blaine, rachel, and kurt spend the better part of the next hour singing through the bar's entire karaoke collection. quinn doesn't participate, just sits there sipping her drink and boring holes in rachel's resolve with her eyes. as distracting as that is, though, rachel still feels pretty good. it's been so long since she's sung just for the hell of it.

when she leaves the stage to catch her breath and get another beer, quinn sidles up beside her.

"looks like you're having a good time," she says.

"i am, i think," says rachel, flustered from her buzz and her high from singing and that thing quinn's knowing smirk is doing to her insides.

"you look amazing up there, and you do have a great voice."

"oh, please. we're just messing around. you should join in!"

quinn shakes her head. "i'm not much of a singer. i don't even know why kurt asked me to come, to tell you the truth." rachel feels a flicker of disappointment in the beat before quinn continues, "but i'm glad i did."

just then, kurt and blaine hit the final note of their third celine dion power ballad and come bounding toward them. "alright, ms. streisand," blaine says, "just get up there and belt us one."

"what?" rachel laughs. "no way."

"oh, come on. we're practically the only ones left in here anyway."

"please, rachel," kurt says with mock pleading, giving her an exaggerated pout that rivals even her own.

exasperated, rachel looks to quinn for backup, but quinn sighs and says, "i don't know, rach. i don't think you can say no to that."

rachel sighs, sets down her beer, takes a deep breath, and gets back on the stage. she's not going to sing a streisand song, she knows that much, and certainly not 'don't rain on my parade,' the song she'd always reserved for auditions in the past. instead, she decides on the song she'd been humming to kurt that night in mike chang's yard.

she gives quinn the tiniest of smiles before putting her head down and starting.

whispering; hear the ghosts in the moonlight...

when it's over, kurt has a few tears rolling down his cheeks, and a stunned blaine hands him a napkin to dab them away. quinn suddenly bolts up from her seat, and for a half-second rachel thinks (or maybe just hopes?) that quinn's going to charge up to her and kiss her. kurt and blaine both look over at quinn in confusion, and quinn, who seems to be realizing for the first time that she's on her feet, begins applauding wildly. kurt and blaine join in, though less enthusiastically and clearly, markedly confused by quinn's reaction.

after that, it seems pointless to do anything but go back to the dorm. blaine and kurt stroll along ahead, flirting so adorably that rachel can't help but grin.

"do you mind if i ask you something?" quinn says to her as they round the first corner.

"go ahead," rachel says, good-naturedly.

"with a voice like that...what are you doing here? i mean, why aren't you, you know, on broadway yet?"

rachel stops for a moment and sighs.

"i'm sorry," quinn says, stepping in front of her. "i didn't mean to offend you."

rachel shakes her head and smiles up at quinn. "no, it's fine. it's just...last summer, right after graduation, i had an opportunity...with the touring company of 'west side story.' but...i sort of blew it." she knows she could leave it there and that would be enough. she's told quinn what she wants to know, what she's told most people who have asked about her situation. but something about quinn, about the way quinn makes her feel, makes rachel want to tell her more, tell her everything.

as if she can sense this somehow, quinn looks over her shoulder and sees that kurt and blaine have already crossed onto campus. "do you want to sit down for a second?"

rachel nods wordlessly, and they sit down on a nearby bench.

"i blew it on purpose," she continues at last. her worrying fingers toying with a loose thread at the hem of her shirt. "my girlfriend and i...there were a lot of problems...but i thought if i stayed around and didn't go off on tour...," she trails off and rolls her eyes at herself. "she ended up leaving me anyway. i guess she'd been cheating on me for a while." there's a lump forming in the back of her throat, but she manages to swallow it down. "anyway. i've been trying to get back out there, but...my confidence isn't what it used to be."

they're both quiet for a minute. really quiet. not like the quiet rachel's used to in new york. but something altogether different, more pronounced. then, suddenly, quinn covers rachel's trembling hand with her own. despite the sudden flush rachel feels, the slender, delicate hand in hers seems so strangely natural.

"i'm really sorry, rachel," quinn says, sincerely. "i can only imagine how you must feel. but if tonight's been any indication, i know you'll find something. i mean, you're ridiculously talented and you're certainly an attractive girl."

rachel knows she must have imagined it, the way quinn's voice hesitated over the word attractive.

quinn pulls her to her feet and they start off again toward the dorm, still hand-in-hand. rachel knows she must be blushing like a fool, and her heart is pounding so hard she wonders if quinn can feel it through their connected palms. she steals a glance at quinn's profile as they pass under a streetlight, but quinn, ever the cool one, looks unfazed, with perhaps only the hint of a smirk gracing the corner of her mouth.

"so this ex-girlfriend of yours," quinn says as they near the dormitory, "she's the one that had you and santana doing 'the tango maureen' at mike chang's the other night?"

rachel lets out a melodic laugh. "i guess kurt told you then."

"i guess so," quinn answers, playfully raising her eyebrows.