A.N. See? You nudge me, I nudge you back…

XX

Santana looked up from her laptop when her cell phone buzzed and she noticed she had a text from Rachel.

I'm completely freaking out

-RB

Santana frowned.

Why? xS

She waited a moment for the reply wondering what the hell Rachel was so worked up about.

I have no idea what to wear…

-RB

Santana laughed out loud, shaking her head as she got up.

I'll be right over. xS

Santana didn't bother to knock as she entered Rachel's apartment and headed for the master bedroom. She rolled her eyes with a smile when she heard music blasting through the apartment, though she was surprised when she didn't hear the diva singing along with it. Instead she found Rachel near tears sitting in the back of her walk-in closet.

"Rach," Santana coaxed softly. "Come on, it's not that bad."

"I'm going to look like an idiot and she won't want to date me," Rachel pouted.

"Sweetie, she wanted to date you in high school and your clothes back then were a train wreck," Santana reminded her with a teasing grin.

"You're not helping," Rachel pointed out, a scowl peeking through her pouty lips.

"I said I was coming over," the Latina clarified with a wink. "Not that I would help."

Rachel frowned, a defeated sigh escaping her lips. Santana rolled her eyes and went poking through the closet. She picked out a tight grey skirt and handed it over. "Here, you have great legs." She then picked out a sleeveless black top and a pair of black heels and handed them both over. "Get dressed and I'll do your make up."

"Thank you," Rachel told her seriously.

Santana nodded with a wink. "Wear that knee-length black coat that you have with this."

Rachel smiled gratefully and began changing once the closet door was closed behind Santana. The diva emerged a moment later and sat on the counter top while Santana applied her make up.

"I'm still freaking out," Rachel admitted.

"Close your eyes," Santana instructed and the other girl obliged. "Why are you still freaking out?"

"What if this is my only chance to win her back?" Rachel mumbled.

"You'll be fine, Rach," Santana assured her. "Look up."

Rachel set her eyes on the ceiling. "Thank you for the help."

"Don't worry about it," Santana said with a smile. "I still remember how happy you made her in high school. I want to see her that happy again."

"I'd like to see you as happy as you were back then," Rachel told her softly. "Don't look at me like that."

Santana rolled her eyes, effectively dropping her glare. "I'm not talking about this. Besides, tonight is about you and Q. Don't screw it up, remember?"

"Thank you for not allowing me the opportunity to alleviate some of my anxiety about my date tonight by focusing on your past love life," Rachel grumbled.

"Anytime, pal," Santana joked with a wink.

She searched through Rachel's hair products and squirted some mousse into her palm and ran her fingers through the other girl's hair, tousling it slightly. "It gives you the 'just been fucked' look without actually having been fucked."

"Um…thanks?" Rachel replied.

"You look totally hot," Santana told her. She made a twirling motion with her finger. "I want to see. Spin around."

Rachel laughed, sliding off the counter and spun in a neat circle. "Are you sure she'll approve?"

"She's gonna be drooling over you, Rach," Santana told her with a nod.

Rachel checked her watch and let out a shaky breath. "I should go. Thank you again. I'm buying you dinner next week."

"Works for me," Santana agreed with a smile. "Go get her."

The two exited the apartment and Rachel locked the door behind her. Santana gave her hand a squeeze as she passed. "Good luck."

"Don't wait up," Rachel grinned.

"I'm telling her you said that," Santana called after her with a laugh.

Rachel stepped on the elevator, then the reality of the moment set in. She was about to go on a real date with her first real love. She'd never been more nervous.

XX

"Hi," Rachel greeted as she approached.

Quinn allowed her eyes to travel the gorgeous form approaching her and a smile quirked her lips immediately. "Hi. You look stunning."

Rachel beamed. "Thank you."

Quinn nodded and leaned in, pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek in greeting. "You're welcome."

"It goes without saying that you look beautiful," Rachel told her as they entered the dark restaurant.

The warmth enveloped them both and both found they were entirely comforted by their surroundings.

"Miss Berry, welcome," the man up front greeted her. He tipped his head to Quinn as well. "Right this way."

"Wow, star treatment," Quinn whispered.

"Gold star treatment," Rachel amended with a giggle.

Quinn smiled and took her seat once they arrived at a very secluded booth in the back of the candlelit restaurant. "This is really nice."

"One of my favorite places," Rachel told her.

They ordered wine when the waitress arrived and sat in comfortable silence as they looked over the menu.

"So how did you start cooking?" Rachel asked as she looked over the menu. "If I remember, you couldn't fry an egg in high school."

"I was terrible," Quinn admitted with a laugh. "I went to Europe after high school. I had no idea what I wanted to do so my parents let me backpack there for a year. I spent a lot of time in Paris and Italy and I basically ate my way through Western Europe. I gained about 15 pounds but when I came home I knew I wanted to cook. I was accepted into the Culinary Institute here in the city and basically worked my way up to head chef."

"That's really amazing," Rachel told her. "What's your favorite cuisine?"

"Italian," Quinn responded immediately. "I could eat pasta every day for the rest of my life and be perfectly satisfied."

"Wow, I guess I got lucky tonight," Rachel grinned.

"I'm so sorry about high school," Quinn blurted out suddenly. "I promised you that I wouldn't hurt you again and I did. I feel terrible about it."

Rachel paused. Quinn had gotten to the serious stuff quicker than she had anticipated and she needed to ready herself for the conversation that was coming. "Quinn, don't apologize for that."

"Rachel, I was terrible to you," Quinn said.

Rachel shook her head. "I grew up with two gay dads so I never really had to give much thought to being gay or straight. I was just allowed to be. I know it wasn't like that for you. I never took your feelings into consideration. So I'm sorry too."

"You are far more forgiving than I deserve," Quinn told her.

"Maybe the second time is a charm," Rachel joked softly with an understanding smile.

"I told my parents," Quinn admitted softly. "I couldn't hide it from them any longer so I told them about you and me when I got back from Europe and they disowned me again. I haven't spoken to them in seven years."

"I'm so sorry," Rachel breathed.

Quinn shrugged. "It's not your fault."

"No," Rachel agreed. "But I'm still sorry you had to put up with so much from them. You deserve better."

"Thank you." Quinn smiled softly. "If it hadn't been you and me it would have been something else that prompted them to kick me out of their lives. It's like they were just waiting for a good enough excuse. Beth was more of an embarrassment to them than they were ever willing to admit."

"I hate that you had to live with that," Rachel said softly.

Quinn shrugged. "We all had to live with things back then."

"What prompted you to tell them?" Rachel asked.

The blonde shrugged, a light blush spreading over her features. "It was strange. I never once even considered that I might like girls. It was just never an option. Then you walked into my life and stole my heart. I dated Chris Howard for a while after you and I broke up but it was never the same. I wasn't on fire the way I was with you. It never really dawned on me until I was at this little place in Italy and I was having drinks at the bar. This girl bought me drinks and flirted with me and she looked so much like you that I wanted to cry. It was in then that I realized I was into girls. But it was also then that I realized no one would ever measure up to you. I told them when I got home. They gave me time to pack and I haven't seen them since."

Rachel sat in stunned silence for a few moments, her eyes welling with tears. "It took me eight years to realize that I will never have with anyone what I had with you."

"So either we're both really pathetic, or we're kind of meant for each other," Quinn responded softly.

"The latter suits me just fine," Rachel told her.

Quinn nodded. "Me too." She took a sip of her wine and met Rachel's eyes, still feeling like they could penetrate her down to her soul. "I still can't believe you're here."

"I want to start over," Rachel told her suddenly. "I want to forget about everything that happened in high school and move on."

Quinn stared at her for a long moment. "Then be prepared for me to fall really hard for you. Again."

Rachel smiled and it nearly broke Quinn's heart. "I am definitely ready."

"Good." Quinn smiled as well and nodded. Her face grew serious as her bottom lip slid between her teeth. "I am too."

Rachel's breath hitched at the look in the other girl's eyes and a feeling washed over in that moment and she knew she was exactly where she was supposed to be. Quinn's admission that she was finally ready for Rachel after all these years was like music to Rachel's ears and she couldn't help the grin that slid over her features.

They sat there grinning like idiots at each other until their food arrived and they chatted about mundane things. It was then that Rachel decided to broach a subject she'd been curious about.

"What's going on with Santana?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Her husband…he creeps me out," the brunette admitted softly.

"Thank you," Quinn exclaimed softly. "I'm so glad I'm not the only one."

"I don't like him."

Quinn shook her head with a sigh. "When Santana and B broke up, S went a little overboard with school. Like she spent all her free time studying and she ended up graduating 3rd in our class. So she went to Columbia and basically threw herself into schoolwork to forget about the giant hole in her chest. B's injury senior year totally threw her too. She basically spent 5 years doing everything in her power to get over B. She didn't even date anyone else."

"She went from Brit to him?" Rachel asked with a frown. Her nose wrinkled. "Talk about downgrade."

Quinn laughed at the brunette's adorable facial expression. "She didn't pay much attention to anyone while she did her undergrad. They met at a bar. It was a Halloween party downtown. Me and S went and she went home with him. The rest is really bad history."

"There's something you're not telling me," Rachel pointed out intuitively.

Quinn nodded. "It's not really my place to tell you."

"She deserves to much better," Rachel mumbled.

Quinn gazed at her for a few moments, tears welling in her eyes. "That right there. That's why I love you so much." Her eyes went wide and a hand slapped over her mouth when she realized what she said.

Rachel grinned. "Sorry I didn't hear you. What was that?"

Quinn's head dropped, the dark of the restaurant hiding her blush. "One thing I've always loved about you is your willingness to forgive people. Santana was nearly as bad to you as I was and you forgave her without a second thought. You forgave both of us."

"People change," Rachel told her simply, her heart still thudding in her chest after Quinn's confession.

"She does deserve better," Quinn mumbled.

"Why won't she leave him?" Rachel wondered.

Quinn shook her head. "She has her own reasons. I know her parents are really traditional and don't believe in divorce. I think she's afraid that they might disown her or something. I told her it's not really that big of a deal." Quinn's lips quirked in a sly grin and Rachel knew she was kidding.

Rachel was silent for a few moments. "So Santana told me you're thinking about opening your own restaurant?"

Quinn shrugged. "I'd like to."

"What's stopping you?" Rachel asked. "Your food is phenomenal and you have some fairly successful friends in the city that could talk it up to generate a good buzz."

"It's a lot of money," Quinn shrugged.

"Santana and I could invest," Rachel suggested. "It wouldn't be everything, but it would certainly help."

"I could never ask," Quinn responded with a shake of her head.

"You didn't," Rachel pointed out.

Quinn shook her head again. "I'm not taking a dime from Santana until she divorces the bastard."

"Well, when she does, I'm definitely interested," Rachel told her seriously.

"Rach-," Quinn started.

Rachel shook her head. "I'm not taking no for an answer."

Quinn laughed. "Fine."

They chatted for a few more minutes until they got their check and once it was paid they headed outside. The night was cooling around them and they walked huddled together down the sidewalk.

"Where are we going?" Rachel asked when she realized the blonde seemed to be leading her somewhere.

"Just come with me," Quinn told her as she pulled her along.

They came to a stop beside a small newsstand and Quinn pointed to it. "This is where I was standing when I realized you'd made it. Your face was on the cover of this art newspaper and the write up called you gorgeous and brilliant and the next big Broadway sensation." She paused. "I was so proud of you because you did everything you always said you were going to do. It may not have been Evita or Funny Girl or Oklahoma but it was Broadway and you were a star." She smiled wistfully. "I bought every one of the papers and sent one to everyone I could think of and I stayed up all night that night staring at your face on the cover. I was so proud but so pissed at myself because in high school I swore I'd be standing next to you when all of your dreams came true and instead I had to stand here and read about them because I was such an idiot."

"You kept your promise," Rachel told her simply, swiping at her tears.

Quinn frowned. "How can you say that?"

"Because Broadway was only part of the dream," Rachel explained as she reached for the blonde's hands. "The rest was me and you. And here you are right beside me when the other half of my dream came true. Just like you always said you would be."

Quinn gazed into the warm, chocolate eyes watching her closely and she knew her heart had picked up right where it had left off with Rachel in high school, the difference being that she was completely open to it and her fear was nonexistent. It shot a rush through her that weakened her knees and caught her breath in her throat.

She was ready.

Quinn noticed the brunette shiver and she smiled and reached for Rachel's hand. "Come on. I'll walk you home." She realized then that she never wanted to let the other girl out of her sight, but they needed baby steps. She wanted to do this right.

She had to do this right.

Rachel smiled and sighed happily as a warm hand slid into hers and she led them towards her apartment.

Ten minutes later she had her back pressed to the door, Quinn's weight settled against her, pinning her to the wooden surface, their lips pressed together in a series of unhurried, deliciously serene kisses.

"Come in," Rachel coaxed gently.

Quinn smiled against her lips and pooled all her self-control for the next few minutes. "I shouldn't."

"Kissing me like that, you should," Rachel insisted, pressing her lips to the blonde's again.

Quinn found herself distracted by the soft lips pressed to hers and she sighed happily and wrapped her hands in soft, dark locks. She pulled away after a moment, pressing her forehead against Rachel's gently. "Rach…"

"Stay," Rachel whispered. "Come in and stay." Forever, she wanted so desperately to add.

Quinn smiled at the undertone of desperation and want on Rachel's voice and she cupped the singer's face in her hands and dropped one gentle kiss on already kiss-swollen lips. "I want to. More than you know. But we should take baby steps."

"Start slow?" Rachel agreed, mild disappointment coloring her voice and only a slight pout poking at her lips.

Quinn nodded, trying to hide the grin threatening to spill over her features at the adorableness of the pout on the other girl. "Is that okay?"

"Of course," Rachel murmured as she fisted her hands in Quinn's coat and pulled her close again. She kissed the blonde softly one more time. "Thank you for dinner."

Quinn nodded, a smile quirking her lips. "Can I take you out again?"

Rachel's lips spread into a slow smile and she nodded her head. "I'd love that."

"Good," Quinn replied, her gaze locked on those dark eyes again. She cupped the brunette's chin affectionately and winked, unable to resist kissing her just one more time. "See you soon."

"Good night," Rachel responded softly, suddenly cursing time for moving seemingly so quickly around them and coaxing the blonde away from her. She watched the blonde move down the hall, who glanced back every so often and once Quinn was on the elevator, Rachel leaned back against her door trying desperately to control the excitement and happiness that seemed to coarse through her.

They were ready.

XX

A.N. I hope you enjoyed! Up next, the big reunion. Lots of you have expressed interest about Santana's situation. It's coming too, I promise. It might not be next chapter but we'll get there! Thanks for reading! Keep up the fantastic nudging! ; )