remains of some takeaway that Shira had left there early that morning.

"Um, come in!" she finally said, giving her okay to Rachel who was still in the corridor. The brunette walked slowly and was astounded when she saw the messy place, drifting her eyes from the mess to Quinn, again and again. "It's not... um, not quite as tidy as it is normally, I fear, but..." Quinn looked around still cursing Shira while Rachel was still looking at her. "Anyway, the bathroom's on the top floor. And the telephone's just... just up there" the blonde pointed to her left.

"Thanks, Quinn" Rachel said pronouncing her name with such warmness and a sparkle in her eyes that Quinn felt a warm sensation running through her. "I have a phone, okay? But I would like to use the bathroom" Rachel smiled shyly and without further words she went up the stairs, passing Quinn who offered to take her bags.

The blonde shook her head in disbelief about her stupid behavior. "Shit," she huffed annoyed as she began to run through the kitchen trying to clean up the mess, at least as much as possible until Rachel would come back down, which gave her just a few minutes.

The brunette came down the stairs with a new shirt, the rest of her clothes were the same but not her attitude. Something in her look had changed. Her eyes landed on Quinn with such intensity that the blonde blushed unable to do anything about it.

Rachel went down to the last step and again let her eyes roam over the place before returning to Quinn's hazel ones.

"So... Notting Hill, huh?" the petite diva said, loading those three words with the emotional burden she didn't dare to voice. "Do you like it here? Are you happy?"

Quinn processes the words more than once in her mind, realizing that Rachel finally had decided to stop acting as if they both were two strangers. "London is a beautiful city, although I don't think I have found what I was looking for... I'm not complaining, it could be worse. I mean, I could still be a real estate agent in Lima, right?" Quinn smiled but she noticed how her answer upset the brunette, whose mood changed instantly.

Their eyes connected briefly, then Rachel diverted her eyes to the corridor that lead to the front door. "I think I should go..."

"Uh..." Quinn didn't want it to end so soon, not after Rachel finally showed signs that deep down she still cared about her. Or at least she was interested if she was happy. "Would you like a cup of tea before you go?"

"No, thank you." was all Rachel replied in a neutral tone that showed kindness but not much more than that.

"Coffee?"

"No…" she declined again politely.

"Orange juice?" Quinn asked, immediately regretting her words as she remembered what that drink had just caused. "Yeah, no, probably not. Um, something cold maybe?" she added quickly trying to correct her previous mistake. When she opened the fridge, she saw that it was practically empty. "Coke? Water? Some disgusting sugary drink pretending to have something to do with fruits of the forest? No, okay, that probably shouldn't be included in your vegan life style anyway…"

"Really, no."

"What about something to eat? Would you like that? Something to nibble on? Um, I could make you a … caprese sandwich? Without cheese certainly, which would make it a basil and tomato sandwich. Well, without bread and cheese so it could be vegan. So... no, that would not be a sandwich at all. But anyway I could make you that if you want…" Quinn rambled.

"No, but thanks" Rachel replied with a sincere smile.

"Do you always say 'No' to everything now?" Quinn asked, blushing, but frustrated at the same time, lowering her gaze so Rachel couldn't notice it.

The corners of her lips quirked upwards, but Rachel worked to keep her emotions in check. And then, after putting on a thoughtful gesture for a couple of seconds, she replied: "No" Her gaze locked on Quinn's for a second longer than what might be considered normal. "Um... I'd better be going. Thanks for your help" Rachel said almost in a mocking tone.

"You are welcome. And may I say one more thing. You look gorgeous, heavenly, Rach…" Quinn admitted, blushing. She looked into her eyes as she bit down on her bottom lip before quickly diverting her gaze. She stuck her hands in her pockets because she was becoming nervous and jumpy. It was hard to say something like that and even harder to Rachel in person. "I'm very proud of you. It makes me very happy to see everything you have achieved. Take my one chance to say it. I guess you weren't looking forward to seeing me or talking to me after all that happened. Plus, after you've read that awful book, you're certainly not going to be coming back to the bookshop either."

Rachel swallowed hard while looking at the blonde and her grimaced smile suddenly turned into a genuine and bright one, but not as radiant as Quinn had seeing before and which she had been missing so much every day of her life. "Thank you, Quinn. Believe it or not, listening to you saying that means a lot to me"

Quinn nodded without a word and accompanied her to the door. The two stood there, facing each other without knowing what to say.

The blonde was the one who made the first move her hands never leaving her pockets and giving her some security. "It was nice to see you again. Surreal but nice…" Quinn smiled nervously and Rachel mirror her smile almost mocking her as she turned around, forcing the blonde to open the door for her and without saying anything she got out, leaving Quinn alone, merely able to close the door. She turned around, resting her body against the door and releasing the breath that she didn't even know she was holding.

"Surreal but nice? What was I thinking? I'm so fucking lame!" Quinn cursed and went back into the house when the bell rang again.

She dragged herself back to the door and opened it. She was surprised to see that it was Rachel who was waiting for her on the other side.

"Hey again…" Rachel smiled at her sheepishly.

"Hey you"

"I forget my bags."

"Oh, right…" Quinn said without leaving the doorframe but the smile on Rachel's face made her aware that she should move and look for the bags.

Without a word she opened the door leading the way inside and hand the bags to the brunette seconds later.

"Thank you, Quinn" Rachel whispered gently. The blonde hadn't expected something like that and so she raised her gaze to meet Rachel's. She stopped breathing when their eyes locked and she lost herself in Rachel's bright brown eyes.

The two were still in the small vestibule, a small space that forced them to be close and so offered them a strange feeling of intimacy.

It was a moment in which the air was gone, the space and time, too. A second in which the girls saw the projection of her last interactions in the other's eyes. The return of Rachel with Finn, Quinn's excuses to avoid visiting her, their last conversation via Skype in which she confessed her that she was going to London, which ended in a fight that included words such as feelings, conflict, confusion and fear. The last time that they saw each other, in Rachel's door, when Quinn just stood there for a brief second confessing her all her feelings and kissing her before running away. And after that Rachel's attempts to contact her, but Quinn had rejected every one of them.

The two didn't move, neither could they take their eyes of the other. And in the end it was Rachel who decided to let it flow and give her body what it was demanding.

She stepped into Quinn's personal space without further hesitation removing the gap between them. She placed a hand on Quinn's neck and pulled the blonde closer while raising herself on tiptoes meeting her halfway and colliding their lips in a kiss that unleashed millions of electric shock to run through their veins.

Quinn didn't kiss her back. The kiss had caught her off guard. She was still motionless but she didn't break it either. She simply closed her eyes and let go. She captured her lips and deepened the kiss, getting drunk with the delicious sensation generated by her intoxicating lips.

The kiss didn't take long, but still long enough for both to forget the world around them. Rachel tried to extend it to the maximum time imaginable, lingering in the final seconds before reluctantly and slowly breaking apart.

The two stare at each other's lips, trying to save that strange feeling in their minds, but when they both realized what had happened, they freaked out.

Quinn was the first to break the awkwardness, hoping that Rachel wouldn't leave and run in that moment. Perhaps giving her time to clarify what she was thinking. That's why she said the first thing that popped into her head without being aware of how stupid it might sound. "I'm very sorry about the 'surreal but nice' comment... it was a disaster"

Rachel was panting but none of them had noticed it until she replied breathlessly, never breaking their gaze. "That's okay, I thought the caprese sandwich thing was the real low point…" she confessed while trying to calm her racing heart.

Quinn giggled and Rachel still kept looking straight in her eyes when they heard the clicking of a key in the lock.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry. It's my flat mate, I'm sorry. There's no excuse for her!" Quinn apologized and Rachel cleared her throat at the same time the door opened and she saw a girl walking in, a girl who didn't have anything in common with Quinn, neither looks nor manners.

Shira entered wearing dirty and destroyed sneakers, a huge shirt as a dress. Her arms were covered with tattoos and she was holding several bags and leaving a trail of cigarette smoke in her path, something that made Rachel feel really uncomfortable and turn to away when Shira passed right between the two of them.

"Hey!"

"Hello…" Rachel responded politely.

"I'm just going into the kitchen to get some food. Then I'm going to tell you a story about this chick I met today. Girl, if you meet her you probably want to cuddle your tongue inside her vagina, for the rest of your life, that's how bloody fuckable she is…"

Shira's voice died away with her silhouette, the silence in the corridor became the protagonist and Rachel still stood there, unable to process what had just happened, and what she had just heard.

Quinn felt really uncomfortable and roamed her head for a proper apology. When she opened her mouth to speak, Rachel turned and looked at her quickly answering. "Probably best if we do not tell anybody about... this!" Rachel said with a pleading voice begging Quinn to agree with that. One could see her inner panic in her worried eyes.

"Right, right... no one. I mean, I will tell myself sometimes, but don't worry… I won't believe it. Rachel Berry, star of Broadway and Hollywood, kissing me, Quinn Fabray? No freaking way…" she finished, still nervous, trying to find words for what had just happened. This time it wasn't her that recklessly kissed the brunette. This time it was the brunette kissing her intentionally.

Rachel looked at her thankful for goofing her way out of that mess. She blushed hard as she realized that her eyes looked unconsciously at the blonde's lips again, the same lips that she had kissed a second ago and she dropped her gaze to the floor and walked towards the door. Quinn opened it and she got out without looking back. All she could manage was an almost inaudible and shy "Bye".

Quinn was confused. Rachel had kissed her, fulfilling her biggest desire and wish she had dreamed of and wished for since that night she confessed her love to her. A feeling so terrifying that she had decided to fly to another country, another continent, leaving an ocean between them to alleviate the frustration of knowing that she could never have what she wanted.

This little kiss had given her a short glimpse of what could have been. And now? It left her with a feeling of emptiness, this time even stronger than the last time.

The strange sensation and the memories of the kiss didn't leave her for the rest of the day. She needed a distraction and so she ended up on the couch with Shira having a movie marathon. Her roommate was the one that chose the movies and so it accidentally contained the last big production starring one Rachel Berry.

It wasn't the first time that Quinn had seen it, but this time she focused all her attention on it. Her eyes followed every movement of the brunette and when she saw her smile in a close-up shot, which filled the entire screen, she felt her heart skip a beat and then beat speedily.

"Imagine... somewhere in the world there's a man who's allowed to kiss her" commented Shira cutting the silence and making the blonde smile for a second as she remembered that she had been the one to accomplish such a task only a couple of hours ago. And that hadn't been the only time, she had done it twice.

"Yes, she is... fairly fabulous" Quinn whispered without taking her eyes off the screen that showed Rachel smiling. A smile so grand that it made her insides flutter and that had the potential to break anybody's heart… It had already broken hers.

A/N: Hi guys! Okay, let me say this… I want to thank all of you for the great reception you're giving to this story. I'm surprised you're liking it so far.
Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favs, it makes me really happy to see that are people out there reading and enjoying it!. :)

PS: Thank you, Anja… you are the best. (Hope you are having fun in your little trip over Nepal!)

XX

Lucía.