The Greatest Challenge of Them All
"Okay, Quinn, you need to vocalize what's happening in your brain," Quinn barely noticed Rachel's voice permeating through her ear drums.
She had rolled to a stop at the last stop sign before her mother's house and at less than a block away from their destination, it had finally hit her that she was about to introduce her girlfriend to her mother. Her girlfriend. To say that she was suddenly feeling overwhelmed was an understatement. What's worse than overwhelmed? Debilitatingly overwhelmed? Well, considering that she couldn't find it in herself to remove her foot from the brake, her knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel too tight and her mind had gone completely blank save that one thought, debilitatingly overwhelmed was the most accurate description for what was happening at the moment.
"Quinn?"
Feeling nervous about your significant other and your parents meeting is normal, almost everyone experiences that at least once in their lives. Introducing your significant other to parents that aren't wholly supportive of their child's "lifestyle" is completely unique to those that fall under the rainbow umbrella. Putting yourself into the situation leaves you with an endless supply of possible results. Couple the terror of unpredictability with those normal nerves and you've most definitely got an equation for debilitatingly overwhelmed.
Clickclickclick.
It was the unpredictability that was really making Quinn panic. She might have mentioned that she was worried about what off-color comments could come out of her mother's mouth, but that was yesterday. It was now five minutes away and Quinn wasn't ready for it.
"Quinn!"
With a hand on Quinn's left cheek, Rachel tore Quinn's blank gaze away from the empty road in front of her to her own eyes.
"Take your foot off of the brake and your hands off the wheel-"
"Bu-"
"It's in park. You're so out of it you didn't even notice I did it," Rachel's eyes were somehow both concerned and soft and also able to suppress some of Quinn's rising tension, "What's happening up there?"
"I umm…" it was still blank, except, why wasn't Rachel nervous? Maybe she was, she was just better at hiding it. She was an actress after all. That didn't stop Quinn from taking advantage of the distraction, "Aren't you nervous?"
"Of course I am," Rachel answered then curled her lips into a thoughtful half smile, "I'm about to meet the mother of the girl that I am completely in love with. But that's just the thing, I love you, no matter what."
"Even if my mother says something awful?"
"It's beyond our control," Rachel shrugged with one of her shoulders, "You know, I don't think this is how it's supposed to work. Shouldn't you be convincing me that this is going to be fine? Remember that time about a month ago when I had to do that for you?"
"Yes," Quinn laughed a little in response to Rachel's teasing tone, "I'm sorry, you're right. It's just that I don't know what's going to happen. I have no control over this."
She stopped there, hoping that Rachel would know how terrifying that prospect was to her.
"For someone that's always in charge, this must be paralyzing," Rachel's hand found Quinn's without breaking eye contact.
Quinn merely sent a half smile in response. What could she have said? Rachel was spot on.
"I don't miss this quiet," Rachel broke the eye contact that the two had been holding for a while to look out the windows, "It was nice in New Hampshire, but here it's… off-putting. It makes me miss the sweet, dissonance of home."
Without questioning Rachel's blatant subject change, Quinn upheld the conversation, "I'm not used to it yet."
"You lived in a major city for four years, how are you not used to the sounds?" Rachel asked with great perplexity written on her face.
"Because Boston's in bed by two AM," Quinn chuckled.
"Seriously?" Quinn merely responded with a nod, "You'll get used to it."
"Well, I'm sure if I get to fall asleep with you most of the time I'll be fine," Quinn grinned.
"As often as possible," Rachel smiled back with hope then leaned over to kiss Quinn.
"We should probably get going," Quinn sighed once her lips were returned to her, "If anyone's home in these houses, they've probably called the cops by now."
"You sure you're ready?" Rachel nibbled on her lip a little.
"I'm never going to be ready, so I guess that means I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Quinn replied as she applied pressure to the brake then shifted the car into drive.
"Worst case scenario: we leave and head over to my Dads' house early," Rachel smiled before Quinn pulled away from the intersection they'd been sitting at for more than 10 minutes.
"That actually sounds like the best case scenario," Quinn was only half joking and Rachel's twisted lips and furrowed brow let her know she was aware.
It was only about another ten houses before Quinn found herself pulling into the driveway of the house she grew up in. The house was always her mother's and since her business savvy father demanded his daughter enter into a prenuptial agreement, the house stayed her mother's after the divorce. Quinn's grandfather never did like Russell Fabray and it turned out he was right not to. Her Grampa was a kind man though and never said "I told you so" to her mother.
"What are you thinking about?" Quinn felt Rachel's fingers on the back of her hand that she had stilled on the shifter.
Quinn let her lips curl up into a half smile, "My Grampa. He was my favorite."
"Was?" Rachel asked with sadness over already knowing the answer.
"He passed away a little after I started at Emerson," though it still made her sad to think about, she was definitely past the five stages of grief by now.
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," Quinn chuckled softly, "he was eighty-seven and he was a happy, happy old man. I don't remember a time when I was with him that he hadn't used the phrase, 'If I were to die tomorrow, I'd die a happy man.' If I'd been more serious about my sexuality before he died, I probably would have told him first. Way before my mother."
"So you did have someone supportive in your life?" Rachel had a giant, ultra-bright smile plastered on her face.
"Yeah, I did," Quinn couldn't stop the smile as flashes of proud Grampa moments flashed through her mind.
"I think your mother knows we're here," Rachel tore Quinn out of her reverie and pointed discreetly to the side door where Judy was standing with an uncharacteristically excited smile on her face.
"I don't know what her face is doing," Quinn looked dumbfounded at her mother standing in the doorway. At the side of the house. Something else that was strange. She would never let new people enter through the side door. She didn't start letting Brittany and Santana come in through the side door until their senior year of high school and they'd been Quinn's best friends since the fifth grade.
"I think that's called a smile," Rachel nudged Quinn with her elbow, "and I think we should get out of the car."
"Okay," Quinn answered in a reluctant three syllables, then opened her door really slowly.
"Seriously?" Rachel had stopped in the middle of getting out of the car to question Quinn.
After a heavy sigh, Quinn pushed forth at a normal getting out of the car pace and no less than seven seconds after her head was beyond the top of the door, she looked towards the side door and shouted in the most pleasant tone she could muster, "Hi, Mom."
"Oh Quinnie, darling, welcome home," her mother said back in a very strange tone… if Quinn wasn't mistaken, it sounded like adoration. She must have been mistaken.
After she'd slammed her door shut, she couldn't stop herself muttering, "This isn't my home."
"Quinn," Rachel stage whispered across the hood of the car as they walked towards its front to join each other.
"You must be Rachel!" Judy left her post in the doorway and walked to the top of the stairs of the small deck to get a better look at the girl that Quinn was bringing into her home.
Rachel extended her hand as she and Quinn rose up the stairs, "Yes, ma'am-"
"Oh please don't let me hear that again," Judy shook her head and her long blonde locks were displaced from behind her shoulders to in front of them, "Judy. I won't respond to anything else."
"Okay, Judy," Rachel smiled her beautiful smile as she shook Quinn's mother's hand.
All the while, Quinn was standing on the steps completely dumbstruck by what was unfolding in front of her. While she'd expected her mother to be pleasant because appearances were everything to Judy Fabray, she never expected this… whatever this was. In all honesty, Quinn had no idea what was happening.
"Oh Quinnie! I feel like I haven't seen you in ages! Come up here and give your mother a hug!"
Seriously! What. The. Actual. Fuck?
By some force, Quinn found herself finishing the climb up the stairs and into her mother's arms.
She didn't even smell the same. What happened to the Channel No. 5 that would bring her back to a day when she stayed home from school? Since leaving for Emerson, every time she came home she'd be affronted with the scent and an image of the two of them in her parents' room, playing dress up with her mother's things. Her mother's fragrance staple had been replaced by… Quinn didn't even know what her mother was wearing.
Quinn was so thrown off, she almost let the hug last too long.
"Well, we can't stand here all day," Judy said excitedly then turned to go into the house.
Quinn turned to look at Rachel who was already looking at her with a giant smile. Her smile turned into a perplexed look, however, probably due to the look of shock that was plastered all over Quinn's. Quinn began to say something, but she really had nothing. Instead she gestured for Rachel to go in ahead of her, then followed her across the threshold and into the kitchen. In the kitchen where she was affronted by another strange scent: cooking food. The fact that she knew it was food was what was so surprising.
"Mom, are you cooking?" Quinn didn't mean to sound so shocked… okay, yes she did. Sometimes the filter just turns itself off.
"You ask that like I've never cooked anything before," Judy scoffed from the other side of the island closer to the oven.
Quinn looked beyond her mother to the stove top and saw that there was a giant pot and a pan with steam coming from them. Two at once and there was definitely something in the oven. "Because you haven't," Quinn stated the only thing she was thinking.
"Quinn," Rachel protested under her breath.
"I'm serious," Quinn turned and shrugged her shoulders, "When my parents were together we had a cook. Then when they split up, I cooked for us." Quinn looked back at her mother who had her arms crossed and her eyebrow quirked up… and then she heard Rachel snicker.
"Well, Quinnie, I will have you know that I have been taking cooking classes every weekend for the last two months and it turns out that I am quite adept in the kitchen," Judy replied with a smile. A real smile, not one that she was just putting on to cover something up.
"Whatever it is you're making, Judy, smells absolutely wonderful," Rachel walked up to the island and got up on her tip toes to try and get a peek at whatever was on the stove top.
"Thank you, Rachel," Judy's smile remained as she turned her attention over to Rachel, "I did catch Quinn say that you're Jewish and that you don't eat beef, so I've got Maple Salmon baking in the oven. I hope you two are hungry. OH!" Judy turned back towards Quinn who was bracing herself for some other piece of earth shattering news, "I've invited someone to join us. I hope that isn't a problem."
Then what Judy said before hit her.
Did she just say she remembered Quinn say that Rachel was Jewish and doesn't eat beef? And that she's cooking something her girlfriend, that Judy had never met before, could eat? Who was this woman what had she done with Quinn's mother, Judy Fabray?
"Umm... I know I don't mind..." Quinn heard Rachel say somewhat awkwardly.
"Oh yeah," Quinn let herself find her place in this conversation again, "sure. It is your house."
She actually didn't want that to sound so... rude, but the train of thought causing the disconnect between her brain and her mouth didn't allow for it to sound anything but.
Then as if on cue, the doorbell rang and Judy's entire face lit up.
"I'll get it!" and before either of the girls could say anything, she was out of the kitchen crossing the house to the front door.
"What is wrong with you? Your mother is great," Rachel started off with a scowl and ended with a chuckle.
"That's exactly it," Quinn admitted in a hushed tone, "Nothing is how I expected it to be. This is too weird. Things are going too well." Suddenly her brain flashed to an episode of South of Nowhere Santana had made her watch back when they were in middle school... no wonder she wasn't surprised when Santana finally came out, "What if the person she invited is some like, 'pray the gay away' guy?"
"Oh please-"
"I'm serious, Rach!" she stepped on Rachel's rebuttal, "Not only is her daughter dating a woman, but she's dating a Jewish lesbian! I bet nothing could be worse to her!"
"Now you just sound ridiculous," Rachel crossed her arms over her chest just as a laugh could be heard from the foyer.
A laugh that was getting closer, along with an unfamiliar male voice.
"Then the poor thing flew right into the bell."
"Oh dear," Judy sighed through her laughter, "was it alright?"
"It wanted out of that church so badly it practically jumped into my hands..."
Quinn's jaw dropped at the word church. She was right!
Her mother invited over a minister or a reverend or some "person of God" to pray away the gay!
"How come you never told me you could cook?" Rachel asked with nonchalance as the voices made it into the kitchen.
She knew what Rachel was doing. She knew both of her intentions, actually. The first was to cover up the fact that they were talking about the mystery man and the second was to divert Quinn's attention. The second one didn't work and since that backfired, the first one subsequently failed as well. Quinn was still standing slack jawed staring ahead at the opening that lead to the main hallway only now there were two people standing in it. One of them was her mother, of course, and the other was a man standing about 6'2" in his late forties/early fifties with salt and pepper hair, piercing blue eyes, a light purple button down with the sleeves rolled up and dark jeans. The most striking thing about him though was that his hand was in Quinn's mother's.
"Paul, this is my daughter, Quinn and her girlfriend, Rachel," Judy didn't even flinch when she used the title of 'girlfriend,' "And girls, this Paul, my-"
"Your boyfriend?" Quinn spilled with accusation, "who's a minister and here to convert me?"
"Quinn," Rachel scolded her under her breath, then tried to cover, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Paul."
"It's great to meet you, too, Rachel," Paul smiled warmly, "And Quinn, your mother talks about you so much I almost can't believe this is the first time we're meeting."
"Probably giving you all the fuel you need to straighten me out," Quinn mumbled under breath at the floor. She couldn't even look at her mother and this… guy.
And what the fuck was Rachel doing? Being a traitor, that's what.
"Uhh… Rachel," Quinn heard the only male voice in the house, "Judy told me that you and Quinn met in a summer… stock company?"
"We did," Rachel answered and when Quinn looked over to her, she could see that she was itching to get out of the kitchen.
"I would love to hear about the shows you worked on," Quinn shifted her view to Paul who was not-so-subtly gesturing for Rachel to leave the kitchen with him.
Then Quinn looked over at her mother.
Judy's expression was caught somewhere between sadness and anger.
Whatever, she wasn't getting away with this. As soon as Rachel and Paul had scuffled out of the room, Quinn jumped onto the offensive, "I knew that coming here was a bad idea. I always trust my instincts and I almost completely ignored them by walking into this house. With my girlfriend that I love and can't believe I brought into this…" her mind was so scattered she just let her rant fall away.
"Quinn," her mother said sternly, but her furrowed brow turned soft and her lips turned down, "Paul is here because I wanted you to meet him." Her words came out slowly and she left a pause at the end.
"Because he's-"
"Because he's my boyfriend, like you said before," Judy cut her off, "and he is a minister, but he isn't here to… convert you."
"Sure," Quinn rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"He's a minister at the Universalist Church," Judy actually stomped her foot at Quinn, then she closed her eyes and took a breath, "I want so many things for you. I want you to be successful and secure and loved. Most of all I want you to be happy. That's what is important. Whether you find that with a woman or a man doesn't matter to me. I wasn't lying to you when you told you I was okay with this when you told me. Now I've had more time and I've spent some time with Paul's congregation-"
"What?"
Did her mother just say she left her church for a Universalist Church? The one that Russell called the anarchist of religions?
"I've met a lot of new people and I feel differently about a lot of things."
"Hold on," Quinn shook away the doubt on her face, then looked up to her mother, "You don't wish that I had brought home a Robert instead of a Rachel?"
"No."
"And Paul is here because you just wanted me to meet him?"
"Yes," Judy nodded as she laughed a little.
"And… you're actually cooking for us?"
"Yes- oh my goodness!" her mother turned around to the stove and checked everything as quickly as she could, "Phew! I still have a few minutes."
"Mom?"
"Quinn, I am so sorry for everything in the past that made you think I would want to try to change who you are," Judy took a step towards Quinn, getting as close as she could get with the island between them, "you have no idea how much it hurts to know that I caused that opinion that you've formed. I want you to know that I am going to do everything I can to prove to you that I love you for you."
"I…" Quinn couldn't get anything out, she was far too overwhelmed by the slew of emotions rushing through her. From guilt to relief to elation, she was feeling it all. Since she couldn't come up with anything to say, she did what she thought was the next best thing: round the island and throw her arms around her mom. As soon as she felt her mother's arms wrapped tightly around her, she knew what to say, "I believe you."
"I love you, Quinn. I always will," her mother said softly and through what Quinn thought might have been tears.
She started to feel some of her own tears, something she didn't want to happen. Swallowing them away, she took a breath and exhaled, "I love you, too, Mom."
"Is it safe?" Quinn heard Paul's voice come from the doorway. When she looked up, she saw two faces anxiously awaiting to hear that it was.
As the embrace with her mother loosened and released completely, Quinn answered, "Yeah, it's safe. No more verbal knives are out." She looked over to Rachel who now had a smile the size of Alaska on her face and how could Quinn do anything but return a smile of her own?
"Dinner's almost ready," Judy said as she wiped at her eyes, "Quinn, could you and Rachel set the dining room?"
"We can do that," Quinn smiled at her mother, genuinely.
"And then I can finally get to know this beautiful girl that you brought home for me to meet," Judy smiled at Rachel as she handed Quinn the stack of place settings.
Rachel took half of the pile Quinn was balancing, then looked up to Judy with a bright smile and blushing cheeks, "I can't wait."
~~{ }~~
"I was late to the class," Judy smiled a little and gave a sort of side glance towards Paul, "And the only empty space just so happened to be next to Paul."
"Oh great, make me seem like I was the unpopular one," Paul jested and Quinn saw his bicep shift towards her mother, which meant now his hand was on her leg under the table, "I had actually gotten there just barely on time and everyone else was already paired off."
"Sure, honey," Quinn watched her mother and Paul enter into their own world for a moment. It was actually really cute. She'd never seen her mother do that with her father, but in a relationship with such a lack of love, why would she have seen that? Hell, her parents sat at opposite sides of the table during every rare family dinner. They would never sit next to each other like Judy and Paul were right now, let alone sneak glances and touches under the table.
"Anyways," her mother continued, "we pretty much hit it off right away."
"I asked Judy to dinner that night," Paul smiled, clearly still very pleased with his decision.
Quinn had a comment but Rachel beat her to it, "Wanted to make sure no time went wasted?"
Of course that's what she wanted to say, only Rachel said it much better than she'd thought it.
"Well," Paul began, giving a glance towards Judy, "as you get older, time becomes more and more precious."
"That it does," Quinn's mother agreed, looking from Paul across the table to Quinn. A half smile lifted onto her lips when they made eye contact. Quinn smiled back. This moment felt right. Sitting here in the house she grew up in with her mother, her mother's new boyfriend and her girlfriend. She should have felt like she needed to be out of there, but her instincts weren't screaming for her to sprint away.
"So, Rachel…"
Okay, maybe now there was hint of 'Grab Rachel and run' thoughts appearing in her mind.
"… you've been in New York City since you started college?" Judy asked a simple enough question.
"Yes," Rachel smiled, "living in New York has been my dream since I found out where Broadway is. Going to school there was the only option."
"You sound very goal oriented," Paul added.
And right on his tails, Judy asked, "And how do your father and mother feel about you living so far away in such a big city?"
And here it comes.
Quinn's lungs stopped taking in air waiting for Rachel's answer.
"They worry about me," Rachel began with all of her poise, "but I think my Dads know it's where I belong."
She didn't say it in a way that sounded like she was correcting the mistake that was made or that she was offended by the assumption. She dropped the two dads bomb in the most tactful way she possibly could and as if she'd had to do it a million times before.
"Dads? As in, you have two fathers?" Judy actually looked embarrassed and not horribly surprised, "I apologize for my assumption."
"It's okay, really. Please don't apologize," Rachel shook her head, "You are definitely not the first."
"You must get tired of having to correct people?" Judy asked sympathetically. If Quinn hadn't had the moment with her mother earlier, she would have thought there was something else underneath that question.
"Yes and no," Rachel shrugged, "Yes because I wish there were more people that weren't so shocked by something like same-sex parents and no because I'm proud of my family. I love my fathers and I wouldn't change my upbringing for anything. Even the the part where I had gay dads in the middle of Ohio."
"I can't even imagine," Judy's hand went to her chest right over her heart, "was it difficult in school?"
"Not until the fifth grade, when I started middle school," Rachel shrugged as she stabbed a small piece of broccoli on her plate.
"New kids," Paul stated, clearly knowing already what Rachel was getting at.
"On top of middle schoolers being the absolute worst," Rachel gave a half smile, "it carried into high school for a little while, but I found a good group of people to shield me from it until I graduated."
"And a boyfriend," Quinn mumbled under her breath. She felt Rachel glance at her, "Not that he matters. You are at my Mom's table right now, not his."
"Exactly," Rachel winked adorably, then found Quinn's hand under the table.
"Did your fathers use a surrogate or were you adopted?" Judy asked bluntly and as if nothing was wrong with the question as she picked up a piece of salmon with her fork.
"Mom!?" Quinn couldn't let this one go.
"Quinn, it's okay," Rachel squeezed Quinn's hand then giggled, "It's obvious that my fathers didn't make me themselves."
"I know but still, she didn't have to be so… blunt about it," Quinn looked back at her mother with slight contention.
"It's really quite alright. I've had people ask, 'so how did your dads get you?' Now that's rude. As if they had to steal me or something."
"Well, that's just ridiculous. How could someone be so callus?" Judy questioned, somehow shocked at the audacity of people.
"Because it's different," Quinn answered, "People lose track of their filter when they find themselves out of their element."
"That," Paul pointed at Quinn with his fork, "is absolutely true and very wise, Quinn."
"Thanks," Quinn smiled and looked down at her plate.
Sometimes, flattery will get you everywhere.
"My dads used a surrogate. They told me this ridiculous story about how they mixed their…" Rachel rolled her adorably then continued, "samples together and now they don't know which one of them is my biological father. It's only ridiculous because I don't believe that I'm biracial."
'Oh here we go,' Quinn thought to herself and prepared for whatever was going to come out of her mother's mouth next.
"Have you met your biological mother?" Judy asked, completely bypassing the part about race.
"I have," Rachel gave a half smile, "we had kind of a weird relationship. She found me when I was sixteen. She wasn't supposed to, but she did. We had a weird relationship for a while, but she adopted this beautiful little girl and now that we live in the same city, things are pretty good. She's my mother, she isn't one of my parents. We're both aware of that and it helps the situation. I know that my family isn't traditional, but it's mine and I love them. To me they're perfect."
Quinn can't help but stare at Rachel. The pride and happiness on her face is beautiful. If her mother and Paul weren't sitting across from her she'd have kissed Rachel right there. It was actually hard not to.
"Traditional is overrated," Judy shrugged, "I won't judge others' families anymore. Not when my own daughter wasn't brought up in a 'traditional' family. Well, not for some of it at least."
"It was better that way," Quinn assured her mother. Living with separated parents was better than living with parents that didn't love each other.
"I think that all a family needs to be traditional is love," said Paul the Minister and as cheesy as it was, it was completely true.
"You know, I'd really like to meet your parents, Rachel," Judy said a little nervously, but said it nonetheless.
Rachel looked over to Quinn for a gauge before turning back to Judy to say, "I think that would be great."
"Yeah," Quinn agreed somewhat hesitantly, but continued, "it would."
"Perhaps not this visit, but the next?" Judy suggested, perhaps feeling both her own and Quinn's nervousness.
"Baby steps," Quinn smiled, looking from her mother back to Rachel who was smiling right back at her.
"Goodness, Quinn, I'm not going to freak out if you kiss her. Honestly, it's stranger to watch you fight it," Judy scoffed and laughed.
"Déjà vu?" Rachel giggled when Quinn looked back over to her.
Quinn laughed as she moved in a little closer, "Oh, shut up."
"Okay," Rachel laughed before Quinn took her lips with hers for a brief moment.
Not too long, her mother was right there.
When Quinn pulled back, her eyes went immediately to her mother, not because she wanted them to, but because she didn't. There, sitting across from her was the adoring mother she'd always wanted to see. It made her blush and feel a little uncomfortable, but it was alright. Her mother wasn't kicking her out of her life for her 'choices.' Instead, she was embracing it all, something that Quinn never expected to happen. Not completely at least.
"Well, this is just beautiful," Paul broke into the moment with a goofy smile, igniting a table full of laughter.
~~{ }~~
"I can't believe I'm staying in your old bedroom," Rachel laughed as she turned from Quinn's dresser that still had a cheerleading Nationals trophy and a few pictures from high school on it.
"Neither can I," Quinn replied from next to her bed as she pulled her bra out from under her shirt.
"I don't know why, but that is super sexy," Rachel smirked, sauntering over to Quinn and slipping her hands into her shirt once she got to her.
"As much as I'd love for you to act out whatever is running through your mind right now, I'm not sure I can… not here," Quinn's lips twisted to the side with the awkwardness she felt about having sex while her mother was under the same roof, no matter how cool with it Judy was.
"What happened to living on the wild side?" Rachel chided as her fingertips lightly danced up and down Quinn's bare back.
"Ha," Quinn chuckled, "this is a completely different level."
"I know," Rachel laughed in return, "I wasn't going to actually try anything. I just like to be close to you."
"You know," Quinn began, leaning back a bit, "I hate to bring it up, but it isn't always going to be this easy."
"To be close to each other? I know," Rachel let her hands fall from Quinn's back, then sat down on the side of the bed, "I think I'm okay with it. Well, of course I'd rather be able to sleep next to you every night, but that isn't realistic for us right now."
"It isn't," Quinn agreed, sitting down with her thigh flush to Rachel's.
"Wait," Rachel's hand fell to Quinn's knee and she turned a bit, "let's pause for just a second - did you just bring up something you were thinking about… something concerning you about us?"
"I did," Quinn smiled.
Rachel's eyes went wide and her hand went to her chest, "What has gotten into you, Quinn Fabray?"
"You," Quinn answered, then kissed the tip of Rachel's nose.
"Well, not tonight," Rachel faked disappointment then fell back laughing.
Quinn turned around to look at her, "I can't believe you just went there!"
"I couldn't let it go!"
Quinn rolled her eyes, then shifted her body so she could lie on her side next to Rachel. She laid there watching Rachel's laughter run its course, taking in every beautiful motion and sound she made. She was so lost she didn't even notice that she'd stopped laughing and Rachel was staring back at her.
"I'm not worried," Rachel broke into the comfortable silence that had fallen between them.
"Neither am I."
"And I think that keeping our living situations is the right decision," Rachel turned onto her side and propped her head up on her palm, "Because really living together is completely different than sharing a room. Besides, you already have two roommates and I have a roommate in a tiny apartment with seven months left on the lease-"
"Rach," Quinn interrupted Rachel's rant with a smile, "We already agreed on this. This is the normalcy that we've wanted."
"Right."
"And I know I'm willing to put work into this. Into us," Quinn cupped Rachel's cheek with her palm and brought their foreheads together.
"Me too," Rachel smiled, nuzzling her cheek into Quinn's hand.
"Okay, so what was with the rant?" Quinn quirked her eyebrow up.
"I just wanted to hear it all again," Rachel closed her eyes and shook her head a little, "We aren't ready for that yet. I love you and while I think that step is in our future, it's in a little more distant one."
"This is the right decision," Quinn replied confidently because she really felt that way, "It's going to make us stronger."
"Definitely," Rachel's nose nuzzled against Quinn's cheek, then her lips brushed lightly against Quinn's.
"We're going to see each other all the time anyways," Quinn smirked, knowing she was bringing up the touchy subject of casting again.
"Quinn! Shut up!"
Quinn acquiesced in the request for the most part. She let herself laugh, however, much to Rachel's chagrin. Her laughter persisted through Rachel's pouting and then her furrowed brow all the way through Rachel huffing her way under the covers.
"You think you're so funny," Rachel scowled from the top of the bed.
"No," Quinn breathed out the last of her laughter then joined Rachel under the covers, "I just think you're amazing and that it's as much of a sure thing as we are."
"You're really pushing it, Miss Superstition," Rachel gave her a pouty/smirk for good measure.
"Maybe," Quinn shrugged her shoulder, "Or perhaps I just feel really good about this."
"This?" Rachel's eye squinted a little, joining her pouty/smirk to create an irresistible expression.
"This," Quinn kissed the pouty/smirk right off of Rachel's lips, letting them linger there to participate in a string of languid kisses. She smiled when she felt Rachel's tongue slide across her bottom lip and parted her lips to allow Rachel in. She definitely wasn't against a make out session…
"I love you," Rachel whispered breathlessly as her nose rubbed lightly against Quinn's, "And I think you're right about at least one thing."
"What's that?" Quinn whispered back with just as much labor.
"We can't have sex here."
Quinn's laughter exploded from her stomach and filled the room. "I love you so much!" she laughed and kissed Rachel simultaneously.
They were going to be fine. After today, Quinn felt like she could get through anything. Having Rachel with her definitely helped. Seven months of living in their own places wasn't going to be difficult, especially not when they'd be working at it together and Quinn had already determined that with Rachel by her side, anything was possible.
A/N: First of all, this is my second time posting this. Why? Because I forgot this A/N! Wtf is wrong with me? How could I end this without a note to all of you awesomes? I know that I haven't been the best at updating this, but I do appreciate those of you have stuck around. Thanks for all of your kind words. Anyone who has ever read anything I have posted on here knows that I love me some attention. Haha! Well, thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed this.
Oh and if anyone is following the Unadulterated Loathing series... it's coming. Soon.