A/N: Okay! New chapter! You guys are very lucky that I managed to get this up, I swear, it almost didn't happen. Still super busy, so if you don't see an update for three or four days, don't worry, it'll come. For now, enjoy this chapter, and I will see you on the other side!


Quinn's POV

I smoothed down my dress and took a deep breath in. I was standing in front of Rachel's house, hand raised to knock on the door, but not quite managing to bring myself to knock, and dropping it by my side. Tonight, was our dinner at BreadstiX. As much as I knew this wasn't a date, it still felt like one, and it felt kind of like our first date, seeing as Rachel had no memory of the others. So, yeah, I was really nervous. How many times do you have to repeat your first date? I mean, seriously. I raised my hand to knock, again, and did so three times. I tried to calm myself down in the time it took for Rachel to get the door. It kind of sucked, in a way, because whatever I was thinking, Rachel didn't think of it as a date. She had a boyfriend anyway, she's not really the type to cheat. She only did with Finn because she was freaking out.

"Hi!" Rachel greeted cheerfully as the door swung open,

She looked stunning. And not in a 'Red Carpet, wearing way too much makeup' way, but in a 'Not even trying but still looks completely hot' way.

She really was dressed pretty simply. She was wearing a simple green dress, with heels, and she was currently fiddling with her left earing, trying to put it in.

"You almost ready?" I asked her,

"I am," She started, putting her earing in, and grabbing a bag from her console table, "Ready to go!" She finished, walking out and closing the door behind her,

"Great!" I walked over to my mom's car, which she had again lent me, and opened the passenger's side door for her,

"Ever the gentleman!" Rach joked as she slid into her seat,

I laughed and closed the door, going over to the driver's side door and getting in next to her,

"So, this isn't a date right?" I clarified, half-jokingly,

Rachel laughed in response, "No, I have a boyfriend, remember?" She said pointedly,

"Oh, yeah, what's his name," I commented,

"It's Sam, not what's his name," She reprimanded, with a mock stern glance my way,

"Yeah, yeah," I rolled my eyes,

Sam was a good guy, I wasn't about to deny that, but he was dating my girlfriend, so… I felt like I had the right to dislike him,

"I really like him." She whispered quietly, almost as if she were speaking to herself,

"He a good guy?" I asked her,

"The best," She said simply,

"Good," I replied honestly,

So, it didn't mean I was just about to let him run off with my girlfriend, but at least he was treating her right. We were both silent after that. Not saying a word to each other for the rest of the drive.

When we got to BreadstiX, I opened the car door for Rachel, and proceeded to open the door of the restaurant,

"Table for two please," I requested once I saw the waitress, who led us to a little booth in the middle of the restaurant,

Once we were seated, I noticed Rachel looking around nervously,

"Not wanting to be seen with me in public?" I teased,

"Not so much that…" She replied evasively,

"Then what?" I asked, much more seriously,

She leaned slightly forward in her chair,

"Aren't you scared to be seen with me, in public?"

"Of course not!" I objected quickly,

Rachel raised an eyebrow at me,

"I'm not!" I protested again, "Rachel, look, we were dating,"

"Still up for debate," Rachel muttered under her breath, but I chose to ignore it,

"We were dating, and I've been out with you before." I pointed out,

"To BreadstiX? The busiest restaurant in Lima?" She quizzed,

Uh, well, "We have been to BreadstiX before…"

"On a Friday night?"

"Look!" I said, slamming my menu down on the table, "If I were scared to be seen with you in public, I would not be here." I hissed at her, "But I love you, and as soon as you realise you love me back, I will shout from the rooftops about Rachel Berry being my girlfriend. I don't give a flying fuck, about anyone else. You are all that matters to me."

Rachel's eyes were wide and I realised that I may have come off a little bit angrier than I intended,

"Sorry," I apologized softly, picking my menu back up,

"Don't be," She brushed it off, "I appreciate the drama of it all, to tell you the truth. It would make a great movie."

I chuckled at her response, Rachel thrived on drama. Of course, she was finding this entertaining.

"What are you having? The vegetarian lasagne?" I questioned,

Rachel gasped, "How did you know?" She asked me,

"It's your favourite," I replied simply,

Rachel opened her mouth, as if to speak, but closed it again shortly after,

"Am I right?" I asked teasingly,

"Yes, but I really don't want to admit it."

"Change of topic?" I offered, and Rach nodded happily, "How are your headaches?" I asked her casually, knowing full well that she wasn't taking them seriously,

Rachel seemed ready to make up a lie, but I raised an eyebrow, challenging her to do just that, so she relented,

"They're pretty bad. They can get better or worse, depending on what I'm doing."

"You need to go see your doctor." I urged her, "It's obviously because of the accident."

"I'll see." She replied, and was started to say something else when she was interrupted by a familiar voice,

"Fancy seeing you two here," Santana said, sliding into the seat next to me, whilst Brittany sat next to Rachel, "Tubbers, Man-hands," She nodded,

"San," I warned, glaring at her,

"Berry." She re-stated begrudgingly,

"Santana," Rach greeted politely,

"So, what ya up to?" Santana queried,

"You know what we're up to, Santana, we're using the BreadstiX voucher that Mr Schue gave us." I reminded her pointedly,

"Can we join you?" Brittany asked, and unfortunately, it was not done maliciously in any way,

I was about to object when Rachel answered for us, "Of course you can, the more the merrier, right Quinn?" She prompted,

"Right," I answered through gritted teeth,

"So, what are we talking 'bout?" Britt asked,

I groaned and put my face in my hands, so much for a 'date'.


We stopped just outside Rachel's door after the 'date',

"Have fun?" I asked her,

"Yeah, Santana isn't as bad when she doesn't have an audience," She replied with a slightly fond smile,

"She's not too bad," I admitted,

"Listen, my dads aren't here tonight, and I don't like being in the house alone, would you like to stay over?" She asked, almost shyly,

I pretended to think about it for a moment, "Hmmm, if I must,"

"Well I wouldn't want to bother you," she said teasingly,

"I think I'll survive," I joked,

"Come on then," She said, unlocking her front door,

I walked into her house like I had so many times before, and it felt familiar and warm. I'd missed being able to actually be in her house, invited. She kicked off her shoes, and headed upstairs, me following closely behind her.

"I'm just going to get changed," She told me, gesturing to her bathroom door, "You can grab some clothes from my wardrobe," She instructed,

"Sure," I smiled, if there was one thing I loved more than seeing Rach in my clothes, it was me wearing her clothes. I had to wear some of her bigger stuff, obviously, but I loved the feeling of wearing her clothes, it just felt, right. I grabbed some trackies and a hoodie and changed quickly, just pulling my hoodie over my head just as Rachel came out of the bathroom,

"Ah! Sorry!" She shrieked, covering her eyes and turning away,

"Don't worry about it," I smirked, adjusting my hoodie, "It's fine, I'm decent."

She turned around slowly, blushing furiously, "Sorry," She apologised again,

"Don't worry about it," I repeated,

"I'm pretty tired," She said with a yawn, "Can we just, sleep?"

"Sure, where's your inflatable mattress?" I asked her, slightly awkwardly, moving towards the door,

She looked confused at that question, "Oh, right, to be honest, I can't be bothered to get that out." She shrugged,

"I do have to sleep somewhere…" I pointed out,

She chuckled, "Look, Quinn, I have gotten to the point where I trust you not to murder me in my sleep," She explained,

Was she saying…

"Just sleep with me, I don't bite." She shrugged,

I stared at her wide-eyed for a second before shaking away all of the inappropriate thoughts that had formed in my mind, "Okay…" I agreed hesitantly,

I thought there might be a catch or something, I mean, up until that point, Rachel had still been really weird around me. She might trust me not to murder her in her sleep, but I've seen Rach's psycho face, it was a tough call.

She got under the covers of her bed, and I flicked off the lights, walking over to join her.

After a couple of minutes lying there, Rachel spoke up in a quiet voice,

"You make them better, you know,"

"Hmm?" I replied, not sure what she was talking about,

"The headaches." She explained, "You make them go away," She repeated,

My heart started beating a little quicker, "And Sam?" I asked quietly,

"Makes them worse," She admitted,

I smiled at that revelation, it was just a little 'Fuck you' to Sam. I shifted in the bed slightly, moving so I was behind Rachel, with my arm loosely around her waist. I dropped a kiss on the top of her head and closed my eyes,

"Night Rach," I said sleepily,

"Night Q," She replied softly.

It would only be when I woke up the next morning, that I would realise she called me 'Q'.


The next couple of weeks, went by pretty smoothly, really. Nothing else happened between Rach and me, and before I knew it, it was almost Regionals, and in typical New Directions style, we left preparation for the last minute.

"Okay," Mr Schue started as he walked into the Choir room, "I'm thinking of changing things up this year." He announced, "We're going up against the Warbler's and Vocal Adrenaline, both two of our toughest competitors, so we need to bring our A-game. I thought, seeing as both of the teams had high numbers of male students, compared to female, that we could try and use the girls in our team to our advantage." He explained,

Everybody looked at each other, unsure of what he was talking about,

"I'm thinking, that two of the girls can do our duet!" He announced,

There was some chatter around the room as people debated whether they like the idea or not. I was alright with the idea, as long as Rachel could sing. As much as the rest of the team found Rachel annoying sometimes, there was no denying that she was talented. Obviously, I knew she was talented, and I also knew that my girlfriend would kill me if I ever suggested otherwise,

"So, in keeping with tradition, the duet is going to go to the winners of our competition, Quinn and Rachel!" He exclaimed,

"We are honoured Mr Schue, we won't let you down," Rachel said from behind me,

Everybody was clapping for us, well, probably for Rachel, and I didn't really know what to say, so I just left Rach to field the questions and thought about what song we could do for our duet.


The day of Regionals came, and I was more nervous than I had ever been for a competition. Not only did I have a solo, but I was singing with Rachel. I was never nervous around Rachel when we were dating, but now that she was dating Sam, I wanted to impress her, which in turn, made me incredibly nervous.

I had thought about what song the two of us should sing, and had thought about it for a long time. I ended up suggesting the song 'I've Had (the time of my life)' to Rachel, and she had loved the idea.

I had bought a necklace for Rach and was planning on giving it to her before we started, a good luck charm if you will.

After we had arrived in our dressing room and settled down, I got up to go to the bathroom, nodding my head at Rachel, and walking out of the room.

It must have worked because I heard some light footsteps behind me,

I turned down a corridor and came to a stop in a relatively well-hidden spot,

"Hey," Rachel greeted when she walked up to me, "Did you want to talk to me?" She asked curiously, stepping closer,

"I wanted to give you this," I said, pulling out the bag and grabbing the necklace out,

"What is it?" She asked, perplexed,

"A necklace. A good luck charm." I explained,

Rachel looked apprehensive so I pulled out the big guns,

"It's gold, and has a star on it…" I smiled,

Rachel gathered up her hair and turned around, "If you insist…"

I unclasped the necklace and put it around her neck, making sure it sat just right,

"Do I get a thank you?" I asked with a sly smile,

"Thank you," Rachel said gratefully, pulling at the necklace around her neck,

"No," I said, moving a step closer to her, "Can I get a thank you?" I asked again, smiling mischievously,

Rachel looked around us, checking to see the coast was clear, and she stepped up to me, hesitantly pressing her lips against mine. After I made sure that she wasn't freaking out, I pulled her closer to me and deepened the kiss slightly, Rachel responded, doing the same thing, but after a couple of seconds, she pulled back,

"I, uh, see you before the show," She said quickly, rushing back down the corridor,

I smiled to myself, 'Yep, I'm getting there,' I thought to myself, and jogging back towards the dressing rooms.


Before the song started, Rachel and I were standing behind the curtains that led you to the aisle, and I was quietly freaking out to myself,

"Rach?" I called out, walking over to the other side,

"Hmm?" She responded,

"I know you don't feel the same, but just know, that when I sing this song, no, when I sing most songs, it's for you." I told her, before walking back to my side, not turning to see her reaction.


"And the winner of the 2012 Regional competition is… The William McKinley High School New Directions!"

I put my hand over my mouth, we were headed to Nationals! Everybody was squealing and jumping up and down excitedly.

"We did it!" Rach squealed in my ear, jumping to give me a big hug,

"We sure did," I smiled back, holding her tight,

She let go way too soon to go back and give Sam another hug, and San and Britt came up to me, congratulating me on helping them win.

I was happy, but it was also a little bittersweet. By this time, Rachel and I were supposed to be out to all of our friends. We were supposed to be out to the whole damn school. I never imagined that Rach and I wouldn't be dating by this time of year. I never imagined us not dating. Full stop. I thought we would be together forever. But this wasn't the end, of course. It was just a little blip on our radars.

When we got back to the dressing room, Mr Schue broke out the sparkling cider and we hung around with each other, chatting about the win and how much we deserved it. At one point, Sam and Rachel were making out in the corner, and I stared at her sadly before averting my gaze. Most people were oblivious, but I caught Tina and Artie looking at me sympathetically. They were definitely a couple of people to keep an eye on. They had been spending more and more time together recently, and Tina had been neglecting Mike in favour of spending time with her friend.

I looked back at Rachel to say her pressing her hand against her forehead, obviously suffering from a headache. Sam was now talking to Finn, so he didn't seem to have noticed the pain his girlfriend (my girlfriend) was in. I went over to my bag and took out a couple of headache tablets, plus my bottle of water, and went over to Rachel,

"Come on," I said, looking to see if anybody was watching, which they weren't, before grabbing her hand, and pulling her along with me,

I led us down a corridor, and outside to get some fresh air,

"Take these," I instructed, handing her the tablets and bottle of water,

She gulped them down and slumped against the brick wall, "Thanks," She said quietly,

"Come here," I said, holding my arms out in front of me,

She looked a bit apprehensive at first, but she walked forward anyway, snuggling against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her, and rested my chin on her head,

"I really do love you, Rach," I told her,

"I know," She admitted quietly, "I know." She repeated even more softly.


A/N: Hope this chapter was worth the wait! I should have more free time as of, like, tomorrow, so the updates should pick up again. I know the first date scene wasn't quite what was expected, but I think it worked pretty well. Please review, and I will see you next chapter! -Lauren's Glee Stories