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...

Part 3/4 – The Not so Embarrassing Part

Friday

"I still don't know why I'm here..." Santana grumbled, leaning back against the headboard just in time to be hit by a flying brown skirt.

"Moral support is completely meaningless to you, isn't it?" Asked Quinn, walking into the room and adjusting the strap of her bra.

"No. I just came 'cause Tina bribed me with food later." San threw the skirt back at the blonde. "And if I were you I wouldn't worry about going to this dinner."

"It's a family tradition."

"Where I came from, It's called showing off. My parents never made dinners for the neighbors and I grew up just fine."

"Can you guys stop bickering for a moment?" Tina yelled from inside the closet. "Quinn may actually meet the love of her life tonight."

Quinn and Santana shared a look and started laughing hysterically.

"Okay... That Rachel is probably straighter than you, Ti.." Remarked Santana.

"And even if she is interested in women, the last couple my mom tried to match ended up divorcing." Quinn smiled humorlessly, remembering the day her mother introduced her sister to her current ex-husband at a Christmas party at the hospital. 'The two of you are doctors, I bet you have a lot in common!' She had insisted.

"Why can't you girls be a little more romantic?" Tina asked, showing at the door with a dress in her hands. "Too colorful?"

"Horrifying!" Santana winced.

Quinn reached for the dress. "I like it.."

"C'mon Q, you can do better than this." Santana hopped off of bed and passed by her friends to get into the closet. "I was dragged here against my will, the least you can do is look sexy for my own viewing pleasure.."

Tina and Quinn waited while Santana went through the blonde's things.

"One more time, why you have to wear a dress?"

"I'm trying to convince my mom that being a lesbian doesn't mean I'll turn into a man... And also because is insanely hot outside and the idea is not that bad."

Santana huffed. "Okay.." She reappeared, a little disheveled, with a gray and navy blue dress in hands. "I like this one. It's not sickeningly girly, but it's delicate and sexy without being offensive..."

The blonde raised an eyebrow and took the clothes her friend was handing her, she dressed quickly and glanced down at her own body. The dress was mostly deep gray, except for the details on the bottom and around the neckline, that were from a dark blue see through material. It wasn't exactly short, but the see through part revealed a big expanse of her thighs. She let her hair fall to her shoulders and looked at her friends, searching for approval.

Santana reached over and undid her top two buttons. "I knew it would be perfect." She whispered, adjusting the blue stripe in the middle of dress. "If you don't get laid tonight, I swear..."

"I'm not expecting to get anything, San."

"I know, but it's so going to happen..."

The blond rolled her eyes. "What do you think, Ti?"

"I think... That it's seven o'clock and you're already late." She answered, glancing at her wrist watch.

"Crap!" She exclaimed, turning away quickly and entering her closet in search of black flats. "Why didn't you say so before?" She asked, running to the bathroom to apply some makeup.

"I don't spend my whole time looking at the clock, you know?" Tina laughed.

Santana leaned against the bathroom door. "Can we go now?"

"Thanks for stopping by, Ti..."

"No problem, Quinn."

"Speak for yourself." Santana grumbled, storming out of the apartment without saying goodbye.

Tina rolled her eyes and waved. "Good luck!"

...

Fran was the first person Quinn saw, her sister was reading something on her cell phone, outside the house, and looked up at the sound of footsteps. "You're late."

"I'm aware, but thanks for the remark..." The younger blonde muttered, skipping through the stone path and halting by the door.

"How are you doing?" Her sister asked in a hug.

"Fine, I guess.. You?"

"At the verge of a nervous breakdown, but sadly, that's already a common occurrence."

"The divorce?" Quinn asked, squeezing her shoulder gently.

"Yes, it was supposed to be over today, but Evan insists on making things difficult. Everything always has to be so dramatic for him..." She sighed, looking genuinely tired. "But that's not important, someone's got a date tonight..." She sing-songed, throwing an arm around Quinn's shoulders.

"Ugh.. You know how delusional mom can be sometimes..." Quinn breathed, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. "It's not even a real date... She's probably straight anyways."

"Right." Fran raised an eyebrow looking exactly like her sister (it was a family thing). "Hence the pretty dress and..." She leaned a little closer, sniffing Quinn's neck. "Isn't that your favorite perfume?"

Quinn freed herself from the hug. "God, I had forgotten how annoying you can be sometimes..." She crossed her arms across her chest. "But yes.. I... Well, just because it's highly unlikely, doesn't mean I cannot try, right?"

"Hmmm... By the way, I've already met your suitor, she is quite charming..."

"Is she?"

"Yeah, and good looking. I really think you guys will get along."

"Did she seem gay to you?"

"No, but you don't seem gay to me either." Fran shrugged.

"Good answer."

Fran smirked. "Also, I've met the brother too... He is very..."

"Quinn!" The door opened suddenly, interrupting their conversation. "You're here! What are you doing outside?" Russell stepped back for them to enter. "You're late and I suspect your mother might be having a minor stroke because of it."

"Sorry, I was busy and..."

"Girls! Oh Lord, Quinn, I was starting to think you'd given up on coming!"

"Hi mom .." Quinn complimented some of the neighbors that were hanging near the door and let herself be dragged inside by her over enthusiastic mother.

"Carmen is almost done with the food.. You were supposed to be here by seven."

"Well, technically is still seven..." The blonde pointed out running a hand through her hair and adjusting some loose strands behind her ears.

"Yes, 7:53. Living in Manhattan made you forget the definition of punctuality?" Judy questioned crossing the house and finally stopping at the glass doors that opened to the huge garden, where most of the neighbors were gathered.

"I'm sorry, mom..." She replies tiredly, deciding to let it go.

"Well, what matter is that you're here now." She said, opening the door for her daughter. "Now we just have to find..."

"Owch!"

"Ahhh!" Quinn jumped back, using one hand to grab the arm of the girl she had just collided with while the other rested on the glass door, preventing them both from falling to the ground.

"...Rachel." Judy finished with a hand over her chest and wide eyes.

Dark brown eyes met Quinn's hazel ones for a long moment and the blonde moved her hand from the girl's arm to her waist, making sure she had managed to regain her balance.

"Damn..." The tiny brunette breathed out, looking away and ducking down to gather a cell phone that had shattered on the floor.

Quinn crouched too and handed her the little black battery that had ended up at her feet. The brunette stood up and reassembled the device before pressing the power button.

"Thanks. Sorry. Thank you." She mumbled, without averting her eyes from screen that remained black. "Shoot, my brother's gonna kill me if it's broken..."

The blonde raised an eyebrow and glanced around, looking for Judy, who had suddenly evaporated. Her father was talking to Mr. Fisher from across the street and her sister smiled in her direction, gesturing emphatically at the short girl who was still by her side. Quinn frowned and studied the woman again before casting a questioning look to Francine.

"That's her!" Her sister shouted without actually making a sound.

Quinn pursed her lips and another eyebrow rose to join the first one. She looked back at the brunette - who now pressed the power button desperately, while chanting 'don't be dead, please, don't be dead' over and over again - and took a tentative step towards her.

"Er ... Can I see it?" She asked, holding out a hand to the device.

Rachel looked up, but instead of responding, she just blinked a few times surveying the blonde from head to toes with a glint in her eyes. After a few seconds of awkward silence, the brunette finally shook her head gently side to side, as if regaining consciousness.

"Hey," she spoke, with the same strange spark in her eyes. "Hi.."

"Hi," the blonde smiled softly.

"Rachel." The brunette mumbled. "It's my name. I'm Rachel. Berry." She shook her head once again and held out her hand for Quinn to shake. "Rachel Berry."

Her hand was warm and smooth and so small. "Quinn Fabray."

"I know... You don't know me, but I see you every day." Rachel smiled broadly, still shaking her hand, then the smile faded and she cleared her throat. "And I didn't mean to sound like a crazy stalker... I mean, I see you on TV, in the morning... I like the way you present the news and..." She was still clutching the blonde's hand unconsciously. "And I guess I should probably stop talking right now, don't you think?" She giggled.

Quinn bit her lip to prevent her smile to grow further and glanced at their still joined hands between them.

"And I suppose you want your hand back too..."

"Yeah, I think I'll need it later, so..."

"Yeah..." Rachel gnawed at her lip and let go. "You are different in person."

Quinn's brows knitted together. "Is that a good thing?"

"It's strange, I guess. You are so... real..."

The blond chuckled. "Can I take that as a compliment?"

"Definitely!" Rachel agreed. "And you're much prettier in real life." She paused. "Not that you're ugly on TV or something. You're so beautiful that ugly would be an impossibility in your case..." She took a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm rambling like mad... It's just.." She looked down and remembered the dead phone in her hand. "I think I broke my brother's phone and I'm sure he'll murder me for it..."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that, I didn't see you coming."

"No! It was my fault! I was texting my dad and didn't even notice the door opening..." She tried to switch it on again, sighing when there was no response.

"Can I try?" Quinn asked, getting a little closer.

Rachel gave her the phone and took a hair tie out of her purse, pulling her dark hair up in a messy bun (the whole situation seemed to overheat the air around her) while Quinn reopened the cell phone.

"Aha.. I think I found the problem." The blonde announced, putting the blackberry together quickly, switching it on, and causing the screen lit up immediately.

Rachel's jaw dropped and she took a step closer pressing her arm against Quinn's for a better look. "How did you do that?"

"Magic." The blonde winked, "The battery was backwards."

"Really?"

"Really..." Quinn nodded, once again trying to hold back her smile.

Rachel met her gaze. "I would hug you right now, but we don't really know each other, so..."

The blonde laughed. "Well, we can meet now and after dinner you decide whether I get a hug or not..." She felt her face heat up as the words left her mouth. "Or you can laugh at me for saying that out loud and go find someone else to talk to. I swear I'll understand if you do that... "

Rachel - who had also blushed slightly at the blonde's suggestion - covered her mouth with one hand to conceal her grin. "I'd actually like to meet you.. I don't know anyone here except for my brother and today's hostesses, that would be your parents..." She buried her hands in her back pockets "I think I can get to know one family at a time."

"Ok.." They were quiet for a moment, smiling shyly at each other and Quinn had no idea what to say next. Probably anything coming out of her mouth would be highly embarrassing, so she decided to just take in the woman before her.

Rachel was really beautiful, like her sister said, and charming. Something about her was extremely captivating, probably her smile, or her more than warm eyes. She wore very high heels which made her almost as tall as Quinn (almost), a pair of skin tight jeans and a white tank top underneath a light pink cardigan. Her skin was tanned and flawless and her lips were a reddish shade of pink and so full and inviting.

In that moment, Quinn realized she really wanted to meet her. She felt a twinge of hope, perhaps her mother was not entirely wrong about this blind date thing after all.

"Oh, Quinnie, I see you've met our new neighbor..." Judy materialized out of nowhere, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you girls getting along?"

"Well, we just–" Started Quinn.

"Great!" Her mother cut out.

"–met.."

"Dinner will be served, you better hurry if you want to sit next to each other. Your brother is already seated, Rachel, darling... I think I saw him talking to Mrs. Harrison about personally cleaning her pool! I didn't know he still worked as a cleaner!"

"He doesn't." She replied, but Mrs. Fabray wasn't hearing.

"Well, I will gather everyone else, enjoy the dinner girls!"

They exchanged another glance and Quinn played anxiously with the cross on her neck. "I think we should..." She gestured inside with her free hand.

"Yes, please ..." Rachel stepped forward, holding the door open for the blonde.

"Thanks."

"Rach!"

"That's my brother." Rachel whispered, waving at Noah, who pointed to an empty seat beside him.

Rachel took her seat by Puck's side while Quinn sat across from them.

"Mrs. Harrison, this is Rachel, my sister..." Puck smiled gallantly to the woman who was at least 30 years older than him.

"Hello, nice to meet you." Rachel greeted politely.

"So you're the Broadway legend!" The tiny brunette smiled at the woman sitting next to Quinn. "I just learned that I've seen you in 'Les Miserables' a few years ago.."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "You're an actress? I thought you worked with my mom at the hospital..."

"I do. As a volunteer."

"Oh..."

"Isn't she precious?" Ms. Harrison asked, resting her hands on Quinn's forearm.

"My sister and I watched 'Les Mis' on Broadway..." Quinn stared at the Rachel intently, trying to fit her into a character. "Ephonine?"

Rachel nodded with a smile, glad to be recognized.

"God, you made me cry so hard with 'On My Own'!"

"That's a compliment..." She chuckled.

"I usually don't cry at things like that, but... You're an amazing actress." She stated, straightening in her seat.

The brunette's cheek tinged red and she averted her eyes.

"Seriously ... Why aren't you on TV, or Hollywood?" Quinn asked, leaning forward.

"I was born for the stage. I love the rush and the pressure and the energy from the audience, the applauses, the music... I couldn't work away from my music..." She smiled softly to herself and Quinn caught herself smiling too. Captivating indeed... "Not to mention the benefit of privacy, I get my fair share of acknowledgment without having to run away from photographers, or revealing every part of my personal life to the world."

"And are you involved in some project right now? Because I'd love to watch you perform again..."

"Well, yes but no... After 'Les Mis' I decided to take a break from the stage and I am actually co directing an original show."

"Really? What show?"

"Well, we're currently in production, we have just started casting and we have yet to decide the official title... For now we're calling it 'The Project', which, oddly enough, wouldn't be a bad title."

"And are you enjoying... directing?"

"Yes and no. Again." She started gesturing. "I decided to become a director because I thought it would be a little less exhausting than the acting job, I mean, as a director I don't need to be at the theater every night, but It turns out that's not that easy either, stress levels are extreme!" She ran a hand through her hair, loosing the ponytail and Quinn watched as soft brown curls fell around her face and neck. "It's very hard, having to control a bunch of people you barely know..."

"Pfffff..." Noah gasped, as a reminder that the two women were not alone. "As if you didn't love bossing people around..."

Rachel scowled and kicked her brother's shin under the table.

"Owch!" He cried out. "Rachel!"

"What? I haven't done anything..." She teased with a smirk.

Quinn smiled at them. She was truly enjoying talking to Rachel, a lot more than she thought she would be.

The food arrived and they kept talking about the Rachel's show and Mrs. Harrison asked several questions about the Noah's business, but Quinn was sure the woman wasn't interested in pool cleaning at all.

Then the trio joined Fran, who was sitting alone near the pool and changed the conversation to family.

"We're not real siblings, technically..." Puck explained, ruffling Rachel's hair, who gently pushed him away.

"Our dads met when we were four." The brunette continued, resting a hand on her brother's leg.

"I have a mom, Sarah, she and my father were married for six years and divorced when I was two... I grew up between their houses, literally. My daddy's house was just two blocks away from mom's condo." He scratched his chin. "I always loved to spend time with daddy, and I always liked Leroy better than my mom's new husband, then, after my tenth birthday, I decided to just stay with them and mom was okay with it.."

"And Leroy would be my father. I was born out of an in vitro fertilization..." She drummed her fingers on Quinn's knee, causing the blonde's heart to skip a beat. "My dad really wanted a baby, and after ending a 10-years relationship with the man who should have been my other father, he decided to have me..."

"By himself?" Asked Frannie.

Rachel agreed. "Kind of weird thinking about a single dad, isn't it?"

Quinn and Fran nodded.

"But he did a good job and Tom, Noah's father, always treated me like his own..."

"This is pretty interesting..." Muttered Fran. "And where do they live now?"

"Oh, they live in Ohio." Answered Puck. "But they visit as many times as possible... They were here until last week to help us move."

"They met Judy and Russell..."

Quinn smiled, reminding lunch with her parents two weeks before. "Yes, dad told me about them the other day.."

...

"Russel! Russel, dear, come here!" Judy urged, causing her husband to change his course and stop promptly by her side.

"Have you tried Carmen's dessert?" He asked over a mouth full of ice cream. "This is the best ice cream I've ever had and I don't even like chocolate!" He proclaimed, studying the treat in his hand. "I think we can reconsider that raise she asked last month because this is just..."

"Russel" She squeezed his arm. "I'm not interested in our cook obvious cooking skills, I need you to see this. "She gestured towards the garden, more specifically to the illuminated part of the pool, where their daughters ware chatting with the new neighbors.

"Oh.. They seem to be getting along..."

"Getting along?" Judy faced her husband. "Have you seen the way Rachel touched Quinn's knee? Can't you feel the chemistry?"

"Well, they do look good together..."

"So cute, right?" She grinned. "If they get married, who do you think will be giving birth to our grandchildren?"

Once again, Russell stopped eating his ice cream and stared at his wife with an astonished expression. "They just met. And until last week you were looking for a therapist who could make Quinn straight."

"I know... But I hadn't seen them together by then. And I also did some research on the internet and watched all those videos of other mothers and gay couples, and.." She paused and clutched his arm again. "Look, look, Fran is leaving.. And Noah's too! They will finally get some alone time!"

Russell raised his eyebrows and laughed softly.

"What is it? Why are you laughing?" Judy asked, slightly aggravated.

"Nothing... I just remembered that your craziness was one of the reasons why I fell for you..." He spoke in a lower voice, dropping his ice cream on the sink and moving to hold her.

"Oh, Russel..." She let out a girlish giggle. "Wait, wait, Quinn is also standing up." She pressed a hand against the window. "She's coming this way! Why? "

==/==

AN: I'll try and update as soon as I can, but motivation always help, so please, review if you want to know what happens next..

(Seriously, let me know what you're thinking :D)