Chapter 11
They watched the rest of the movie in silence with Quinn lighting stroking the brunette's hair. The minute it finished, Puck jumped up to replace it with American Wedding. Seeing Rachel's disgusted face, Quinn announced that she was going to bed. Taking the escape, Rachel decided to join her.
Quinn knew she had to talk to Rachel about Finn, but she didn't know how to do so. She couldn't scold Rachel for breaking up with Finn; it had been the best thing for their futures, even if Finn didn't see it like that.
Once they were settled into bed, Rachel could see the distraction behind Quinn's eyes.
"What's wrong, Quinnie?" she asked quietly, nuzzling into Quinn's neck.
"I know how important your future is to you, Rach. You broke up with Finn so you could focus on your dreams when you got to New York. Your dreams have always come first, I've always known that. But now I'm having trouble seeing how I fit into your life in New York." It came out harsher than Quinn had meant it.
"Finn and I needed to break up and you know it. There's no way either of us would have been able to handle the long distance relationship."
"But you're talking about seeing where things go with us and we're going to be long distance too, Rachel!" Quinn felt her insecurities seeping out. She never let her guard down like this.
"There's a difference." Quinn contemplated this, trying to figure out what was different.
"I don't get it, Rachel. You can toss away a year long relationship with a guy you seemed to have really loved. Yet you are being optimistic that I'm not going to distract you from your dreams? Because I can't promise that I won't. I know I want to see you and talk to you as much as possible. I just don't want whatever this is between us to hold you back."
"You're so thick sometimes, Quinn. We're best friends and you already knew that I wanted to keep our relationship strong when we separated and was planning to visit. Finn and I never had that deep friendship to build from. You understand what it's like to have dreams; I can see it in your eyes every time you mention your future at Yale. We're going through this together, whereas Finn and I could never have that." Rachel gazed deeply into Quinn's eyes.
"I'm sorry. I have no right to be so insecure about this. We haven't even been dealing with this for a week and I'm already pressuring you about where things are going." Rachel made Quinn feel so vulnerable. She always kept people at arm's length. Even as her best friend, Rachel often didn't get to see the insecure side of Quinn Fabray.
"Just trust me when I say that we're going to be okay, Q. No matter what, we have a great friendship and this isn't going to change that."
"I trust you." She met Rachel's lips with her own in a sweet kiss. As much as she wanted to, she didn't deepen the kiss. Instead, she pulled the smaller girl against her and they drifted off to sleep in one another's arms.
The next morning Quinn woke up to Rachel still cuddled tightly in her arms. Her body was warm against Quinn and she snuggled into Rachel, taking in the sweet smell of her shampoo. In all of the times Quinn had slept with Rachel, this was the first time she was awake before the diva. Quinn was getting to see a whole new side of Rachel on this vacation. In Lima, Rachel thrived on her rigid routine and organization. All summer Quinn had been trying to get Rachel to relax to no avail. But being away had let Rachel loosen up more than Quinn could have ever imagined possible. She looked so peaceful.
It was like though Rachel could read Quinn's mind as she sprung up, surprising Quinn.
"What time is it?" she asked quickly.
"It's only 8, Rach. You seriously never sleep in, do you?" Quinn giggled at the sight of Rachel checking the clock to make sure that Quinn was right.
"I'm late for my run." Rachel tried to get out of the bed, but Quinn pulled her back down on top of her, kissing her. She could feel Rachel's anxiety about getting up and starting her day, which made her hold Rachel tighter, refusing to let Rachel out of her grip until the smaller girl relaxed and gave into Quinn's insistent kisses. She allowed her body to rest on top of Quinn's and gave into the kiss. She ran her tongue along Quinn's bottom lip, eliciting a soft moan from the blonde girl beneath her. Quinn wrapped her arms around Rachel's body, holding her close to her, hands wandering up and down Rachel's sides. She wanted to feel all of the girl and tentatively fingered the hem of Rachel's t-shirt. When she wasn't denied access, she slipped her hands under the edge of the shirt, letting her hands explore the soft skin of Rachel's stomach and ran her nails along Rachel's spine. Rachel was kissing her furiously, her tongue flitting into Quinn's mouth, exciting all of her senses. Quinn let her hands wander up Rachel's body until she was palming Rachel's boob over her bra. The brunette moaned into Quinn's mouth at the sensation.
"Quinn, we said we'd take it slow." Her actions didn't match her words as she kissed Quinn's neck, making the blonde whimper softly. Quinn's hand was still rubbing softly on Rachel's breast, feeling the nipple get hard through the material. Despite the sound of pleasure that escaped Rachel's lips, she sat up, straddling Quinn's hips, taking in the girl under her with a smile.
"Sorry, it's hard to resist you," Quinn said, smiling innocently up at the brunette. Rachel leaned down and kissed her gently, her hand on Quinn's warm cheek.
"We have plenty of time to get to know each other's bodies, Quinn. It'll be worth the wait. I promise." Quinn sighed as Rachel climbed off of her.
"Let me take you out to dinner tonight." Rachel spun around to face Quinn.
"Are you asking me to go on a date with you, Quinn Fabray?" Quinn blushed furiously and nodded.
"I'd love to go with you. I even have the perfect dress to wear," Rachel responded, winking at Quinn as she disappeared into the bathroom. Quinn sighed and pulled herself out of the bed as well, excited about their impending date that evening.
The girls got dressed for a day at the lake and headed downstairs. The smell of pancakes wafted from the kitchen and Quinn's stomach growled hungrily. Rachel laughed and grabbed her hand as they walked into the kitchen. Blaine was flipping pancakes on the stove while Kurt mixed the batter next to him.
"Damn, it smells good in here!" Santana exclaimed as she walked in, her pinky linked with Brittany's and both of them with obvious sex hair. "I've worked up a good appetite this morning!" Kurt rolled his eyes dramatically at her.
"I'm kind of full actually," stated Brittany.
"That was way too much information, Britt," said Kurt, his nose wrinkled in disgust. Santana's face was smug and she stuck her tongue out at Kurt while reaching past him to grab the plate of pancakes before walking out of the room. Stomach still growling, Quinn took her chances and followed her sex addicted friends into the dining room.
Santana had a goofy smile on her face that she tried to hide as soon as she saw Quinn in the doorway. Quinn smirked at her friend, amused at Santana's look of discomfort for being caught in a good mood. Santana was really beautiful, but it showed so much more when her face softened. The only time Quinn had really seen Santana like that was around Brittany. The two complemented one another well. Quinn had always had some control over Santana from her days as HBIC, but Santana usually gave into Quinn because Brittany was there to help Santana see that it was the right thing to do.
Kurt, Blaine, and Rachel joined them, laughing and carrying mugs of coffee. Rachel put one in front of Quinn and she thanked her, more absorbed in Rachel's carefree smile than her need for caffeine in the morning. They ate in relative silence with Quinn and Santana in a silent pancake eating competition. Quinn was used to Santana's ridiculous competitive nature and she loved the challenge. Rachel's eyes were wide at amazement with the number of pancakes that were disappearing in front of the blonde. Quinn could feel herself getting beyond full and was self-conscious at the brunette watching her eat.
"Fine, San, I give up," pouted Quinn, tossing her fork down onto her plate that contained her eighth pancake. Santana fist pumped and finished off the pancake that was sitting in front of her. Brittany giggled at the childish antics of her two childhood friends.
Quinn smiled sheepishly at Rachel who still looked like she didn't believe what had just happened. She took her hand and pulled her from the table.
"I had no idea that you had the ability to eat like that." Rachel really seemed stunned.
"It started freshman year. Sylvester would kill us at Saturday practices and we often didn't get a break until dinner, so we would be starving. A bunch of us would get food right after practice and Santana and I would challenge one another. Now sometimes it just happens out of nowhere." Quinn smiled at the memories of sitting at the diner with Brittany and Santana after those long practices, racing Santana to be the first to empty her plate. Quinn had always had a healthy appetite, but she always had cheerleading to keep her in shape. Controlling her eating had been the hardest part of being pregnant because she no longer had Cheerio workouts to balance out her eating habits.
Rachel just nodded as Quinn reminisced. They gathered their bags and headed for the lake. The rest of their friends were still up at the cabin and the girls basked in the alone time they had, kissing and giggling as they laid close to one another on their towels.
Quinn felt like this vacation had to be a dream. If they had been in Lima, there would have never been this step with Rachel. Quinn probably wouldn't have even opened her eyes to her feelings towards Rachel. She couldn't help but wonder if they would be able to keep the thrill when they headed back to Lima tomorrow. Her saving grace was that they would be leaving the small world of Lima in a week, away from the judgmental eyes. Quinn had no idea how her mom would take to her youngest daughter being a lesbian. Their relationship had changed so much since she gave up Beth and her father left. She figured that her and Rachel could get through a week without giving away the secret so that Quinn would have some time to deal with how she would tell her mother.
But right now, she wanted to just focus on Rachel. She had the diva's fingers entwined with hers as they listened to Rachel's iPod together. Quinn was glad to spend the rest of the day surrounded by her closest friends on their last day of vacation, but part of her wished she could whisk Rachel away so they could be alone before reality set in tomorrow.
As the late afternoon haze set in, they headed back up to the cabin. They decided to all do their own thing early for dinner so that they could still have time to hang out together for their last night of vacation. Finn and Puck were heading to a burger joint and the arcade, Blaine was taking Kurt out, and Santana and Brittany seemed more than happy to stay back and have the place to themselves for a few hours.
Quinn was giddy with excitement to take Rachel out that night. She brought all of her stuff, including ten possible outfit choices, into Santana and Brittany's room to get ready. She and Rachel had agreed to get ready separately and Quinn was freaking out.
"Seriously, Q, she's your best friend. She's seen you when you're hung over as hell and we all know that's not a pretty sight." Santana seemed more inclined to push the rest of them out the door as fast as possible rather than helping Quinn get ready.
"Why not this dress, Quinn? It brings out your eyes." Brittany was standing by the bed, holding up one of Quinn's favorite sundresses.
"She's seen me wear it before."
"But she's going to be looking at you differently in it this time." Quinn didn't know where Brittany got this knack for relationships, but she was right. Rachel could show up in one of her animal sweaters tonight and Quinn would still be looking at her completely differently than she had all the times Rachel had worn them to school before they were friends.
"Fine, but I need your help with my hair and makeup." Brittany was more than willing to help out and her and Quinn giggled about the date while Brittany put the finishing touches on Quinn's smoky eye makeup.
"What do you think, San?" Brittany forced Santana to pull herself away from her magazine to look at Quinn's transformation.
"You're good at that, B. Who would have known that you could make a prude look sexy?" she smiled playfully at the blondes.
"I need to go help Rachel now. Quinn, you stay put until I say so!" Brittany ordered Quinn as she headed to the room next door. Quinn sat down carefully on the bed, not wanting to wrinkle her dress.
"Will you relax?" Santana moaned at her friend, who was fidgeting nervously on the bed.
"How does this work, San? I've always let the boy lead on dates and I have no idea what I'm doing."
"Quinnie, you're so ridiculous sometimes. You aren't going out with a stranger, you're going out with Berry. I'm still not completely sure why, but you are. It's like going out to dinner with her when you were friends, except now you get to reap the benefits of getting physical for buying her a meal."
"Why are you so crude? Rachel and I are not sleeping together yet."
"That doesn't mean you don't want to. Enough dinners and you'll be granted access." Quinn tossed a pillow at Santana.
A minute later the door swung open and Rachel Berry was standing there looking unbelievably sexy in the green dress with Brittany beaming at her handiwork from behind Rachel.
Quinn found herself speechless at the sight of Rachel in front of her. Brittany had done an amazing job with her makeup. Her hair was falling gracefully on her shoulders. The dress hugged Rachel in all the right places. The heels showed off the definition of her legs.
"You look amazing," breathed Quinn, not taking her eyes off of Rachel. She could see that Rachel was nervous and she walked over to the brunette. Feeling Santana and Brittany's eyes on them, she steered Rachel out of the room, calling goodbye to her friends.
"You look beautiful, Quinn."
"You can thank Brittany for that. I was too busy being a nervous wreck." She could feel the pink tinge appear on her cheeks for admitting it.
"So was I. It's new and exciting, but I have no doubt that it will be the best first date I have ever been on." Rachel took Quinn's hand and they headed out the door.
The conversation was light on the way to the restaurant Quinn had picked out of the listings that had been left in the cabin. She had to make a few calls to make sure that they had vegan options on the menu, but it was supposed to be a beautiful place about twenty minutes away that overlooked the lake.
When they pulled up, Quinn jumped out to open Rachel's door. Rachel giggled appreciatively at Quinn's efforts to be the perfect, chivalrous date. They held hands and walked into the restaurant. It was still early, so they were able to get a table on the deck with a fantastic view of the lake. Quinn pulled Rachel's seat out for her and waited for her to be settled before she sat down across from her.
"This is perfect, Quinn. Thank you." Rachel gazed into Quinn's eyes.
"I'd do anything for you, Rachel." She really meant it. Making Rachel happy was all she ever wanted to do. Quinn forced herself to tear her eyes away from the beautiful girl in order to read the menu.
Santana was right about it still being the same Rachel. They laughed and talked just like they always did. She had always hated first dates with the awkwardness and the lull in conversation. But that didn't happen with Rachel. They could skip awkward questions about one another's interests since they already knew each other so well. Quinn found more than ever she was engulfed with interest in everything Rachel had to say. She had always found the girl amusing with her over the top enthusiasm for everything musical, but Quinn was realizing more and more that while Rachel's first passion was music, she had so many more layers and she wanted to know every single one of them.
When the bill came, Quinn picked it up quickly and Rachel blushed, thanking Quinn for dinner. The sun was setting over the lake, painting the cloudless sky with beautiful shades of orange and pink. Quinn stood up and held her hand out for Rachel as they left the restaurant, the smaller girl quickly taking it and making Quinn's heart skip a beat.
They pulled into the gravel driveway of the cabin and Quinn turned off the car. Quinn could feel Rachel's eyes on her and turned to look back at her.
"This was the best date I've ever been on. Thanks for a wonderful night, Quinn."
"It's not over yet," replied Quinn, the corner of her mouth twitching into a small smile.
"What do you mean?" Rachel asked, obviously confused. Quinn leaned over and kissed Rachel softly on the mouth. The brunette gasped at the touch of Quinn's lips to hers and let herself fall into the kiss. It started to get heated and Quinn forced herself to pull back.
"A successful date is never over until you get the goodnight kiss," Quinn said, explaining.
"Well I hope I get a goodnight kiss in bed later too," said Rachel, a wide smile on her face. She leaned in and kissed Quinn gently before they headed into the cabin to spend the evening with their best friends.
They walked in to find their friends in the living room absorbed in a drinking game. After changing into comfortable clothes, Quinn grabbed herself a beer and Rachel a wine cooler and settled in the living room next to Puck. Puck and Finn were already rowdy, the empty beer bottles as proof of their activities. They played round after round of the game, getting progressively drunk, egging one another on. Quinn was sitting across from Rachel and she found herself craving the touch of the smaller girl. She tried to ignore her longing for the feel of Rachel's bare skin as she drank her beer and focused on the game.
Eventually the game sizzled out and Quinn found herself cuddled up between Puck and Blaine as they all sat and talked. They whined about returning to Lima in the morning and talked excitedly about the future. Before they all headed to bed, they made a pact to return to the lake each summer. They wanted at least one week a year where they forced themselves to return, no matter how far they were spread out during the rest of the year. Quinn hoped they stuck with it. She could already see them there next summer, a year older and wiser from their adventures. Another summer with Rachel in her arms.
Drunk and exhausted, they cleaned up the living room and headed up to bed. Quinn was brushing her teeth when the moans in the next room started. She groaned at the sounds of Santana and Brittany going at it without caring how loud they got. She was sexually frustrated from the intense arousal that coursed through her body at Rachel's every touch. Things with Rachel were great and she didn't want to rush into things that they weren't ready for, but hearing Santana moan as Brittany obviously pleasured her was causing Quinn to be even more turned on.
She climbed into bed next to Rachel, who was gazing at the ceiling and taking in the rambunctious activities next door. Quinn curled her body against the brunette, her skin burning at the contact.
"We could totally give them a run for their money," Quinn said jokingly. Rachel looked into Quinn's eyes lovingly.
"That is a very tempting offer, but I will give Santana and Brittany the satisfaction of being the loudest sex partners in the cabin this year." Rachel was smiling slightly at her own joke. "You can give me that goodnight kiss though, Quinn Fabray."
It was all the permission Quinn needed to kiss her long and hard. Her arms snaked around the diva's waist, pulling her close and their mouths fought for dominance, tongues darting against one another. Quinn's senses were on fire. She moaned as Rachel kissed down the side of her face and began kissing her neck, finding her pulse point and running her tongue along it. She pushed her body against Rachel's, desperate for any contact.
In an instinctual move, Quinn rolled on top of Rachel, straddling her hips and kissing her deeply. She couldn't keep the passion out of her kiss, wanting to taste every inch of Rachel's mouth. Her hands entangled in Rachel's dark locks, Rachel's around her waist, pulling her close so that their abdomens were touching. As Rachel began her attack on Quinn's neck again, Quinn couldn't help but let out a moan and thrust her hips down against Rachel. Rachel moaned slightly at the contact and Quinn rocked her hips against the brunette, the friction making her body quiver.
"Quinn.." Rachel's voice dripped with lust and anxiety all at once. It made Quinn freeze, looking Rachel right in the eyes. "Quinn I want you so badly, but we really need to deal with our feelings and relationship before we get too involved physically."
"You're right, Rach," said Quinn, sighing softly. "You against me just gets me so worked up that it's hard to hold onto boundaries."
"I feel the same way, Quinn." Quinn leaned down and kissed Rachel tenderly before rolling off of her onto the bed. "We'll have it all someday, I just know it." With that, Quinn snuggled into her and they drifted off to sleep.