I apologize for any mistakes you probably will find.
As promised:
Quinn feels herself falling. Or floating. She isn't quite sure which All she knows is it feels nice.
She's vaguely aware that she's between being asleep and awake. She can feel the pillows burrowed under her, like laying upon a fluffy cloud. She's also aware of the slight warmth pressed against her side. One she can't quite place. How could she be feel warmth if she's floating through the sky? Oh right, she's not actually floating, she's in her bed.
"Quinn." Or maybe she is floating in the heavens. How else could she explain the angel calling out her name.
"Quinn. Don't you dare fall asleep." Quinn stirs slightly, then she feels a sudden jolt to her right shoulder.
"What did you mean about that?" The angelic voice asks.
"Quinn-middle name-Fabray!" The voice calls out shrilly. This is enough to wake Quinn from the land of in between consciousness.
"Quinn is my middle name." Quinn mumbles, wiping at her eyes, chuckling slightly. She sits up in her bed, trying to yawn away her fatigue.
"What?" Rachel asks very uncharacteristically. She's normally more verbose, but it seems she's busy watching Quinn slowly sit up in bed, propping her head on her elbow so she could get a better look at the brunette before her.
"My middle name is Quinn." The blonde admits a little shyly. Rachel adjusts herself on the bed so she is mirroring Quinn's position.
"I've never told anyone that. Not even Santana." The girl admits. Rachel looks surprised by this admission.
"I that what you meant?" Rachel asks. "When you said you're tired of hiding from me?"
Quinn bites her lip, avoiding Rachel's eyes while she deliberates on how she would answer.
In truth, she had been more asleep than awake when she admitted that little nugget of information. There really was no way around that. No way of excusing her words, pretending like she meant something else.
"You want to open up to me?" Rachel elaborates, just in case Quinn doesn't get her point. "Despite what our fellow glee clubbers might think, and you might find this hard to believe, but I'm actually a great listener."
"I don't find that hard to believe." Quinn smiles at Rachel when a blush appears on her cheek. Something about the way Quinn said that made her Rachel flush. They are a whisper away from each other, entranced by the other's eyes. Quinn staring into big chocolate eyes. Rachel getting lost in hazel, the light catching it in such a way that she isn't quite sure she can even label the eyes as hazel.
Rachel realizes how close they are from each other. She clears her throat and scoots back slightly.
"So if Quinn is your middle name, then what is your first?" Rachel asks, changing the subject.
"Oh, I'm not sure I can tell you that." Quinn shakes her head, though a smile is still firmly in place. "I mean, what would be in it for me?"
"What do you mean?" Rachel asks, adjusting herself so she is lying on her back and looking up at Quinn's ceiling.
"I mean that this is prime time information right here. I've never told anyone this, so what's in it for me?" Quinn doesn't adjust herself like Rachel is. Instead she admires the view that has presented itself in front of her. She admires the curve of Rachel's neck, and the line of her collarbone. She watches the way her lips form certain words, the way she licks them between a particularly long rants.
" I could tell you information about me." Rachel continues when Quinn simply watches her. "I'll tell you something I've never told anyone before. Once when I was 6, I thought I could fly. I climbed out onto the roof, nearly gave my daddy a heart attack." Rachel laughs at herself, continuing to look up at the ceiling. Her fingers toying with the hem of her shirt.
"And you gave up?" Quinn chuckles, admiring the way Rachel's lip quirk up into a smile.
"Of course not." She shakes her head. "I wouldn't be Rachel Berry if I did."
"Got out on the roof a week later and jumped off. I managed a perfect tuck and roll, only slightly bruising my ankles. Ok nearly perfect. My arm didn't particularly like it when Ianded on my father's car."
"I imagine it wouldn't." Quinn laughs. "Perfect tuck and roll?
"It wasn't so much a tuck and roll as it was a flailing to the ground, but I imagined it looked graceful." Rachel laughs, her left hand reaches to her left elbow, softly tracing over something.
"Did you get a scar?" Quinn asks, her eyes following the motion. Rachel's eyes flutter, meeting Quinn's. Rachel slowly reaches out to take Quinn's hand, bringing it to her right elbow.
"You can feel it, right..."Her voice trails off when Quinn's fingers meet her skin. They trail over the scar.
"I feel it." Quinn whispers, making the moment more intimate than it should have been.
"I was in a cast for what felt like forever. My dad had to write all my homework for me, so I learn to write with my left hand. I actually had to learn how to do a lot of things. So I'm ambidextrous." Rachel raises her voice above a whisper. After that a comfortable silence consumes them both. Quinn simply watches the brunette. Rachel actually has to lower her gaze because Quinn's stare is so intense.
"Does that merit an answer from you?" Rachel asks after a while. Quinn almost forgets her agreement.
"I suppose." Quinn sighs as if it is the most difficult task in the world. And in some ways, it is.
"My first name is Lucy." Quinn admits, finally having to pull her eyes off of Rachel. She looks away self consciously. What she doesn't realize is Rachel is now looking at her.
"Lucy Quinn Fabray. I like that." This time it's Rachel who is whispering. She and Quinn lock eyes. "It's a beautiful name."
There's another silence for a while. And again, it isn't uncomfortable. So Quinn does the one thing she'll know Rachel will appreciate to fill the silence: She sings.
"Hold me close and hold me fast, this magic spell you cast, this is la vie en rose" Quinn sings, only loud enough to fill the room. Rachel turns her whole body on the bed so she is facing Quinn now, watching the blonde intently.
"When you kiss me, heaven sighs, and though I close my eyes, I see la vie en rose." Quinn sings softly, avoiding Rachel's gaze.
"When you press me to your heart, I'm in a world apart, a world where roses bloom." Quinn continues to sing, this time staring right at Rachel as she sings.
"And when you speak, angels sing from above. Every day words seem to turn into love songs." A look washes over Rachel's face. Almost a wave recognition crosses her face. Almost. It's not quite there though.
"Give your heart and soul to me." Quinn sings, and she realizes she means every word of it. "And life will always be." She hesitantly takes Rachel's hand into hers, making sure the diva understands the song is for her and only her. "La vie en rose."
Quinn and Rachel's foreheads are practically pressed against each other. Eyes, like most of the night, locked onto the ones in front of them.
"Why does this feel so familiar?" Rachel asks, her fingers weaving through Quinn's.
"That song. Your room." Rachel shakes her head. "Have you ever felt deja vu?" She asks.
"You have no idea." Quinn tells her scooting closer, if that's even possible.
"What's going on?" Rachel asks, though the way she licks her lips, it's like she can read into Quinn's next move.
Quinn isn't exactly sure where she is mustering up all of this courage. She's not even sure what she's doing. She's going with her gut. And her gut is telling her to kiss Rachel Berry.
It's the first time in a couple of days that she hasn't thought of the constant loop that is her life. She isn't thinking about how tomorrow she'll probably wake up to find it's March 21st again. She thinking of ways to fix it. She is thinking in the moment. And in that moment, she's watching Rachel's lips, and with this, she finds the courage to press her lips against them.
Rachel pulls away after the initial contact, but then surges forward pressing her lips against Quinn's. It's a slow kiss one that has no rush to be over.
Something inside Quinn changes in that moment. She's kissed plenty of guys before. Even Lucy once kissed a boy, but this, this s different. It is nothing like any of her previous kisses felt.
Her first kiss, as Lucy, was sloppy and awkward. It was with a boy at summer camp. She doesn't even remember his name, but she remembers the moment clearly
Her second kiss with Brad Nelson, her freshman year. He was captain of the soccer team and a junior. She was a freshman cheerio with high hopes to be the captain the next year. It was uncomfortable, and mostly for show.
Her third kiss was with a boy from a different school she met at a high school party that summer. All she remembers is that it tasted of alcohol and Santana was quick to stop it.
Her fourth kiss was with Finn. It had been soft and sweet, but he was scared in his movements, not sure where to place his hands and hr neck hurt from the angle.
Her fifth was with Puck. It had been urgent and guilty and lead to things that she regrets. Things that forever changed her life.
Her sixth kiss had been with Sam earlier that year. He read signs wrong, thinking Quinn wanted to be kissed, and by him no less. It was quick because Quinn had pushed him off.
Lucky number 7. That is Rachel Berry. Her 7th kiss. It's patient and careful, but not overly cautious. One of her hands reaches to Quinn's neck, pulling her closer.
There is no urgency to how their lips glide against each other. and eventually when tongues explore.
Rachel is the one to pull away. Quinn would never have that kind of strength. She leans her forehead against Quinn's.
Quinn has her eyes closed, just wanting to take in the moment longer. Listening to Rachel's slightly uneven breath, and feeling a little smug because that is because of her.
"Quinn?" Rachel whispers, but the blonde cups Rachel's cheeks and blindly places a finger to Rachel's lips.
"Just give me one more moment." Quinn begs. This may not be the answer to everything that is going on in her life, but this is Quinn's answer. And she would like a moment to really commit it to memory.
"Ok." Quinn allows after maybe another two minutes of silence. The girls pull apart enough so they don't have to be cross eyed while looking at each other.
"What did that mean?" Rachel asks, she looks scared. And Quinn isn't quite sure why. Does she think it's a prank? Does she feel the same? Or does she not and just kissed her out of pity?
"I think you know what that meant for me." Quinn replies hopefully. "The questions is: what did that mean for you?"
Rachel is silent for longer than Quinn would have liked, and when she is about to open her mouth to speak, there is a knock on the door. It doesn't send the girls flying apart like it should have. Instead it separates them to a respectable distance.
"Hi girls. It's getting late." Judy tells them after Quinn allows her to come in. Rachel sits up hurriedly.
"Oh yes, I probably should get going." Rachel announces. Judy shakes her head, stepping into Quinn's bedroom.
"I'd hate for you to drive home this late." Judy tells her. "What with the roads being icey. Santana and Brittany used to spend the night on school nights all the time. I'm sure Quinn wouldn't mind letting you borrow some clothes."
Rachel looks alarmed by the invitation.
"I - I don't know."
"I can call your fathers if you'd like." Judy offers. Quinn's eyes nearly bug out of her head. Judy is aware that Rachel has 2 dads? I mean, it's not a secret, but she would expect her mother to be a little...sensitive about the subject.
"I'm not sure..." Rachel looks over at Quinn, almost asking if it's ok with the blonde. She smiles at her, not wanting to seem too eager by nodding her head.
"I'd just have to see if it's ok with them." Rachel tells the Fabray's. Rachel exits the room momentarily.
"You and Santana still share your bed when she spends the night, right?" Judy asks her daughter.
"Yeah, but I'm-" Quinn doesn't want to make the diva uncomfortable by forcing her to share a bed.
"Oh good." Judy doesn't bother to hear her daughters protest. Rachel returns looking very shy.
"They said it was alright." Rachel tells them, surprising Quinn. She could have lied and said they didn't let her, even if they did.
"Alright the girls. Light's out." Judy tells them with an oblivious smile. She leaves the girls to settle themselves.
"Santana and I share a bed when she spends the night, so my mom assumed we would too. But if that makes you-" Before Quinn can finish Rachel interrupts.
"I'm fine Quinn. Do you have anything I can sleep in?" Quinn's hands might be shaking with nerves as she searches for something Rachel can wear. In the end, she lets her wear her cheerio sweats and a tshirt. Quinn loves the way they fit her a little too baggy.
Quinn wears something very similarly.
Neither of the girls brings up the kiss, not even when the room is painted into darkness. They lie next to each other, almost rigid.
They don't cuddle through the night, and they don't speak (except for their whispered goodnights). And even though they lay in silence, Quinn's heart is racing. It's not because she is going to lean in for a kiss or anything. She's simply nervous.
Even though they don't kiss, or cuddle, or even talk. It's not exactly uncomfortable. It's Rachel who shifts slightly. Her hand brushing up against Quinn's. Their fingers twine together through the silence.
Quinn falls asleep, unsure of what tomorrow will bring, but content with holding the hand of Rachel Berry in the darkness.
Wow, Thank you all for all your kind words and support. I was going to wait and see if I held out, i might get a few more, but I promised, and also Reviewer lugete pointed out that it was March 22nd yesterday. Looks like none of us is living in a perpetual loop of March 21st.
Also, A little note, for those who asked why Quinn didn't just say she knew where the donations go. In my high school we only held canned food drives 1 maybe 2 times a year. Rachel isn't bringing in food for a food drive, she is just donating food because she knows Emma works there. But otherwise, you guys were right- It should have been an easy save for her.
I'm going to do some shameless plugging here, so if you're not into that you can skip this.
I've been working on some other fics:
If you like Faberry and Zombies: Check out Against all odds and it's sequel Here's to Us.
If you like Disney and Faberry: Check out Happiest place on earth.
If you like Hunger Games and Faberry: Check out The strength in trees.
Alright, I'm done.
Thank you all, once again, for the reviews. Keep it up! I swear it pays off- it makes me all happy and gooey inside, which means more faberry.
What did you guys think?- A