A/N: I'm in the middle of writing a seemingly never-ending, exhausting chapter. Here's a little something-something 'til then.

Still not mine; still unbeta'd.

POV will shift back and forth a bit.

Reviews are nice. Please feed me. =) Thanks for reading!

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Rachel opened door of the truck before reaching over to ruffle Puck's mohawk. "Thanks, Puckerman!"

"Do not-" Puck playfully slapped her hand away. "-touch The Mohawk!"

Chuckling to herself, she shut the door, and waved to Finn and Sam as the truck pulled away from the curb, before strolling up to the supermarket entrance. She pulled her phone from her back pocket, scanned the text her dad sent her, and started in the direction of the produce section.

A few minutes later, as she cradled the carton of soya milk, loaf of bread, and bunch of bananas in one arm, she fished for her phone again to check the time. A quick glance at the screen told her it was a little past 6:30. If she hurried, she should still be able to walk home before it got dark.

She picked up her pace as she approached the end of the aisle and as she reached the end, she saw a cart appear to her right from out of nowhere. Her hand shot out to block it before it hit her.

"Whoa, there!" she gasped as the force of cart's momentum caused her to stumble a couple of steps to her left.

"Oh my goodness! I'm sorry-" a vaguely familiar husky voice apologized.

"It's alri— Quinn?"

She's with Finn?

Oh god, she's with Finn?

How could she be with him?

She never said she was.

Did she?

But why?

Why... him?

Well, why not?

Dammit why can't it be… anybody… else…?

A deep frown creased her forehead as she deliberately pushed the cart in front of her in frustration.

Her cart hit against something and it stopped abruptly, jarring her out of her thoughts.

Oh shit!

A girl stood a few feet away, holding onto to the front of her cart.

"Oh my goodness! I'm sorry-"

"Quinn?"

She stood rooted to the spot, her mouth agape, taking in the vision before her.

Oh. My. God.

Did I just conjure her from thin air?

The vision was staring back at her. It approached her slowly, never breaking eye contact, and stopped right in front of her.

And reached a hand up to touch her shoulder.

She shivered.

It quickly withdrew the hand away, as if burned. The small hand hovered over her arm though.

"Quinn?... Quinn are you alright?"

Fuck, Fabray! Snap out of it!

"Rach—el?" she managed to croak out.

The brunette was looking at her strangely. "Are you hurt?"

"Hurt?" she blinked, forcing her eyes to focus and her brain to catch up.

Fu-

"Oh my god, Rachel!" she gasped. The other girl arched a dark eyebrow in surprise. "I mean—oh, god… Are you hurt? Did I hurt you?" Her hand fluttered listlessly in the air, wanting to inspect the other girl for possible injuries.

"Whoa, Quinn… Quinn." Rachel captured one of her hands and giggled lightly.

Quinn felt a hundred thousand pins prick deliciously down the length of her spine at the sound.

"Easy. I'm ok." She still had not let go of her hand. Her thumb was doing that gentle swirling thing again against the back of her hand—

G-uh…

"You don't seem alright, though…"

"No!... I-" She glanced down at their joined hands as a wave of heat rose to her cheeks. "I'm just surprised—and…" Her eyes snapped back up to Rachel's face. "Oh dear! I'm sorry I hit you!"

Rachel's eyes lit up as a smile spread across her face. "You know, our previous little road altercation might have affected you a little more than it should-" Her voice had lowered a little.

She gulped down a whimper. "You think?"

"Yeah," the brunette gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Judging by the way you just reacted, you've obviously been traumatized."

"I… I have?" She shook her head. "I doubt it."

Rachel stepped a little closer with a glint in her eyes. "Because I'm anything but traumatizing?"

…!

"Yeah… Something like that-"

Clever, Fabray.

"Well in any case," Rachel carefully laid her hand on the cart's handlebar, "we should stop meeting like this…" She gestured between them. "Bumping into each other-"

She really ought to be checking her blood pressure right about now because really-

"Bumping… Yeah. Good idea." She's sure her face must be as red as her uniform. "No more. Bumping. And stuff…"

Rachel took a small step back and tilted her head to the side. "Unless, you know—you'd want to…"

Would I want to—

What is she trying to do to me?

She really really really shouldn't be doing this.

But really…

A little flirting here and there couldn't hurt…could it?

And it wasn't like Quinn was shying away from it. If anything, like during that little exchange between them in Santana's car, she had been playing along for the most part.

Except right now she isn't—

The Queen Bee was staring at her like a deer caught in the headlights, her mouth flapping open and shut wordlessly.

Fabray! Focus!

She cleared her throat a little. Rachel was still watching her with a small smirk tugging at her lips.

Oh. You wanna play, Berry?

She nipped on her lower lip as she took a step closer towards the brunette. "If you're up for it— I definitely wouldn't mind bumping into you again…" Her heart threatened to pound itself out of her chest. "… and again…" She trailed a finger along Rachel's arm resting on the cart's handlebar. "…and again…"

Oh g-d…

She watched, entranced, as Quinn's finger grazed the crook of her elbow.

Is this… appropriate?

She's never really had friends of the same gender outside of the Glee club and she had never indulged in playful flirting with any of them either- she had never actually been inclined to do so. Not at all.

But Quinn? Quinn Fabray was an entirely different case.

They have been friends for barely a week and yet here they were being… stuff and well… stuff.

There was something magical about the way the Ice Queen seemed to melt right before her very eyes as she tossed and parried playful remarks with her.

It was rather fascinating.

She had, of course, witnessed the head cheerleader turn on the charm before— she's friends with Noah and Puck and Sam after all. But to be on the actual receiving end of it? It was nothing short of exhilarating.

And she just couldn't seem to get enough.

And with that, she realized she had maybe been digging herself into a massive hole all this time—one that she'd unlikely be able to crawl out of unscathed.

Even then, at that very moment, as Quinn's finger continued to trail a path of fire up her bare arm, she could barely remember her own name-

"Rachel Barbra Berry!"

Ohmygod—

They both shuffled guiltily away from each other as the female voice called out again.

"Rachel! Pumpkin Pie!"

Oh no oh no oh no!

She spun around to find her Aunt Mary, pushing a cart, coming up the aisle. The elder woman threw her arms around her and planted a big kiss on her cheek.

"Baby girl, what are you doing here?"

She grimaced slightly as her aunt crushed her in an embrace. She sneaked a glance at Quinn whose face was flushed as she made a show of counting the items in her own cart.

"Just, uhm. picking up a few things for Dad and-"

"Quinn!" The plump woman must have noticed her friend. She released her hold of Rachel and ambled over to envelop the other girl the same crushing embrace. "How are you, sweetie?"

"I'm fine, Mary. And yourself?"

"Oh! I've been so busy! Don't even get me started!" She pretended to wipe her brow before grinning widely at Quinn. "You're coming to the barbecue, aren't you?"

Crap.

The other girl's eyebrows shot up. "Uhm.."

"Aunt M, she's-"

Mary was still looking at Quinn expectantly. "Did Rachel tell you I had to move it to the week after next?" She turned back to her. "Did your father tell you I moved it?"

"No, he didn't— But Aunt M, you see… Quinn-"

"-wouldn't miss it for the world," the blonde smiled at her aunt warmly.

What?

Fabray what do you think you're—

"Quinnie?" her mother's voice called out.

Oh shit.

"Mom!" she gaped as her mother strolled towards her.

"Did you get that sparkly water because I couldn't find it— Oh!" Judy Fabray stopped short as she noticed Rachel and Mary standing off to the side. "Hello."

Rachel was sporting a strained smile as she waved once. "Good evening, Mrs. Fabray."

"Hello, dear." Judy leaned over to give the brunette a quick hug. "Nice to see you again." She took in the items Rachel had in her arms. "Doing a little shopping?"

"Hello!" Mary exclaimed, extending a hand towards the other woman. "I believe, in these girls' love-induced state, they wouldn't be able to introduce us properly-"

Sweet Cheesus!

"Mary Berry. I'm Rachel's aunt."

Judy, after throwing Quinn a look, shook the offered hand. "Judy Fabray."

"We were just talking about-"

She saw Rachel's eyes widen.

"-how the inflation had affected the prices of commodities so much. Would you believe 1.5%? It's considerably lower from last year's and although we're moving into the final quarter, the forecasts for next year do not look promising at all."

Three pairs of eyes stared back blankly at the shorter girl; one pair more glassy than the others.

Oh.

Wow.

That's… hot.

Judy started to nod slowly. "I know what you mean. At the rate we're going-"

"Mary! What's taking you so long?"

She choked as her Uncle Jesse's voice rang out.

What—what?

"I'm done, honey. Rachie bear is here. And Quinn. And Judy."

"Judy?" Jesse walked up and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm Judy." Quinn's mother offered her hand, which Jesse shook enthusiastically. "Judy Fabray."

She steadied herself against Quinn's cart as she watched Jesse shake hands with Judy… Judy, whose Lexus she fixed… in her Uncle's garage… her Uncle, who was shaking Judy's hand… Judy, whose daughter, Quinn, she was apparently fake-dating… Quinn, who was watching the same scene with an identical horrified expression on her face as hers.

I think I'm just about ready to faint.

"If I faint and fall over, will you catch me?" She heard Quinn murmur silently next to her.

Without taking her eyes off the three adults, who seemed to have fallen into a discussion about the price of bread, she leaned in a little closer towards the taller girl.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing."

"You wanna do it together? That might break this little powwow up before-"

"On three?"

"One-"

"Two-"

"Isn't that right, Rachel?" Jesse suddenly turned to her.

Fudge!

"Sorry, Uncle J, I didn't catch that-" she smiled sheepishly.

"I was just telling Judy here how adept you are with cars." Her uncle said, pride obviously lacing his words.

Hoo boy!

He smiled adoringly at her before addressing Judy again. "She's a magician."

"Is that right?" Judy beamed. "I heard some faint rattling from under the hood of my Lexus this morning and-"

"Lexus?" Jesse raised his eyebrows at her.

"A 4x4-"

"I'm sure it's nothing, Mom!" Quinn interjected. "And oh, look at the time!"

She caught on quickly. "Right. I have to get these home, too." She gestured to the load on her arm.

"Oh dear!" Judy gasped as her hand flew to cover her mouth. "Thank you for reminding me, Quinnie! I have to make a call."

She heaved a sigh of relief as the adults said their goodbyes. She watched with bated breath as Judy walked off to the side with her mobile phone pressed to her ear. Jesse and Mary lined up at the counter.

"So, uhm-" she turned to grin at the blonde.

"Yeah…" Quinn was biting back a smile.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but- did you just invite yourself to an afternoon of barbecue with me and my crazy relatives?"

"I might have."

"Cool."

"Cool."

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