a/n:
1. ~warning?: rated m for a reason.
2. i seem to be sort of wandering through this story, so bear with me.
3. thankyou to everyone who reviewed/subscribed! it was very lovely to hear from you all :)
Chapter one
August 2018
Rachel pulled herself partway through the veil of sleep and reached for her phone, which was pulsing bright white light in the inky blackness of her bedroom. "Hello?" said, tucking the thing awkwardly between her face and the pillow.
"Rachel?"
Rachel sighed and rubbed one of her eyes. "Yes, Quinn?"
"Shit, it's later than I thought. I'm sorry, my flight just got in. I just-are we to where I don't need to call first anymore?"
Rachel chuckled through the haze. "Yes, Quinn. This is why you have a key."
"Okay. Go back to sleep. I didn't call. I'll try not to wake you when I get there." Quinn hung up. Rachel slid her phone back onto the night stand and tugged the covers around her shoulders, settling back into the cocoon of sleep.
.
When Rachel woke again, she was pressed against night-cool skin; Quinn's shirt was fisted in her hand and she could smell the undertones of Quinn's floral shampoo.
She pressed a kiss to Quinn's shoulder. "How long do we have this time?" Rachel asked.
"I tried not to wake you."
"How long, Quinn?"
Quinn's jaw pulsed where her face rested against Rachel's head. "Three weeks," she whispered.
Rachel nodded and moved more fully on top of Quinn, kneeling so that she straddled one of her thighs. She pulled away long enough to pull her shirt off, then tugged Quinn's up over her breasts. Quinn's skin was almost blue in the moon-glow, and Rachel thought of feverish ice baths, flesh submerged until the nerves closed off.
Rachel shivered against her and pressed kisses along her sternum, nibbled at her clavicles; she squeezed Quinn's quivering bird-shoulders in her hands and felt the skin warming under her touch. She cupped Quinn's breast with the hand that wasn't holding her up and felt Quinn's hips rock into her.
"Rae," Quinn whispered, pulling at Rachel's shoulders. Rachel pressed a kiss to the inside of one of Quinn's breasts and moved her mouth upwards, over the landscape of Quinn's body, the dip of her collarbones, the curve of her neck, then bit-hard-at the flesh there. Quinn hissed and pulsed under her, dug her fingers into the soft spaces around Rachel's shoulder blades.
The petal-thin skin gave easily under Rachel's blunt teeth. Quinn rocked harder against her, whined. Rachel released the hold but kept her open mouth pressed against the wound, flattened her tongue against it.
Quinn tugged at her again, and Rachel lifted away. She hovered over Quinn, and their eyes locked through the shadows. Quinn lifted her chin, almost imperceptibly, and Rachel kissed her, hard enough that she could feel Quinn's skull solid against her own, her blunt, hard teeth.
Quinn opened her mouth and surged upwards, at the same time slipping a hand into Rachel's underwear.
Rachel inhaled sharply and drove her thigh against Quinn's rocking hips; the heat there had become searing.
"Jesus, Rachel," Quinn choked out between kisses. Her nails dug into Rachel's back, as Rachel rolled a nipple between her fingers, keening at the feel of Quinn rubbing circles between her thighs.
Quinn seemed to tear open, then, to shed her skin, so that the starry void in her burst forth, all dark matter, shadowy heat, and warm, viscous desire. Quinn's fingers found the quick of Rachel, moved sporadically inside of and over her with the uneven rutting of her hips.
A few rocks later, Quinn cried out, clung desperately to Rachel. "Fuck," she whimpered, "fuck, fuck..." and with one more upsurge she came; Rachel felt the ripples of it through her own body, and that, combined with the "Fuck, Rachel, now," that dropped from Quinn's lips, left her moving helplessly against Quinn's touch as she felt herself swallowed up by the deluge.
.
The sun reached dusty through the curtains, illuminating Quinn's messy tangle of hair. Rachel reached out to smooth it. Quinn sighed at the touch and turned to face Rachel.
"Morning," Quinn said; her voice cracked like ice when the liquid's poured over.
Rachel tucked a lock of hair behind Quinn's ear and smiled. "Morning, baby."
"Do you have to leave soon? You have-rehearsals now, right?"
"Not until three. It's-" Rachel peered past Quinn's shoulder at the clock on the night stand. "Nine now. Breakfast?"
Quinn wrinkled her nose and shook her head, then rolled over and tucked into Rachel's side. "Not yet. I missed you. Tell me what you've been doing. How are rehearsals going? Made anyone cry yet?"
"Quinn, I'm offended," Rachel said, swatting at Quinn's shoulder.
Quinn chuckled. "I take that as a yes."
"She was stepping on my cues," Rachel muttered.
"I've no doubt she deserved it," Quinn said, "and you wouldn't be Rachel Berry if you let that kind of thing slide."
.
"How was Arizona?" Rachel asked between bites of her bagel.
"Mm. Hot? We were in the desert. All the trailers were dreamscape-silver to reflect the heat."
"How was shooting?"
"The leading man pursued me relentlessly up until the moment I left for the airport. I didn't know if telling him I was involved with a woman would help or hurt, but I leaned towards the latter."
Rachel was scowling at her when she looked up. Quinn took a bite of cereal to conceal the smirk on her face.
"Well certainly you might have told him that you were involved. You didn't have to say with who," Rachel snapped.
"Hm. Yes. I suppose I could have, but it would have taken all the fun out of telling you about it. I'm sure you'll think of some way to make sure I know who I'm involved with over the next three weeks?"
"I'll have to think on that," Rachel said, thoughtfully chewing the last bite of her bagel.
"I'm sure you'll come up with something," Quinn said, squeezing Rachel's thigh under the table. "Let's just try to keep it out the tabloids."
"We've pulled it off this long, haven't we?"
.
"Have I told you how happy I am that you were here for my opening night?" Rachel pressed the words to Quinn's neck between kisses. "Because I'm really, really happy you were."
"You may have mentioned it-once or twice-," Quinn said, gasping at the feel of Rachel's teeth against her skin. "But you can keep telling me, if you want."
"Mmm." Rachel nibbled along Quinn's jaw then pressed their mouths together, tracing Quinn's lips with her tongue then darting past them.
Rachel had practically dragged Quinn upstairs after throwing a wad of cash to their taxi driver. She was still humming from her stage high and the erotic notion that Quinn was out in that audience watching her all night. It took them twice as long as usual to make it up the two flights to her apartment, and once there she'd slammed the door behind them, helped Quinn to perch on the edge of her counter, and set to devouring her.
Quinn wrapped a leg around Rachel's waist and pulled her closer. "Fuck, Quinn," Rachel breathed at the heat she felt radiating against her belly.
"Don't act so surprised," Quinn said, pushing Rachel's jacket off her shoulders. "You know just what it's like to sit in an audience like that. I've been waiting all night for this."
.
"What time is your flight?" Rachel asked, staring intently at the settings on the coffee maker.
"Seven tomorrow morning."
Rachel nodded and poked at a button; the machine shuddered at the touch.
"Rach-"
"Don't," Rachel said, turning and leaning her back against the counter. "We have thirteen hours. I figure we can keep pretending for the next eleven."
Quinn approached her. "Can we try for twelve?"
Rachel smiled, or attempted to in any case, and pulled Quinn into her arms.