A/N: Thank you so much for 100 follows! And to the person who worried about Quinn's health: I feel you. I wish she'd smoke less, too.

Chapter 12

"Excuse me? Could you please pass me the juice?" Rachel asked.

"Sure, here you go," Lola replied and smiled. 'I hope you'll choke on it and die,' she thought while her smile grew wider.

This was her and Quinn's apartment. How dare this woman sit at their kitchen table and have breakfast with them? This was her and Quinn's thing! And how dare she to ask her for juice!

Lola clenched her teeth as she stared down into her cup of coffee so she wouldn't have to see the look in Quinn's eyes when she looked at that Rachel girl. She knew she was being stupid, but was it her fault that love made people behave unreasonably and silly? Most certainly not. Therefore, she continued to indulge in her misery without the feeling of any guilt.

"Holy shit. My head is still killing me," Quinn groaned. "Did I really drink that much?"

"You don't remember?" Rachel asked while she poured the orange juice into her cup.

Quinn shook her head. "My memory ends with us leaving the bar actually."

"Another blackout, huh?" Lola chimed into their conversation. She turned to Rachel and tried to smile nonchalantly. "She had that a lot, you know. Sometimes she doesn't even remember the girls she made out with that night."

"Really?" Rachel looked at Quinn, who gave Lola an angry glare.

"Don't listen to her Rachel," she said while she rubbed her head.

"What? I'm just telling her the facts," Lola protested. "I thought your girlfriend knows how famous you are around here."

"Famous for what?" Rachel asked and looked back and forth between the two roommates.

"Well, there's hardly a woman around here she hasn't kissed," Lola replied with a wink. She enjoyed seeing the insecurity appearing on Rachel's face and the triumphant feeling it caused in her. 'That's right, girl. Your girlfriend here isn't as innocent as she seems,' she thought and would've added an evil grin if she had been all by herself.

"Lola. Stop it!" Quinn snapped. "You're exaggerating!"

Rachel placed a hand on Quinn's upper arm in order to calm her down. "It's okay, you don't have to explain yourself. I don't see anything wrong with it. What's past is past and it is not my place to judge you for it." She smiled at the blonde, who looked at her in relief.

"But at least now I understand why so many women said hello to you yesterday," she added nonchalantly.

Lola watched their exchange and couldn't fight back her annoyance. Both of them were smiling at each other and it was so fucking sweet. She could have puked on the spot. Yet, she was positive that some of the insecurity hadn't left Rachel's expression. So maybe not everything was lost yet.

"I'm sorry. I thought you guys had already talked about that stuff," Lola smiled and ignored Quinn's angry glares. "So Rachel. I barely know anything about you since Quinn isn't much of a talker. Tell me, what do you do for a living?"

"I graduated from NYADA, but I am taking a break from singing and just started working at a cafe. Maybe you know it. It's the one situated on…" Rachel continued talking, but Lola had stopped listening after she heard her say NYADA. She had a friend who had graduated from there the same year Rachel must have graduated. She grinned as a plan started to form in her mind. Maybe she could dig up something from the annoying brunette's past. Something that would once and for all break Quinn's rose-colored glasses.

"That sounds very interesting," Lola said as she smiled at Rachel.

XVXVX

Rachel was in the midst of preparing a large vanilla latte for a middle-aged businessman, when she heard the familiar bell at the entrance indicating the arrival of a new customer.

"Welcome to Coffee Alley," she sing-songed like she had been instructed to do on her first day at work. "I'll be right there for you!"

She closed the take-out cup with a lid and turned around to give it to the waiting man. "Here you go," she said with a wide smile.

"Thanks." The man stepped aside and revealed the other waiting customer.

"Quinn!" Rachel exclaimed in surprise. Since there were no other customers waiting, she rounded the counter and pulled the blonde into a hug.

"That's it?" Quinn asked and raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Rachel replied.

Quinn pursed her lips and looked at her in expectation.

"You're an idiot," Rachel giggled and tiptoed to catch the blonde's lips between her own.
"But a cute one," she whispered and gave her another kiss.

Quinn smiled happily before she pulled a purple rose from behind her back and held it out in front of her.

"Congratulations on your new job. I'm sorry I couldn't make it yesterday," she said with an apologetic look.

"It's okay. You had an important meeting after all. And I was stressed out of my mind yesterday anyways. This job is more difficult than it looks. If you ask me, this place has way too many options. I still can't remember how to make the mint mocha properly."

"Okay. Then I'll order something else," Quinn chuckled.

"No, you may order whatever you want. It's on me. And thank you for the rose, it's really pretty," Rachel said. She took the flower from Quinn and inhaled its scent. She smiled when she noticed the tobacco smell that had mixed with the smell of roses. Quinn seriously should consider reducing her smoking.

Rachel stepped back behind the cashier and using her customer-service voice she asked: "What would you like to order?"

"What would you recommend?" Quinn asked.

"Well our best sellers are vanilla latte and the java chip frappe. However, my personal favorite would be our matcha latte with an espresso shot."

Quinn nodded. "Okay, I'll have that one then."

"Do you want your drink hot or iced?"

"Iced please."

"Okay."

"You're really good at this job," Quinn acknowledged.

"You think so?" Rachel asked before she turned around to prepare Quinn's drink.

"Yes, I should come here more often."

"You definitely should," Rachel replied, the prospect of having Quinn around here more often already lifting her spirits. She liked the work here so far, but it could get boring when there weren't many customers.

"When do you finish?" Quinn wanted to know.

"In two hours."

"Would you like to have dinner with me afterwards? If you don't have any other plans already that is?" Quinn asked.

"What plans would I have?" Rachel replied while she added espresso to Quinn's drink.

"Okay, then I'll just sit there in the corner and do some work until you're finished," Quinn said.

"Here you go." Rachel handed Quinn the drink and smiled proudly.

Quinn leaned over the counter and gave Rachel a quick kiss.

"Thank you. That looks great." she said before she walked over to one of the seats next to the window while turning around several times, waving at Rachel.

After she had settled into one of the comfortable seats, Quinn opened her notebook and answered some emails concerning her latest project, which was going better than expected. She had expected the people involved to be somewhat arrogant and difficult to cooperate with - the higher in the scene you got the harder it was - but to her surprise most people, even the movie director, were quite pleasant to work with.

Quinn bit her lip in contemplation when she reached the last unopened mail.

'Subject: Personal meeting regarding possible future contract'

Sender: Richmount Pictures Los Angeles.

Quinn let the mouse hover over the heading for some time and frowned. She had received this email before and chosen to decline, but they seemed very interested in her. She let her gaze wander from the screen towards Rachel, who was in the midst of washing a couple of cups and glasses.

Rachel looked happier than Quinn had seen her in a while and the slight smile that formed on the brunette's face when she inspected the cup she had just cleaned for any leftover stains must've been the most adorable thing she had ever witnessed.

Quinn's frown changed into a small smile of her own and without further thinking she clicked delete and the email was sent to her trash folder.

When Rachel finished her shift, she folded her apron and ruffled through her hair in an intent to look presentable to Quinn. She grabbed two cookies which she of course had paid for earlier - she would never sink as far as stealing or embezzling cookies! - and made her way over to the stunning blonde typing into her lap top.

Quinn looked up when Rachel placed a chocolate chip cookie in front of her.

"How is it going?" Rachel asked and sat down across from the blonde.

"Great," Quinn replied after she closed her laptop. "The new project is really exciting and I think the movie might become a success."

"Can I listen to the music you composed for the movie?" Rachel asked.

"I'll let you hear it soon, I promise," Quinn replied as she reached for the cookie. "I'm still not one hundred percent satisfied with the result, but you can listen to it when it's completely finished."

Rachel nodded before she lowered her gaze on the table. She kneaded her hands and suddenly appeared nervous.

Quinn frowned and reached for Rachel's hands, which halted her anxious movements.

"What's wrong?" Quinn asked while she gave Rachel's hands a slight squeeze.

But Rachel just shook her head. She kept her head down and avoided Quinn's eyes, but the blonde could see that Rachel was blushing.

"Rachel, look at me," Quinn demanded. She reached out and caressed Rachel's chin before she lifted it up, so that the diva wouldn't have a chance to avoid eye contact.

"What is it?" she asked softly.

"It's just a stupid question," Rachel replied bashfully.

"There is no such thing as a stupid question," Quinn chuckled. "What do you want to ask?" She looked at her girlfriend in expectation, but Rachel was still hesitating.

"Rach, you can ask me anything, okay? You don't have to be embarrassed in front of me."

"It's just…" Rachel started and blushed some more.
I don't know why I am even asking. It's not like it would matter, but...uhm…" Rachel stuttered.

"But?" Quinn raised an eyebrow.

"What Lola said the other day, I just wondered about it," Rachel finally uttered. She shot a guilty glance in Quinn's direction before she tried to avert her eyes once more.

"About what?" Quinn inquired even though she knew perfectly well what Rachel was getting at.

Rachel took a deep breath and finally looked Quinn directly into the eyes. "I just wondered whether she was telling the truth. I mean, I don't care about how many people you have been with, but I just want to get to know you better. I want to fill those seven years with information and this is a part of it, isn't it? I'm just curious about the experiences you had."

Quinn couldn't help but laugh at the brunette's awkwardness.

"Well," Quinn began while she ran her fingers through her hair. "Basically, she told the truth. I'm not an unknown person among the queer women in our neighborhood."

Rachel nodded. She tried to look serious and understanding, even though the thought of Quinn with other women annoyed her more than she'd ever admit. But she had to respect Quinn's past and the choices she had made. Also, someone as stunning as the blonde must be extremely popular among all genders and sexualities. It would be weird if she wouldn't have made her experiences. Rachel imagined that even gay guys could fall for Quinn Fabray. One raise of that eyebrow or a casual bit on her full bottom lip, would let anybody's knees go weak.

Quinn smiled and placed her hand on Rachel's again. "But Lola always exaggerates. I'd mostly get a little drunk and make out with people in a bar or club. I'm not the one-night stand type."

Rachel's expression lit up upon hearing this. She knew that she'd love Quinn the same, no matter whether she had been with one or one hundred people, but she felt relieved that she'd not be one among many, but special to Quinn.

"So what about relationships? How many were you in?" Rachel asked.

Quinn leaned back into the chair as she pondered over the question. She wasn't even sure whether she had been in any real relationship. Mostly she had engaged in casual dating, because her feelings had never been enough for more than that.

"Three, I guess," she eventually answered. "But none of them were actually serious. The longest lasted six months."

"With Danielle?" Rachel asked. The mere thought of that woman made her angry.

Quinn nodded.

"Why did you break up?" Rachel interrogated.

Quinn pursed her lips in thought before she replied: "She loved me more than I did. I felt bad for her, so I ended it."

Rachel nodded. She wanted to ask more questions, but Quinn interrupted her thoughts. "How about you? What happened to the person you were with during freshman year?" Quinn asked.

Rachel lowered her eyes. She couldn't tell Quinn the truth. Not now and maybe never. Especially not after she had broken her heart that day for the second time.

"He moved away, so we broke up," she lied, not being able to look Quinn in the eye. She hated lying to the blonde, but how could she possibly reveal the truth after all these years?

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Quinn said, but Rachel could tell she wasn't.

Rachel watched Quinn thinking about something for a while, but then she felt her stomach grumble, so she got up from her chair and reached for her bag.

"So, what are you going to buy me for dinner?" she asked in hopes that a change in location would also change their topic of conversation.

"How about pasta?" Quinn smiled.

"Pasta sounds great," Rachel replied as she watched Quinn gathering her stuff.

"Pasta it is then," Quinn said, but Rachel was already heading towards the exit.

Quinn frowned while she looked after her girlfriend. When Rachel reached the door, she turned around. "Come on, I'm starving!" she called.

Quinn shot her a smile and grabbed her bag.

"Yeah, I'm starving, too," she mumbled to herself before she went to catch up with Rachel.