So this chapter is a few days late. My bad. I have never been to any of the places I'm taking our girls, but wanting them, and y'all, to have a memorable experience… well let's say when you combine my love of research, my "oh look something shiny" tendencies, and my mild OCD/perfectionist streak you can expect an update to take a bit longer. Hopefully you enjoy this leg of their trip. 5400 words of complete and utter fluff. Part two of their trip will hopefully be up tomorrow.

"Uncle! Uncle!" Rachel laughed from beneath Quinn as Quinn's fingers danced over her skin, finding every ticklish spot on her body.

"Doesn't work. You're mine Berry!"

Rachel continued to be serious, though she could barely catch her breath around the force of her laughing. "I'm always yours."

Quinn stopped moving and looked down at the smaller woman whose eyes shined with laughter and tears of joy and couldn't help but snuggle into the still chuckling woman's neck.

"Quinn, you have to sit up." Rachel giggled as she tried to push her sleepy friend away from her.

Quinn groaned in her seat, realizing as she came to consciousness that the sound of Rachel's giggles weren't coming from her dream but from the seat next to her and cursed her imagination. Quinn sat up, her hair sticking up in every direction, still half way between wake and sleep. The giddiness of her dream lingered in her chest and she looked over at her best friend and grinned, sticking out her tongue.

"I can't help it if you're more comfortable than this seat."

"While that's most likely true, you trying to crawl into my lap while I'm driving may not be the safest thing in the world."

"But Rachie! I'm tired and you make a good pillow!" She teased. Quinn's smile grew as she laid her head on Rachel's shoulder and whined loudly, "Are we there yet?"

Rachel laughed and pushed her away again. "Such a child."

Quinn donned her best pout and looked up through her lashes, trying not to burst out laughing as she put on her best child-like voice. "How much longer? I'm hungry!"

"This is why I told you it would be a good idea to eat before we left." Rachel pointed out, seriously.

Quinn huffed and sat back into her seat, folding her arms over her chest. "And I told you that you were lucky to get me out of bed."

"Well, you should be thankful that I let you sleep in a full extra hour." Quinn was unable to stop her smile. She had spent that extra hour curled around the diva. She was more than thankful for that extra hour. "It's a good thing I know your not a morning person. Check your door." Rachel pointed towards the pocket of Quinn's door without taking her eyes from the road.

Quinn reached down and felt her hand meet solid metal and lifted, grinning widely. "I think I may love you." Quinn's quipped not even registering those words as she cracked open the top of the Stanley Thermos that had been tucked into her door. She unscrewed the lid and placed her nose at the opening, content for the moment to inhale the delicious aroma that filled her nostrils.

"Are you going to drink it or just try to absorb the caffeine through osmosis?" Rachel smiled over at the glowing woman.

"I was trying to figure out if you'd know how to run a central line of this stuff. Need it straight into my veins."

"And they call me dramatic." Rachel chuckled and reached for the radio, only to have her hand knocked away. "Uh-uh. You planned the trip. I plan the music. We had a deal."

Quinn smiled in triumph when the diva frowned and placed her hand back on the steering wheel. "Good girl."

Quinn silently poured her coffee, humming softly as the warm, bitter liquid hit the back of her throat. She watched Rachel, knowing that the silence was going to drive her nuts and wondered how long it would take for the smaller woman to break. She'd honestly been surprised that Rachel hadn't even attempted to turn the radio on in the two hours Quinn had slept since they'd first gotten in the car. Quinn waited, slowly sipping her coffee as she took in the miles of road, fields, and houses that passed by them. She knew it was only a matter of time.

Sure enough, two minutes later the silence was shattered. But not by either of their voices. Rachel looked over at Quinn's stomach and laughed.

"Are you sure you're not part lion? Because your stomach isn't growling, the poor thing is roaring at me."

"It's telling you that you better feed it before it decides to devour you. I know you've prepared everything and then some for this trip, so where are the snacks?"

Rachel shook her head, "No snacks for you. At least not yet."

Quinn glared at the woman, who seemed completely unaffected. She wasn't sure when her glower stopped intimidating the little diva, and as much as it irritated her, it kind of made her want to smile.

"Rae! I'm starving!" Quinn whined playfully.

"You are not starving. Children in Africa are starving. Homeless children in America are starving. You are not starving."

"My stomach tends to disagree."

"Your stomach is a rather fearsome creature, so again, it is a good thing I know you so well."

"Yes, you do. Better than anyone in the world. And therefore you know I get cranky if I don't get fed at regular intervals."

Rachel smiled over at Quinn. She knew it was true. Quinn really was like a little kid some times –she was always more cranky when she was tired or hungry. She knew Quinn was right about knowing her better than anyone else too. That was something that went both ways: she was aware that Quinn knew more about her than almost anyone. It was all the little things, things no one else would even think to ask. They were things Quinn didn't even have to ask, because she actually listened when Rachel talked. Not many people actually did.

"Yes, well, I also knew that even if you had eaten before we left, though the possibility was marginal, that you'd be hungry again within a few hours. Therefore, one of our first stops is at Christmas City for breakfast with St. Nicholas."

Quinn snorted. "Seriously?"

Rachel looked over at her for a brief second before returning her eyes to the road. "Am I serious that I knew you wouldn't eat before we left, that you'd be hungry shortly after regardless, or that we are having breakfast with a fictional entity meant to bring joy and happiness to young children?"

Quinn thought about it. "Really, all of it, but I guess I was asking if there really is some place called Christmas City?"

"Well, yes to the all the above, though Christmas City is just the moniker Bethlehem, PA goes by for the holidays."

Quinn bobbed her head from side to side. "I guess that makes sense. I mean, Bethlehem? I'm surprised they don't have a huge star hanging over head leading everyone there." Rachel rolled her eyes. "So how long until we reach the fabled city of Jesus' birth? And please don't tell me they're going to make us eat in out of a manger or something equally as weird."

"You need more coffee. Your jokes are horrible."

"It's barely eight a.m. don't judge me." Quinn bit out, before drinking more of her coffee. "Coffee is my friend."

"So am I."

"If you were my friend, you'd be feeding me right now."

"We only have half an hour until we reach Bethlehem, Quinn."

"And by the time we get there, I may just be hungry enough to eat baby Jesus! Did you not hear the caged animal in my stomach growling at you?"

"I think baby Jesus heard her growling."

"EXACTLY! I need food!"

Rachel huffed and motioned for Quinn to hand her her bag from the back seat. She blindly dug around her bag until her fingers happened upon what she was searching for. "Just so you know, I do this under duress. I really was saving this for later, so you better appreciate it now."

Quinn watched as Rachel's hand emerged from her bag holding an oblong package wrapped in brown baking paper. As she began to fold back the paper she couldn't help the girly squeak that left her lips.

"Is that…"

"Yes."

"You cooked me…"

Rachel scrunched up her nose. "Yes."

"It's real bacon?"

"Yes, Quinn, I cooked you real bacon. I hope you are happy to know that I care for you enough to participate in the slaughter of helpless creatures."

Quinn beamed happily as she bit into a piece of thick, perfectly cooked bacon, too happy to respond to Rachel. As she chewed she nodded to herself –it was official. She was completely in love with the beautiful, alluring, slightly annoying, completely sweet and amazingly talented, Rachel Berry. Anyone who would make her bacon was good in her books, but for someone who despised meat to do so, just made her swoon a little bit. She decided to reward her love by finally turning on some music. She settled on her Christmas playlist to show her appreciation, making sure the first song that played was Rachel's favorite, Last Christmas. She had actually made a ton of playlist for the trip, far more than they'd be able to listen to even if there trip went on for weeks, but she knew that there were only three list that she'd probably choose from and all the songs on them had been chosen specifically for the woman sitting next to her.

After their breakfast with Santa, which as they had expected had been aimed at young children, the two women wandered around the Christmas-themed marketplace, stopping at different artisan booths to pick up small last-minute gifts for their friends and family. She'd allowed Quinn to talk her into observing a glass blowing demonstration and the two women stuck around to create their own ornaments. Rachel had only planned on spending an hour or two in the beautiful town, but when Quinn had begged her to wander the market, she couldn't say no.

"I'm sorry I threw your schedule off." Quinn said softly, swinging their hands between them as they finally headed back to the car.

"Don't be. I know I said I had everything planned, but really, other than one stop, everything is adjustable."

"Are you going to tell me what else we're going to be doing?"

Rachel thought it over as they stored their finds in the trunk of her Nissan Roadster. "Maybe not all the stops. I guess I should have asked before, but you don't need to be back in Lima anytime soon do you?" Rachel asked over the top of the car before climbing into the driver's seat. She looked over at Quinn as she buckled her seatbelt and waited for her to answer.

"I don't know? Do we have to be there anytime soon?"

"I don't understand, I just asked you that."

"Rae, I'm here with you. I'm going with you. I told you, I don't really have anything back in Lima waiting for me, so whatever you have planned, I'm good with. I promised Beth we'd be there on Christmas Eve, but other than that, I'm all yours."

Rachel smiled and squeezed Quinn's hand. "I promised Dad and Daddy that we'd be there for the first night of Hanukkah, which means we have eight days until we have to be home. So what do you say we just play it by ear. I'm sure here are a hundred little towns like this along the way that each have something we could find to do."

"You really want to throw out your itinerary?"

"Maybe not completely, but…" Rachel just shrugged, "The whole point of this trip was to spend time together and with everything that happened in New York, we really didn't get that."

Quinn bit back a small grin, happy to know that she wasn't the only one who had missed their time together during those few days.

Rachel looked down at their clasped hands and debated telling Quinn her real reasoning. When she looked up, she saw so many of her own feelings reflected in the hazel eyes staring into her own, waiting for her to continue, and knew it was what Quinn needed to hear.

"I just want to spend as much time with you as I can before I have to share you with everyone." She admitted with a shy smile.

Quinn's eyes twinkled with joy and unconstrained happiness as she playfully nudged Rachel's shoulder with her own. "Pssshhh, you're going to have to detach me from your side first. You promised not to leave my side."

Rachel grinned and nodded. "A promise I intend to keep."

"You better, Berry!" Quinn said affectionately.

"So, next stop, Hershey, Pennsylvania."

Quinn wasn't sure what to expect when Rachel began to tell her about Hershey Park. She expected that Hershey, Pennsylvania would have a factory tour and probably every bit of chocolate history ever, but a theme park? Rachel had assured her there was more to do there than just eat chocolate, and learn about chocolate, but she'd honestly been surprised by the number of rides and attractions the place had, and the number of people on the chilly afternoon. They had grabbed a bite to eat before leaving Bethlehem and had made good time, arriving in the chocolate capital shortly after two, leaving eight hours of chocolaty fun. She was sure her brain was going to explode from excitement. Right.

After two hours, the highlight of the day had been the "factory tour" which was a highly frightening "roller-cow-ster". Quinn really wished she was kidding.

"Stop it."

Quinn looked over at Rachel and lifted an eyebrow.

"You're grumbling too loud." Rachel sighed and crossed her arms.

"I wasn't even saying anything."

"Ok, well you were thinking too loud then and I could hear it. I know that this wasn't exactly the most thrilling place to stop but could you at least pretend that you're enjoying yourself."

Rachel had never been to Hershey Park, or any theme park for that matter. And yeah, okay, this was probably the most cheesy theme park east of the Mississippi but she was still determined to have fun.

Quinn sighed and wrapped her arm around Rachel's back. "I'm sorry. It's just this is all so corny that I forgot the reason we were here was to have fun."

Rachel leaned her head on Quinn's shoulder. "We can always go find something else to do."

Quinn looked down into two sad brown eyes and shook her head before she even realized she was doing so. "No, you planned this and we're already altering your perfectly planned out itinerary." She turned to face Rachel, running her hands up and down the smaller woman's arms. "I know sometimes I can be a little difficult and I'm really not meaning to be, Rae. It really does me a lot to me that you planned all this. I just sometimes revert to high school where I hate everything and nothing can make me happy and… well it's stupid and it doesn't really make any sense. It just happens." Quinn wrapped her arms around Rachel's waist and pressed their foreheads together. "Can you forgive me?"

Rachel saw the sincerity in Quinn's hazel eyes and pulled her arms around the taller woman's neck, moving to press her check against Quinn's. "Always."

Quinn slid her hand up Rachel's arms, until their fingers tangled together at the nap of her neck, smiling as she spun the Broadway superstar away from her in a perfectly rehearsed dance move –that they honestly never rehearsed, smiling as the small diva laughed in delight.

"So," Rachel smiled as she twirled back towards the blonde, "now that you plan to be on your best behavior, we have somewhere to be." Quinn hummed in question as she intertwined their gloved fingers and continued their little dance. "All part of the experience, Quinn. And right now, we are going to go experience Santa's Secret Garden."

Quinn shook her head as Rachel began to drag her to their destination. "What else do you have planned for us, my little Christmas elf?"

Rachel smiled back at Quinn. "Was that just a dig at my height?"

"Maybe."

"Well then, maybe I don't want to tell you."

"Then maybe I'll just have to tickle it out of you."

Rachel stopped and looked at the woman eyeing her dubiously. "You wouldn't." She stepped back as Quinn slowly stepped closer. "Quinn, you know I dislike being tickled. It was previously used as a form of torture and I still find it to be…" Rachel squealed as Quinn descended on her and the little diva twirled on her heel, running through the thin crowds of children, parents, Santas and elves that filled the garden. She was almost bowled over as she stopped suddenly to keep from running over a small child. Quinn grabbed her around the waist, picking her up and swirling her to keep them both from falling over. All thoughts of how corny and lackluster the park had been fled Quinn's mind as she felt filled with absolute joy.

"Uncle!" Rachel giggled before Quinn even had a chance to tickle her. "I give, I give."

"Smart woman." Quinn settled her arm over Rachel's shoulders as they walked through the winter garden, even if the temperature hovered in the mid-fifties.

"I am completely brilliant, thank you for noticing." Rachel beamed, letting her arm circle around Quinn's back.

"So, what else are we doing tonight?"

"Well, I figured we might as well spend the night here, since we've planned on taking on our time. The park has a few hotels and resorts so when I bought our tickets, I got us a suite at Hershey Lodge."

"Sounds like a good idea. We can get a good nights sleep, have breakfast and do a bit of shopping before we head out."

"That was my logic. I still have to get Daddy his mandatory five-pound Hershey bar."

"Who in god's name needs a five-pound Hershey bar?"

"Apparently daddy."

"Right. That reminds me, I don't know much about Hanukkah, but I know you traditionally get each other presents for each night. What should I get your dads?"

"Quinn, I assure you, it's not necessary for you to get them anything."

"Rae, I love your dads. They've always treated me amazing, even when I really, really didn't deserve it. Plus, I'm sure if you've told them that I'll be joining you and I know LeRoy and Hiram will have a gift for me, and I just wouldn't feel right not showing up with something for each of them. Not to mention I'm going to be staying at your dads' house for almost a month."

"I already labeled the gifts I got them from both of us, Quinn."

Quinn stopped and dropped her arm from Rachel's shoulder. "Rae…." She sighed, she didn't even know why the thought irritated her, but it did. "I…"she shook her head. It wasn't something worth arguing about, and right now, "I need food. When is this agenda of yours going to feed me again?"

Rachel knew that wasn't what Quinn was really thinking, or even why she had stopped. She hadn't meant to offend Quinn or overstep her bounds –really she hadn't even given it a second thought when she had put Quinn's names on the packages. She wanted to explain it to Quinn, but really she didn't even particularly understand it herself. It just felt normal, like something she had done a hundred times before, though she knew it was something new. She was just glad that Quinn decided to let it go and decided unless the blonde brought it back up, she would too.

"How does a little Christmas dinner theater sound?"

Quinn lifted a shoulder as she shoved her hands in her pockets. "It sounds like something you'd enjoy. I'll just be happy if there's food." Quinn tried to smile but was having a hard time with it.

"Well the rather garrulous customer service attendant informed me when I made our reservation that the lodge we're staying in have a very nice dinner theater show that I thought we could attend."

"As long as you promise not to tell me every two minutes that you could do it better, or that the lead keeps going sharp, or try to join them on stage, then it sounds like it could be fun."

Rachel bounced and clapped her hands together. "And after we'll have to find some hot cocoa and cookies and take a drive through Hershey's Sweet Lights. It's a drive through all these huge Christmas light displays. What do you think?"

"As long as you're by my side, I think it sounds amazing." Quinn admitted softly.

Quinn woke up with a groan. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd been this tired, other than when she was pregnant, and she was used to running Sue Sylvester's Cheerios Drills. It was like someone had drained her battery and she wasn't sure how she was going to make it through another day of sitesightseeing with the Energizer Bunny still asleep in the next bed. She shifted uneasily as she looked over at the sleeping woman. How could someone look so perfect even when they slept? Seriously, when Quinn woke up, she looked like she was part animal, her hair sticking up in every direction, drool at the corner of her mouth, bags under her eyes. Rachel? She looked like she could wake up and walk onto the cover of a magazine, not a hair out of place. Quinn decided it was totally unfair.

It felt odd not waking up with Rachel draped over her. She'd tried to hide her disappointment when the other woman had climbed into the second bed the night before. It was silly for her to assume that just because they often shared a bed at home, that they would do so while traveling too. She had never felt like she did waking up next to Rachel and it was something she'd grown to crave. It wasn't like she'd never fallen asleep with someone else, it occurred often when she was dating someone. It was that none of them had prepared her for what it would be like to fall asleep with and wake up next to Rachel Berry. It was pure love and joy bursting from every inch of skin that pressed against her. It was the feeling of being dizzy and euphoric as the scent of Rachel's hair and skin lingered in her nose. It was the longing ache that settled lower in her body as Rachel's leg pressed between her own. She was woefully unprepared and yet completely in love with the feeling of the way the smaller woman felt in her arms, the smell of her, the way they fit so perfectly together.

Quinn wasn't blind nor stupid –she knew what was happening between them. Quinn wasn't sure how it happened but she was sure they are falling in love with each other and it made her smile. Rachel had always been an affectionate person, but now it was as if she craved Quinn's touch, almost as much as Quinn felt the need to touch Rae. Their nightly cuddles had become an addiction for Quinn and she couldn't help but want more; she couldn't help but wonder when they'd finally take the tiny step left that would completely change their relationship.

If she were honest with herself it was that step, that small shuffle by this point, which terrified Quinn. She couldn't imagine not having Rae in her life and worried that finally acting on what they had both been feeling for so long could completely ruin everything. Quinn rolled from bed silently and searched for her work out clothes. As tired as she was, she knew sleep wouldn't be returning and decided she needed to work off some of the nervous energy that suddenly filled her. She left a quick note for the brunette, leaving it on the nightstand where she was sure to see it. She looked down at the sleeping beauty and sighed, fighting the urge to bend down and brush her lips across the diva's forehead, she turned and made her way down to the lodge's well-equipped gym.

Putting her worries out of her mind as she queued up the treadmill, she thought over the night before. It had been truly magical. Yes, the dinner theater had been a bit cheesy but it was still fun. It was the type of place she could see bringing her future children, or maybe Beth if Shelby allowed it. She knew her little mini-me would have loved it, especially if her Broadway star big sister was there with them. She'd probably have to hold her down the same way she did Rachel. She smiled to herself as she remembered the feeling of Rachel's thigh under her hand as she kept a hold of the women to keep her from jumping up and belting out the songs along with the small chorus line, not that she was complaining.

Shortly after dinner they had climbed into Rachel's car and drove the short distance to two miles of woods and Christmas lights, their fingers intertwined as they took in the captivating lights. They traded their favorite (and least favorite) holiday stories in between singing along to whatever Christmas carol happened to be playing on the radio. The hug she received when they returned to the hotel still lingered on her skin. If she hadn't known before that moment that she was in love with Rae, that hug would have blindsided her. It was the way that Rachel pulled her in, as if she were desperate for the contact, as if she had been without it for far too long, a feeling that echoed within Quinn as she ran her hands up and down Rachel's back. Rachel laid her forehead against Quinn's pulse point and just sighed in contentment. Quinn knew she had to feel how fast her heart was racing in that moment, but she hadn't commented on it. Quinn simply melted into the hug, allowing Rachel to crush her with the emotional passion that the diva was always overflowing with. She had never had a hug that was so intensely intimate, so moving, that it made her breath catch in her throat and her eyes water with the power of it. When Rachel had pulled away, she had kissed Quinn's cheek before going to get ready for bed. Maybe that build up was why she was so disappointed that Rachel had felt the need to sleep alone, even if she was less than two feet away.

Quinn was pulled from her thoughts as a man tapped her shoulder, asking if she was almost done with the treadmill. It was only then that she realized she'd been running for almost an hour, lost in her thoughts of a tiny brunette she suddenly had an intense longing to see. She apologized and quickly went through her cool down before deciding to make a stop on her way up to their room.

Rachel woke up with a smile, a dream of beautiful hazel eyes and soft pink lips slowly fading from her conscious mind. She slowly rolled on to her side, wanting to have a few minutes of quiet before she greeted the day. She loved her quiet time in the morning when Quinn was still sleeping. She often found herself staring at the blonde when they'd end up lying together. She had wanted to crawl in with Quinn the night before, but her emotions had been too high. Her heart had absolutely ached for the nearness of Quinn but she did not trust herself not to do something she deemed unwise at the moment. The last few days had assured her that the attraction she felt for Quinn was more than mutual. She didn't want their first real kiss to be fueled by her lust and inability to control herself; she wanted it to be perfect when they finally took the step of becoming more than friends.

Rachel started at the sound of the door opening and looked over the Quinn's bed to find it empty and tried to swallow her panic. She began to breathe a sigh of relief when Quinn's blonde hair peaked around the corner, but her breath caught in her throat. Quinn stood before her in a sports bra and yoga pants, her skin sparkling with a light sheen of sweat. She'd obviously been working out but Rachel's brain was having problems processing much of anything as she stared at Quinn's delectable abs. Rachel let her eyes slowly drift upward, licking her lips as she dragged her gaze over the gratuitous amount of cleavage being shown off by the tight black and pink sports bra. By the time her eyes finally reached Quinn's she was almost panting. Rachel almost moaned at the cocky smirk and darkened eyes that stared back at her.

"Did you hear a word I said?" Quinn's voice had dropped an octave. She'd never been so turned on by just a look before in her life.

Rachel shook her head slowly, not trusting her voice, as she fought the blush that was filling her cheeks.

"Breakfast is being brought up and we have a spa appointment before we take off. So you need to get up and get moving." Quinn waited for Rachel to drag her eyes upward again and smiled to herself. Oh yeah, she still had it. "Rae? Get dressed. I'm going to go shower."

Rachel nodded as she watched the woman turn towards their en suite, her eyes glued to Quinn's ass. Rachel fell to the bed with a huff after Quinn looked over her shoulder knowingly and winked, wondering if it was possible to die of sexual frustration. She turned her head as she heard the water in the bathroom start and decided she'd have to take care of the problem herself. Just as she began to slide her hand down her stomach she heard a knock at the door and groaned, reaching down to cup the ache between her legs before she unsteadily rose from the bed. She seriously hoped the spa was all it was cracked up to be because she knew she was carrying a lot of tension and knew there would be no way to ease it before Quinn was back in the room.

"Damn that woman and her gorgeous body." Rachel huffed as she walked to the door and threw it open.

I was out for most of the holiday weekend and came back to 100 reviews, almost 200 followers, and 60 favorites and we're not even half done! You guys have amazed me with your reviews, follows, and favorites! Thank you guys so much! We're finally getting to the meat of the story.