Hola Faberrians!

I can't believe our darling girls are going to be graduating tomorrow night…I'm all choked up! Not sure yet what the future of this series will be post-graduation, but I will keep you posted. For now, please enjoy this chap, and consider this your FAIR WARNING: this chap is rated M for naked sexy times. Oh yes, Quinn was getting very impatient. Enjoy… ;)

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Take Me As I Am

Season 3

Chapter 25: We Are the Champions

…...

Quinn's first day back at school without her wheelchair was a triumph, but it was also exhausting. The blonde girl was stiff and sore from her arduous physical therapy, but she tried not to show it, keen to prove to her friends that they didn't need to keep treating her like a delicate porcelain doll. Rachel could always tell when she was in pain, though. The dark-haired girl didn't say anything at school, because she knew Quinn didn't want to be babied; but that evening after glee rehearsal, up in Rachel's bedroom (where Quinn hadn't set foot for three whole months), the little starlet broke out her special eucalyptus massage oil, and with a playful leer, commanded her girlfriend to strip.

"Eager much?" Quinn teased playfully, raising an eyebrow at her girlfriend's businesslike expression as she laid a beach towel down on the bed.

"This isn't about sex, Quinn," Rachel huffed; but a cherry-red blush rose in her cheeks nonetheless. "I know you're in pain, even if you won't say it. Your muscles are working harder than they've ever worked before, which after three years of Cheerios pre-season boot camp, is really saying something. I thought you might benefit from a full-body essential oil massage. But if you're not interested..." Rachel smirked as she trailed off, knowing she had Quinn on her hook even before the glazed expression of euphoria came over the blonde girl's face.

"Oh fuck yes, I'm interested," Quinn nodded vehemently, stripping off her sundress and dropping onto the bed with an enormous smile. "But I'm really not in pain anymore...it's more like the day after a marathon, you know? I'm just kind of achy and sore. Anything your oily fingers can do would be greatly appreciated." Quinn winked playfully, and Rachel grinned, biting her lip as she watched the blonde girl unhook her bra and toss it over the back of the desk chair. After three months, the scars across Quinn's ribcage and torso had faded quite a bit; when Rachel looked at her girlfriend's naked body now, she saw the angelic girl she'd fallen in love with, not her injuries. Still, the little starlet was determined to be gentle, to be the cause only of Quinn's pleasure, and never her pain.

"Your wish is my command, my lady," Rachel purred, stripping down to her underwear, too, so she wouldn't get massage oil all over her clothes; then she crawled on top of her girlfriend on the bed, straddling her hips and pouring a liberal amount of the pre-warmed oil into the palm of her hand. "Here we go," she murmured, kneading her slick hands into the soft, smooth skin of her girlfriend's back.

"Ohhh, God Rach...that feels so fucking good," Quinn sighed, relaxing under her girlfriend's gentle hands as they slowly and methodically rubbed all the tension from her sore shoulders, her spine, her hips and her lower back.

"I want you to feel good," Rachel murmured, the teasing gone from her voice now as she fell captive to the intoxicating spell of her girlfriend's nearly-naked body stretched out between her legs.

"Mm...mission accomplished," Quinn mumbled against the pillow, sighing like a kitten in a ray of sunshine as Rachel's skilled fingers continued to work all the knots and tension from her sore muscles, moving from her back down to her legs, taking the time to ensure that each one got equal attention. Finally, when Quinn's entire body was slippery with fragrant oil, and Rachel's hands were limp with exhaustion, the blonde girl rolled onto her back, smiling lazily as she shimmied out of her cotton underwear and said, "My turn to make you feel good now, starlight."

"You don't have to, Quinn," Rachel murmured, shaking her head almost shyly as her naked girlfriend rose to her knees, trailing her fingers teasingly over Rachel's stomach to play with the waistband of her black lace panties. "If you're tired, or anything, we can just cuddle for a while..."

"I'm not tired," Quinn murmured against Rachel's lips, leaning in for a soft, teasing kiss. "I want to touch you, Rach...like we used to, before. I want to feel you writhe between my legs and scream my name. I want to be on top again."

"Are...are you sure?" Rachel asked breathlessly, eager but anxious at the same time. She'd gotten so used to protecting Quinn's body over the last few months, the idea of letting her strain herself now went against the grain and made the little starlet anxious and uneasy, even as her heart pounded in her chest and the heat pooled in her belly at the thought of her gorgeous girl climbing on top of her and taking her again, like she used to.

"Very sure," Quinn murmured against Rachel's throat, nipping lightly at the smooth skin before she pushed the shorter girl gently back against the bed. Rachel went willingly, her body tingling with arousal as she laid back against the pillows, her dark hair fanning out around her and her heart thumping in time with the throbbing in her clit. Quinn knelt between Rachel's legs, hooking her fingers into the thin black lace and gently pulling them down her girlfriend's long legs. Rachel lifted her legs and bent her knees to make it easier, and Quinn smiled a satisfied, devilish smile when she saw the slippery shine of wetness coating the baby-soft skin of Rachel's inner thighs.

"You're all worked up, aren't you," the blonde girl hummed, her voice soft and husky with pleasure as she knelt over her girlfriend's naked body, leaning on one hand while the other slipped lightly into the warmth between Rachel's legs. "You've been so patient and sweet with me, little star…I'm gonna make it up to you now, baby. Would you like that?"

"Yes," Rachel whimpered, her voice quivering with raw need as she looked up into the blonde girl's smoky hazel eyes, locked lovingly onto her own. "Oh, yes, my angel…" Quinn leaned down and gently pressed her weight on top of Rachel's, their legs slipping against each other's centers as warm skin met everywhere, belly to belly, breast to breast. Quinn swallowed Rachel's sob of pleasure with a deep, plundering kiss, both of them lost in each other as the world fell away, and their animal desire for each other took over.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Quinn asked gently as she pulled away, wiping the streaming tears from Rachel's flushed face with her thumb. "I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"Nu-uh," Rachel shook her head, a heartbreaking smile on her lips as she sniffled back her tears. "Just…missed you so much…I was so scared we were never gonna get to feel like this again…I love you so much, Quinn…" The little starlet snaked her hands into her girlfriend's soft blonde hair, holding her tight by the back of the neck, and pulled her down for another kiss, deeper and more urgent than the first.

"Me too, baby," Quinn agreed, panting between kisses as she settled her weight comfortably on top of the smaller girl, rocking together so they could feel every inch of each other's skin, Rachel's hands gripping Quinn's hips to pull her closer, tighter, as if she could pull the other girl so close they'd share the same skin. "I missed this so fucking much Rach, my body was so lonely without you…" They were both crying now, beside themselves with the joy of feeling each other, their bodies alive and electric in a way they'd been missing terribly for three long months. They'd had sex since the accident of course, but not like this—it always had to be gentle, so gentle, and Rachel was always holding back, terrified to let put too much strain on her girlfriend's battered body. Quinn, of course, had only been on the bottom throughout her long recovery; and even that might not have been so bad if she could've moved her legs more, bent her knees and spread herself open to her girlfriend's lithe body the way she liked best. They'd done the best they could with Quinn's limited mobility and the delicate healing scars over her ribs and torso; but it wasn't the same. Not like this.

Quinn dropped her head against Rachel's throat, breathing hard against her pulse point as she snaked a hand between their sweat-slicked bodies to find the center of Rachel's wet heat. Rachel spread her legs to make it easier, giving Quinn a better angle, while one of her own hands left the blonde girl's hips to slip between their entwined legs. She found her mark easily, letting her fingers slip and slide around Quinn's swollen clit while her own throbbed with pleasure under the blonde girl's questing fingers.

"Oh God, Quinn, oh, fuck," Rachel moaned, arching her back so more of her throat was exposed to her girlfriend's nibbling teeth and tongue. "I want your teeth on me," the little starlet growled, her voice almost a snarl of primal desire as she gave her command.

"I know you do," Quinn murmured huskily, well versed in Rachel's rough side when it came to sex, especially her fondness for love bites. It wasn't an everyday activity, necessarily, but after the long hiatus they'd had from any kind of sex but the sweet and gentle kind, Quinn was fully expecting her little gold star to be thirsty for her teeth. "Where should I mark you, hmm baby?" The blonde girl nipped her way across her girlfriend's throat, ending up at the spot where Rachel's pulse fluttered beneath the soft, sweet skin. "Here?" she nipped again, a little harder, but still teasing.

"Yes!" Rachel gasped, her back arching hard against Quinn's trembling body, pressing both their hands more firmly into each other's warmth and wetness with the motion of their bodies. The blonde girl felt a twinge of pain shoot across her ribcage, but she didn't say anything, unwilling to stop what she was doing or distract her girlfriend from their current activities. She rolled her weight slightly onto her right hip, taking the pressure off her sore ribs, and dug her teeth into the smooth skin of Rachel's throat, sucking the soft flesh into her mouth and fluttering her tongue against it while her teeth clamped down. Rachel shrieked her approval, grinding her leg against Quinn's center with her fingers trapped deliciously between them, the heel of her hand pressed flush against the blonde girl's throbbing clit.

Quinn made a snarling, animal sound in the back of her throat, keeping her teeth locked around Rachel's soft skin as she slipped three fingers all the way inside, as deep as she could, the way Rachel liked it. The dark-haired girl moaned in ecstasy, babbling incoherently as they drove each other to the very brink, and tumbled over the edge together, panting and shaking with their shared release.

"Oh my sweet God in heaven, Quinn…you've been saving that up for a while, huh?" Rachel sighed blissfully, grinning like an idiot as she trailed her sticky fingers absently up her girlfriend's spine.

"Mm-hmm," Quinn agreed, kissing the red and purple hickey she'd left above her girlfriend's collarbone, and snuggling up to her with a soft sigh of satisfaction. "Told you I was ready."

"I've never been happier to admit you were right," Rachel hummed woozily, the glaze of euphoria still shining in her dark eyes as she slipped a hand below Quinn's jawline, urging her up for a kiss. The blonde girl went up on her elbow, lifting her head to meet her girlfriend's soft lips; but the motion sent another sharp jab through her ribcage, and without the adrenalin coursing through her system to keep the pain at bay, she winced and pressed a hand to the jagged scar over her left side.

Rachel's blissed-out expression sharpened in an instant at Quinn's soft gasp of pain, and she half sat up under the blonde girl's weight, her hand automatically covering Quinn's own over her ribs as the instinct to protect her angel from pain reared up fiercely inside her. "What's wrong, Quinnie? Did I hurt you? Is it your ribs? Do you need a pain pill?"

"It's not you, Rach, you didn't do anything wrong," Quinn groaned, dropping her weight back against her girlfriend's warm body as the stab of pain passed. "It's just a cramp, that's all. The doctor did say that broken ribs are notoriously slow to heal. But it's okay, it's already gone. I'm fine…and I love you." They beamed at each other, and Rachel slowly rubbed her thumb across the dull pink scar marring Quinn's ribs, leaning in to share a sweet, soft, lazy kiss.

"I love you too, angel face…so much, it hurts."

"I don't want to make you hurt," Quinn teased, biting her lip as she crawled backwards down Rachel's body, settling between her girlfriend's long, slender legs, and hooking them over her shoulders. "Let me make it all better, baby…" They kept each other up half the night, and for the first time either of them could remember, they came to school the next day without any homework done whatsoever.

…..

Quinn had been back on her feet for just two weeks when they boarded the bus for nationals, with Coach Sylvester and Coach Beiste in tow. The energy on the bus was electric; this was their year, their final year to go all the way as a team before half of them graduated, and they were so keyed up they didn't stop singing the entire five hour trip. Compared to this time last year, when they'd been scrambling to write new songs, choreograph and rehearse the numbers days before the competition, they were in the best shape they'd ever been. So much so, that when they arrived at the hotel with three days of free time ahead of them, no one even thought of suggesting more rehearsal time. Instead, they bounced around the city on wings of excitement, visiting Wrigley Field and the Sears Tower, the tallest building in the United States at 1,729 feet, as Artie cheerfully informed them in the dizzying elevator ride. They took the El to the Navy Pier and eagerly piled into the large water taxi for a harbor tour; and that was when Mercedes started to feel sick to her stomach.

Sam bought her a ginger ale and said she was probably just a little seasick, but by the time they got back to the hotel, Mercedes was ash-pale and sweating, and she bolted to the bathroom just in time to avoid throwing up on anyone. Tina and Sugar got Coach Sue to come help, but by the time she arrived it was clear that Mercedes wasn't going anywhere further than the distance from her bed to the bathroom anytime soon.

"Jesucristo, this team can't ever catch a damn break," Santana groaned, while Brittany pressed a cold washcloth to the sick girl's forehead. Coach Sue was ready to declare an Ebola outbreak before Mr. Schue arrived; but before things got out of hand, Mercedes pointed out that it was probably just food poisoning, since she'd gotten lunch on her own while the rest of them had gone to Chipotle.

"All right, Mercedes, you're on bed rest," Mr. Schue commanded when he saw the thermometer readout of 101.2. "Quinn, you're gonna need to step in and learn Mercedes' part. Think you can handle it?"

"Are you kidding?" Quinn squeaked, all the color draining from her face as she stared up at him in horror. "I'm working my ass off just to keep up with the background moves. I can barely walk, remember?"

"I think you're underestimating your abilities, Quinn. And your team needs you," Mr. Schue said gravely, looking around at all their anxious faces. It was true that putting Quinn on the spot wasn't ideal; but all the strongest singers were already carrying featured roles in their competition set, so switching one of them in for Mercedes would mean even more changes in the choreography, which would mean more uncertainty and more last-minute changes.

"And I know you can do more than walk, baby," Rachel smirked, causing Quinn to blush crimson when the others hooted appreciatively.

"Tina can help you, Quinn," Mr. Schue put a bracing hand on her shoulder in encouragement. "You'll split Mercedes' parts between you, how's that?" Quinn gulped, and nodded. She knew that nothing worth having ever came easy in this world…but why did everything always have to be so hard?

"All right, mijas, let's get our asses downstairs," Santana said brusquely, nodding to the other girls as Mr. Schue and Coach Sylvester fussed over Mercedes. "We can get in a couple hours' rehearsal time before dinner if we start right now." With anxious glances over their shoulders at their bedridden friend, the girls all filed out.

…..

By the time Mr. Schue came down to check on them that night, they'd been rehearsing for over four hours, with only a 30 minute break for dinner, and Quinn was black and blue from all the spills and stumbles she'd taken trying to learn Mercedes' part for Edge of Glory. One glance at their exhausted faces, and Mr. Schue knew they'd pushed themselves far enough for one night, and ordered them all up to bed. Mercedes had been given a private room, thank goodness, so the others didn't have to worry about disturbing her rest while they undressed and got ready for bed.

"You don't look so good, Q. You gonna be okay?" Santana asked suspiciously, eyeing the exhausted blonde girl as she climbed stiffly into her pajamas, wincing at the soreness in her abused muscles.

"I'm doing my best, San," Quinn sighed wearily, an edge of reproach in her voice.

"I know you are, querida. That's not what I asked. I asked if you're gonna be okay with this." Santana laid a gentle hand on her friend's back, taking note of Quinn's slight wince of pain at the light touch.

"Do I have a choice?" They all looked at each other uncomfortably. Then the door opened, and Rachel bustled in, a plastic bag from the nearest drug store hanging from her arm.

"All right, everyone, I know we've all had a hard day today, but please humor me and finish your bathroom routines quickly tonight," Rachel commanded, in full-on diva mode as she began unpacking supplies from the bag—bath salts, Tiger Balm, and several bottles of Gatorade in Quinn's favorite flavors. "Quinn's going to need a good long soak with these Epsom salts I just got if she's going to be able to dance again tomorrow, and before you all start complaining, I'd like to remind you that she's working ten times as hard as anyone else here after just regaining the use of her legs a few weeks ago."

"No argument here," Tina said with a grateful smile as she eyed all the supplies Rachel had laid out. "We're all in this together, and we can't win if Quinn's not at her best. Do whatever you have to do."

"Thanks, Tina," Quinn smiled back weakly, as the rest of the girls all nodded along.

"I'll abdicate my bathroom time on one condition," Santana agreed, eyebrow raised in a playful smirk. "No hanky-panky in there, you two. I'm giving you my shower time so you can soak your bruises, not for private kinky time, a'aight? If me and Britt have to be good, the same goes for you two."

"Like we'd do anything with all of you right on the other side of the door," Quinn snorted, rolling her eyes as a bright red blush rose in her cheeks.

"Hey, I've seen fresh hickeys on Thumbelina here every day this week," Santana smirked, thoroughly enjoying the blush spreading across both Quinn and Rachel's faces as they avoided each other's eyes. "Don't tell me she had a freak accident with a vacuum cleaner. I know hot action when I see it. It's all good, just save it for our victory celebration, okay chicas?" The smug Latina winked, and the rest of the girls just giggled as Rachel smiled shyly, taking Quinn's hand and leading her into the bathroom.

…..

Two days later, they were in the green room at nationals, nervous and perfectly coiffed in their cherry-red dresses and black suits as they gathered for their final show circle. Mercedes rallied and joined them, still a little weak and woozy, but definitely not in danger of barfing on stage, and they all cheered like maniacs when she joined them.

"Thank God, I'm off the hook," Quinn groaned in relief; but Mercedes just shook her head and said they were all gonna do it together, or not at all. The blonde girl was still anxious about some of the turns, but the supportive smiles of all her friends eased the knots in her stomach somewhat; though not nearly as much as her girlfriend's warm hand squeezing her own.

"You're going to be amazing…we're going to be amazing," Rachel hummed softly, for Quinn's ears only as they bent their heads together. "Are you ready, angel?"

"I'm ready," Quinn nodded, cupping a hand to her girlfriend's face and pressing a quick kiss to her cherry-coated lips.

"Let's go get that trophy," Rachel beamed, squeezing Quinn's hand as they all filed out of the green room to take their places on stage; and by the end of the day, they were back on the bus to McKinley with a trophy that was bigger than Rachel's whole body. If they'd sung and shouted with excitement on the way there, it was nothing compared to the level of raucous celebration that took place on the trip back home to Lima. No matter what the world threw at them, food poisoning and car crashes and stiff competition be damned, they'd finally done it: they were coming home national champions.