The town of Birch Hill, Connecticut is on the border of Massachusetts. The name of the town was what originally drew Quinn to visit it.

Quinn had been looking at the towns of Suffield, Glastonbury and New Hartford, but as she was heading to Bradley International Airport, she saw the sign on the highway for Birch Hill.

Quinn thinks it was destiny, for Rachel had lived on Birch Hill Rd when they were still in Lima.

The town in and of itself is beautiful. It's full of wildlife and has breathtaking views. It's not one of those towns that is so small everybody knows everybody, but it's small enough. It has its own Starbucks and McDonalds and even a Stop and Shop, but it also has a local grocer and farms and honor system farm stands.

The center of town and along some of the main roads are a bit more…commercial, but the outskirts are largely woods. The high school shares a campus with the middle school and is only a stone's throw away from the library, which is lumped together with the police station, the senior center and the town hall.

Birch Hill, Connecticut is the town Quinn chose to film her movie in.

Quinn watches the sky as another plane soars into the distance. She looks at her watch. It's four fifty-nine. She inhales deeply. It's now or never, she thinks.

Quinn head into the hotel, straight for the elevator. She pushes the button for the third floor. Her hands move behind her back, her left hand grabbing hold of the ring finger on her right hand, unconsciously fiddling with her ring again.

When the elevator doors open, she steps out, but otherwise doesn't move. She's so nervous, she doesn't even know if she can do this. What if everything falls apart?

After a few moments of breathing deeply, Quinn makes her way to room 305 and knocks on the door.

Quinn panics then. She should have brought her flowers or chocolates or something. Isn't that what you do? Why didn't she think of that earlier? She's ruined this before she's even started. She could pretend that… No. She straightens her back. She's doing this. She's waited far too long for this day to back out now.

Rachel opens the door and steals Quinn's breath away. But then Rachel has always been able to do such a thing. Rachel's not wearing anything special. In fact, since Quinn had given everyone the day off, Rachel hadn't been planning on anyone showing up. Something she probably should have reconsidered since she's working with Quinn and Sam and Kurt and Blaine.

"Hi," Quinn says when she regains her bearings.

"Hello, Quinn," Rachel says. "What a lovely surprise. Please, come in."

Quinn steps inside and Rachel closes the door behind her.

"I hope I'm not bothering you," Quinn says.

"Not at all," Rachel says.

Quinn is fiddling with her ring again.

"I was wondering," Quinn says. "I mean the reason I'm here, not that I need a reason, I always love seeing you."

Rachel's face reddens.

"I was just hoping you might accompany me to dinner tonight," Quinn says. "On a date, I mean."

Rachel smiles, as Quinn tugs mercilessly on her ring, to the point where the skin around it is reddening.

"I would love to," Rachel says, "as long as you stop abusing your poor finger."

Quinn looks down at her hand. "Sorry," she says, separating her hands. "Nervous habit."

"I make you nervous?" Rachel asks.

Quinn simply nods her head. Her hand is itching to fiddle with her ring again, but Quinn forces her hands to remain at her sides.

"Let me just change and we can go," Rachel says.

"So, where are you taking me?" Rachel asks as Quinn holds the door of the rental car she had acquired earlier open.

Quinn closes the door after she's sure that Rachel is completely inside and runs around to the drivers side and gets in.

"Well," Quinn says after she's settled into the car. "I was thinking maybe we'd check out the Birch Hill Grill in the center. But if you'd rather go somewhere else…"

"That sounds lovely, Quinn," Rachel interrupts.

"Great," Quinn says as she starts the car.

The sound of the radio comes through moments after the car starts. Neither Quinn nor Rachel is familiar with the area, but since the first song that comes through the preprogrammed radio station is "Keep Holding On", Quinn figures that this will be a good station for the two of them.

Quinn looks over at Rachel and smiles. Rachel looks like she wants to sing along, but she isn't. Quinn has always known Rachel to sing along to the radio unless she doesn't know the song, and Quinn knows Rachel knows this song. This is the song that Rachel had organized the Glee Club to sing to her when she was pregnant with Beth.

Quinn can't help but think that something is wrong, but she doesn't want to say anything in case there isn't and she's just imagining things, which is entirely possible. Maybe in the time that Quinn has been absent from her life, she's stopped singing along to the radio. Quinn hopes that isn't the case.

The song ends as Quinn pulls out of the hotel parking lot, only to be followed by "It's All Coming Back To Me Now." Again, Quinn knows that Rachel knows this song. She killed it with this song when they won Nationals, senior year. When Rachel still hasn't started singing, halfway through the song, Quinn reaches her hand over to Rachel's and intertwines their fingers.

"Are you alright?" Quinn asks.

"I'm great," Rachel says, squeezing Quinn's hand in reassurance. "Why?"

"I just…" Quinn pauses.

"It's stupid," Quinn says. "Nevermind."

"Quinn," Rachel says. "I'm sure whatever it is, it isn't stupid."

"I just thought that… I thought you'd be singing along with radio, and when you didn't, I thought maybe there was something wrong," Quinn says. "But I realize that was quite presumptuous of me, especially since we're still reconnecting after all these years."

"Oh," Rachel says. "I figured you wouldn't want me to. Finn, Jonah, Ryan, even Brody never liked it when I sang along to the radio, at least not in the car."

Quinn thinks that is ridiculous. If you are with someone as musically talented as Rachel, why would you ever not want them to sing? Finn was never quite all there, he had never stuck up for Rachel, and was quite ignorant and narrow-minded, so that wasn't quite so much of a shock. Jonah was apparently an idiot as well. What reason could you possibly have to cheat when you have Rachel Berry? Rachel hadn't said much about Ryan other than that she had dated him. But Brody, if she remembers correctly had majored in musical theater as well. Why on earth would he not want Rachel to sing?

"Well they're all idiots," Quinn says. "You have the best voice I've ever heard, and every moment I get to listen to you sing is a moment I'd never trade for anything in the world."

Rachel smiles at Quinn. "That's so sweet," she says.

"Well, it's true."

When "Don't Stop Believing" comes on the radio next, Quinn quickly meets Rachel's eyes before returning them to the road. They both sing along with the radio. Quinn is very pleased with the timing when the song ends as they pull into the parking lot for the Birch Hill Grill and the radio shifts to commercials.

The parking lot is full, but Quinn is lucky that there's a car that just pulled out as they were pulling in. Quinn runs around the car to open the door for Rachel, who grins at her antics.

"How long is the wait for two?" Quinn asks the lady at the small oddly placed podium.

"About twenty minutes," the lady replies without looking up.

"That's fine," Quinn says.

"Name," the lady says.

"Quinn."

The lady writes down the name, and then looks up. Quinn assumes the only reason she's even bothering to look up is so she knows who to look for when their table is ready, but Quinn doesn't think any less of the woman because of it. She realizes the woman probably doesn't have it easy. Working at a restaurant in a small town probably doesn't pay that well, and she looks well into her thirties. Not everyone can be as lucky as she and Rachel have been.

The recognition is almost instantaneous. The eyes widen, the pupils dilate and the jaw drops. Quinn and Rachel simply smile at the lady, being quite accustomed to this kind of reaction.

"You're Quinn Fabray!" the woman says. "My daughter and I just saw "Taking Chances" and it is absolutely fantastic!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Quinn says.

Quinn is mildly irritated. It's not that she doesn't love her fans. She does. But in this moment, she just wants to be with Quinn with Rachel, not Quinn Fabray and Rachel Berry. Regardless, she is Quinn Fabray and Rachel is Rachel Berry, and they are both professionals. So, nobody except Rachel knows that Quinn is frustrated right now.

"Oh my God," the woman says. "And you're Rachel Berry!

"It's a pleasure to meet you…" Rachel says.

"April," she says. "April Hayes."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, April," Rachel says.

"Don't worry about the wait," April says, scrambling to figure something out. "I'll get you a table right away."

"Nonsense," Quinn says. "While we appreciate the sentiment, we're no more important than any of the people waiting in front of us. We're happy to wait the twenty minutes."

Rachel nods along and flashes her show smile at April. Quinn swears April almost fainted.

"Well then," April says. "While you're waiting, could I trouble you both for an autograph? My daughters would never forgive me if I didn't get one for them."

"Of course," Rachel says.

"Actually," Quinn says. "How about I do you one better?"

April, of course, looks very interested.

"Rachel and I are shooting our new movie here in town, we'll bring you and your daughters to the shoot one day, and you guys can meet the whole cast. Maybe we'll even have you guys be extras in one of the scenes."

"Really," April says. "You would do that? Can you do that?"

Quinn shrugs. "It's my movie," she says. "I can do whatever I want as long as it's legal."

April gives Quinn her number so Quinn can contact her when the time is right.

After they are seated, without too much more fuss, they look at the menus.

"Hey look at this," Quinn says. "They have a sandwich called 'The Rachel'."

Rachel just laughs.

"I think I'm going to get it," Quinn says. "Just for the hell of it."

"Why?" Rachel says. "So you can say you've eaten me?"

Rachel bears a mischievous smile. Quinn turns bright red.

"Rach," Quinn says. "I would never lie about such things. Nor is our non-existent sex life anybody else's business."

"I was just messing with you, Quinn," Rachel says.

Quinn grins. "I know."

The waiter, a bored looking teenager with a scowl on his face, comes over, Quinn orders a water with lemon and "The Rachel." Rachel orders a water with lemon as well and The Garden Burger.

"That was really nice," Rachel says, "What you did for April."

"Well I figure it's people like April and her children who allow us to do what we love to do, and it's only right that we give back what we can," Quinn says.

Rachel nods. "Still, you could have just signed a napkin for her, but you invited her and her kids to experience the making of your movie."

"Our movie," Quinn says. "It's our movie."

Rachel smiles softly at Quinn.

They talk throughout dinner, pleasantly surprised that they've only been interrupted once by a fan since they sat down. It isn't until they've ordered dessert that Rachel asks, "Why did you wait so long to tell me how you feel?"

Quinn inhales deeply. The only thing that surprises Quinn about the question is that Rachel waited so long to ask it.

"It took me a long time to acknowledge my own feelings," Quinn says. "I think I must have subconsciously acknowledged them at some point during high school, but I don't think I consciously acknowledged them until the summer after we graduated. It took me even longer to be okay with them."

Quinn takes another deep breath. "You'd think that being best friends with Santana and Brittany, and even to some degree being friends with Kurt, I wouldn't have had made such a big deal out of it," she says, "But I did. I actually was so scared that I slept with my professor until I realized what an idiot I was being."

Quinn unconsciously fiddles with her ring again. "When Kurt called Santana and I when you were going to do that topless scene. That's when I admitted to myself that I had feelings for you. I was going to talk to you at Mr. Schue's almost wedding, but then you seemed so… I don't know. It was just you and Finn. At that point it had always been you and Finn, and I felt that it didn't matter, that I would never… that you would never be within my reach."

Quinn looks Rachel directly in her eyes, baring her soul for Rachel to see. "I still can't believe you're here with me right now."

"Quinn," Rachel says, taking Quinn's hands in her own.

"No," Quinn says, "It's okay. I'm just trying to be honest with you."

Rachel nods in appreciation. Quinn knows that Rachel values honesty. Quinn does too.

"Anyway, what with watching the people that we love with other people, Santana and I ended up sleeping together that night. We went for two rounds, but it was a one-time thing. I knew I could never feel for Santana what I feel for you."

"Thank you for your honesty," Rachel says.

Quinn pays for dinner, despite Rachel's protests. On the ride home, Rachel sings along to all the songs, and Quinn basks in the private concert.

"I had a great time tonight," Rachel says when they reach her door.

"I did too," Quinn says. Quinn wants just to lean in and kiss Rachel, but she's unsure as to whether she should. Then again, Quinn doesn't want the night to end.

"Can I kiss you?" Quinn whispers, terrified of being told no.

Rachel nods as Quinn leans in.

Quinn knows it's cliché, but when her lips meet Rachel's, she feels sparks; she sees fireworks, she only hopes that Rachel sees them too.

When they break apart, Quinn forces herself to take a step back. "Good night, Rachel," she says reluctantly.

"Good night, Quinn," Rachel says.

Rachel lets herself into her room.

"I love you," Quinn says Rachel after the door is closed. She'd purposely waited until the door was closed to say it. She thinks Rachel can still hear it, but she doesn't want to have to face Rachel not saying it back, and she knows Rachel won't say it back, not yet.

As Quinn walks back to her own room, which isn't on the same floor, all she can think about is Rachel. And how much better their first kiss was than she ever imagined. And how now that she's kissed Rachel, she never ever wants to not be able to do it. She hopes it will never come to that.

What do you think? Please review!

"Birch Hill, Connecticut" and "The Birch Hill Grill" are real places with the names changed. "The Birch Hill Grill" actually does have a sandwich called "The Rachel"