Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"

A/N: So the idea of this being a brief epilogue kind of went out the door and if I'm not mistaken it's actually the longest chapter of the story. Basically, once I had Quinn say that she cared about Nationals, I sort of felt compelled to pay that off. I hope that this is all self evident as you read but the plain text takes place in the present during the days leading up to and through Nationals, the italics are flashbacks to the weeks between Quinn's waking up and the present.

Face It. Quinn's Not Coming

Epilogue

"We should really be rehearsing right now," Rachel said. It was just after one o'clock and she was lying out on the beach in the bright sun in Miami in this dark blue bikini that Santana had insisted she buy for the trip. Santana had actually been doing a lot of insisting on the clothes she buy recently, but Rachel didn't really mind because she did kind of look really hot in most of the things Santana picked out and she found she enjoyed looking hot, or rather the effect that her looking hot had on a certain blonde girlfriend of hers. So anyway, lying out, Surfside Beach, Miami, Florida, 48 hours away from the first round of Nationals. Beside her was her girlfriend, Quinn Fabray… Rachel loved the sound of those words… and her newest best friends Santana and Brittany.

"Oh my God, Berry," Santana said, "We have fucking rehearsed, okay? I never in my life thought I would long for the days when Sue wanted to destroy Glee Club, but after the last six weeks…"

X X X

"Excuse me, Coach Sylvester," Rachel said knocking on Sue's open door.

"What can I do for you, Rachel?" Sue said leaning back in her chair. Rachel didn't move or say anything. "Come on in. Did you need something?"

"I'm sorry," Rachel said, "I'm just unaccustomed to you addressing me by my given name. I wished to speak with you today because Mr. Schuester informed me that you had offered your assistance with Glee Clubs coming trip to Nationals."

"I have," Sue said, "Something in the hormones I'm taking to maintain my pregnancy has made me want to be a nicer person, and quite frankly that confuses and disgusts me on a deeply personal level but I've never been one to fight Mother Nature, so I'm available."

Rachel stopped herself from pointing out that the hormones that were causing to behavior in this way were in fact her fighting Mother Nature. Sue was being nice and was offering to help achieve her goals so who was she to tell her otherwise. "Good," Rachel said, "That's good, and congratulations on your little bundle of joy."

"Thanks," Sue said with a smile that looked genuinely sincere, which just made it all the more disconcerting, "So what can I do for you?"

"As you may know we're two months out from Nationals and we aren't ready…"

X X X

"Glee Club boot camp was enough," Quinn said, "We're ready and even if we aren't, we don't have a rehearsal hall reserved until 5. Our choreography is too elaborate for any of the rooms, so we really couldn't rehearse right now if we wanted to. Just relax and enjoy the sun."

X X X

"So," Finn said standing up in front of the club, "I think at Nationals Rachel and I should do a duet."

"NO!" came the resounding answer from everyone who hadn't joined the club this year.

"What, why not?" he said.

"Why not?" Santana said incredulously, "How about because you're not over her and none of us trust you not to do something monumentally stupid like you did last year? How about the fact that now that we know the Changster has a set of pipes on him absolutely every guy in the club is a better singer than you? How about despite Mike and Shue's booty camp at the beginning of the year and Berry and Sue's practices, you still can't dance worth a damn? Or how about this? When you and Rachel don't sing a duet at competition we're 5 for 5 but when you do we're 0 for 2. You're like a giant lumbering fucking jinx."

"God, you don't have to be such a bitch, Santana," Finn said, "Words hurt."

"Oh, really? You mean words like 'why don't you come out of the closet'? Do those words hurt? I tell you what, Lumps, sit down, shut up, let the adults work, and if you're really nice and manage to not out anyone in the next six weeks, we'll let you, Rory the Leprechaun, and The White Lenny Kravitz stand in the back and do the wrong dance steps while those of us who have actually worked to improve ourselves in the last three years win a National Championship that you can spend the rest of your life talking about as though you actually helped."

"And what are you gonna do if I don't sit down and shut up?" Finn said puffing up his chest.

"Then I'm gonna kidnap you out of you house in the dead of night, take you to this abandoned warehouse up Lima Heights way where I have a surgical theater set up, and my Papi and I will rip your fucking spinal cord out and give it to Artie, because I'm pretty sure that even though he hasn't walked in almost a decade he'd still be a better dancer than you."

"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late," Mr. Schuester said breezing into the room, "What did I miss?"

X X X

"Santana, Mercedes, can I speak with you please?" Rachel asked.

"What's up?" Mercedes responded.

"As you well know, there was a deal negotiated between yourselves and Quinn to get you to come back to New Directions after Sectionals, a deal in which you would get one performance slot at every competition, and rest assured I have no intention of going back on that, a deal is a deal. You two, Brittany, and Sugar will have your slot. However, if the rest of the Troubletones wish to join us in Miami then they need to start attending Glee Club regularly."

"Why," Santana said, "aside from The Mack, they're all Cheerios, they're all great dancers."

"Excellent," Rachel responded, "then they can contribute to the group. Help those that need the help with the choreography. In return, they can receive help improving their vocals. Hopefully that will foster a sense of camaraderie between them and New Directions and some of them will stay on next year when we've all gone."

"Next year?" Mercedes echoed.

"Yes, Mercedes, though I am looking forward to moving to New York that does not mean that I'm not concerned with the fate of our Glee Club. There are currently sixteen members of New Directions and ten of us are due to graduate in just over a month. With Rory due to be deported at the end of the school year, that leaves Mr. Schuester with Blaine, Tina, Artie, Sugar, and Joe. If we could retain the four Troubletones not set to graduate that would make his job of filling out the club next year all the easier."

"Look I can lay down the law with the Cheerios," Santana said, "They'll be there, but you can't force The Mack to do anything she doesn't want to do. How your mom got her on The Troubletones in the first place is beyond me."

"Don't worry about her," Rachel said, "I've got my best girl on that."

X X X

"Mack, can I talk to you?" Quinn said.

The Mack didn't respond, there wasn't time to before Shelia and Ronnie stood to confront Quinn. "Well, if it isn't our wayward fourth," Shelia said, "What happened, Q? You get lost on your way to the bathroom, fall in a bottle of peroxide, and accidently wander your way back to class?"

"You stink like soap, Quinn," Ronnie said.

"Be as mad as you want at me," Quinn said, "because I walked out on this dead end you guys have built and convinced yourselves that you want. I made peace with myself and my past. I let go of my demons and made a future for myself, and I'm not sorry. I am in a good place in my life. I'm sorry that you're not, but you are not going to make me feel bad about myself because I am. It isn't stupid to have dreams, no matter how much life has disappointed you."

"Disappointed?" The Mack said from behind the other two girls who were suddenly pushed aside by the smaller girl. "Disappointed? That word doesn't even begin to cover it and you know that! My folks… they may not have thrown me out like yours did, but there's more than one way for parents to be heartless. Do you know how many times anyone in my family has even spoken to me in the last three years? I wouldn't even need both hands to count them. They honestly don't care if I live or die at this point."

"So to get back at them, you're going to sit down here and ruin any chance you have at doing something with your life, of getting away from them? How long are you going to let the actions of others define you?" The Mack just stared at Quinn with fire in her eyes, "I'm sorry that your family has abandoned you. I can't imagine how terrible it is walking around that house just being ignored, but I'll tell you something that I learned in Glee Club. When the family you're born into abandons or lets you down, you have to find yourself a new family. Glee Club can be that family for you, Mack, but you have to let us. If you want to go to Nationals with us and perform with The Troubletones, and I know you do, then you have to start showing up to rehearsals. You're an amazing dancer. Glee Club's going to need you next year, and I think you could use some people in your life who love you and want to see you succeed. You aren't going to find them down here."

"Oh Hell, no," Ronnie said, "Bad enough you turned on us, but you think you can turn The Mack on us too?"

"Damn right," Shelia said, "The Mack's ours. You can fuck off back to Rich Bitch Land if you want but stop trying to tear us apart."

"Why are you still here, Shelia?" Quinn asked, "You turned eighteen back in January. What happened to all the things you said you were going to do once you didn't have to 'waste your life in school anymore'? Huh? Why are you still down under the bleachers smoking and talking a load of bull about things you aren't going to do? Ronnie, you'll be eighteen in a couple of weeks, how's that road trip shaping up? Got any money saved up? Bus tickets? Have you even bought a travel guide yet? The Mack isn't yours or anyone else's. Mack, you've got another year before you can drop out… two if you actually want to graduate. You can waste your life down here smoking or you can try to make something of yourself. If you want to be a Troubletone be in the choir room at 3 o'clock today and every day."

X X X

"Why do I have to room with you?" Santana asked.

"Because," Rachel replied, "There's a certain behavioral expectation that the school requires Mr. Schuester to enforce on trips such as these and simply dividing boys and girls obviously isn't sufficient this year. Hence you are here with me, Brittany is with Sugar, and Quinn is with Tina, and you are absolutely not allowed to sneak out of here in the night to go hook up with Brittany because that would force Sugar and I to occupy the same space for a prolonged period of time and I might, in that instance, kill her."

Santana sighed and said, "No, it's fine. Britt's probably having a blast rooming with Sugar anyways. They're probably painting toenails and braiding hair and all that other sleepover shi-stuff that Sugar never got to do."

Rachel didn't really know what to say so she returned to her computer, trying to commit the layout of New York City to memory so that she didn't need a map when she moved there. "Look, Berry, if I can't sneak off to Britt's, you have to help me stay entertained."

"Okay," Rachel said, "Normally I would suggest singing, but I think musically we should stay focused on our songs."

"Agreed," Santana said, "So just talk, have you and Q gone to Vaginatown yet?"

"Oh my dear God," Rachel said, "that is ridiculously personal."

"Well, I suppose that answers that question," Santana said, "What's the hold up?"

Now it was Rachel's turn to sigh since she knew that Santana wasn't going to let this subject drop, "Quinn," she said, "Quinn's not ready. I want to but I suspect she has lingering body image issues, from the accident, from being pregnant…"

"That shit's all in her head. She looks fucking amazing," Santana interjected. Rachel hiked an inquisitive eyebrow, "What? We're Cheerios. We change clothes in front of each other every day. This is not new or news and try as I might to be respectful of boundaries and shit, I still occasionally look. Unless she's doing some world class cover-up of scars…"

"She has two scars," Rachel said, "One on the outside of her wrist, one above her eyebrow and both are so barely noticeable that basically you have to be me to find them, and I'm certain that I've made abundantly clear that I do not care about them."

"So then it's all in her stupid head," Santana said, "You need to find a way past that, and I'm not saying you need to go all boy on her and demand sex or whatever, but you need to work out a plan to get it in before you guys leave for college."

"What? Why then?"

"Because right now she's all gunshy about sex or whatever," Santana explained, "But Yale is like one of the most pro-gay schools in the country. Q's three months away from being surrounded by tens of thousands of people that all give exactly zero shits that she's gay. A couple of months around all of that and she's gonna get curious about things and you're gonna be two hours away. I love Quinn like a sister, but she doesn't exactly hold the gold medal in fidelity."

"That was different…"

Santana cut her off, "No, you need to listen…"

"NO!" Rachel countered, "You need to listen! I'm sorry for shouting but you didn't really leave me much choice. I appreciate that you are trying to help. I can honestly see that your heart is in the right place, but you are stomping on some very sensitive issues for us. This is not my place to say this, but her past indiscretions are different because Quinn's gay."

"Uh, duh," Santana said.

"I mean that to say that she's like you, 100% lesbian, with zero interest in men," Rachel elaborated, "Which means that she didn't love Finn or Sam. She loves me. I know she does. I can feel it every time we kiss. Of course, I worry that she'll stray, because she's Quinn Fabray, the most heavenly, amazing creature on this Earth, and I have some fairly big inferiority issues when it comes to romantic relationships… but not because of some high school romance that she didn't care about."

"So you guys have talked about this?" Santana asked.

"At some length, yes," Rachel responded.

"Okay, another subject then?"

"Please, something less serious."

"So you're going to NYADA, that's gotta be pretty exciting," Santana said, "Sucks that Kurt didn't get in."

"It is exciting for me and unfortunate for Kurt, but Carnegie Mellon is an amazing program," Rachel said, "Kurt will do very well for himself there. I just know it."

"Yeah, just… I know you guys had your sights set on rooming together all through school and whatever," Santana said.

"Yes, well, a wise woman once told me that life isn't a fairy tale," Rachel said, "You're pre-law at Columbia?"

"Criminal justice and political science undergrad," Santana said, "before law school, but yeah."

"What's your living arrangement? I assume you and Brittany are going to get a place," Rachel said.

"That's sorta up in the air. It's still to be seen if Britts is even gonna get to come with me right away, why?"

"Well, I ask because my fathers and I got a little ahead of ourselves and signed a lease on a two bedroom before we found out that Kurt was bound for Pittsburgh, so now I'm facing the prospect of finding a roommate and there's just something about rooming with a stranger that I don't find appealing at all."

"Are you asking me to move in with you?" Santana asked.

"Something to consider," Rachel said.

X X X

Quinn sighed, "Rachel, please don't hate me, but I don't think I can do this." Rachel's jaw dropped as shock spread over her face. "Oh my God," Quinn said quickly realizing how that sounded, "The song! I can't do the song! We are beyond good, I promise."

"God, Quinn, you nearly gave me a heart attack," Rachel said, "In the future, please consider at length all bad news that you have to give me and think of all possible ways to phrase it, then choose the one that sounds least like you are breaking up with me."

"I am so sorry," Quinn said.

"You are forgiven," Rachel said, "and while I understand that the prospect of doing an Adele song can be intimidating, 'One and Only' is well within your vocal range."

"No, it's not that," Quinn said, "It's just… it's too much of a love song, and please don't think that I'm ashamed of you, Rachel, because I'm not and never will be. It has nothing to do with being gay. I'm just not comfortable putting that much of myself out there for the world to see."

"Says the woman who's majoring in Drama next year," Rachel said.

"Yes, but that's different," she said, "I won't be on stage as Quinn Fabray then. I'll be Roxie Hart or whoever. Rachel, I want to sing lead with you, more than you know, but I…"

"Relax, Quinn, it's fine," Rachel said with a warm smile so that Quinn knew she meant it, "We can find something else. I'm certain that The Troubletones would gladly take over on Adele. Did you have something else in mind for us?"

"Yeah, I was thinking, you said you sang to me while I was in the hospital."

"You want to do 'Shake it Out'?"

"Not that song specifically, but I was thinking that we could stick with Florence and the Machine," Quinn said, "'Rabbit Heart' has a good amount of backing vocals for the rest of the club to participate so that it's not just the two of us dominating Nationals."

"Sounds good," Rachel said.

"I really am sorry about this," Quinn said.

"Don't be," Rachel said, "If this relationship is going to last beyond high school, which I very much want, then I need to make a habit of taking your needs and considerations into account when I plan things. You've been so good about accounting for my needs. I am happy to do this for you and for us."

"Thanks, Rach," Quinn said.

X X X

"Alright, good work everyone," Mr. Schuester said, "We're going to take a fifteen minute break here in just a second, but first Quinn and Santana had something they wanted to say to everyone so please give them you undivided attention, please."

"Okay, so listen and listen good," Santana said, "Last year at Nationals there was an incident on stage that knocked us out of the Top Ten. I'm not going to get into it right now, but if you want to know, ask someone who was here. They'll tell you."

"In an effort to prevent a repeat of this," Quinn said, "we're instituting a rule. If you'll look at your watches or cell phones or whatever you use to keep track of time, you'll notice that it is coming up on 3:00 which means we're just over a day away from our performance slot of 3:30. So as of 3:15 pm tomorrow and running until every last one of us is off stage we are instituting a zero tolerance No Kissing Policy."

"So you've got twenty four hours," Santana said, "If you're here with your honey or there's an ex you're trying to win back or there's just someone you think you might want you've got tonight to work that shit out. If after 3:15pm tomorrow I see you even look like you're thinking about getting your mack on, I will cut you. Any forlorn or longing looks at any ex's and I will cut you. There are razor blades all up in my hair. If you think I'm joking just try me."

"Any unprofessionalism on any of your parts and you will be summarily yanked from performance and packed on the earliest flight back to Lima," Quinn said, "Look around you, there are 24 of us now. We can still go on with as few as twelve members, so there's a lot of room to make cuts."

X X X

"I just know that I'm going to be far too energized to sleep," Rachel said. They were out to dinner at the nicest restaurant that they could afford (which just so happened to be in the hotel they were staying in), dressed to kill. The four of them were on what Santana made perfectly clear was not a double date, because double dates are lame and and girly and whatever. They were just four friends out to dinner...four friends that happened to be two couples in a romantic restaurant.

"It's okay to be nervous, Rach," Quinn said.

"That's just it," Rachel said, "I'm not nervous. I'm excited. This time last year we had no set list, no choreography, and I wasting time on a date with Finn."

"And we were having a pillow fight," Quinn said.

"Though, I must say as big a waste of time as that date was, I'll never regret it because I got to meet one of my idols that night Ms Patti Lupone," Rachel said.

"I didn't know that," Quinn said.

"Was that awesome?" Santana asked.

"Beyond awesome. Beyond anything I could have hoped from the experience. She made me promise to never give up," Rachel said. After a moment Rachel's eyes bulged in sudden realization, "I almost did," she said, "I almost gave up. I almost let down Patti Lupone."

"But you didn't," Brittany said.

"Yeah, we're back at Nationals and you're on your way to New York," Quinn said.

"Thanks to you," Rachel said, "If it weren't for you I'd have been Mrs. Finn Hudson right now and I'd be miserable and lying to myself about that fact."

"Well as flattered as I am," Quinn replied, "I'd like to think that you'd have figured it out by yourself." Rachel leaned over towards Quinn and crooked her finger at her. Quinn leaned into her and kissed her, softly at first but growing little by little.

"Aight, you two get a room," Santana said, "Actually, yeah, now that I say it go do that. Go to upstairs to your room and put some dents in that mattress. Work off some of her excess energy because if she's spun up like a top all night, I'm not gonna be able to deal."

Rachel broke off the kiss and started ranting before her eyes were fully open, "Santana, you are the epitome of crass. We will most certainly-"

She was cut off by Quinn's lips on her cheek briefly before she pulled back only slightly and whispered, "You want to?"

Rachel looked at her suddenly wide eyed and whispered back, "Do you want to?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't," said Quinn breathily right in Rachel's ear.

"Brittany, Santana, please enjoy the remainder of your evening," Rachel said suddenly dragging Quinn bodily out of the restaurant.

Santana giggled at them as they were leaving while Brittany got into her purse. Santana said, "I didn't think they'd actually do it." She glanced over and saw Brittany, "Who are you texting?"

"Tina," Brittany said, "telling her that she's rooming with Sugar tonight since I don't figure they're gonna stop once they get started."

"With Sugar?"

"Totally," Brittany said, "Faberry's not gonna be the only ones having their sexy times tonight."

X X X

Just before midnight there came a knock on Santana and Rachel's door. "Bed check," Mr. Schuester called through the door.

"This ought to be fun," Santana said just before opening the door. "Hey, Mr. Shue."

"Hey, Santana," he replied, "I just need to verify that Rachel's here."

"She's not," Santana said flatly.

"She's not? Well do have any idea where she is?"

"Yeah, she's with Q."

"And what are Quinn and Rachel doing?" he asked.

"Gee, I don't know, Mr. Shue," Santana said, "I couldn't really begin to guess what two teenagers in love are doing alone with each other in a locked hotel room. Do you have any ideas about that, Britts?" Santana called back over her shoulder.

"Um, Rach and Q are both totally smart, they could be playing Scrabble," Brittany said, "or maybe they made a sheet fort, that's always fun, but mostly they probably just had sex."

"They… I'm… I can't let them…" Mr. Schuester fumbled for words.

"Yeah," Santana began, "Well let me drop some knowledge on you. It's now midnight. They went running off upstairs about 8:15, so by my count they've had about three, almost four hours to do all manner of things you're supposed to stop them from doing, and not to go all TMI on you but so have we. Look on the bright side though, between Britts and me, Rachel and Q, you have zero chance of anyone winding up pregnant and little chance of anyone catching an STD, and strictly speaking Mr. Motta paid for all this, not the school."

"It's still a school trip, Santana," he said.

"Well, okay, fine. Then it's your call Mr. Shue," Santana said, "You can suspend all four of us from competition and lose the leads of both of your songs with, what, fifteen hours until show time because consenting adults in loving, committed relationships had sex with one another, or you let it go, and while you're contemplating those options, go ahead and tell me that you and the future Mrs. Shue aren't getting Freaky OCDeaky in your room."

Mr. Schuester sighed and held up his clipboard. "Just tell me who is in which room."

"Brittany's here with me, obvs, Berry's with Q in her and Tina's room, and Tina's crashing with Sugar in her and Britts' room," Santana said, "Although I can't actually verify that last part."

"Oh yeah," Brittany said, "Tina could have gone to Mike's room instead."

"Which would put Sugar and Blaine together," Santana supplied as Mr. Schuester made notes.

"Unless Blaine went to be with Kurt," Brittany said.

"That would mean Sugar's with Mercedes."

"Unless Mercedes is with Sam."

"Which would mean Sugar and Finn."

"Unless Finn's with… no, Finn's not with anyone," Brittany concluded, "Oh but Sugar could be with Rory."

"Of course," Santana confirmed, Mr. Shue still furiously scribbling, "That would mean Finn and Joe."

"That would be cool," Brittany said, "Then Finn could totally tell Joe about how he spent a week praying to a grilled cheese sandwich… or Sugar could have decided she likes Artie better and gone to be with him."

"Which would mean Finn and Puck, and they could have a long heart-to-heart about how all of their ex-girlfriends are gay for each other," Santana said, "Basically, Mr. Shue, you're just going to have to go door-to-door, but remember the rule: if you see a sock, don't knock."

"I thought it was scarves," he replied.

"Yeah," Santana said, "because we all brought scarves to Miami in late May. Goodnight Mr. Shue."

"Goodnight, Santana."

When the door closed Brittany said, "You were totally right that was fun. Now come back to bed."

Mr. Schuester found four socks that night. Eventually by process of elimination he figured out who was where before he finally retired back to his and Emma's room for the night.

X X X

The whooping and hollering of a performance high echoed around New Directions' green room. Hugs and high five and fist bumps we being traded all around, kisses as well, now that embargo had been lifted. "Mack?" Rachel said

"Hey, Berry, great job out there," Mack said, "Florence one of my favs."

"Thank you very much," Rachel said, "You were phenomenal out there as well. You are a very talented dancer. I hope you choose to stick with Glee Club next year. You would be a great asset to the team."

"Did Quinn tell you to say that?" The Mack asked.

"Quinn? No, why?"

"I don't know it's just a lot of the same things she said to me when she convinced me to show up for rehearsals. 'Glee Club needs you, and you need them' type stuff."

"Oh, well the club certainly does and not knowing your personal situation, I'll just say Quinn is very wise and doles out advice sparingly and you'd do well to listen. I've disregarded her advice in the past and while I haven't always regretted it, I know that I'd have been happier if I'd listened. Take that for what you will."

"Thanks," The Mack said.

X X X

"Mr. Shue, we can't see," Finn said.

"Please tell me we placed this year," Kurt said.

"I assure you it's not a matter of if but where," Rachel said.

"Eighth," Mr. Schuester said turning to face them again, "Congratulations guys and girls, you are the number eight seed in Showcase tomorrow." Another round of whooping and hollering ensued. "Alright, alright, alright. I know you're all eager to go celebrate, but a quick bit of business. Performance order is last goes first so at eighth seed, we are going third which means 11:00am, so bad news, good news. The bad news is that practice starts at 8 so everyone has to be up ready to go no later than 7:30. That means I'm calling lights out at 10 tonight instead of midnight and everyone will be in the room they were assigned when we arrived at that time." There was a round of groans from the couples. "Now for the good news, we'll be done tomorrow before noon, so you'll have the entire rest of the day to yourselves."

X X X

"Are you even the tiniest bit sleepy?" Santana asked.

"Not remotely," Rachel replied.

"So how many times did you and Q..?"

"Not answering that," Rachel cut her off, "I don't know what you were about to ask for sure, but I am certain that I will not answer it."

"Aww, but come on," Santana said.

"I'll say this and then we're finding a new subject," Rachel said firmly, "I finally get what the big deal is about sex. I didn't before."

"Lame," Santana said, "Okay, so what do you want to talk about?"

"How exactly did we become friends?" Rachel asked, "Not that I'm complaining mind you, just curious."

"I dunno," Santana said, "I mean, for me it wasn't any one thing, I don't think. It kind of started with West Side Story. We spent weeks pretending to be best friends so some of it rubbed off. Then there was the whole drama of being outed. You were there when that creepy Josh fuck was getting all up in my business."

"We all were," Rachel said.

"Yeah, but, y'know, Britt was there cuz she was my girlfriend. Q was there cuz she's one of my closest friends. Cedes and me had bonded over Troubletones stuff. Sugar like hero worships me. Tina is big time homeys with Britt, so me and her are friends by association. You were the only one there that I'd never given a reason to stick up for me and every reason not to. After that I guess I kinda took a step back from things and looked at some facts. Brittany likes you when you aren't being controlling, self-centered, and crazy which you haven't done for a while and Quinn's fucking in love with you. They're pretty much the two smartest people I know, so I figured maybe there was something to it and I should give you a second chance. After being in the Troubletones and having an outlet to let me deal with the frustration of being constantly overshadowed by you, I guess I could see that you can be kind of cool if given a chance to calm down."

"So do you consider us friends, then?" Rachel asked.

"Y'know, Berry, generally speaking that's a question you might have thought to ask before inviting me to live with you in a couple of months," Santana said, "Speaking of which, have you and Q talked about this?"

"About you moving in with me? Yes," Rachel replied.

"And she's cool with it?"

"Yes," Rachel confirmed, "she understands that a) you're far too whipped to ever step out on Brittany and b) even if you did, you're not my type."

"Bitch, I'm everybody's type," Santana retorted.

"But you don't deny being whipped?"

X X X

"Okay, now I'm nervous," Rachel said. It was ten minutes before show time. Ten minutes before the last time the original New Directions were going to perform together… possibly ever.

Quinn took Rachel's hand in hers, "Rach, baby, it's okay to be nervous but you really shouldn't be. We are so ready for this." Rachel beamed at her brightly. "What?"

"You called me baby," Rachel said, "You've never done that before. I like it."

Santana huffed and rolled her eyes, "Gag me."

"San, be nice," Brittany said.

"You gots this, Berry," Santana said.

"You so do," Brittany agree.

"You're going to be amazing," Quinn said.

"We are going to be amazing," Rachel corrected.

X X X

"I think we should do another featured dance number," Rachel said, "We need to distinguish ourselves from all the competition and I think in honor of Quinn's recovery, she, Santana, and Brittany should take center stage at Nationals. One last ride for The Unholy Trinity, so to speak."

"Okay, firstly, Berry" Santana said, "The end of high school isn't the end of The Unholy Trinity. If there were a million miles between us, we'd still be besties for life and we'd still find our way back to each other." Santana pulled something out of her bag and started unfolding it. "That ain't gonna happen though because this bitch just got a little piece of paper that says I'm going to fucking Columbia!" There was a round of cheers from the whole room. "And secondly, we'll burn that damn stage up."

"We'll dance lead," Brittany said, "But everyone should be involved, New Directions and The Troubletones."

"With our star performer singing lead," Quinn said looking at Rachel, "We'll beat Vocal Adrenaline at their own game."

Rachel smiled, "Which song?"

Kurt was the first one to speak up, "Gaga."

X X X

"Go be a star… baby," Quinn whispered.

Rachel walked out to stand center stage and a moment later the curtain drew back. When it was done, she sang, "I'm gonna marry the night." The rest of the club began to file in as quietly as possible from both sides of the stage. "I won't give up on my life. I'm a warrior queen. Live passionately tonight." The group made their way to their places and began the slow sway of the early choreography. Rachel walked up to the edge of the stage and continued, "I'm gonna marry the dark. Gonna make love to the stark. I'm a soldier to my own emptiness. I am a winner."

Rachel walked backwards as Santana, Brittany, and Quinn moved up to meet her. "I'm gonna marry the night. I'm gonna marry the night. I'm gonna marry the night." The beat kicked up and the group followed the tempo. Their routine was elaborate, but well rehearsed and the audience started applauding wildly. In that moment, Rachel had no need of her stage smile since it couldn't have been as bright as the sincere one on her face. She knew they were going to win. "I'M GONNA MARRY… THE NIGHT!" she belted out.

X X X

"I love you like this," Quinn said lying on their bed watching Rachel half dressed dancing giddily around the room, "I mean, I love you always, but especially when you're like this. Did you get into the coffee while I was out?"

"You think I needed any more stimulation?" Rachel asked, "We won Nationals, we had possibly the best vegan pizza ever for lunch, and then I put you into a sex coma. How could coffee top that?"

"We haven't won Nationals yet," Quinn said.

"Yes we have," Rachel countered, "They just haven't announced it yet."

"You seem pretty sure for someone who didn't watch any of the other finalists."

"I am sure," Rachel replied flinging herself down on the bed next to her still naked girlfriend, Quinn Fabray (those words weren't getting old anytime soon), "I have a sixth sense, remember?"

"I thought you said your sixth sense was always about me," Quinn said.

"It is," Rachel said, "This is how we're beginning our lives together, by winning Nationals. Finn and I began our lives together by losing Regionals sophomore year and we began our lives together anew by losing Nationals last year. This is going to be a sign of how we're different. We begin our relationship with a personal success story and follow it with and amazing summer, then four years of Skype dates and two hour bus rides and Christmukkahs in New York and I know that it won't be easy. There will be times that the distance is going to feel like it's killing us, but we're strong, strong enough to weather anything. After college, I see us moving in together and decorating our first place just the way we want it and dogs and marriage and eventually children. I know we haven't talked about any of these things really, but I think you know me well enough to know that I want all of that."

"I do," Quinn said finally managing to get a word in, "and I want them too, though maybe a cat or two to go along with the dogs."

"I would be agreeable to that," Rachel replied, "And for the record, you're going to have to be the one to propose, because after the whole debacle with Finn I'm always going to be worried that I'm rushing things, but I know that you will think everything through and won't ask until you are certain that we're both ready. Rest assured however that when you do… when you do ask, I'm going to say yes."

Quinn smiled. "Good to know," she said, "Are you sure you didn't get into the coffee?"

"I might have," Rachel said, "but it's our last night in Miami and I want to go and enjoy it with you."

"I'd be agreeable to that too."

X X X

"Ladies and gentlemen, your 2012 National Show Choir Champions… New Directions!"

A/N: Big thanks to everyone who read/favorited/alerted. Special thanks to all that reviewed, especially those that reviewed every time.

Writing this has starting giving me ideas about a spin-off story about those left behind, Blaine, Artie, Tina, etc. but I'm a long way from actually writing it.