Nothing was mentioned the next day. No one wanted to talk about it. Brittany did her best to ease the dull mood in the air but it remained relatively the same. But to Santana's relief, Quinn swallowed her hurt and attempted to put a visibly shaken Rachel at ease. The Latina avoided her normal snarkiness and kept surprisingly quiet until they all said their goodbyes. School was bound to bring things back to normal, or so they all hoped.

"Hey Q. How is your wonderful Monday morning going? And…did you happen to remember to do the chemistry homework?" Santana crossed her fingers waiting for her to reply. The blonde laughed at he adorableness and handed her the worksheet. "Thank you! But seriously, how's it going?"

"It's okay but I guess I'm still in a bit of a fog."

"Eh, give it time." She pushed. "You two will still be good friends, right?"

"Last night you were pushing for us to get together and now you are hoping we're going to be friends…" Quinn wondered what had changed so abruptly.

"Yeah. Shit changes. I mean, I realized last night that you two would make one way overly dramatic couple. Perhaps it's for the best."

Quinn huffed. "Insensitive much?"

"Ah." The Latina pointed at the blonde. "See what I mean. I say one little thing and you're jump all over me."

"I'm not jum-"

"Sure. Whatever, Q. I'll give you back your worksheet at lunch. K? Love ya. Bye." Quinn watched with an open mouth as her 'best friend' walked away.

As she entered her next class she still couldn't understand what had just happened.

"Can I ask you something?" Quinn asked as she took her seat conveniently position next to Rachel and continued talking before the brunette could respond. "What the hell happened Saturday night? Not between you and me. I'm talk about Santana."

Rachel couldn't force herself to speak.

"Come on Rachel. Say Something. This isn't the time for you to lose you obnoxiously large vocabulary. Speak!" she barked.

"I..uh, well." The brunette stumbled on her words.

"Preferably in sentences."

"What has she done that makes you ask?"

Quinn hesitated. She wasn't really wanting to bring this up, and to Rachel of all people. "It's just this weekend, when she talked to me she was…concerned," Quinn just realized how strange a concept that was. "And now this morning she could have cared more about dirt on her new shoes. Did you two talk after I went to sleep?"

Rachel knew if she said yes then Quinn would want to know what she had said and she really didn't want to say those things to the girl. As much as she pretended not to, she cared. Hell, she probably even loved he. She couldn't confess it then deny a relationship and cite the girl's closeted vanity and fear of being alone as her excuse. She could picture it: 'I can't be with you because I don't want you to feel alone'…oh so logical.

"Oh, well, I don't remem-"

"You don't remember? Really Rachel? Are you sure?" She was such a horrible liar. "Forget I asked." The blonde spat before focusing on her work.

Class flew by and thankfully the glee rehearsal had been canceled for the day. Quinn had never been so happy to walk into her house as she was that afternoon. Even despite the fact her mother was home and already self medicating with a new bottle of Bacardi. She trudged up the stairs and threw herself into her homework, trying to drown out the day. She knew she had been too aggressive with Rachel at school. It was her defense. Attack so no one can see you're hurt. She hated it. It was a habit she was trying to break but she still wasn't use to people seeing her vulnerable and that was exactly how Rachel made her feel at Santana's. She felt like a fool.

She didn't realize how much time had passed until she heard a knock on her door. "Quinny, Sweetie. You have company." Her mother's bloodshot eyes smiled at her as she opened the door and ushered Rachel in.

"Thank you Mrs. Fabray." The brunette whispered as she closed the door. When the door clicked shut Quinn stood from her chair and wrapped her arms around herself defensively as Rachel approached.

"What do you want?"

There was no answer, only lips on hers. Sweet and tender, lacking any trace of alcohol. The diva cupped the taller girl's cheek in her hand and pulled her down to her height. She tried to put every ounce of emotion she felt for the blonde into the kiss hoping she would understand how she felt. When the pair broke from the kiss, Rachel refused to let Quinn go from her grasp.

"I like you. I like you so much Quinn, that it hurts" She kissed her again long and full of passion. Slowly she release the girl from her hips and loosed her grasp on her face. "You'll lose everything being with me. And that's why I can't be with you." She placed one more kiss on the blonde's lips, savoring every second before turning and leaving the room.

"Rachel." she heard Quinn call behind her as she descended the stairs, never looking back. "Rachel!"

"Quinny, is everything alright?" Her mother asked as both girls exited the house just seconds apart.

"Rachel." Quinn grabbed the girls arm and spun her around.

"Don't Quinn." Rachel pulled away and put a few steps distance between them.

"Don't what? You can't kiss me like that and say what you said, and then tell me I can't respond."

"Will you keep your voice down. Your mother is right there." Rachel warned in a hushed tone of the woman observing from the opened front door.

"So what?"

"So what! Quinn she threw you out because you embarrassed her when you got pregnant. What do you think she would do if she knew about how we feel. She wouldn't hesitate to do it again."

Quinn choked back tears. "So I should hide who I am like I always have? Deny that I would be happy with you?"

Rachel reflexively closed the gap between them and took the girl's face in her hands when she saw a tear fall from Quinn's eye. "No. I don't want you to. I want you to be happy and have everything you ever wanted. But you just got this part of your life back, Quinn."

"Quinny, are you okay?" Her mother asked taking a protective step closer.

"Don't go Rachel. Please. I don't need the big empty house and drunk mother. I need everything you gave me in that kiss. Don't leave me here without knowing you are going to be with me." Their eyes locked. Quinn had thought of all of this. Rachel was right. She was going to lose something if this was to happen, but she had already made her decision. "Kiss me."

And she did, just like before, full of every emotion and desire. It was as if she was being pulled from her body and engulfed in the blonde standing before her.

"Quinny…" The woman's voice trailed off in the distance. Quinn could almost hear her shocked expression as she wrapped her arms around the shorter girl's waist and pulled her deeper into the kiss. Right in the front yard for all the neighbors to see. When they finally broke apart they panted through beaming smiles.

"She still there?" Quinn asked. Rachel glanced over the taller girl's shoulder and nodded her head. "How does she look?"

The brunette bit her lip. "Heart broken."

Quinn sighed. "You've never met my mother, have you?"

"No. Just when she let me in tonight."

"Well, I think it's time you did." Quinn took Rachel's hand in hers and escorted her up to the front stoop. "Mom, I would like you to meet Rachel, my girlfriend." Her mother remained silent and expressionless. Quinn squeezed Rachel's hand gently and guided her passed the flabbergasted woman and back into the house.

"What are we doing?"

"I'm going to pack my bags, just in case."

"Oh," Rachel deflated. This is what she didn't want. "Maybe it wont come to that this time."

"Thirty minutes." He mother broke her silence. "Just like last time. I'll set the timer on the stove. Thirty minutes and get out."

~~~/~~~\\\~~~/~~~\\\~~~

Quinn pulled two duffle bags from her closet and threw them onto her bed next to her Cherrios' bag. She was thankful she hasn't actually unpacked that one yet today. "Can you call Santana for me?"

Rachel had been frozen just inside the doorway watching as Quinn began sorting through her clothes. "Sure, what did you want me to say?"

Quinn studied her wardrobe hanging inside her closet, deciding what she could live without. "Let her know I am out of the closet…so to speak…and out of the house. See if I can stay with her tonight."

Rachel had dialed the number but hung up quickly. "I don't think so. Not after what happened between you two this weekend. You're staying with me."

Quinn stepped out of her closet and studied the diva's face. "Are you serious? I mean, do you remember the really tall, intimidating man who lives there that hates me? There is no way he is going to let me stay with you. Joshua maybe, but not Michael."

"I'm sure he will understand when I explain the entire situation to him." Rachel approached the doubtful blonde and took her hand. "You're being thrown out because of this, because of us, because…"

"I'm gay." Quinn finally admitted.

Rachel nodded. "And as a gay individual himself, he will be very understanding and sympathetic for your situation."

Quinn rested her forehead against Rachel's and played with her fingers in her hand. It was all so unreal. Every tough left her tingling. "But as your father, he wont be."

"I don't want you to stay with Santana. I like her but I don't entirely trust her yet. Especially not with you, and before you object." Rachel pressed her index finger to the blonde's lips, "I trust you. But! She has quite convincingly displayed her ability to coerce you to do whatever she wishes."

"Rachel…"

"I want you to stay with me. I want us to have the time and opportunity to really get to know each other. To figure out exactly what this is." She lifted their intertwined hands. "I know it all happened indescribably fast, but my feelings are genuine."

Quinn dropped the girl's hands and wrapped her arms around the diva's neck, kissing her temple. "My feelings are real too." She pulled away slowly and made her way back to the closet. Thirty minutes wasn't really a long time. "I'm willing to see if your dads would be okay with me staying."

"Good." Rachel nodded her head quickly in approval before folding some of Quinn's clothes and placing them in her duffle bags. "I know Dad will be okay with it. He already likes you. He says you're a softy who mold to her situations."

"Insightful."

"He is. What else do you need to bring?"

Quinn survived the room. "The upside of this being my second time to pack my bags is I know exactly what I need and everything I forgot I needed last time. For instance," She walked over to her desk. "My laptop…full of pictures that can never be replaced, homework I don't want to redo, email addresses and all things that would make me feel more at home in a strange house."

Rachel smiled and placed the computer and all of its chords into its travel bag. "I wouldn't have thought of that."

"Yeah. But it's amazing how much time I actually spend on it. One of those things where you don't know what you have til it's back in your parents house and you don't have a key. But I'm keeping the key this time. Just in case I remember something else. I can sneak back in and get it while mom is at work."

"So are you ready?" Quinn nodded. "Do you get to keep the car or do I need to call my dads?"

Quinn shrugged. "I'm keeping it until they take it. You know, packing goes by much faster when you have someone helping you. Finn just stood there and kept apologizing."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "He would. Guys can be so useless sometimes. How did we not figure out we didn't want them sooner."

Quinn laughed and embraced the diva one more time before grabbing her bags and exiting the bed room. Last year she shut the door in tears. Now it was laughter. This had to be the right thing.

~~~/~~~\\\~~~/~~~\\\~~~

"Here. Take your bags up to my room while I talk to my dads." Rachel said as she handed Quinn the bag she was carrying.

"Your room?" Quinn smiled mischievously. "What happened to the guest room?"

"Tonight we can get away with you sleeping in my bed under the 'I'm upset I was just kicked out' heading. It may not happen again for a while so I strongly suggest we take advantage of it."

"Got ya. To your room I go."

Rachel watched the girl ascend the stairs with mixed feelings of adoration and heartbreak. Quinn didn't seem affected by her second disownment but Rachel knew she was hiding whatever hurt she was feeling.

"Rachel, Honey, was that Quinn?" He dad asked from his seat at the kitchen table. "It's a school night. There are no sleepovers."

The brunette slowly made her way into the kitchen and took a seat opposite of her fathers. "We need to talk." The two men exchanged glances, suddenly feeling like little kids being sat down by their mom to have that talk. "As you are both well aware of, Quinn and I have not always been on friendly terms." Joshua nodded and Michael rolled his eyes. "You are also aware that we have since then formed a wonderful friendship. Well, that blossoming friendship has…blossomed into something much more."

The men's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Sweetheart, I thought you were dating Finn…a boy. I mean, we have had this talk before." Michael reminded her.

Rachel nodded. "I know. Well, Finn and I aren't actually together anymore, primarily because of my feelings for Quinn. I don't know when it all happened," she admitted, "but I have more feelings for her than I do Finn, Noah, and Jesse combined. And then still it is not even worth competing against."

Michael shifted in his discomfort. "You went from hate to a romance in just over two weeks? Rachel, I am sure you care for the girl, but maybe it is simply a misplacement of emotions. She's the first close female friend you've ever had."

"I've thought of that. I have thought about that in great detail, but it doesn't fit. And I never hated her. I have always wanted to be around her, be her friend. I have even discovered that she never harbored any true distaste for me until I tried to take Finn and that still wasn't all that it appeared to be."

"Could this not be some in depth ploy to embarrass you somehow at school." Michael wanted to protect his daughter. Wanted to make her think of everything carefully. He knew how high school was, and how cruel it all could be.

"I wont lie to you. I did have my suspicions, but I can assure you they were invalid. You see, she risked a lot…outside of school. She's here tonight because she has been kicked out of her house." Michael's eyes widened in realization. This was real. "She has no more because of her feelings for me. So, I assure you they are real."

"So, that's why she had the bags." Joshua noted for clarity.

"Do you want her to stay here?" He daddy's words were full of concern now. He no longer fought Quinn's influence over his daughter. He had misjudged her.

Rachel nodded. "You raised me to be happy with who I am no matter what that might actually be. Quinn has never had that. She has always been strictly reprimanded for stepping out as herself. Now she's been thrown out again. I want her here, yes. But I also believe her being here, in this house with the two of you, will undoubtedly help her with this…transition. I mean, Kurt is the only gay individual she knows and he is just coming into it."

Her dads beamed with pride at her words. They understood coming out was going to be a challenge and Quinn, even more than Rachel, was going to need support.

"I do think this would be the best environment for her. She will get all the support and acceptance she is going to need." Joshua stated looking to his husband.

"I agree with your dad, but there will be just a few ground rules. Give us some time to talk about it and we will discuss it tomorrow. I'm sure Quinn is very upset so we wont bother her with them right now. Just let her know she is welcome her."

Rachel stood and gave each man a hug of gratitude. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now go check on your girlfriend. That's going to take some getting use to saying…girlfriend." Take some time getting use to hearing, Rachel thought.

She could hear the murmurs of the voices talking in the kitchen as she opened the bedroom door. Quinn was sitting anxiously on the bed. "My dads say 'Welcome to the Berry House'. You are more than welcome here."

Quinn beamed. "Even Michael? He's really okay with this or is Joshua making him sleep on the couch again?"

Rachel pulled the blonde up from the bed, wrapped her arms around her waist and kissed her gently. "He's really okay with it. Once, of course, I convinced him this wasn't some ploy of yours and Santana/s"

Quinn shook her head. "No. This is all very real." She kissed the shorter girl again. Rachel inhaled deeply, filling her senses with everything Quinn. The way she felt, her soft skin, her sweet smell, the way she tasted, and her comforting touch. "I knew your house always felt more like home."

"This is going to be hard." Rachel told her.

Quinn nodded and took her seat back on the edge of the bed. "I know it is, but just knowing that there is this safe and loving house to retreat back to everyday, with you here with me…it makes it a little less scary."

Rachel nodded, placing herself in front of Quinn again and ran her fingers lightly through her blonde tresses. "Yeah, but not only that. It's going to be hard keeping my hands away from you." She trailed her thumbs over the blonde's jaw line and lifted her chin into another passionate kiss until Quinn began to laugh into the kiss. "And what is so funny."

"You didn't close the door."

"So?"

The blonde smiled broadly and pointed to the door before diverting her eyes to the floor. Rachel let out a sigh of frustration and turned to shut the door. Only she found her dads braced against the frame with amused smirks on their faces.

Rachel felt her blush come on in a wave of intense fire. "…hi…"

The men's smiles deepened. "Hi."

"Is…there something wrong?" She asked as she grabbed the door to close it.

Her dad shook his head. "No. Nothing wrong. Just…keep it PG tonight, please." She rolled her eyes and began to shut the door as the men walked away. A foot stopped it from closing all the way and Rachel opened it again.

"PG…13...ish…" Michael restated.

"Get out!" She slammed the door in embarrassment.

A/N: So here's another chapter I cranked out because I know I wont have the opportunity to update tomorrow. Now that the cat is out of the bag things will really begin to pick up. Anyway, hope you all enjoy it. I'm off to work.