I promised someone it would be out tonight. So it is. Hope you are having an amazing night, and if not, hopefully this helps a little?

"You two seem to have exploded on the scene in the last few weeks."

Rachel smiled graciously as she always did, her hands folded primly over her knee. "I would like to think we've been on the scene for a bit longer than that."

Rachel watched as the older blonde across from her smiled and nodded. "Very true. Famed Broadway director Richard Jay-Alexander has said that you are an 'incredibly gifted, very deep and sensitive actor. On par with true Broadway superstars such as Barbra Streisand, Bernadette Peters, and Bette Midler."

Rachel lifted a shoulder and smiled. "It has been my lives dream to be on the stage, something I've been training for since I was two years old. To even be thought of as being in the same league as any of those women is a huge honor."

"But not your only honor. You won your first Tony at what? Twenty-two?"

Rachel beamed and nodded. "Twenty-two, yes."

"You've received two other Tony nominations, you've won two Drama Desk awards, and more recently a Grammy for best song in a motion picture."

"Halfway to my EGOT." Rachel nodded.

"But none of those things are what has made you the household name that you've became in the few short weeks since Christmas."

Rachel swallowed around the bile the forcefully made it's way up her throat. She hated this. She hated putting on a smile and pretending everything was okay but she knew it was for the best. She had been surprised when ABC News' bid had come out on top, even more so when they were told they would be interviewed by Diane Sawyer. Rachel knew that this interview meant their story would be bigger than either her or Quinn had expected but neither of them could turn down the opportunity, or the money that was being offered for the interview. It would mean funding clubs like Glee across the country for years to come. And when it came down to it, it was better that it was ABC and Diane Sawyer than TMZ or some sleazy tabloid The journalist was known to ask the hard questions while also holding compassion for the person she was interviewing. . Diane would go for quality over sensationalism and attempt, at least, to show her and Quinn's convoluted past in the best light.

Still, Rachel's hand itched with the need to reach out for Quinn. It had felt like hours since she'd last seen her lover, and in actuality, it probably had been longer. They'd been whisked out of their hotel before the sun was even up, escorted by police into their Malibu home, been primped and primed by top stylist, and prepped by producers. Their house had been taken over by sound and lighting equipment. They'd been questioned and cornered and drilled and that was before Rachel had even been ushered into her own living room to briefly greet the television celebrity, only moments before the cameras began to roll.

Rachel thought about all that had happened in the passed week and was brought back to the question. She'd always wanted to be a household name, she just never thought it would be under these circumstances. Rachel swallowed as her stomach rolled in time to the waves crashing on the beach meters behind her, thankful for years of training that kept her smile in place as breathed out, "No, it's not."

The producers had spent the two hours they were in with hair and make-up going over the basic dialogue that would be voiced over shots of their hometown: facts and various information that had been collected over the previous twenty-four hours. She knew Diane would touch on her past with Rachel, would talk about their feud in high school, their relationships with Finn, their time spent together with The New Directions. They would hit all the key bullet points of their high school lives: head Cheerio, her pregnancy, Rachel's almost-high school wedding, her car crash and nationals. She was told that they would briefly mention the fact that she was pregnant but it would be barely one line about Quinn overcoming that struggle. They would talk about her relationship with Rachel now. And then of course, there would be questions about the pictures and videos that had been circulating for almost a week. But knowing what to expect still didn't completely prepare you for the questions being asked.

"What happened that night?"

"A wise woman recently told me that we spend far too long worrying over the implications of every move we make in our life. We worry about how we will be perceived, what others will think of us, how what we do today will affect us tomorrow. We spend so long worrying about the maybes and the what-ifs that we let the possibilities pass us by. We forget to live for the here and now." Quinn smiled as she remembered sitting across from Rachel in the small café in the middle of Ohio. Rachel who took such amazing care of her, who had always been here for her. "I think I took those words a little too much to heart."

Diane smiled and tilted her head. "Was Rachel the one who told you that?"

Quinn smiled and nodded. "She told me that everything has the potential to end badly and to hurt, but it has just as must potential to be amazing and wonderful. Failure is devastating but it can motivate you to challenge yourself to be better. To prove people wrong. To prove yourself wrong."

"Do you see your actions that night as a failure on your part?"

Quinn shifted in her seat and let her eyes drop as she fluffed the edge of her dress. "We made a mistake. It doesn't take a bad person to do a bad thing."

"Do you think you're a bad person?"

Quinn let the corners of her mouth turn up as she looked back up at the reporter. "I did. A long time ago. It took someone like Rachel to show me that maybe I didn't have to be that person."

"Quinn said," Diane hesitate and looked down at her notes, "that she wasn't always a good persons and that you may have been the one thing that saved her from herself. What do you say to that?"

"Quinn has always, always underestimated herself."

"You two went through a lot in high school."

Rachel snorted. "You could say that."

"And what would you say?"

"I would say that everyone has their own version of 'a lot'. My story, my existence, my version of hard is completely different from Quinn's, or yours, or anyone's for that matter. I heard a Ted Talk a few years ago by this wonderful woman named Ash Beckham who said hard is not relative, hard is hard."

"Do you think you had it hard in high school?"

Rachel stopped thought for a moment before half nodding, half shaking her head. "I think I had my own version of hard. It could have been better, but it could have been so much worse. I was lucky, because I had a place to run and hide. I could get lost in the music. I had a family I knew loved me, a house that I could go home to. Could it have been better? Of course. Everyone's life can be better. I could have gone without being bullied, without being ridiculed for how I dressed, or my passion for music. But I wouldn't be who I am today if I hadn't experienced all of those things."

Quinn looked over the older blonde's shoulder. She could just barely make out Rachel's form as she leaned against the entryway on the other side of the house, trying to stay hidden while she listened in. She knew Rachel just wanted to be closer, that she knew how hard it was on Quinn. Rachel of all people knew just how much she hated being open and sharing parts of her that she felt was beyond personal. She would never be an open person and all of this was more difficult than she let on. Having Rachel watch over her made her smile, because her own personal ray of light was watching over her.

"We are human, we make mistakes and, regretfully, our mistake was played out for the public eye." If Quinn looked remorseful it was because she truly was. That moment, that feeling, was something she didn't ever want to share with anyone, and they'd shared it with the world. "We let our emotions and our hormones overrun our good senses. All we can do is take this failure and learn from it, grow from it. I will be the first to shout from the rooftops that I'm not perfect. Nor will I ever be. I've made mistakes, some bigger and more hurtful than others. At the place I am in my life right now, I do not wish to ever intentionally cause people pain or disappointment. I love my family, my friends, my co-workers, and my amazing fans. The last thing I would want to do is hurt them, even if it was completely unintentional."

"There has been a lot of outcry from fans and critics alike about you hiding your sexuality."

Rachel intertwined her fingers with Quinn's and smiled as she decided how to answer Diane's question. "I never labeled myself. People never really stopped and asked me "Rachel, are you straight?" because I would have answered no." Rachel shrugged her shoulders softly and her smile grew. "I think that we worry too much about labels and not enough about what we're feeling. Sometimes you don't expect things to happen. I think there are so many reasons to go and explore different things. There's different urges inside you that you're not even aware you're not noticing. Then one day you stop and have question just what it is you've been ignoring. Everybody's human and everybody wants to feel special and wants to feel loved. And sometimes, you don't find that love in the most conventional places."

"And you found that love in your ex-high school nemesis?" Diane asked as she smiled over at the couple that was so obviously in love.

"I did." Quinn nodded. "I was raised in a family that accept prejudice, embraced hatred. I cannot remember a day that went by that my father did not degrade those who were different than us. Hate is terrible, especially when we pass it down to a new generation of innocents. It was something my father tried to instill into my sister and I. Luckily I've been blessed to find out that he failed to do so. I'm lucky because my sister believes as I do, that if you bring a child into the world, you should be willing to love and accept them in any reality. Whether they are black, white, Asian, have four fingers, are disabled, or if they are just happen to be gay, transgender, bisexual, pan, questioning, whatever. You should love that child for who and what they are. For far too long though, I was afraid. My father made me feel small and powerless. And it was easier to lie than to live the truth openly.

I finally decided to take back that power and to be who I was. I didn't need feel the need to make a big announcement. I just embraced myself. I know society wants it, feels entitled to knowing, but that's my personal choice. That's just a small part of who I am. I am so much more interesting than just my sexual orientation and to put me into a category is too limiting. I do not care what the outer shell looks like. I find the whole package attractive. I don't understand limiting yourself because of someone's gender or skin color, or their age or sexuality? Love is love.

Lao Tzu wrote: "Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." I am lucky enough to have found a someone who is my strength and my courage. A woman who loves me, regardless of the labels society places on us, and regardless of my numerous past mistakes. She, more than anyone in my life, knows those mistakes first hand. And I'm hoping, if she can learn to forgive, then our fans can follow her lead and do so as well."

Rachel crawled from the foot of the bed into Quinn's arms. It felt good to be here, to be home. "I'm exhausted."

Quinn smiled into Rachel's hair as she tucked her head beneath her chin. "God, you and me both. Who would have guessed that just talking to someone could be so draining."

"Yes, well, who knew what will eventually be an hour or two long special would take three hours of prep and six hours of filming. I feel like I'm back to work already."

Quinn hummed as she ran her fingers up and down Rachel's back. "What's work next?"

"Do you mean what is my next project?" Quinn nodded into her hair. "I have a guest spot on Game of Thrones. I have the Gypsy audition next week." Rachel hesitated and shook her head, "Though with all of this I doubt that I will get the role."

Quinn's hand froze and she looked down, but Rachel refused to meet her eyes. She was afraid of this. As much as she didn't want to admit it, there was a very real possibility that their "scandal" might cost them jobs. She hated that it may mean Rachel missing out on a role she would excel in. Quinn decided they needed a break from all the emotions and heaviness the day had brought.

"What do you mean you don't think you'll get the role? You were made to play Gypsy Rose Lee. You're beautiful, talented, you've got the body for it." Quinn smiled as she gave Rachel's firm ass a light pinch, which made the woman giggle.

Rachel turned and crossed her arms over Quinn's chest, her head lying on her hands as she started at the blonde inches above her. "You're biased."

"And? That doesn't make any of those things less true." Quinn could see the pain still hiding behind Rachel's eyes and sighed internally. She bit the inside of her cheek before she tipped her head. "Where is this coming from?"

"I'm just worried. I've crashed and burned already once in my career and with the show being cancelled last year and me not returning to Broadway directly after it happened, again, I'm just afraid that this added bit of publicity may be the final nail in my coffin. I know I've put on a brave face and said that whatever happens I will still be here loving you, and I will, don't get me wrong. It's just that everything may hinge on this interview. What if they mess it up some how? They edit out what we were really trying to say? Or something from our past comes back to bite us in the ass?"

"First off, you saying ass is utterly adorable." Quinn grinned as she ran her fingers through Rachel's dark hair. "Secondly, if anything is comes out to bite someone in the ass, it will be mine that is left with teeth marks, not yours."

"Well, hopefully that won't happen. We did have it in the contract that they are not allowed to interview Sue or your father, so that should at least head off a good portion of the damage control."

Quinn tensed slightly at the mention of her ex-coach and her father. She would love to believe that neither of them would purposely do anything to damage then, the likelihood of it happening as extremely high and both her and Rachel agreed that it was for the best. Quinn shook the thought off, right now wasn't about her, it was about dealing with Rachel's insecurities. And while yes, the woman did seem to have a rather large amount of them, she could understand that most of them were justified. Hell, some of them were even her own fault.

"There have been celebrities caught in much more compromising situations that have rebounded beautifully. So just try to remember, this isn't the end of the world, Rae; just a stumbling block and we've taken strides we needed to to be able to hurdle it. We're one step closer."

"I feel like I should break out in Christina Perri's Thousand Years. All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow." Rachel sing-songed.

Quinn flipped them over and landed on top of a mass of laughing, squirming diva, glad to see that Rachel wasn't dwelling in it. "You do realize you're crazy right?"

Rachel laughed as Quinn's fingers dug into her side. "Crazy for you!"

Quinn shook her head as she leaned her arms on either side of Rachel's head and smiled down at her. "Certifiable."

"I've missed this." Rachel admitted as she wrapped her arms around Quinn's neck.

"I'm pretty sure we've been in this position a few times this last week." Quinn wiggled her eyebrows and smirked.

Rachel rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Not that. I mean just this, being here together, just relaxing and laughing together. The last month and a half have been crazy and I just… I missed this."

"You know what we need?" Quinn asked as she sat up onto her knees.

"What's that?"

"We need a movie night."

Rachel's face instantly split open into a huge grin. "God, it feels like forever since we've actually had one."

"Exactly. And just because we're officially dating now, I don't want to give up the schedule we had when you first moved in. I know that with traveling it really wasn't possible, and we were together all the time anyway, but now that we're back here and work is going to be starting back up soon I want to make sure it's something we're going to continue."

"Two lunches, one dinner, and one movie night?"

Quinn nodded. "Unless we're on location somewhere where it's not feasible to travel to and from, then yes, two lunches, one dinner, and one movie night. Every week. If we have time to fit more in then great."

Rachel scooted up on the bed until she was leaning against the headboard. "I don't know, Quinn." Rachel smiled as she watched Quinn's brow furrow. "I think we need to add something to it."

"Such as?"

"I love the idea and I agree that I want to keep it up. I loved those times with you where we could just catch up and rant about our days and just be. I miss that. I just think as a couple we deserve more than just the normal routine."

Quinn shrugged and nodded. "Agreed. What do you suggest?"

"I suggest that we add at least one mandatory date night a month. Regardless of if we are on a shoot, or doing something halfway across the world. With our schedules it might be difficult to try to fit in more than that but I think we deserve to get dressed up and go some place nice. We make a plan to do something nice together once a month."

"I'm okay with that." Quinn smiled as she pulled on Rachel's arm until the brunette was kneeling with her on the center of the bed. "As long as we don't start scheduling times to have sex. I draw the line at becoming a weird, old, married couple."

Rachel threw her head back and laughed as she pulled Quinn into her arms.

"My head hurts." April groaned from her spot sprawled out on their living room floor.

"Yeah well, you're supposed to warn someone before you decide to drop your end."

"You know you could at least pretend to have a little sympathy for me! I was helping you out!"

"A lot of freakin' good you did! We can't even get into the bedroom right now!"

Rachel sighed as she walked back in the room with an icepack. "Do you two ever stop? I don't see how you two work so well on screen because you two never seem to stop bickering." Rachel nudged April's head with her foot until the redhead lifted it, allowing her to drop the ice pack underneath. "If this is what having children is going to be like, then maybe we'll skip that part."

April groaned as she dropped her head on her pillow made of ice. Her head really did hurt. "Nope. The two of you were made to be parents. It's in your Dina or something."

Quinn tilted her head as she replayed the comment in her head. She was thankful that years of being friends with Brittany made it somewhat easier to understand the insane crap that fell from her co-star's mouth. "You mean DNA?"

"I don't understand why everyone insist on spelling it out instead of just saying Dina like you're supposed to. It's not like kids are going to be able to understand what Dina is. Are you going to sit there and tell a five year old all about the birds and the trees?"

"Birds and the bees." Rachel muttered as she poked Quinn until the woman sat up enough for her to slid underneath her on the couch, sighing tiredly as Quinn's head fell back onto her lap.

"I don't know why you'd think we'd make good parents. We can't even move a dresser without killing a grown woman. What makes you think we'd fair any better with a baby."

"Just a thought. I saw your little you at Rachel's party remember? And you were so good with her." April smiled as she played with the towel covering the icepack beneath her head. "Hey, Q, who was the buff, military type that was there that night?"

"No." Quinn sat up quickly, ignoring Rachel's frustrated sigh. "No." April saw up a bit slower and cocked her head to the side in question. "I've known you for almost three years April. I know that look and the answer is no."

"I was just asking, geez, chill out. I thought finally getting you some on a regular basis would calm you down some but I guess I was wrong."

"April, that's enough." Rachel snapped as she brought her hand to her head. She had no idea what on earth made her think it would be a good idea to enlist the help of their quirky, but stubbornly hard headed, friend to help them move her into Quinn's room. At first she thought it would just be something fun they could do together that wouldn't take very long and then they'd hang out and enjoy their evening together. Only she was Rachel and things just didn't really work out for her like that.

April and Quinn had started in on each other almost the moment that April had walked into the house, ducking out of the line od sight of a half dozen photographers still camping out at the end of their driveway. She never remembered them being this antagonistic towards each other when they were on set, or even the few times that they'd hung out outside of work and she couldn't figure out where it was all coming from. April was overly snippy, which just made Quinn snap back. And it kept going. And kept escalating. Until the two women were arguing over how to get the dresser out of Rachel's room and into the one that would be hers and Quinn's. Rachel swore she had only turned her back for one moment when there was a crash. She spun around just in time to see the heavy wood chest slam into April's head before getting jarred in the doorframe. She was just thankful that April was on the hallway side of the dresser. Rachel was sure that there was no way April would have been able to vault over the dresser the same way Quinn did, especially with the head injury she'd sustained.

"What is going on between you two?"

"Ask the soulless ginger wonder over there."

"Quinn. That's uncalled for."

"No, what's uncalled for is the way she's treated me since the moment she's walked in the door." Quinn growled back. "If I would have known you were going to be like this I wouldn't have called you."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have. Then I wouldn't have a throbbing headache and the desire to punch you."

Quinn rose from the couch. "Like you could take me."

April jumped up and took a step closer. "You don't know what I'm capable of."

"For the love of Barbra would you two please sit the hell down? No, you know what, better yet, Quinn, go find something to do. Ms. Paden and I are going to have a nice, long chat."

Quinn scoffed as she looked down incredulously at Rachel. "A you're sending me trying to send me to my room?"

"Either you go find something to do, in some other part of the house, or you and April can sit here and work your issues out together. Without me. Because I can't take any more of this bickering."

"Fine. Whatever." Quinn threw up her hands and stormed out. She knew it wasn't her finest moment but she was tired and pissed. She hated being tired and pissed which just made her even more pissed because she was letting her anger get the best of her to start with. Quinn walked back to their room and sighed as she took in the angle of he dresser. They were either going to have to pay someone to come move the monstrous dresser, or they were going to have to take a saw to the expensive, and beautiful, sustainable oak.

Quinn sighed and leaned against the dresser. Everything was good, okay, well. They were still being hounded by photogs, their name was still being circulated on social media, but after heir interview had aired, things had calmed down a small bit. She felt sorry for her family more than anyone else. After their story had ran, everyone from her mother to Shelby had received calls and request for interviews. Quinn was just relieved they were calling Shelby due to her connection with Rachel, not due to her connection to Shelby through Beth. For the most part, Beth had been shielded from the worst of it, though she knew that wouldn't always be the case. Eventually there would come a time when the media would find out about Quinn's child, but she hoped that her legal team would keep them jumping through hoops and chasing dead leads for a long time.

She wasn't sure how celebrities with children handled it. Beth wasn't even with her full time, not even par of the time really, but she worried endlessly over her protection. Quinn climbed the staircase to her second floor studio. She'd turned it into her own little sanctuary when she'd first moved it. The room had windows on all four walls and held the perfect amount of lighting for almost anything she decided to do. The wood was bare and she'd pulled down the sheet rock to expose the slats behind them. There were strings of Christmas lights with various pictures she'd taken over the years hanging strung along the walls. She had converted a walk in closet into a makeshift darkroom. There was a writing station that looked out over the beach. Rachel had brought out an ancient looking Singer sewing machine and had set it up in the opposite corner, bolts of cloth surrounding it.

Quinn walked over and pulled open a window before collapsing in her favorite corner. The area was covered in large floor cushions, pillows, and super soft blankets. There were various stuffed animals she'd collected from the time she was a small child, some held more memories than others. She ran her picked up a pink stuffed giraffe and brought it to her nose. It was the first thing she bought after she'd learned she was pregnant. It was something she had originally intended to give to Shelby but she'd never been able to part with it. There was a bear her sister had given her before she could even remember, his head almost falling off from years of childhood abuse –being dragged everywhere she went. She smiled as she looked at one of the first gifts she had ever gotten from a fan. She knew she didn't need half of the things sent to her, and while she cherished the thought and love behind each one, there were just too many to keep. Most of those she tried to donate to places where children didn't have toys –she made sure that the local fire departments always had enough after she learned they would hand them out to children after a traumatic experience. She donated to women's shelters and various hospitals around the city. But this one she'd always held on to.

Rachel looked up at the fuming redhead still standing in front of her and shook her head. April was snarky but she was never as overly hostile as she had been since she'd shown up three hours ago and Rachel simply couldn't figure out what was going on with her.

"April, would you please come take a seat?"

April looked down briefly at the small woman before looking back towards the hallway and then the door. "I don't know Rachel, maybe it's best if I just go."

"Nonsense, you're our guest here, and even if thins didn't work out the way we had originally planned, I still expect you to stay and have dinner with us."

"I don't know if that's such a great idea." Rachel watched as her friend shifted from one foot to another and reached out for her hand, pulling the redhead down beside her.

"April, I don't understand what's going on. Did Quinn say or do something to you?" April scrunched up her nose and gave a small shake of her head. "Is that a no, or a no you don't want to answer?"

April sat back and crossed her arms. "I saw the interview."

Rachel thought about the special that had aired two nights before and tried to think of anything in it that could have upset April the way it had. Tried as she might, she couldn't think of a single thing.

"And it made you mad."

"I'm not mad." April huffed. "I'm hurt."

"You're hurt? Why would you be hurt, April?"

"IthoughtIwasyourfriendneitherofyouevensaidmyname." April muttered. Rachel waited a beat. Then two. The third beat had her tilting her head as she tried to break apart the words. After a minute of glaring at her lap April threw up her hands. "Neither of you even mentioned me!"

"I'm sorry?" Rachel was utterly confused.

"You should be! I helped get the two of you together!" April growled as she stood up and began to pace the length of the living room, talking with her hands as she stormed back and forth the narrow space between the two couches. "I gave you the idea about using social media, which by the way neither of you even attempted to use! I can understand you not mentioning me, but Quinn? She was one of my best friends! She talked about that Santana and Brittany, she mentioned all these other people, but she couldn't even acknowledge me!"

Rachel nodded as everything fell into place. "You know how the editing process goes." Rachel snatched April's hand as she stomped passed her. "April, you know how the editing process goes. We did talk about you. I swear it. We talked about our time on Steel. I don't know why they didn't air it."

April seemed to deflate in front of her. "You did?"

"I wouldn't lie to you, April. I don't know if they couldn't get permission from the show's producers or if it was just a time element but I promise you, we didn't forget you, or your friendship. It means so much to me that you have supported us and been there for us through all of this."

April looked down to where Rachel still grasped her hand. "Yeah?"

Rachel ducked her head and caught bright green eyes with her own brown eyes. "Yes, it does."

April nodded and dropped beside Rachel. "I don't apologize easily."

"Neither does she."

"But I should, huh?" Rachel just stared at her. "Yeah, that's what I thought. So uh," April looked over her shoulder, "I uh, I'm going to do that."

Rachel smiled and tilted her head in the direction of the stairs. "You go patch things up with my beautiful girlfriend and tell her that I'm ordering supper so you two can't take forever."

Quinn would know the sound of Rachel's walk anywhere, and the feet walking up the stairs definitely did not belong to her favorite dancing diva. The childish part of her wanted to roll over and completely ignore the woman cresting the top of the stairs but she knew that if she did that, it would just make her girlfriend mad and make working together difficult. Plus April had just enough of Britt's personality in her that she couldn't help but feel like she was kicking her puppy by being mean to her. She was sure that April had a reason for treating her like she had that day, even if that reason might not totally make sense to anyone but April. And possibly Brittany.

She watched as April strolled around the room, stopping to look at various pictures here and there. "This is nice."

Quinn sat up a bit but didn't say anything. The two women didn't look at each other, didn't speak. They could hear Rachel humming in the kitchen, but other than that, the only sound that filled the room was the sound of the waves crashing in the distance. Quinn finally sighed and stood up.

"Are you going to say anything or just ruin the peace of my hideout with your presence?"

April looked over her shoulder at the blonde standing in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips. "Has anyone ever told you you're kind of a bitch?"

"Has anyone told you that you should keep your damn mouth shut?" Quinn snapped back. "What the hell is your deal?"

April smirked and lifted a shoulder. "Temper, temper."

Quinn dug her nails into her hips to keep from jumping on the snarky redhead. "Listen, unless you want to go for a flight out my second story window, you better start talking."

April took a deep breath and huffed out a sigh. "I don't have many friends."

"How surprising."

"Would you shut up and just let me talk?" She waited until the blonde stayed silent, only lifting an eyebrow. "Thank you. As I was saying, I don't have many friends. I never have. I don't… I don't connect to people well. And I consider you a friend. A bitchy friend, but a friend none the less."

"Wow, I'm so honored."

"Damn it, Quinn, would you just fuckin' stop. I'm trying to apologize and you're not making it easy." April growled, happy to see Quinn soften just a bit at the admission, which just made her angrier. "I don't… I don't connect to people well. I can't talk to people. Give me a camera or a crowd and I can light it up and let my talent shine. But just one on one has always been harder for me. So I don't have a lot of friends. But with you, and even with Rachel somewhat, it was easy. You were the first person I could talk to so easy. Or at least I could."

Quinn sighed and dropped her hands. "What changed?"

"An imagined slight?" April gave a minute shrug of her shoulders as she turned back towards the Christmas lights and photographs. "I wasn't sure if you considered me a friend as well and I felt like a fool."

Quinn let her shoulders drop and gave a half eye-roll as she shook her head, glad that her co-star couldn't see her. "Listen, I don't do friends. At least not well. You met Santana. She's one of my best friends and we've had more knock down, drag outs than I've had with any of my enemies." Quinn chuckled at the thought. They really were young and stupid. Quinn walked over and leaned her hip on the open windowsill, still turned towards April. "But just because I'm naturally a bitch doesn't mean I don't consider you a friend."

"I guess I get that."

"I just would like to know what the hell I did to piss you off so bad?"

"Is it not enough to say I was acting like a two year old who had just gotten her favorite bunny taken away?" Quinn crossed her arms and pursed her lips. "Right. Rachel's already explained but… well I thought you cut me out of your life."

"Why the hell would you think that? I dragged you all the way to Lima freakin' Ohio because I knew you would love to be a part of Rachel's surprise party. I called you on Christmas. I barely called my own mother on Christmas for the last few years. I let you into our hotel room when I could have been having hot, hot sex with the woman of my dreams instead of dealin' with you!"

"Yeah well you could have said any of those things?" Quinn threw her hands up in the air. She really was beginning to feel like she was talking to a two year old. "I saw the documentary and got hurt."

"It wasn't a documentary, it was an interview. One that I didn't even watch so I have no idea what part of it damaged you so much but can you stop taking your hate out on me?"

"I wasn't in it! You didn't even mention me and I thought we were friends and okay, I get it, we are, but we're both so fuckin' damaged that we have no clue how to be a friend. So I get it."

"That's what this is about?"

"Yes!"

"You're fuckin' stupid."

"And you're a…"

"A bitch. I know. I've always been a self-obsessed bitch. But I would never cut my friends out of my life."

April shrugged again. "Rachel explained it."

"Good, so we can be done with this now. Right?"

April nodded and rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm uh… I…"

Quinn waved it off. "Keep your damn apology and never speak to me like you did today. Because next time, I'll kick your ass."

"So I have good news, great news, and some news that falls somewhere in between." Tina sighed as she poured herself a cup of coffee, warily eyeing the sleep rumpled redhead at the other end of the kitchen. "Are you sure you want to talk about this now?"

Rachel looked over at April and shrugged. It honestly didn't bother her one way or another if April overheard everything and she knew that even if Quinn wasn't standing right beside her, she'd tell her every word that Tina had said later anyway. "Tina, I am supposed to have my audition for Gypsy in three days. I need to know if I should still be preparing or if I should just quit while I'm ahead."

"As long as you're sure, then we'll go ahead." Tina stepped up to the counter and opened her tablet. "The good news is Gypsy still would like you to audition."

Rachel smiled over at Quinn and squeezed her hand excitedly.

"Why isn't that under great news?" April asked as she rubbed her tired eyes. They'd stayed up entirely way too late watching old Glee videos because April was addicted to them. "They'd be stupid to cast anyone else as Gypsy Rose."

"My thoughts exactly and I would have put that under the great column, but there is talk that Babs and the other producers weren't too overly thrilled by the type of media attention you've received, so even though you're auditioning, it might be a hard sale. You're really going to have to win them over to your side."

Rachel nodded. "Okay. Okay, I can do that. I'll just have to show them how right I am for the part." The kitchen echoed with her friends rousing approval. "So I take it that's the not so good part. What's the great part?"

"The great part is that you've gotten a lot of scripts thrown your way recently."

"Anything good?" Quinn asked as she sipped on her coffee, leaning against the counter behind her.

"A few. But there is one I think all three of you might want to take a look at. And April, this is confidential and I'm only bringing you in on this because you're in the process of signing a contract with me that will allow me full disclosure." Tina waited until all three women had stepped in close to open the email she'd gotten the night before, turning it for the three to read together.

Rachel read the words three times before they truly began to sink in, her mind instantly awash in pros and cons. "Are they serious?" Rachel asked, biting her lip.

"I talked to her myself this morning. They just want you and Quinn to do a Q&A thing first. And that's something you two have to both agree on."

"A panel or..."

"That's something to think about for the convention circuit but no, for right now, even just a few questions on social media will be enough to satisfy them."

Rachel and Quinn looked at each other and nodded. It was something they were going to have to talk about before they made any decisions and a lot would ride on the possibility of Rachel landing the Gypsy role.

"Don't get me wrong, that's awesome and everything, but damn it!"

Three sets of eyes looked over to the five foot, ten inch pouting redhead. "I gave you a damn eulogy and everything!"

Lots more to come, but the angst and troubles are almost done. I probably struggled more with this chapter than I have with the entire story so far. So good or bad, please shoot me a PM or drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts! Until next time... MH