A/N: Here's the next chapter. This one is named after The Supremes' 'You Can't Hurry Love' - both for the title and a fun moment that happens in this chapter :) . Hope you enjoy and, as always, thanks for the reviews.

You Can't Hurry Love

Rachel stormed down the narrow passageway that ran along the side of the Puckerman house – she was no damsel in distress, thank you very much!

She stopped abruptly, however, when she reached its end and realised she had no idea where to go from there because she had no idea where Quinn's car was. It didn't exactly help that everything was still spinning and the streetlights illuminating the house's front garden felt more like floodlights being shone directly into her brain than anything useful!

She didn't have to suffer for long, though, because her eyesight was plunged into darkness by some mysterious figure tackling her to the ground!

"GET OFF OF ME! I HAVE A RAPE WHISTLE!"

Rachel tried to wriggle out from under her assailant but it was no use – they were too heavy and her limbs just wouldn't coordinate! Damn alcohol for compromising her motor functions when she needed them the most!

"Ow! Berry, what the hell?"

Wait, Quinn? That would at least explain why her attacker smelt so nice.

"Why are you on top of me?"

Was that the girl above her growling? Maybe she had been possessed after all!

"Because I was trying to catch up with you and you just stopped! I am not on top of you on purpose!"

The blonde's anger really didn't seem all that reasonable when she was the one that ran into her.

"I hardly see how this is my fault," she huffed, craning her neck so that her voice was no longer muffled by the grass she'd just been ploughed into!

"I was running right behind you! You don't just stop like that!"

"I thought cheerleaders were meant to be agile."

All of a sudden, the weight that had been resting on top of her disappeared. Rachel pouted in silent disappointment; although not overly comfortable, it felt quite nice to feel Quinn's entire body against hers. Not as nice as it had felt in that closet, though!

Get your mind out of the proverbial gutter, Rachel!

"I'm going to let that slide because you're drunk," she heard the girl standing above her grit out. Let what slide? It was true!

Rachel pushed herself up on her hands: the fall itself hadn't hurt, but trying to mobilise her limbs enough to get up did. Ugh, why were those damn streetlights so bright!

"Ow. Everything hurts. I feel like I'm staring the Belasco Theatre's lighting board straight in the face."

She heard a scoff. "Yeah, well, maybe if you didn't have the coordination of a blind dwarf on roller-skates and thought it would be a good idea to drink half of Puckerman's liquor cabinet then you wouldn't be feeling like shit. Also, stop making everything about Broadway."

Now Quinn was just being spiteful! Turning over so that she could sit up and finally look at her, Rachel grinned; "For someone that doesn't care for Broadway, it seems suspicious that you know the Belasco is a Broadway theatre."

It didn't really – the Belasco was perhaps the most famous Broadway venue – but it was the only comeback she could think of.

"I was taken there when I was a kid."

Wow – the blonde looked really annoyed. And kind of flustered. Huh. Quinn was standing above her, arms crossed and foot tapping anxiously. For some reason unbeknownst to Rachel, the girl kept looking over her shoulder towards the house.

"Quinn, are you blushing?"

"What? No. Get up."

"It looks like you're blushing." Rachel didn't think she'd ever seen even a tint of red on those perfect, pale cheeks before. It was really quite endearing.

"I'm not blushing, Berry! I'm just pissed off because you sent us both flying to the ground," she snapped. Gosh, why was Quinn always so grumpy? Blushing isn't that big of a deal! It was honestly quite nice to see some colour in those pale cheeks anyway. But if the blonde wanted to be all grumpy and difficult, then fine!

"Whatever."

"Did you just say whatever?"

"Did the fall impair your hearing, Quinn?"

Okay, so that was perhaps a bit risky when Quinn was obviously so grouchy but right now she didn't care what was risky. It was honestly quite satisfying to see the blonde grit her teeth in blatant irritation: Rachel could somewhat see the appeal in why Quinn was such a bitch all the time.

"Okay, fun's over. Get up."

"We aren't in school right now, QUINN. You can't just boss me around." To emphasise her point, she crossed her arms and legs. Hah – that would show her!

Quinn narrowed her eyes; Rachel countered it with a bright, smug smile.

"Berry, do as you're told for once!"

"I resent being commanded around! This is America, Quinn." Rachel shrugged, "it seems that we're at an impasse."

She watched with keen amusement (and perhaps a little trepidation) as Quinn took a step forwards and threw an icy glare at her. Usually that would be enough to get Rachel to fall in line with whatever the girl was barking at her, but right now it all just seemed quite funny.

"Berry, I swear to Go-

"Okay, okay! Calm down, QUINN!" The hazel eyes glaring into her own were starting to turn a little red, so a compromise seemed reasonable. She didn't particularly want to end the night in a shallow grave, regardless of how amusing pushing the blonde's buttons seemed to be. "I will acquiesce."

That seemed to simmer the blonde down some. "Go on, then," Quinn grumbled with an impatient flick of her wrist.

"I think I need a hand."

Rachel threw Quinn a megawatt smile: she knew she was seriously testing her luck (and the blonde's clearly precarious patience), but she was drunk and wanted contact with Quinn and her soft hands again and…screw it!

Quinn chewed on her bottom lip for a moment and Rachel was half-expecting the hand the blonde extended to hit her in the face, but it didn't. Wow!

"Fine."

Rachel beamed (inside and out!) and took the blonde's outstretched hand. Despite the seemingly pained look on Quinn's face, she wasn't tugged harshly to her feet like she expected. Instead, the taller girl held her hand firmly but softly and even made the effort to use her other arm to support Rachel as she stood up!

Was it possible to see fireworks just because someone has literally lifted you off the ground?

"Thank you, Quinn…" she trailed off, distracted by being brought up to eye-level with the other girl, and Barbra were those eyes molten with…well, something other than pure annoyance for once!

She expected a sarcastic retort from the other girl, but instead Quinn just…looked at her. There was something brimming in those eyes that she couldn't quite place, but whatever it was seemed tender, and Rachel couldn't look away. She was also well aware that Quinn's hand was still resting on her shoulder and that they hadn't let go of each other's hands yet, but she didn't want to point that out right now. Or ever!

Rachel just wanted to stay like this for as long as possible; any onlooker would probably look at the way they were stood – hands entwined, sharing breath – and think they were a couple.

Perhaps Quinn came to that same realisation, because only a matter of seconds later she abruptly pulled away. "We need to go; it's cold outside."

It wasn't, but even in her inebriated state Rachel knew not to dispute it.

They walked down the road in silence – a silence that was killing Rachel for all of the ten seconds she allowed it to last.

"You're a very good lifter-upper." She couldn't help herself!

"What?"

"Lifter-upper. You're good at lifting people up. Five stars!"

Quinn's scoff really didn't seem necessary. "Thanks."

Rachel ignored the blatant sarcasm. "You're very welcome."

Although Quinn didn't make an effort to continue their conversation, Rachel still felt quite satisfied: it almost felt like they were having 'banter' of sorts, which she always hoped but honestly never thought she'd have with Quinn Fabray. It was probably just the alcohol causing misplaced confidence, but she'd take it as long as it lasted.

Rachel was painfully aware of the nature of her relationship with Quinn, but tonight seemed to exist beyond the realms of high school normality and she was happy to live in that blissful bubble until it popped.

Quinn's patience – and sanity – was seriously wearing thin now. Every time she thought she had a grip on the whole situation, the universe threw her another curveball. How the hell had she come so close to kissing Rachel in a closet and then almost repeating the mistake five minutes later in the middle of someone's front garden during a freaking house party!

It didn't exactly help that Berry couldn't decide what kind of drunk she wanted to be: inconsolable, angry or pedantic as hell! The only consistency the girl seemed to have was having literally no boundaries whatsoever and being a total pain in the ass!

The only thing Berry made easy for her was getting in the car without complaint.

Once she'd shut the passenger door for Rachel (and the girl thanked her for being chivalrous) Quinn got into the driver's side, put her seatbelt on and started the engine. Then took a deep, calming breath. Then risked a glance at Berry.

Quinn wasn't surprised when she saw the girl rifling through her CD collection.

"Put your seatbelt on."

"You put your seatbelt on."

"My seatbelt is already on, Berry," she gritted out.

"Oh."

Quinn waited until she heard a 'click' and then pulled away, not without a quick backwards glance to check that no partygoers had seen Rachel Berry get into her car. Act of kindness and concern for Berry aside she was still Quinn Fabray and did not need the whole school talking about her more than they already would be.

"The Supremes."

What was Berry…? Oh – she'd forgotten to turn her stereo off before she started driving.

"Yep."

"Interesting."

What the hell was that supposed to mean! Quinn bristled, "What, did you expect top forty? Not everyone is such a cliché, you know."

Okay, so she didn't really know why she felt the need to defend her music taste to a drunken Rachel Berry but whatever.

She kept her eyes resolutely focused on the road but she heard Berry chuckle. "No, Quinn; I know that you have an old-fashioned music taste despite what you might like our more popular peers to think."

Well, that peaked her interest. "How do you know about my music taste?"

Rachel's response was almost too quick; "From what you've performed in Glee." Quick, but Quinn didn't really know how to challenge the girl on it.

Rachel, predictably without asking permission, started flicking through the songs on the CD. "I was simply surprised to find that you," – hiccough – "have a CD in your car at all."

Quinn wasn't sure she even wanted the answer, but she asked anyway: "Why not?"

"You just don't strike me as the type to listen to music in your car; you seem more like an angry-yet-focused, no-nonsense driver type."

Yeah, that wasn't really an answer that Quinn had wanted to hear. It shouldn't even matter what Berry thought, but it did. It always did, whether Quinn wanted to admit it to herself or not.

She glanced at Rachel again, who seemed completely content just humming along to the music. Ugh!

"You know, I'm not a soulless demon with no capacity for fun."

Okay, why the hell did Berry just scoff?

"Hah! I mean aside from taking pleasure out of torturing me, Quinn."

Quinn couldn't help but laugh, even if it stung a little that Rachel thought that of her. Still, the girl's tone was light and it was nice talking to her with a little lightness for once. Berry probably wouldn't remember much of it anyway, even if she did seem to be sobering up a little.

Plus, the girl looked seriously cute in her Cheerios letterman and it was hard to maintain a stony indifference when she kept having to look at it every few seconds!

"Careful, Berry – you might actually hurt my feelings."

"All I mean, Quinn, is that you're a very serious person. You need to let loose a little sometimes!" the girl sang, doing a weird bouncy dance in her seat. God, she was such a dork!

"Um, pot-kettle, Berry. You do realise that you're one of the most intense, serious people I've ever met right? You probably have higher stress levels than Obama." She couldn't believe that Rachel Berry was telling her that she never had any fun and to 'let loose'.

Rachel seemed to chew on that for a moment. "Yes, but you always seem so serious. You're always marching around the school glaring and being angry or withdrawn. You only ever seem to let go of that in Glee Club and even then it's clear that you're restraining yourself."

Quinn tightened her grip on the steering wheel: Rachel, like always, saw her more than anyone else ever did.

She needed to steer the conversation away from her own mental state before she steered them over a bridge. "Stalker much, Berry."

"Hah! Says the girl that goes out of her way with the determination of a bloodhound to find me multiple times a day just to throw some juvenile insult!"

Berry threw her a playful grin, which Quinn returned with a quirked brow and dry chuckle. "Touché."

Quinn quickly looked back to the road when she held Rachel's gaze for just a little too long; there was no way she was going to crash the car and have her dead, mangled body found alongside Rachel Berry's just because she was staring into the girl's eyes for too long!

Berry, being drunk and, well, Berry, seemed completely obvious to the change in atmosphere. "You should prove it."

"Prove what?"

"That you can be fun and carefree."

"I don't need to prove anything."

"That's exactly what a grouch would say." She heard Rachel laugh as if she'd somehow proven her stupid point.

"How am I meant to prove it, anyway?" she asked with a quirked brow, laughing when she took her hands off the wheel for a moment to make air quotes and Rachel gasped.

"Road safety, Quinn!"

"Answer the question, Rachel!"

Okay, so she was having banter with Rachel Berry. So what? No one else was here anyway and she could do whatever she damn liked.

"Sing with me."

"What?"

"Sing with me." Berry shot her a bright smile and then skipped to the next song. "If you're so fun and easy-going then sing with me."

Quinn shook her head, "No way." She looked back to the road and hoped that Berry wouldn't notice the blush now creeping up her cheeks.

"Singing in the car is the very definition of fun! If you want to prove to me that you're not a soulless monster then you'll sing along with me."

"Berry…"

Rachel punched her shoulder playfully: "Consider it practice for duet week!"

She couldn't believe she was even considering this.

"I am not-

It was too late. The girl had already stopped listening to her and was singing along – megawatt beam in place – to the first verse of 'You Can't Hurry Love'.

I need love, love to ease my mind

I need to find, find someone to call mine

Quinn turned to Rachel and couldn't help but laugh at what she saw: the girl was dancing goofily in her seat along with the beat and was using Quinn's ice scraper as a microphone. Where did she even find that?!

"Come on, Quinn!" the girl sang, poking her in the shoulder with the edge of the ice scraper.

Despite shaking her head, Quinn couldn't keep the smile off her face. Fuck it! Turning the music up, she starting hitting the top of the steering wheel along with the drum beat and joined in.

But mama said you can't hurry love

No you just have to wait

She said love don't come easy

It's a game of give and take

You gotta trust, give it time

No matter how long it takes

Maybe she was drunk off Berry's drunkenness. Yeah, that's what she'd blame it on. The girl's good mood and goofy dancing was infectious!

They both turned to look at each other, manic grins in place as they sang the next part dramatically.

But how many heartaches must I stand

Quinn cackled when Rachel threw out her arms dramatically at this part. She could imagine the brunette doing this alone in her own car and the picture made Quinn's chest feel warm.

Before I find a love to let me live again

Right now the only thing that keeps me hanging on

When I feel my strength, yeah, it's almost gone

I remember mama said

They sang the next chorus together even louder than they had the first, and Quinn did her best to dance within the confines of being the driver. Still, being the driver didn't stop her from doing body rolls along with the music and she could feel Rachel's eyes on her.

It felt pretty great, actually.

The song conveniently came to an end as she pulled into her driveway, but she couldn't get her grin to go along with it. She'd never sung in the car with anyone before – let alone like that – and it made her feel lightness all over her body.

It seemed to have the same effect on Berry as well, because as soon as the car pulled to a stop she felt a pair of warm, soft lips peck her cheek.

Quinn honestly felt as drunk as Rachel. Instead of the small peck snapping her back to reality, it just made her feel even more lightheaded and buzzed.

"See, that was fun!"

Rachel was looking at her with this elated, silly grin that made her look like a puppy or something. You know, a puppy that Quinn wanted to lean over and kiss until neither of them could even breathe anymore.

Quinn flicked her eyes over to the far left window at the top floor of her house: the light was off which meant her mom would be asleep.

"Yeah, it was," she breathed, looking back to Rachel and finding herself lost in wide brown orbs not for the first time tonight. It seemed like the brunette was having the same issue because the excitement swirling in the pair of eyes staring into her own started to glisten with something else that Quinn couldn't quite place.

The temptation was there. Rachel was there, in her car. No one awake was around for miles. They were pretty safe and secluded in the car. She'd already broken enough rules tonight anyway – what did one more matter? A peck on the lips wouldn't hurt; people did it platonically all the time...

She could explain it away tomorrow, she thought, as she closed her eyes and leaned in to close the distance between them.

Her eyes quickly snapped open, though, when the contact she was craving so freaking badly never came and she heard the passenger door slam shut. Berry was storming away from her car!

Quinn quickly pulled back, unbuckled her seatbelt and punched the steering wheel. "Fuck."

What the hell!

Hope you enjoyed. As always, reviews including constructive criticism very welcome.