A.N.: Wow, I certainly wasn't expecting the overwhelming response to my little story. Thank you everyone for giving it a chance! I know that there are concerns over the fact that this was originally written for other characters, but after a great deal of thought I just figured the whole dynamics really fitted Quinn and Rachel to a T. I've definitely been doing a lot of tweaking and re-writing to better suit Faberry and so far the muse has just been on hyper mode. Hopefully everyone will continue to enjoy reading. Anyway, here goes…


Chapter 3: Sense and Sensibility

"What's up with you, Rach? You've hardly said a word since we got home?" Kurt asked as they entered their rented home. The boy placed his bag on the coffee table and plopped down on the couch, looking up at Rachel who also joined him. Tina, Mercedes and Sam had all retreated to their rooms; Tina saying she needed a long, relaxing bath, Mercedes saying she needed her beauty rest, and Sam had to change out of his shirt which had ketchup and mayo smothered all over it from the hamburger he was eating in the car.

"Huh?" Rachel's thoughts wrestled themselves away from a blonde figure who was currently occupying her mind.

"You," Kurt pointed at the brunette, "you're all dreamy and quiet. What's up?"

A flush covered the brunette's cheeks as she looked down at her lap, where her fingers were twisting nervously against one another. Pressing palm against palm, she tried not to think about Quinn, like she'd been doing for the last thirty minutes or so. This is ridiculous, she told herself, going all gooey eyes over someone you don't even know. But she is hot, she reminded herself with a flush. Very hot. And cute. And her smile. And she's got eyes that you could...

"Rach? Earth to Rachel?" Kurt leant forward and snapped his fingers in front of Rachel. Jerking back in the couch, Rachel blinked hastily, drawing in a breath and focusing on her friends. Jesse had walked in and settled down on the seat across them and his bemused silly grin flooded her face with red again, whilst Kurt shook his head and let out a slow breath.

"I'm uh..." she started nervously, wondering if it was really possible for her voice to go that high, "just wondering if..." Stopping, she realized that her sentence was faltering in the middle of nowhere, and she wasn't even sure if she could conjure up an ending for it in the next half hour, never mind the next ten seconds.

"If...?" Jesse raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

"Uh..." Rachel tried again. Nothing. Clamping her lips tight shut she shook her head.

Kurt smiled and folded his arms across his chest. "I see your oral skills are really improving Rach. Your next acting project should be a breeze for you."

"I was thinking about something," Rachel answered defensively.

"Something naughty?" Jesse leaned forward over the table. "Cuz you know, if it is, you can tell me. I'm your best friend."

"Jesse," Kurt slapped him on the arm and frowned as he recoiled in obvious pain. "We both know that if Rachel's going to tell anyone anything remotely naughty, it's going to be me," he said decisively. Leaning over to Rachel, she whispered, "So is it naughty? Ooh! Is there a Hollywood scandal afoot in La La Land that you only know of?"

Rachel couldn't help laughing at her two friends, shaking her head in embarrassment. "No!" she exclaimed, pushing at Kurt's outstretched arm on her lap. "There isn't anything scandalous happening in Hollywood that I know of and I'm certainly not thinking of something naughty," she added, her thoughts flickering back to the blonde she had met earlier.

All I know are her name, she goes to St. Andrews and that she studies art history, she thought sadly, remembering the way the sunlight caught the gold flecks in the honeyed, silken hair that Rachel longed to see again.

"Right, Saint Rachel," Jesse tittered, pushing at Kurt's arm in an attempt to pass on the joke. Throwing him a cursory glance, Kurt frowned then returned his attentions to their friend.

"Come on Rachel, all work and no play..." he trailed off, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"Exactly," Jesse qualified. "And you've been interested in no man or woman in Hollywood or in the normal world inhabited by us mere mortals." A teasing grin plastered across his face. "I mean, all those Hollywood actors knocking at your door and still zilch."

"Oh please," Rachel sighed, pushing out her bottom lip, her thoughts going back to Quinn. Does she even know who I am? What if she's just like everybody else and is just interested in being seen with a celebrity?

Kurt turned to Jesse with a playful smile on his face. "She was interested in you," he pointed out. "But then, I guess that does qualify for the 'no man' thing after all."

Jesse assumed a look of pained offence and put his hand over his chest. "Once again, Hummel," he rolled his eyes back as though terribly hurt, "you manage to destroy my manliness in a single phrase."

"That was a sentence," Rachel intoned, almost without thinking. Her thoughts went back to Quinn again, her brows drew together painfully. She couldn't quite fixate on what it was that attracted her to the blushing yet engaging Brit. But whatever it was, she wanted to explore it. Fully. Wholly.

"Well this non-man has to go and feed his non-manly exhaustion with a good few hours of sleep otherwise we really will be having a grumpy and none-too-happy non-man in the house," Jesse said, rising from the sofa, and offering a smiling apology to the two girls seated.

Kurt got to his feet as well. "Yeah, I gotta go call my dad if he wants anything while we're here." Straightening his shirt, he looked down at Rachel. "You coming with? I'm sure he'll be glad to hear from you," he asked.

"No," Rachel felt a faint glimmer of hope as her two friends gathered their things from the room. "I'm going to..." her gaze drifted down to a pile of books, resting at the feet of the coffee table. "Read!" she finished triumphantly. "I'm going to read," she said again, more assuredly.

"Catch you later then?" Kurt asked, receiving a nod from the brunette. Flashing Rachel a brilliant smile, he pushed Jesse playfully to hurry his ass up and the two disappeared up the stairs, leaving a distinctly not unhappy Rachel alone in the living room. For a moment, Rachel just sat there, confused about the mixed up emotions she had about her encounter with Quinn, before sighing heavily and leaning down to pick up a copy of the latest Harry Potter book.

Oh well, nothing like wizardry and witchcraft to ease your mind off a girl.


Quinn stumbled wearily through the door of her rather spacious farmhouse that she shared with Brittany and Puck a few kilometers away from St. Andrews. They fell in love with the place after a rather talkative realtor showed them around two days after they had returned from their semester break last year. They had originally moved into a luxurious flat near St Andrews' golf course, but proved too accessible to tourists who camped outside to catch a glimpse of the Princess. So they decided to look elsewhere, and their search had led them to the outskirts of the Fife town where they were given more privacy.

The ceilings were open beamed and the sunlight that filtered in through the windows gave the whole place a rather open and airy quality. There was enough space in the large downstairs lounge for any get-togethers or parties they would decide to throw and the heated hardwood floor finish in all 4 of the upstairs bedrooms were like a dream come true for those long, winter nights. What she adored, as did Brittany, however, was the spacious, trimmed garden in the backyard that opened out to the serene lush farmland if they so chose. The realtor was a little shocked when Quinn told her that they would take it right then and there.

Quinn had decided to head on home without her flat mates, and she had to bribe her way out of going to the party celebration the Rat Packs were throwing after the game. Oh well, paying for movie night was well worth the alone time she desperately needed. She kicked off her shoes on her way to the living room and threw her keys on the coffee table and plopped herself down in comfortably on the couch by a pair of sliding French doors. Quinn wanted to use the time to think and replay every second she had with Rachel.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, the brunette's face as visible in her mind as if she was standing right in front of her. She remembered her voice and how she had smiled at her. She remembered the way she played with her hair and laughed as they made idle conversation while waiting for their food. And she remembered how the other girl looked when she saw her again that morning, wearing a baseball cap almost hiding her gorgeous face. Most of all, she remembered how people looked at her and how captivated they seemed to be at seeing such an ethereal beauty, turning their heads whenever she walked past a group of chattering students. She looked like one of those models that graced the cover of Vogue or Elle, and she was sure she'd seen her somewhere before.

But where? Where have I seen her? She's so familiar yet I can't quite pin-point it.

After a moment's silence, Quinn chose to head straight for the bathroom to indulge in one of her favorite guilty pleasures – taking a long, luxurious bubble bath. She made a quick pit stop at the kitchen to pick up the half-empty bottle of wine she and her flat mates had tucked away last night after supper.

Once upstairs in the bathroom, she poured herself a glass of the Pinot Noir, placed the bottle on the marble countertop, and set about filling the clawfoot tub with hot water and bubble bath. She turned on the water to full stream and went into the bedroom in search of her iPod. "Hmmm... I think this one will suit nicely," she murmured as she scrolled through the various albums in her music library.

She gathered up a few candles along with her iPod and made her way back to the nearly full tub. After lighting the candles and slipping the mp3 player into the dock on the counter, Quinn re-filled her glass with more wine and slid into the mix of heat and bubbles with a contented sigh. The gentle acoustic guitar followed by the singer's voice drifted in, the words sung slowly, softly soon filling the bathroom with relaxing mood music.

Found myself today singin' out loud your name
You said I'm crazy, if I am I'm crazy for you

Quinn sighed as her thoughts went back to Rachel. She closed her eyes, leaning back into the warm tub as she let the lyrics of the song wash over her.

Sometimes sittin' in the dark wishin' you were here turns me crazy
But its you who makes me lose my head

Well, no truer words were ever spoken, Quinn reflected. She took another sip from her glass and closed her eyes to savor her surroundings as her brain tried hard to make sense of all the mixed emotions she was currently feeling overwhelmed with. On one hand, she would love to do nothing more than get lost in all thoughts of Rachel, but then there was that nagging feeling at the back of her head telling her otherwise and how much of a waste her daydreaming would just end up being.

And every time I'm meant to be acting sensible
You drift into my head and turn me into a crumblin' fool

Quinn bit her lip thoughtfully at that last verse. It was true, all she needed was a small glimpse of Rachel - of her hair, of her smile, and she was gone.

Rachel was absolutely heavenly, so beautiful and beyond the cover girls and famous runway models. Quinn decided she had to see her again, and as soon as possible. But how? She didn't know where she was staying, nor did she give Quinn her number.

You should have given yours! Quinn scolded herself slightly. All she knew was that the brunette was here on vacation, that she had gone to the tournament to see a friend, and that she studied several thousand miles away across the Atlantic Ocean. She didn't even know her last name!

I keep on tryin' fightin' these feelings away
But the more I do the crazier I turn into
Pacin' floors and openin' doors
Hopin' you'll walk through and save me
Because I'm too crazy for you, crazy for you

Wonderful, Quinn thought glumly. Even if she did make a search on her, how many thousands of Rachels could there possibly be and even if she did manage to seek her out, she just couldn't show up at her doorstep or follow her around like a stalker. Princess or no princess, she was pretty sure she'd have Scotland Yard after her.

Then what? Quinn kneaded her temple and groaned. So far, she'd just met the girl of her dreams and she had no clue as to where to find her or even contact her. Rubbing the heel of her hand against her forehead, she closed her eyes and leant backward, dipping her head onto the lavender-scented aromatherapy bubbles. "I have every resource at the tip of my fingertips yet I don't know where to begin," she mumbled to the room.