A.N. Hey guys! You guys are awesome with reviews on this story! Thank you so much...it's really meant a lot to me to know you guys are liking this story. Here's the pre-party scene...

Enjoy!

XX

"Hey, Rach!" Santana greeted happily as she pulled her front door open the next night.

An amused smile graced Rachel's lips as she was tugged through the front door. "Hi, Santana."

"Q's upstairs picking out something to wear, come on," she told the diva as she pulled her through the house. "I figured since Finnessa is driving I could start drinking now."

"Santana please don't call him that," Rachel chastised half-heartedly.

"You're right, I'm sorry," Santana apologized half-heartedly.

They shared a grin.

"I should warn you," Santana confided quietly as she grasped Rachel's hand and pulled her up the steps to her bedroom. She leaned in close to Rachel as they walked. "I have a tendency to be a bit touchy-feely when I'm drunk. I just don't want to offend you later."

Rachel's mouth dropped open and she nodded. "O-okay." She grinned bashfully suddenly. "I've never been drunk so I have no idea what kind of drunk I am."

"Will we be finding out tonight?" Santana wondered with an absolutely wicked smirk that made the other brunette's mouth go dry.

"Probably," Rachel replied with a nod. She pulled the other girl to a stop. "Santana?"

"Yeah?" the cheerleader asked as she turned.

"It won't offend me," Rachel told her softly with a half-smile. She shrugged. "Just so you know."

Santana grinned. "Come on." She grasped Rachel's hand, pulling her up the last few steps. She pushed her bedroom door open and it looked like a scene from a teenage movie. Music was playing and clothes were strewn everywhere and Quinn was standing in front of a full-length mirror holding a dress up in front of her.

It was like one of Rachel Berry's teenage dreams coming true and it made her heart sing.

Quinn turned with a half-smile that was very much starting to grow on Rachel and it made her heart flutter just a bit. Perhaps it was all the anticipation but she felt absolutely high in that moment.

"Hey, Rach," Quinn greeted cheerfully.

"Hi," Rachel replied with a wide smile of her own. She slipped her coat off and slung it on the back of Santana's desk chair before taking a seat on the bed to watch the other two.

Santana reached for her cup, frowning as she turned it upside down and found it to be empty. "I need a refill. Q?" Quinn nodded, inspecting a new dress in the mirror. Santana set dark eyes on Rachel, a hint of a flirt behind her eyes. "How about a drink, Rach? Loosen up before we get there."

Rachel blinked. It was now or never. She'd never had anything to drink before and knew the dangers of drinking and what it could do to her voice.

"Rach, sweetie, you're doing it again," Quinn told her, a soft smile on her face.

Santana shot a quick glare at Quinn before nodded at Rachel. "Yeah, come on, baby girl, we won't let anything bad happen to you. I promise."

Quinn's eyes narrowed in the mirror. She figured she was one up on Santana with the term of endearment already between herself and Rachel, but obviously Santana was keeping up. "Think of it as research for a potential character."

"Totally," Santana agreed, not having the slightest clue what Quinn was talking about. She just wanted Rachel to loosen up. But the smile Rachel gave Quinn in that moment made her jaw clench.

She'd obviously missed something.

"Okay," Rachel agreed.

"Cool," Santana replied. "Be right back."

Rachel watched her exit the room and turned to Quinn. She studied the blonde for a moment wondering if she had any clue how beautiful she was.

"What?" Quinn asked with a bashful smile.

Rachel shook her head, her eyes averting and head dropping as a blush spread over her cheeks, she was desperately ignoring the way her stomach flip-flopped. "It's nothing."

"Rach, tell me," Quinn insisted with a chuckle. Seeing Rachel blush was kind of adorable.

Rachel worried her bottom lip between two rows of perfect teeth for a moment. "I was just wondering if you had any idea how beautiful you are. It's really not fair."

Quinn blinked. That had been the last thing she expected the diva to say. "Thanks, Rachel. I can't remember the last time I heard that. It means a lot."

"I have a hard time believing that," Rachel told her.

Quinn shook her head. "Finn was never really one to drop a compliment unless it was to tell me my ass looked good in the Cheerios uniform. Sam wasn't exactly gushing about me either."

Rachel allowed an understanding smile to reach her lips. "Was Finn always in his own head when the two of you were together?"

"Yes," Quinn told her. "He internalizes everything. He's kind of self-absorbed like that."

"Who's self-absorbed? Mr. Schue?" Santana asked as she entered the room.

"Finn," Quinn told her with a smirk.

"Totally," Santana agreed as she set the three cups down. "Gin and juice, ladies. Drink up."

"Seriously?" Quinn asked with a smirk.

Santana shook her head. "No, it's actually vodka and juice, but that doesn't roll off the tongue quite the same, does it?"

"Not so much," Quinn agreed as she grabbed her drink and took a sip. "Very nice."

"As if there was any doubt," Santana said with a smirk. She set her gaze on Rachel who was staring at her cup. "I didn't put much in yours, Rach. I figured you could work your way up."

Rachel was actually sort of touched by Santana's thoughtfulness and she smiled up at her. "Thank you. That was very considerate of you."

Santana winked at her. "No worries. Let's just have some fun tonight."

"To having fun tonight," Quinn announced as she held her cup up.

"To having fun," Santana repeated, her cup up to touch Quinn's.

They both set their eyes on Rachel to see what she would decide. She finally smiled and held her cup up to the other two. "To having fun."

The other two cheered and they all took sips of their drinks. Rachel was surprised when her drink didn't taste like anything but orange juice and found that maybe having a few drinks wouldn't be so bad.

XX

Fifteen minutes later she was feeling a little differently about her drink. Her lips felt a little numb and she found it rather warm in Santana's bedroom suddenly. Of course it could have been because Santana and Quinn were draped all over her. Santana was practically sitting in her lap as she applied her make up while Quinn did her hair.

"Hold still, Rach," Santana instructed gently as she applied eyeliner.

"Sorry," Rachel replied.

A moment later Santana pulled back to admire her handiwork. She grinned and nodded. "Perfect."

Quinn shifted her focus to Rachel's face from her hair and she nodded. "You look amazing, Rach."

"Totally hot," Santana agreed. "Time to find you something to wear, baby girl."

Rachel turned in her chair and caught sight of herself in the mirror. Quinn had pulled her bangs up off her forehead and curled her hair in loose curls to frame her face. Santana had done a perfect job on her make up, her eyes were smoky and it was very subtle.

She looked good.

"You have fantastic legs so we need to go with something short," Santana was musing from the inside of her massive closet.

"Definitely," Quinn agreed with a smile as she began working on her own hair.

"Are you comfortable with strapless?" Santana asked as she peeked her head out of the closet and set her gaze on Rachel, stopping short, her heart skipping in her chest. "Damn you look gorgeous," she breathed before Rachel could even answer. She winced in embarrassment.

Rachel was suddenly rendered breathless. The look Santana had just given her made her stomach flip-flop. And rather than examine exactly why that was she shook her head. "Um, no to the strapless. If I'm drinking even a little tonight I don't want to have to worry about it."

"No problem," Santana assured her as she ducked back into the closet.

Quinn had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at her friend and she turned to Rachel. "So are you excited about tonight, Rach?"

Rachel nodded, trying desperately to be cool in that moment. "I'm very much looking forward to it."

"We should go over the rules with her, Q," Santana called from the closet. She appeared in the doorway holding a dress up. "How about this?"

"Yes to the rules, no to that dress," Quinn told her. "Maybe something with one shoulder?"

"Ooh, definitely," Santana agreed with a grin.

"Rule one," Quinn started. "Always take a buddy to the bathroom. Drunk high school boys have no sense of boundaries."

"Rule two," Santana called out. "Never, under any circumstances, take a drink that someone you don't know gives you."

"Rule three," Quinn said. "Don't set your drink down and leave it unattended." Rachel nodded looking slightly overwhelmed. Quinn smiled. "We just need to make sure you're safe. But we'll be there and we'll keep an eye on you."

"Totally," Santana agreed as she stepped from her closet with a short black dress that was one-shouldered. "How about this?"

Rachel was instantly in love with the dress. "Are you sure you don't mind me borrowing one of your dresses? It looks expensive."

"Rach, it's cool," Santana insisted with a smile. "Besides, you'll look totally smokin' in this and I can't pass that up."

"Go ahead and get changed, Rach, we still need to find you shoes," Quinn told her as she started her own make up. "Hey, S, can you help me with the back of my hair?"

"Yep, just a sec," Santana replied as she changed in the closet quickly.

"I can do it," Rachel told them. She moved to sit behind Quinn and picked up the curling iron. She raked her fingers through soft, silky blonde locks for a moment, missing the way Quinn's eyes fluttered, and she wrapped them around the curling iron.

"Thanks, Rach," Quinn told her.

Rachel met her gaze in the mirror and smiled. It only took a moment to finish Quinn's hair and she set the iron down and stood up to finish her drink.

"So what do we think?" Santana asked as she stepped out of her closet and turned in a slow circle. Her hair was curled and as promised her dress was super short and strapless.

"It's really not fair to go to a party with the two of you looking the way you do," Rachel told them both, unable to take her eyes off Santana looking the way she did. "No one will even notice me."

"Trust me when I say that everyone will notice you looking like that, Rach," Quinn told her.

"Thank you, Quinn," Rachel told her. "You look beautiful, Santana."

Santana grinned grabbed a pair of heels, handing them to Rachel. "Try these."

Ten minutes later the girls were dressed and in the kitchen taking another shot before Finn got to the house.

"Are you sure your dad won't be home tonight?" Rachel asked as she glanced around at the liquor bottles.

"He's in Dallas for a convention," Santana replied, her eyes flashing sadly for a moment.

Rachel felt her heart tug a little and she suddenly leaned forward and pulled her into a warm hug. "Thank you for all of this tonight."

Santana smiled and wrapped her arms around the shorter girl. She refused to think about how good it felt to have Rachel wrapped around her. "No problem, Rach."

The doorbell suddenly rang and the girls all headed for the door. Finn's jaw dropped when the door opened. His current girlfriend, ex girlfriend and the girl he'd lost his virginity to were all standing in the doorway looking HOT and it was nearly too much for him to take.

"Wow," he breathed as he stepped forward to pull Rachel towards him.

Quinn and Santana exchanged a sidelong glance, both rolling their eyes.

"She's totally hot, Finnocence," Santana said as she pulled the door closed to lock it. "Better keep an eye on her or someone else might try to swoop in and steal her away from you."

"You look awesome, Rachel," Finn told her, his hands instantly dropping to her ass as he hugged her.

Quinn opened her mouth to tell him of, but a hand on her wrist pulled her focus away and onto Santana who was subtly shaking her head.

"Let's roll," Santana insisted as she pushed past Finn to get him moving. It was pissing her off to see him drool all over Rachel the way he was.

Quinn watched with amusement as Finn glared at Santana, causing Rachel to smack him in the chest. There were a few seconds of silent communication between the two of them before they headed for the car with Quinn trailing them.

XX

A.N. Thanks for reading guys! I hope you enjoyed it. I'll try to get the next part up as soon as I can so in the meantime please leave me your thoughts and votes, etc.

Up next is the party! Yay!