A/N: Here's a fairly long update for patiently waiting so long. I'm sorry the only time I really get to write is during the weekends. :-(

Disclaimer: I wished I owned Glee.

014

Rachel woke up the next morning to someone laughing and voices fairly close by. Rubbing her eyes she looked over her shoulder at Quinn. The blonde was still asleep on her stomach, her face turned towards the brunette. Rachel stiffed a yawn and shuffled out of her sleeping bag as quietly as possible (stopping to fold it up because it was Rachel after all) and unzipped the tent. She frowned noticing she had been so upset with Quinn she didn't even bother to change out of her jeans and hoodie before falling asleep. She pulled on her sneakers that were in the corner and before stepping out the tent carefully. As soon as she stepped through the flap she heard the familiar sound of Finn's laugh. Scanning the campsite she spotted the boys, minus Artie and Kurt, a few yards away talking. She ran her fingers through her hair and made her way towards them.

Mike saw her first and waved. "Hey Rach!"

"Good morning guys" Rachel said with a smile as she stopped next to Matt. All 4 boys returned the smile. "What are you guys doing up so early?"

"Well Mr. Abrams snores." Mike said frowning as Matt nodded. Rachel giggled.

"Yeah and Finn woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep so he decided to wake me up." Puck said shoving the other boy in the shoulder.

"I was bored!" Finn retaliated, shoving Puck back. The two quickly got into a shoving match as Rachel rolled her eyes and turned to Mike and Matt.

"So what did you guys have planned until everyone else woke up?" she asked. Mike shrugged and looked at Matt. Matt shrugged too and turned to Finn and Puck who had moved on to punching each other in the shoulder.

"You guys wanna do something?" Matt asked when he had their attention.

"Like what?"

"We can take the RV joy riding." Puck wagged his eyebrows.

"One problem dude. Artie and Mr. Abrams are still in there. They'd kill us."

"So we chuck em out... or we give them one of those pills that makes you temporarily unconscious."

Rachel ignored Puck and sighed. "What about hiking?"

"Awesome!" Mike said grinning.

"Great idea Rach. I'm in." Matt said smiling. Mike nodded his confirmation.

"Count me in." Finn said smiling. Puck groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Fine I'm in since you losers don't wanna use my idea."

"Where are we going to hike?" Matt asked looking around.

"It doesn't matter. Just as long as we don't get lost." Mike chimed in.

"Or run into any bears." Finn said frowning.

"That'd be awesome." Puck answered. Rachel's mind floated back to the conversation she'd had with her dad before they left. He had confessed that he was just kidding around but the boy's comments had brought that fear back up. She wished she could just wake Quinn up and drag her along so she would feel protected in the blonde's arms but that wasn't happening. Rachel wasn't speaking to her and the Quinn wouldn't have held her even if she was.

"You okay Rach?" Mike asked. Rachel snapped out of her daze and turned to him.

"Yes I'm fine. Why?" she asked tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You were scowling, staring off into space."

"Oh. Sorry I was thinking. Are you guys ready?" she asked smiling.

"Hell yeah. Lets go!" Puck said smiling and jumping up, heading off in some random direction.

"Dude we better not get lost. Someone keep track of where we're going." Mike said looking around as they all followed Puck.

"We need some breadcrumbs." Matt said smiling. An hour and a half later the smile turned into a frown.

"Dude we're lost."

"We're not lost. I know where we are." Puck said frowning at Matt.

"You said that 20 minutes ago."

"Yeah and I'm pretty sure we've passed that tree 3 times." Finn said pointing.

"Dude its a tree. They all look alike." Puck said shaking his head.

"Any progress?" Rachel asked finally catching up with them, slightly out of breath.

"No. We're going to be like those kids that got lost in the woods and died from starvation." Mike exclaimed, holding his throat.

"No way. The bears and mountain lions will eat us before we starve." Puck said dropping down on a rock. Rachel crossed her arms.

"Now do you want to listen to me?" she asked.

"I told you I'm not lost."

"I'm with Rachel." Matt said quickly moving towards her.

"Me too. I don't want to die." Mike added, following Matt.

"Good luck bro." Finn said grinning and turning to Rachel who was looking around.

"We've passed that tree 3 times. I'm pretty sure one time was when we were making our way up here. Lets go." Rachel said motioned towards the boys.

"Dude I told you." Finn said smiling as Matt laughed. Puck groaned but stood up to follow them. Twenty minutes later they were walking back onto the campsite, Rachel on Finn's back.

"There they are!" Artie pointed as the rest of the gleeks looked up. Rachel's eyes fell on Quinn and she saw the blonde's face reveal relief then anger.

"Where were you guys? We've all been texting you." Mercedes said as Mike walked over and sat next to her.

"Hiking. Then Puck got us lost. Then Rachel got us home." Matt explained grabbing a marshmallow and popping it in his mouth. "Our phones were out of range"

"Speaking of Rachel, why are you on Finn's back?" Kurt asked frowning. Rachel blushed as Finn knelt down to let her off.

"We were walking down a hill and I tripped and hurt my ankle. Finn offered to carry me back but I opted to just ride on his back." Rachel explained as Finn helped her over to a chair. He carefully helped her sit down then took the seat next to her.

"Are you okay?" Tina asked frowning.

"Yeah its just a little sore. It was bleeding a little but I'm pretty sure it stopped."

"She fell hard too. I mean like she tripped over a tree root or something and went tumbling." Matt said smirking.

"Yeah good thing Finn was in front of her or she would have kept going." Mike added with a laugh. Rachel rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It wasn't funny. I could have been seriously hurt. I could have fallen and fell on top of a jagged rock that may have punctured my heart or worst." she gasped. "I could have damaged my nose leaving absolutely no possibility of ever singing the same way-"

"Okay Rach we get it!" Mercedes said over the smaller girl, rolling her eyes.

"Yes. Not funny. Falling, nose, never singing again. Dear God we get it." Kurt said putting his hand on his head.

"Good." Rachel said matter-of-factly and leaned back in her chair with a smug grin.

"So what have you guys been doing while we were gone?" Mike asked.

"Grubbin!" Mercedes said with a grin.

"Seriously? On what?" Puck asked looking around.

"My dad brought a grill and a couple of hot dogs and burgers. They're in the RV." Artie informed them. Puck, Finn, Mike and Matt all jumped up and practically ran to the RV. Half way there Finn stopped and turned around.

"Oh I'm sorry Rachel. I forgot you couldn't walk. Do you want a burger or something?" he asked. Rachel opened her mouth but Quinn beat her to the punch.

"She's a vegan you idiot." the blonde snapped. Finn looked a little hurt by her words.

"Right... sorry Rach." he apologized then hurried towards the RV. Rachel was about to reprimand Quinn for her rudeness but the blonde was already making her way towards her.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked when Quinn knelt down.

"I'm checking your ankle." Quinn said reaching out to grab the girl's leg. Rachel winced as Quinn carefully lifted it and pushed up her pants leg.

"So?"

"It just looks like a slight sprain and the small gash did stop bleeding. We just have to clean that then wrap it up and you should stay off it as much as possible." Quinn said turning around to face Artie. "Do you have a first-aid kit?"

Artie nodded. "Yeah its in the RV. Cabinet above the table, top shelf."

"I'll get it." Tina said jumping up and heading towards the RV. A few seconds later she reappeared holding a white box out to the blonde.

"Thanks." Quinn smiled and took the box then turned back to Rachel's ankle. Rachel watched in amazement, only flinching a few times as Quinn took off her shoe and sock then expertly cleaned and wrapped her ankle.

"Wow. How do you know so much about injuries?" Tina asked. Quinn smirked and turned to look at her.

"Well I did have Sue Sylvester as a coach for a year in a half." Quinn informed. Rachel giggled as the rest of the gleeks nodded. Quinn turned back to the brunette and Rachel felt her breath catch as she made eye-contact with the blonde. She and Quinn stared at each other for a long while, neither saying anything but just looking. Puck calling Rachel's name broke her concentration and she looked up as Puck approached her.

"So check this out. I told Mr. Abrams you were a veg head and didn't eat meat or any other animal stuff and he mentioned he had brought some vegetables for dinner or whatever. So I grabbed them, grilled them up for you and Mike put them on this stick thing. He said something about a Crackbobby or something?" Puck said shrugging as he picked up to sticks with grilled vegetables off his plate and handed them to her.

"You mean a Vegetable Kabob?" Kurt asked as he and Mercedes laughed.

"Yeah that. Anyway there you go." Puck said shrugging and going to take his seat next to Artie.

"Thank you Puck. That was really sweet... ow!" Rachel frowned and turned to look at Quinn who has just squeezed her ankle. She had forgot the girl was even still kneeling in front of her. Rachel returned Quinn's death glare before the blonde stood up and walked back over to her seat. Rachel rolled her eyes and concentrated on eating the kabobs as the rest of the boys came back out and took their seats. Finn smiled as he sat back down next to Rachel. After the guys had finished their food in record time Puck sighed.

"I'm bored."

"So what do you guys want to do for the day?" Artie asked smiling.

"What do you usually do when you and your dad go camping?" Matt asked.

"We go fishing?"

"Dude that's like the lamest thing I ever heard." Puck said groaning.

"Well we are in the middle of nowhere surrounded by woods. What else is there?" Mercedes asked shrugging. Everyone fell silent.

"I brought my football?" Mike said suddenly.

"Sweet!" Puck said sitting up. Mike smiled as they gave each other a high-five.

"How exactly do you expect to play football out here?" Kurt asked looking around. Puck frowned and sunk in his seat.

"We can play on the beach?" Tina offered.

"Nice! Mike go get the ball." Puck said jumping up.

"But Artie can't play." Mercedes pointed out.

"Its okay. I'll just go fishing with my dad." Artie said shrugging.

"Now we're uneven." Matt said sighing.

"I'm not sure I can play with my ankle and all..." Rachel pointed out.

"Then that makes it..." Finn said trailing off as he thought about the number.

"4 on 4 Finn." Kurt said sighing.

"Right."

"But Rachel can't even go to the beach and watch. She can't get sand near her ankle or it could get infected." Quinn said sitting up. Rachel sighed and shrugged.

"Its quite alright. I'm not a big sports fan anyway. I'll just stay here." Rachel shrugged.

"I'll stay here with you." Finn said smiling. Rachel started to refuse him but then she thought about it. It wasn't like Quinn was offering to stay with her. Why shouldn't Finn stay so she could at least have someone to talk to? She smiled back and nodded.

"That'll make us uneven again." Matt pointed out.

"I'll referee." Kurt offered.

"Dude that brings us down to 3 on 3. How much fun will that be?" Puck said frowning. Mike nudged him.

"Girls vs Boys... and we can play tackle." he wiggled his eyebrows and Puck grinned.

"Go get the ball!" he exclaimed. Mercedes and Quinn rolled their eyes as Tina giggled. Rachel and Finn waved as the rest of their friends headed towards the beach and Artie headed in the opposite direction with his dad to go fishing. Rachel and Finn fell into an easy discussion about how their summers had went and what they were looking forward to when school began. Rachel was careful to leave out everything she had done involving Quinn during the break which left her summer looking extremely boring. She did her best to ignore all the flirting Finn was doing and when he had actually came straight out and mentioned them getting back together she had simply denied him. He asked her why and she avoided the question just saying that she was only interested in being friends. Finn pointed out that he still wouldn't give up. It wasn't the reply Rachel had hoped for but at least he dropped the subject. The last thing Rachel remembered was listening to Finn talk about some video game. The next thing she knew she was being woken up by a chorus of voices 'awwing' followed by a...

"Thats my boy!" Rachel huffed and forced her eyes open. Mercedes, Tina and Kurt had wicked smirks on their faces, Matt and Mike had wide grins, Puck had a look of indifference and Quinn had a death glare. Before Rachel could even ask what they were looking at she felt something move underneath her. Thats when she realized that even though she was still in own chair, she was leaning over and had fallen asleep with her head on Finn's chest. She felt his arm around her as he groaned as he woke up as well. Rachel quickly pushed herself off him as he stretched.

"So who won?" Finn asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"We did of course." Mike said smiling.

"Sweet." Finn replied as they high-fived each other.

"Whatever." Mercedes said rolling her eyes.

"Do I smell jealousy?" Matt teased nudging her.

"No!"

"Dude where's Artie and his dad? Hopefully they caught some fish because I'm starving." Puck said ignoring them as he yawned.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Rachel!" Rachel winced as she felt someone shake her. With a groan she opened her eyes and looked up at Quinn who was kneeling near her, her mouth pressed in a line.

"What is it? Its still dark out." Rachel grumbled, clearing her throat from the scratchiness. Quinn glared at her.

"We need to talk." she hissed and Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"So talk."

"Not here."

"Why not?"

"In private."

"We're in our tent Quinn. Its the middle of the night and I'm positive that our fellow teammates and friends are sleeping, most likely having reached the REM state so no one is going to hear us." Rachel said rubbing her eyes.

"Just come on." Quinn grumbled unzipping the tent. Rachel groaned and slipped on her shoes before following the girl carefully out of the tent. As soon as they were both standing at full height Quinn grabbed Rachel arm and pulled her towards the wooded area behind the RV. To say Rachel was frightened would have been an understatement.

"Quinn what are you doing? For God sakes its the middle of the night and we're in the middle of the woods. What if we attract wild animals?" Rachel hissed as Quinn finally let her go and stared at her, arms crossed over her chest.

"What is your problem!" The blonde demanded. Rachel blinked in confusion.

"You pull me out of our warm tent in the middle of the night to some secluded wooded area and you ask me what my problem is?" Rachel asked incredulously.

"Do you want to get back with Finn or Puck? Because if you do just let me know so we can end this relationship right now." Quinn demanded, ignoring Rachel's question.

"What are you talking about?"

"What do you think? Rachel ever since we've arrived at Artie's house those two have been all over you and you've done nothing to stop it. In fact I think you're encouraging it."

"Seriously Quinn? Have you not met Noah Puckerman? The boy doesn't know the meaning of the word no! I have not been his only target this trip. He's been hanging around Mercedes as well and I swore I heard him hit on you as well." Rachel narrowed her eyes.

"Fine. What about Finn? You sure you didn't hurt your ankle on purpose just so you could ride on his back?" Quinn demanded. Rachel fumed.

"What do you mean what about Finn?"

"Oh your head just magically ended up on his chest earlier? Not to mention the way you grinned when he offered to stay behind with you."

"Its not like you offered." Rachel mumbled.

Quinn sighed. "This isn't about us. This is about you and Finn and how its obvious he wants you back."

"If you seriously think I would actually encourage Finn's advancements on me despite being in a relationship with you then you don't know me well at all." Rachel hissed and turned to walk away. She squeaked as Quinn grabbed her arm and spun her back around to face her.

"Don't walk away from me Berry!" She spat with so much venom in her voice Rachel lost her composure for a second.

"What do you want from me Quinn?" Rachel practically shouted and Quinn winced, pulling the girl a little farther away from the RV with a glare.

"Will you be quiet and what do you think I want? I want you to recognize who you're in a relationship with and resp-"

"Relationship! Are you sure that's what we have Quinn?" Rachel asked crossing her arms, her eyes cold and hard.

"What do you mean am I sure?"

"This relationship seems like a joke to you!"

"What are you talking about? I'm not the one flirting with my ex!"

"I was not flirting Quinn! I can not help it if Finn tries to court me back into being his girlfriend. I told him I wasn't interested in anything with him except a friendship but he's determined to change my mind. Of course if I told him I was actually in a relationship then he would retreat but-"

"Then tell him that!" Quinn shouted throwing her hands up.

"You want me to tell Finn that me and you are in a relationship?"

Quinn froze. "No... I just meant... tell him you're in a relationship. You don't have to tell him who."

"He's going to ask! Then, please inform me, what would I say? Obviously I'm not with Puck, Matt or Mike. Artie is with Tina and I surely would never give Jesse the time of day after what he did to me." Rachel huffed glaring at Quinn. "Who? Its not like I have many options unlike you."

"What's that supposed to mean!" Quinn shouted then quickly closed her eyes to take a deep breath.

"It means that if anything I should be the one that should have insecurities about this relationship. You've always had guys lining up to be with you since we were in middle school. Despite your set-back from your pregnancy when we return to school and you become popular again then once again there will be many candidates vying for your attention. You're more likely to be the one that leaves me for someone else." Rachel spat. Quinn opened her eyes and Rachel's breath hitched when she saw the fire in them.

"You're right... and I don't have to whore myself out or steal someone's boyfriend to do it now do I? I might even take up some of the guy's offers to-" Before Quinn could finish Rachel shoved her back against a tree. Quinn cried out when her back hit the bark but before she could even move Rachel pinned her as she stared up into hazel, and obviously fearful, eyes.

"It was your idea to keep this relationship a secret not me. Because I want to be with you I accepted this condition and I have been holding up my end of the deal. You want this to be a secret then you have to be able to control yourself and trust me enough to know I would never hurt you intentionally... not like you just did to me." Rachel practically growled staring up at her.

"Rachel I-"

"NO!" Rachel snapped pointing a finger in the blonde's face. "You just remember. I'm not the one with the honesty issues here... just ask Finn."

Before Quinn could reply Rachel had spun on her heels and was walking back towards the tents. She had just rounded the back of the RV when she practically ran into Tina. Rachel stumbled back but the other girl caught her shoulders and steadied her.

"T-Tina..." Rachel stuttered. "What are you doing out here?"

Tina shrugged. "Well I heard voices then someone sounded like they were hurt so I came to check it out."

Rachel panicked. "How long have you been standing here? How much did you hear?"

"Enough." Tina said with a smile. Tina saw the panic in Rachel's eyes and touched her shoulders. "Don't worry I won't tell anyone."

"Tina..."

"Its okay Rach. I don't know why Quinn doesn't want us to know. We're all friends but its okay. She'll come around." Tina smiled and Rachel took a deep breath and returned it.

"Thanks Tina."

"Anytime Rach. I'm here if you need to talk but you should go and get some sleep. Its like 4 in the morning." Tina laughed when Rachel squeaked. Rachel quickly said goodnight to the girl and retreated back into the tent. She didn't even bother to wait to see when Quinn would come back as she crawled back into her sleeping bag and forced herself to fall asleep, wiping away the tears that ran down her face.