Title: That Night

Summary: While out drinking with her friends one night, Quinn meets a younger girl named Rachel and ends up going home with her. She thinks that's the last she'll ever see of her, but life seems to have other plans.

Warnings: Some angst in this chapter.

A/N: Hello readers! I'm loving the amount of feedback I'm getting so far on this story. You all are amazing :)

Just a warning, there's going to be quite a bit of angst throughout the rest of the story. So please just keep that in mind. The course of Faberry never did run smooth :P

Also, some of you have been asking for a Rachel POV chapter. I'm really sorry to disappoint, but that's not going to happen. This whole story is told through Quinn's eyes only.

Anyway, on with the chapter!

On a Saturday morning when she finally has free time, Quinn decides to take a run through Central Park in an attempt to relieve some stress. But even while left alone to her thoughts, her mind manages to keep drifting back to work and all of her meetings and projects during the upcoming week.

However, one good thing about today is that she's going to visit Judy and Beth later. She smiles as she thinks about Beth. She's been really trying to make an effort to see her niece more often and hopes things will stay like this.

After an hour or so of running, Quinn is worn out and heads back to her apartment. She nods at the doorman in greeting as she passes and walks straight to the elevator. While she's waiting for it to open, she takes off her earphones, startled when she hears someone calling out her name.

She turns around and is perplexed to see Rachel hurrying inside the building to catch up with her.

"Hey Quinn," Rachel says with a smile when she finally reaches her.

"Um, hi?"

"I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by."

Quinn nods. The elevator doors open. "I just came back from a run."

"I can see that."

"But you're welcome to come upstairs for a little while."

Of course, Rachel accepts the invitation. Once they get into her apartment, Quinn takes a seat on the couch, sighing in content after her intense workout.

Rachel is quick to join her. "I haven't heard from you at all this week," she says. She begins fidgeting with her hands nervously.

Quinn notices right away. "What's wrong?"

"I just want to ask..." Rachel locks eyes with her and tentatively says, "Are you avoiding me?"

"What? No." Quinn frowns. "I've just been really busy at work." It wasn't a lie. She has been completely swamped at the office lately. But if she's being honest, she was a little weirded out with the way Rachel was acting leading up to New Years. And she also knows that's mostly her own fault for pushing the girl away.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Quinn answers with a smile.

"Are you sure? Because it feels like you're shutting me out."

Quinn shakes her head. She thinks this girl is a damn mind reader. "I don't mean to shut you out. I...I just - "

"You don't have to talk about it all right now if you don't want to. Just know that I'm always here to listen. But please, don't shut me out."

Quinn nods, smiling gratefully at her friend. It's a relief that Rachel doesn't press the issue any further. Whatever Quinn might be feeling for her, she's ignoring it and pushing it down because she can't deal with anymore pain in her life. And because of that, she's pushing Rachel even further away.

"I'm sorry," is all she says.

"It's okay, Quinn." Rachel smiles. "So, do you want to hang out today?" she asks hopefully.

"I can't for too long. I'm going to my mom's house later."

She doesn't miss the way Rachel visibly deflates. "Oh, okay."

"But I can drop you off at your apartment on the way over there."

"Thank you."

For a fleeting moment, Quinn considers inviting Rachel to come with her, but ultimately decides against it.

"Maybe we can do something tomorrow?" Rachel asks.

"I'll call you." Quinn gets up and goes to the kitchen. "Do you want anything?" she asks.

"No thanks."

After grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge, Quinn goes back to the living room. She takes a sip before setting the bottle down.

"When are you leaving?" Rachel asks.

"Probably in a little while. Why?"

Quinn has little time to react when Rachel suddenly leans over and kisses her hard. She finds herself responding and kisses her back with even more force. It's only when Rachel moves to straddle Quinn that the blonde puts a stop to it.

"I just came back from running," she reminds her. "I feel gross right now."

"That's okay." Rachel kisses her again. "We can always take this to the shower."

"I'm just not feeling up for it right now," Quinn says apologetically.

Rachel nods and climbs off of her lap, turning a bit red out of embarrassment. Or at least Quinn assumes.

She leans in and presses their lips together one more time, silently telling her that it's okay. "I'm going to get ready now."

Quinn hurries and takes a shower. She quickly dries off and gets dressed. Not wanting to spend a lot of time on her hair, she decides to just pull it up into a loose bun.

When she comes back out, Rachel is still in the same spot on the couch, waiting for her. "How do I look?" Quinn asks jokingly.

"Beautiful. Like always."

Quinn blushes and breaks eye contact, not expecting the answer. She clears her throat and sits down, pulling out her phone to send a message.

"Who are you talking to?" Rachel asks curiously.

Quinn looks up from her phone. "I'm just reminding my mom that I'm coming by soon."

Rachel nods in understanding. She scoots closer and rests her head on Quinn's shoulder. "Is this okay?" she asks.

Quinn pauses for a moment. "Yeah, this is fine." They continue to sit together in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company. It's only when Rachel starts stroking her arm that Quinn finally speaks, "What have you been up to all week?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Rachel says, "Just classes and rehearsals. It's my last semester, so I have a full load." She sits up suddenly, as if she's just remembered something. "I'm going to be performing in my show next weekend. I would love it if you could come."

"I'll have to see if I have anything going on."

"I really want you to go, Quinn," Rachel says adamantly. "You can even bring your friends if you want."

Quinn smiles. "I'll try."

Rachel cups her cheek and kisses her one more time. She lets her lips linger for a moment before pulling back.

She's looking at Quinn with something in her eyes that the blonde just can't place. Like she's waiting for her to say something. Of exactly what to say, Quinn doesn't know.

So instead, she says, "We should probably get going."

Quinn arrives at Judy's house later in the afternoon. Before she gets out of the car, she checks her phone to see a message from Rachel.

Rachel: Tell Beth I said hi :)

She quickly replies back that she will and goes inside of the house. As soon as she walks in, she's greeted by her niece running towards her at an incredible speed.

"Quinn!" Beth holds her arms out to her.

"Hey baby," Quinn smiles before picking her up and peppering her tiny face with kisses. Beth scrunches up her face and pulls back with a giggle. "What are you and grandma doing?"

"Watching Spongebob!"

She goes into the living room to see her mother resting on the couch with her eyes closed. Judy quickly stirs when she hears them and smiles up at her daughter. "Hi sweetie. I didn't hear you come in."

"That's okay. This one let me in," Quinn says, nudging Beth. She sits down next to her mother with the toddler on her lap. "So, what are you both up to?"

Judy yawns. "Not a lot. We've just been watching her cartoons all morning."

Quinn smiles. "How's she doing in daycare?"

"She's doing great. Her teachers have nothing but wonderful things to say about her."

"That's good." Quinn beams at her niece.

"She painted a really good picture of all of us yesterday."

"Yeah?" she asks Beth, who just nods bashfully. "Can I see it?"

Beth wordlessly jumps off of her lap and runs upstairs.

"By the way..." Quinn turns to Judy. "Rachel said to tell you guys hi."

"Oh! Rachel?" Judy lights up. "She's a great girl. We were talking just yesterday."

Quinn looks at her mother like she's gone crazy. "Wait, what? You talk to Rachel? Since when?"

"We exchanged numbers before you both left on Christmas."

Quinn furrows her brow at this new information. "I wasn't aware of this. What do you even talk about?"

"Oh you know, just girl stuff." Judy pauses. "She's been worried about you getting too stressed out from work." She sits up straighter and gives Quinn a look of concern. "Is Russell making you work a lot?"

"No." Quinn shakes her head. "I mean yeah. But I'm doing it all voluntarily. About Rachel, what - "

Judy cuts her off. "If you're not careful, you're going to end up just like him."

"What do you mean just like him?" Quinn asks defensively.

"I mean the kind of person that puts work above everything else. Don't be upset, Quinn. I'm just saying. And I want you to be mindful of that."

Before Quinn has a chance to argue any further, Beth comes running back downstairs with her artwork. Quinn smiles at her niece and listens attentively as she talks all about how she painted it. But on the inside, the blonde is fuming to herself.

Quinn gets home late that night and falls into her couch. She's still mulling over her mother's words about her turning into her father, and it seriously hurts.

Having a family has always been the most important thing to her, and she knows work will never come before that. And unfortunately for her, the one person that she did want that with chose her own career over Quinn.

She sighs and goes to the kitchen to grab a bottle of vodka. She takes her laptop and sits at the table, opening it to go through files of her old pictures.

And of course, the ones she looks at of her and Dani from their years together. She takes a large swig straight from the bottle, grimacing a little.

Her ex looks so beautiful, she thinks. They looked so happy back then and she would do anything to have that back. To have her back.

She comes across an old video that she recognizes. Hesitantly, she presses play.

The video starts. It's at their old apartment. The camera slowly sneaks up on a dark-haired girl sitting on the floor with a guitar, singing softly to herself. Dani looks up at the camera and stops with a shy smile. "I'm just working on a new song," she explains as she strums a few chords.

"Can I hear it?" Quinn's voice asks.

Dani gives a sighs and says, "It's not ready yet." She sets the guitar aside and leans back on her hands as she continues to stare at the camera. She lifts one hand up and reaches out towards Quinn. A pale hand comes into view and locks their fingers together.

The camera moves and is put down on the couch, forgotten as Quinn sits down next to Dani. The screen shows the back of their heads as Dani leans on her shoulder.

The Quinn watching the video takes a deep breath before downing another drink from the bottle. The memory of this night was coming back to her.

"How are you doing today?" Dani asks cautiously. Quinn recalls this being filmed only two months after Frannie died.

Quinn sighs. "I feel the same way I did yesterday."

"Is it getting any easier?"

There's a long pause. "I can't tell." Dani wraps an arm around her shoulders. "I feel the same as I did the day it happened. I still can't believe all of this. I don't think..." Quinn chokes back a sob. "I don't think my heart is ever going to stop hurting so much."

"You're strong, baby. You're going to get through this. I want to help you. And I would do anything just to give your heart a break." Dani stops and leans back, looking at Quinn like she's just realized something.

"What?" Quinn asks.

Dani smiles. "I think you just helped inspire a new song." She kisses Quinn affectionately. "I love you. And I'm going to help you get through this." She kisses her again. It soon becomes more heated on Quinn's part, but Dani stops and turns to look at the camera. She laughs lightly. "I think the camera is still on."

The blonde turns and presses something. The video ends.

Quinn continues to sit at the table with tears in her eyes. She puts her head down to cry quietly to herself. Everything that she was feeling that night comes rushing back to her. And if someone were to ask her now if it was getting any easier, she still wouldn't know.

She's not sure how much time passes, but she still hasn't stopped crying when her phone starts ringing next to her. She looks at the screen to see that it's Rachel calling and sends it straight to voicemail, not wanting to talk to anyone right now.

When it rings again, Quinn sighs and decides to answer it. "Hello?"

She knows that her voice sounds broken, so she isn't surprised when Rachel asks, "Quinn, what's wrong?"

"Now's not a good time, Rachel. I'll call you back tomorrow."

"I don't want to hang up knowing you're upset about something. Please talk to me, Quinn."

Quinn wipes her eyes and pulls herself together. Hearing Rachel's voice reminds her of earlier and she suddenly becomes angry. "You didn't tell me you were becoming best friends with my mom."

Rachel carefully starts, "We talk occasionally and - "

Quinn cuts her off. "You told her that I've been working too much?"

"I've been worried about you."

"That's none of your business. Why are you even talking to my mother in the first place?"

"I'm sorry! We just hit it off when I was visiting with you. But if it bothers you so much, then I'll stop."

"Yes, it does. And yes, you should."

"I'm sorry..." Rachel says again.

Quinn can clearly hear that she's crying now. She inhales through her nose and rubs her temples to calm down. She knows she's being irrational right now. So she softens her voice as best as she can and says, "Look, Rachel, you called at a really bad time. I'll just talk to you later, okay?"

She hears sniffling on the other end. "Are you going to call me?"

"Yes."

"Do you promise?"

"I'll call you," Quinn says resolutely. "Goodnight." She hangs up before anything else can be said.

A/N: Let me know what you think so far :)