A/N: Sorry for the delay. What with holidays, and a slight case of writer's block; it was as if this chapter refused to be written. From here on out, the story is going to float around what's called 'The Incident', and then, of course, eventually lead to 'The Incident' itself, and then some. This chapter is the introduction to that whole idea, and the direction the story is going in so just follow along and you'll get it in no time. Enjoy!

THREE WEEKS AFTER 'THE INCIDENT'

"It's like you're afraid when someone smiles."

"I am not." Quinn almost pouted.

They both sat, with their legs crossed, huddled under a large blanket. Rachel had called it "The Truth Bubble". She said that as long as they were under a blanket together, they had to tell the truth. Quinn promised she would, reluctantly, of course, because she thought the whole idea was extremely childish. However childish it seemed, Quinn could see where Rachel was coming from. In all honesty, she needed it just as much as Rachel did. She needed a place to vent, a place to just be after so many years of being someone else.

Quinn knew she was impossible to deal with most of the time. She knew she wasn't an easy person to be around, especially now. She knew Rachel was the kind of person that believed things needed explanations. There was always a why for her.

However, Quinn wasn't good with whys. She didn't know how to put things into words most of the time. Things never came out the way they sounded in her head. Nevertheless, when they were under the blanket, Quinn had to try. She had promised to try. She had to try to say whatever was going through her mind. Quinn didn't think everything needed an explanation like Rachel did. Sometimes things happen, and there isn't a why. Sometimes things happen and all you can do is let it.

And as she soon realized, this was one of those things.

"Yes, you are." Rachel continued. "You continue to inquire why I'm smiling, like it's some sort of threat to you."

"I'd just…" Quinn leaned forward. "I'd just like to know what you're thinking about."

She smiled, even wider, and nodded. She understood. "You. I'm thinking about you."

"Oh." Quinn leaned back, almost taking the whole blanket with her.

"That's it? 'Oh'?" Rachel was proud she had silenced the often witty girl. She pulled the blanket closer to her, forcing Quinn to lean back in.

"Yeah."

"You have quite the way with words, Quinn."

"So I've been told."

It had been exactly three weeks since 'The Incident'. It's what both girls call it. Neither of them had talked about it much outside of the Truth Bubble, but whenever they were inside it, the conversation always turned to that.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Rachel whispered.

"What? Earlier today?"

"No- why? Are you still upset about that?"

"Yes."

"I said I was sorry."

"I'm still upset, though."

"So you don't forgive me?"

"I forgive you. You asked if I was upset about it, and I am. That's it."

"What the hell are you two doing under there?"

Both girls immediately pulled down the blanket from over their heads to face a confused looking Puck, juggling plastic bags, and two bottles of soda.

"N-nothing." Rachel said, looking from Quinn to Puck.

"You guys playing fort or something?" Puck settled the bags on the edge of the bed. "Can I play?"

"Puck! You ass, you almost made that girl lose her job!" Santana yelled, practically storming through the door. "Not to mention we could have been arrested. I do not want to spend a night in jail in New York…" Santana trailed off, noticing the obvious tension in the room.

"Well, that was fun." Kurt entered, and almost bumped into Santana. "Nothing like stealing sandwiches from the corner store in a completely different state."

"Maybe we could rob a coffee shop next." Blaine joked.

"I'm game." Mike squeezed in, and threw himself on the opposite bed.

"I had to run! Run! Do you understand that? I don't run. Ever." Mercedes said, slightly out of breath.

Tina basically pulled herself through the door, breathing sporadically. "I. Am. So. Out. Of. Shape."

"You guys stole? From a store! In the CORNER! IN NEW YORK!" Rachel shot up from the bed.

"Where's Brittany?" Santana asked.

Finn entered the room then, carrying more bags. "She found a cat, but the doorman won't let her bring him in." He said, a bit out of breath as well.

Santana shook her head, and pushed past everyone.

"You could have been arrested! What were you all thinking? Noah, I must advise you to return whatever it is you…" Rachel turned to see Puck and Quinn already eating sandwiches and chips.

"Quinn!" Rachel exclaimed.

"What?" She mumbled with her mouth full.

"I- you- we can't- you're eating stolen property!"

Kurt put his hand on Rachel's shoulder. "The deed is done. There is nothing left to do but bask in the glory of being a certified delinquent. Accept it. Just accept it."

Blaine gave a reassuring smile to Rachel, as he followed Kurt to join Puck and Quinn. "It's fine. Really. No one saw."

"I mean," Puck began, chips almost falling out of his mouth. "The girl practically gave me the food. I didn't steal it. You know the Puckasaurus has a way with the ladies."

"It just so happened that her uncle owned the place and chased us down eight blocks." Mike said, shrugging. He clapped his hands. "Pass me one."

Quinn grabbed a sandwich and threw one his way.

"Eight Manhattan blocks." Mercedes corrected. "We had to run eight Manhattan blocks."

"That's like three miles." Tina added, taking the other half of Mike's sandwich, to which he pouted slightly. She smiled, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"It's still wrong. We have money." Rachel said.

"Actually, we don't." Puck said. "I wouldn't have stolen it otherwise… well, yeah, I probably would've, but at least I can pretend to have a reason this time."

"What? We don't have money? What do they mean we don't have money?" Rachel turned to Tina.

"We only have exactly enough for the tolls heading back to Ohio." Tina explained.

"But- but you two were supposed to keep track of the money!"

"Hey, don't look at me." Mercedes said.

"We did keep track. But you underestimated." Tina said.

Rachel sat back on the edge of the bed. "So, what now?"

"Now we just steal everything until we get home." Puck suggested.

"Yes. Wonderful idea, Puck." Kurt said, sarcastically. "Shall we start with an ammunition store so we'll have weapons for our East coast crime spree?"

Puck nodded, and appeared to be deep and thought. He then mumbled something that was completely unintelligible because his mouth was stuffed.

"How about we just use one of your dads' credit cards?" Finn asked.

Rachel thought for a moment. If she told them that she had made a mistake in estimating the total amount of the trip, they would understand. She knew they would, but she would feel horrible for doing so. Money had been a little tight lately, since her fathers switched jobs. But she didn't have much of a choice, did she?

"Alright." Rachel sighed. "I could do that."

Finn nodded and sat beside her. "Cool… oh! I almost forgot." He pulled out a carton of yogurt from one of the bags he was carrying. "Since you're vegan and everything." He shrugged. "Coconut Greek Yogurt."

"Thanks, Finn." Rachel gave a smile. "This is... very kind of you."

"Quinn told me to get it, actually." He explained. "She heard we were going out for sandwiches so she asked me to pick up something for you. She says you haven't been eating well 'cause you're all stressed out. There's nothing to worry about you know. We're all having a great time. It's a pretty sweet trip so far. Even though we just stole food because we're poor... it's still cool."

Rachel looked back at Quinn to see her already looking at her with that expression she couldn't read. Everyone around her moved and laughed and stole each other's chips, but Quinn looked at Rachel like she was the only one there. She looked at her like she could see through her. It always gave her chills. Rachel shook her head and looked back at Finn. "You should probably grab a sandwich before they're all gone."

Finn nodded, with a smile, and rushed over to the other side of the bed. "Hey! Save me one!"

"And save one for Artie!" Rachel turned around. "And Brittany, a-and Santana."

"Survival of the fittest, princess." Puck said, grabbing another sandwich. "They snooze, they lose. We haven't eaten all day!"

Mike suddenly swooped in and grabbed the three remaining sandwiches. "These are reserved." He glanced at Rachel. "I'll protect them with my life. They'll get their food, don't worry."

Quinn's head hung on the edge of the bathtub. She looked up at the weird patterns on the bathroom's ceiling. She wondered if famous designers were paid to decorate hotels, or if it was just whoever had a degree in the subject. Could a regular Joe-schmo who majored in interior design decorate a famous hotel? Did they give opportunities like that?

Maybe she could be an interior designer. She liked arranging things. For some reason, one of her favorite memories as a child was when her family drove down to West Chester to visit family, and while they were there they went to an IKEA. It was the first time she'd ever been into a giant furniture store. She remembered walking around and re-arranging the different room displays in her head.

She turned to lie on her side. The bathtub wasn't as uncomfortable as she thought when she first found out she would have to sleep in it.

Mike and Tina shared one of the only two beds in the hotel room. Finn slept on the floor between the two beds, and so did Puck, even with his constant attempts to sleep on the bed Brittany and Santana shared. Rachel slept on the sofa bed in the living room where Artie's air mattress was set up. Mercedes slept on her own air mattress between the bedroom and the living room. Both Artie and Finn had a bit of a snoring problem, and Mercedes would have none of it.

Quinn couldn't hear any of the snoring from inside the bathroom. It was eerily quiet.

The curtain was pulled so whoever had to use the bathroom throughout the night would have privacy. Quinn wasn't a heavy sleeper, but she didn't find herself waking up whenever someone came in, so that was good. She had to get up whenever someone wanted a shower in the morning, which was always Rachel around six in the morning. Quinn didn't know how she got up every morning on the dot, especially since it was vacation and everyone was supposed to be sleeping in.

She heard the door click open, and expected to hear someone pull up the toilet seat, but the sound of the curtains being pulled back replaced it.

"Oh. You're not asleep." Rachel said, quietly. "I can't seem to fall asleep either. I had hoped you'd be awake, actually, even if that might seem a little bit selfish. Who am I kidding? That's really selfish. I know you haven't been sleeping well lately, so I shouldn't have hoped for something like that but I can't sleep because I want to talk to you, but I just realized that's all I do. I was lying awake in there and I noticed I just talk. I'm the only one talking. I-I talk and you listen and I don't want that anymore. I don't want you to do that anymore. I want you to talk, too. You might not think you have much to say, but I do, okay? I do. You're always so quiet and it drives me crazy especially after… what happened, you know. I need to know what's going on inside your head as much as you do mine. I'm rambling, I'm rambling, I know. I'll stop."

Quinn looked up at her, patiently.

She sighed. "I want to talk about… what happened." She whispered.

"Today?"

"No. About, you know, the incident."

"Oh."

Quinn sat up, and made room for Rachel to sit across from her. Rachel climbed into the bathtub, and pulled Quinn's blanket over her head.

Quinn rolled her eyes, but still followed suit.

"I just want to know if, well," Rachel eyes darted, as if she was looking for the words. "I want to know if you did it because you weren't really yourself, you know, on account on all the alcohol we consumed that night, or maybe you've always wanted to try it? I would understand that. I know it was on my bucketlist. I'm just curious as to-"

"I wanted to do it."

"You… wanted to do it?"

"Yes. With you."

"With me?"

"Only you."

"Only me?"

"Why are you repeating everything I say?"

"I don't- are you sure?"

Quinn almost laughed at that. "Am I sure of what?"

"Are you sure you wanted to? Maybe it was because you were drunk. It had to be because you were drunk."

"No, Rachel. I wanted to kiss you. I want to kiss you now, and I wouldn't mind kissing you in the future."

"… are you sure?"

"Stop asking that."

"I-I just don't know what else to say."

"You don't believe me?"

"Quite honestly? No. Why would someone like you want to kiss someone like me?"

"Someone like me?"

"Yeah, you know; beautiful-"

"You're beautiful."

Rachel was taken aback by the statement. "N-not like you."

"That's true." Quinn nodded. "You're more beautiful, like, really beautiful. I just look like… well, I looked like how everyone wanted me to look like. You're beautiful all on your own; inside and out."

"Don't say things like that."

"Why not?"

"Because you- you're Quinn Fabray!" Rachel said, almost a little too loudly. "You hate me. All of- of those things you said to me-"

"Shh! Look, I know what I said, and I know what I did, but I've always felt this way. I was just really good at controlling it."

"So what's changed, then?"

"Everything. You, me, all this; nothing is the same. I'm not scared anymore. You showed me that I don't have to be scared anymore."

Tears were swelling in Rachel's eyes now. She was a big crier, but she regretted that at this moment. She didn't want to look weak, but she couldn't help it. "Don't lie to me." She barely said.

"I'm not lying. We're in the bubble, remember?" Quinn smiled, softly.

"So…" Rachel wasn't sure what to say. Her head was spinning. "Are we…" She paused.

Of course she wanted this, ever since the day they kissed she secretly hoped this was what caused it, that by some strange and wonderful miracle, Quinn would feel the way she did, but now that she knew she did, Rachel had no clue what to do with that. It wouldn't be easy. She would always have doubts. What if Quinn decided to go back to the way things were? What is she dyed her hair back to blonde and said she never wanted Rachel? That she was being foolish? The pink in her hair was fading away as the days went by, so what if Quinn's feelings do as well? What if Rachel wasn't what Quinn expected? Rachel knew she didn't deserve Quinn. Quinn was… Quinn. She was amazing and spectacular and beautiful and talented- how could she ever want to be with someone like Rachel when she could do so much better?

Rachel was terrified to ask, but she had to know.

"W-what are we, then?"

"Well, at this point," Quinn bit her lip. "We can be... anything."