Chapter 36: Summer Days and Oh Those Summer Nights – Part 3

Lindsay's last dance class before she left for college was a week ago. Rachel was happy for her, but she knew she was going to miss her dance friend terribly. They'd been in this routine of seeing each other every week for over six years. It wasn't going to be the same without her. Quinn tagged along to the last class and the three of them went out for dinner afterward. It was all laughter and a lot of tears too. Whenever Rachel wasn't crying, laughing, or hugging Lindsay, she was holding Quinn's hand as tightly as she could under the table.

True to form, Lindsay flirted with them both shamelessly the whole night. Quinn was actually impressed by the number of times she had managed to subtly insinuate the potential for a ménage a trois in the conversation without it being uncomfortable or crude, instead it came across almost flattering. The girl had a sincere talent!

After they left the restaurant, in the parking lot, Rachel was a mess as she hugged Lindsay goodbye. They promised to keep in touch, but it was a promise they all knew would be broken. Even though the other girl had kept it together pretty well the whole night, Lindsay got teary-eyed before having to let go of Rachel.

"You're going to be brilliant, Broadway. If I'm ever in New York, I'm expecting VIP tickets to your show, backstage, the whole deal!"

"You got it."

She turned to Quinn with a sigh. "Well, I'm glad I got to meet you...despite what a raging bitch you are."

"WERE!" Rachel corrected her firmly. "Past tense, Lindsay!"

"Nope." She shrugged unapologetically. "Still a total bitch and all right by me."

Quinn had to smile. "I'll take it as a compliment."

"You should."

"I'm glad I met you too."

"You're so much better for her than those other guys. Granted, I never met the giant, but from what I heard, no need. I did meet the grade A asshole, St. James, so no comparison there either."

Quinn shook her head. "It's not her past I need to live up to, it's what she deserves for the future that I have to make happen."

Lindsay didn't have the slightest bit of a comeback prepared for something like that. Instead, she just nodded. In a way, it seemed like she was relieved. Maybe it was because she believed that her friend would be taken care of after she was gone.

Rachel slipped her hand in Quinn's, interlacing their fingers, but she didn't say a word.

"Okay!" Lindsay sighed, breaking the tension, and rubbed her hands together. "Last chance, Fabray, you sure I can't get a decent parting gift?"

"I'm not flashing you," she replied wearily.

"You wound me! I would never ask for something so shallow as that. I was thinking something much longer and more...pleasurable...than just a silly flashing..."

"Listen here now!" Rachel said, shoving her finger in Lindsay's face. "The only one Quinn will be flashing is me! And anything else of a sexual nature for that matter!"

The blonde covered her face with a groan and Lindsay was grinning from ear to ear. Rachel just crossed her arms defiantly and lifted her chin defiantly. She wasn't embarrassed!

"I am going to miss you, Rachel Berry."

They hugged one last time and as Lindsay pulled away she had the same mischievous look on her face that Rachel knew so very well by now.

"In addition to those tickets," she eyed Quinn for a moment before turning back, "I better be getting an invite to the wedding!"

She winked, and before anyone else could say another word, the older girl spun around, walking off towards her car.

Rachel blushed the second Lindsay said "wedding". How was she supposed to respond to something like that? Marrying Quinn Fabray... Was that even possible? She couldn't bring herself to look at the blonde next to her for fear of what she might find. If Quinn seemed okay with the idea even being broached, then Rachel didn't think her emotions could quite handle something so overwhelming and she was certain fainting could be a possibility. Then there was the chance that Quinn would look embarrassed and uncomfortable with the prospect. How could she even begin to handle that? It would destroy her. So she just did the safe thing and kept her eyes on the girl walking away.

When Lindsay's car left the parking lot, Rachel buried her face in Quinn's shoulder, waiting for the tears to subside. Quinn led her back to the car without a word. She could see how much it was hurting Rachel to lose her friend, especially one who had meant something different to her than everyone else in Glee club. This girl had been supportive of her from the beginning. Saying goodbye to Lindsay was almost like saying goodbye to a part of her life that no longer existed.

It was quiet for most of the ride. Quinn wanted to give Rachel her space and time to collect herself. But about ten minutes before they would be arriving at the Berry house, she tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, looking straight ahead, and said nonchalantly, "So when are we picking out the wedding invitations?"

Rachel whipped around in shock to see Quinn's sweet smile.

The following class without Lindsay was absolutely miserable. Rachel had underestimated how much it meant to have a friend there as support. After agonizing over the loss for a few days, the proverbial light-bulb over her head switched on. Brittany! She remembered how amazing the girl looked when she was doing that dance-off against Mike at Puck's party last weekend. So, Rachel called Brittany up and invited her to the class, just to see if she liked it enough to want to start attending weekly as well. Brittany was all for it. She hardly ever said no...to anything...ever.

"So how was dance?" Quinn asked as she plopped down on Rachel's bed. "Any better than last time?"

"It was amazing, actually!" Rachel replied as she bent over and shook the water out of her hair. She was in her pajamas after just having gotten out of the shower. "I brought Brittany along with me tonight."

"You did?" Quinn looked up at her in surprise. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Anyone" meant Santana. Quinn was sure that if the Latina knew Rachel dragged Brittany along with her alone somewhere; she'd be getting an earful of angry ranting on the phone for at least an hour.

"It was a last minute thing." She waved her off. "You know how lonely I was in the last class, so I thought of Brittany dancing at Puck's and just called her yesterday, to see if she would like to go with me. Quinn...did you know that she has never taken a single official dance class in her entire life?"

Quinn nodded, distracted as she licked her fingers, finishing the snack Hiram had made for her. "Yeah. She's a natural."

"No, you don't understand. The way she moves, what she knows, she picks up on it so quickly! All we had to do was run it through twice before Brittany was easily doing the routine along with the rest of us who have been working on it for weeks and still haven't gotten it down!"

She sat up on the bed and crossed her legs with a shrug. "Why do you think she's so highly valued on the Cheerios? Brittany learns the routines ten times faster than Santana and I do. She corrects us all when we make mistakes. It's like breathing to her. She'll do a full lay out twist and come down in a split with a smile like it's the easiest thing in the world. Brittany is our secret weapon. She even helps Sue choreograph the routines. That's why Sue wanted her in the cannon in the first place. If anyone had even the slightest chance of pulling that death sentence off, it would be Brittany."

"But..." Rachel hesitated, "not to be mean...I didn't think she was that successful on the Cheerios because-"

Quinn was already laughing, nodding her head. She knew what Rachel was going to say.

"Because of what a mess she is during the football games?"

The brunette winced apologetically.

"That's because she can't remember the words when we have to do the cheers. What we do at the football games is irrelevant. Our competitions have nothing to do with lame cheers. There, it's basically a gymnastics floor routine incorporated with dance, a lot more flashy hand movements, and people being tossed in the air. Brittany hasn't made a single mistake during a competition in three years. I'm betting she's going to make that four years by May."

A few days ago, Santana informed Quinn that she and Brittany had rejoined the Cheerios and that she was already leading the summer training as Captain. At least twenty girls would be cut before the school year and it would be Santana's decision who got to stay and who was out. Quinn wasn't the least bit surprised that the two of them went back, but for her, it was different. The Cheerios held a lot more meaning for her than it did for Brittany and Santana.

"Do you realize how rare that is?" Rachel said excitedly, eyes wide. "For someone to have such a natural ability like that?"

Quinn rolled her eyes and gave her a purposeful look. Of course, she was aware of that.

Exasperated, the brunette shook her head. "You must remember, I have talent, Quinn, but I work for it. I work really hard. As much as I'd like to say it, it's not true, I didn't just wake up one day singing like this. I've trained for as long as I can remember to be able to do what I can do now. Brittany is already at the level of a professional dancer and when I asked her where she learned how to do it, she said she just watched some music videos and copied them!"

"What are you saying? You think Brittany is a dance prodigy?"

"Maybe not a prodigy, but definitely someone with a true ability. Quinn, we need to get her into real classes. This could be Brittany's career! We both know she's not going to college, but if she learns more about dance, the techniques, different styles...it could change her whole future. She's not only an amazing dancer, but she's remarkably creative when it comes to choreography. She has the whole package!"

"I never thought about it that way before..." She mused, cocking her head. "I just always thought she was having fun."

"She is having fun and she's brilliant at it."

"I'll talk to Santana," Quinn nodded, "then the three of us can go to Brittany." She bit her lower lip before peering up at Rachel. "You really think she can make a career out of dancing?"

"After what I witnessed last night? There's not a doubt in my mind."

"Then let's make sure it happens."

Quinn was sunbathing by the pool with her the most recent book on her never-ending summer reading list when someone stepped directly into her light, casting a shadow down on her. Looking up, she saw her, apparently, very displeased mother. Judy had her mouth drawn into a tight line, making it look three times smaller than it was.

"I just received a phone call from one of my friends at the club."

"Was it Martha Haines? Because someone needs to tell that woman about her overgrown femstache. Her hell-spawn certainly wont."

"I'm not in the mood for your jokes, Quinnie," Judy snapped. "Ellen said that she was driving through a neighborhood a few weeks ago to visit an old friend and she saw someone who looks very much like you, sitting on a lawn with a group of delinquents in your bathing suits. She said it was all very unseemly considering whose lawn it was."

Fear seized her chest and her heart began to thump wildly, but Quinn made sure not single iota of it showed. She didn't even so much as look up from her book, simply turning the page, faking nonchalance.

"And whose lawn is that?" she answered calmly.

"You admit it was you that she saw?"

There was nothing she could do, nothing she could say that would get her out of this. It was going to happen sooner or later. Unfortunately, it happened far sooner than Quinn wanted, though she had still held on to the hope of it being never.

"Yep. It was me."

How her voice didn't crack, she'd never know. At that moment, Quinn thanked Sue Sylvester for everything she'd absorbed under her tutelage. Judy moved Quinn's legs over so that she could sit on the lounge chair as well. Internally, she desperately searched for the strength to make it through this.

"Just what do you think you're doing here?"

"Reading." She held up her book for emphasis.

"I told you," Judy replied darkly, "I am not in the mood for your jokes."

"And I'm not in the mood for your hysterics."

"Sweetie, I thought we moved past this rebellious stage of yours last year." She patted Quinn's knee in a strained sort of way. "Why are you acting out now? Is it because I'm working too much? Should I be home more?"

"Not acting out, Mom," she replied coolly.

"Then for heaven's sake! What were you doing there?"

"I was spending the day with my friends, just like I told you."

"And that girl...is your friend now?"

"That girl, is Rachel Berry, not the anti-Christ, and, yes, I have decided to be friends with her. The world has not come to an end because of it."

"But those people are-!"

"Have been kind and gracious to me despite what a bitch I was to their daughter."

"You know I don't approve of that kind of language," she said tersely.

"Mom?" Quinn finally dragged her eyes up from the pages of her book. "I'm friends with her. It's not a big deal. It's not an act of rebellion. It is what it is. I'm sorry you don't agree, but it's really not my problem. She's my friend, not yours. I'm willing to accept whatever punishment it is you want to give me for it, but it still won't change anything. In the meantime, I'm going to go back to reading now and I'd like to be alone. I only have another hour of good light and you're blocking it."

Judy exhaled shortly, her mouth growing smaller by the second like she had just sucked on a lemon. "I'm not going to punish you, Quinnie," she said firmly. "I just can't understand what it is you're thinking. Have you forgotten everything about the way you were raised? The values we taught you? The very core of our faith?"

"I haven't forgotten anything, Mom," she replied quietly. "I never could."

"Then why? Just tell me why."

Quinn looked up at her and shrugged. "I'll leave it for God to know."

She frowned deeply. "We're going to church tomorrow, 8 AM service. I expect you to be dressed and ready to go on time."

"But tomorrow's a Thursday...you have work."

"I'll go in late. This is more important."

Quinn scoffed and rolled her eyes, donning a smile that anyone could have spotted as fake a mile away. "Sure. Fine. 8 AM, bright and early."

Judy put her hand on Quinn's leg again and she could feel the ice spreading through at the very touch.

"I only want the best for you, sweetheart. I feel like you're losing your way again. I'll do anything to help you keep that from happening. This time, I'm going to be here for you, I promise."

Quinn felt like she was free falling into the abyss, with nothing to touch, nothing to hold on to, nothing but fear and loneliness. In the last two years, being cast out and abandoned were things she had come to accept as the grim reality, even if they were pretending otherwise right now.

How could her mother love her in the ways she claimed and yet still be able to make Quinn feel like this? How could a parent 'love' the way her mother seemed to love? On her terms, based on her standards, and nothing less? Was her mother truly such a bad person or did she just truly not know how to be anything else?

Judy finally got up and went back inside, leaving Quinn alone to feel like she'd just been through a day's worth of torture in the Inquisition.

"So that was it? She just didn't bring it up again?"

It was the following afternoon and Quinn had managed to escape her mother's clutches after she went to work and she was free to go to the Berrys'. Rachel sat cross-legged on the couch while the blonde was on the floor next to the coffee table with the chess board on it, strategizing her next move. She was playing Leroy in their spare time, and this one was about three weeks in the making.

"She hasn't mentioned you again, if that's what you mean. However, I'm being forced to go to church seven days a week now. I think that pretty much says it all."

"So, she thinks maybe all the religious reinforcement will help you change your mind about me?"

"Yeah. She's hoping they'll brainwash me. Pastor Jacobson approached me yesterday about 'private counseling sessions for spiritual struggles'. All my Mom's doing."

"You have to go to counseling just because you told her you're friends with me? Is it just because my dads are gay or is it also because I'm Jewish? I suppose the two together just makes it worse..."

"Don't worry about what she thinks, Rachel. It doesn't matter."

Rachel wanted to argue with her. Of course, it mattered! It was her mother they were talking about! But Quinn and her family was a topic she knew very well by now that needed to be treaded upon lightly.

"I just want to understand why. I want to understand what your beliefs are, your religion."

"My mother and I obviously do not share the same beliefs."

"But you still hold to your faith," Rachel pointed out. "I want to understand how she can come from such a dark, hateful place and yet there are others who believe in the same things you do..."

"It's different for everyone." Quinn sighed. "Scripture is read and interpreted with different priorities. Sam and Mercedes are perfect examples of that. They have strong beliefs, but they understand that the Bible can't be taken literally. I used to think like that...taking it literally. Well, as best I could anyway, but in the end I just kind of woke up. I saw what I was doing, what was really happening."

She shrugged, still scrutinizing the chess board.

"Look, there's a lot in there that doesn't make sense anymore...if it ever did. The Bible refers to so many things as an 'abomination', like eating lobster, or planting different crops in the same field, even giving someone a proud look. But you know what's not an abomination? Slavery." She shook her head. "We don't hold on to those things, but somehow it's still not okay to love who you love? I don't accept that. When it comes down to it, Jesus never said anything about gay people and that's a fact."

Of course, that was a fact; she had researched it extensively. Rachel's fastidiousness had nothing against Quinn's knowledge on the subject. She had to know. She had to find a way to make this right inside of herself, to reconcile herself with the fact that she wasn't wrong, as a person, as a human being, as God's creation, she didn't come out wrong.

"Good people, no matter what their faith, follow their hearts and heads, they use their judgment about what seems right, and just like Sam and Mercedes, they are wonderful people. But for most in this town, Rachel, you're a non-believer who was raised by sodomites."

The brunette winced at the harshness of her words. It surprised her how casually Quinn was able to say something like that. She did it so dispassionately, as though it were nothing at all, as though they were talking about the weather.

It's going to be raining buckets of sodomites today, so everyone, please remember to wear your crucifixes and be sure to watch the executions on Main Street!

She shook her head and blinked furiously.

Get a grip, Rachel.

"It's a royally screwed up world and I can't change it."

She grabbed a pillow and hugged it against her stomach for lack of anything better to do with her hands. "I'm not asking you to."

Quinn glanced up at her for a moment before turning her head away again. "I wish I could."

"You will," Rachel insisted. "You're going to change the world in your own way. I know it."

"Oh, yeah? And just how am I going to do that?"

"You tell me."

Quinn shook her head and redirected her attention to the board, having finally made a decision. She moved a piece and re-joined Rachel on the couch.

"I'd like to see your Dad try to get himself out of this one!"

Rachel just kissed her girlfriend's cheek.

One day Quinn would understand all the ways in which she had already changed the world.

She was pissed. No, she was freaking pissed. Rachel was supposed to meet her over twenty minutes ago. The movie had already started! She'd called her five times already, only getting voicemail, which they really needed to talk about because it took a ridiculously long time to listen to her sing the opening lines of "Put On a Happy Face" from Bye Bye Birdie.

Rachel insisted it was a way to cheer up whoever intended to speak to her, but were unsuccessful, and that was her way of making up for it. Quinn thought it was cute, if not a bit egotistical, but now after listening to it for the hundredth time, she felt like smashing the phone.

Another five minutes went by and still no Rachel. Livid couldn't begin to describe how upset she was. She was Quinn Fabray! No one stood up Quinn Fabray! Not even Rachel Berry!

Fuming, she stormed out of the theater, roughly shoving through a group of preteen boys who looked genuinely frightened by the irate blonde. She drove entirely too fast, the HBIC on a mission, and narrowly escaped clipping an elderly couple crossing the street. So what? They were jaywalking! Morons would have deserved it!

There was only one car in the Berry driveway. It was the one Rachel usually shared with Leroy. Quinn stormed up to the front door and banged on it hard, not caring if the men were home. That girl was not getting away with this! But no one answered and Quinn's hand hurt, so she tried the handle and found it was open. She stalked into the house yelling for her girlfriend, but there was no answer.

Maybe she wasn't home…

Even more infuriated now that she couldn't find her, Quinn flew up the stairs just to make sure she wasn't cowering in her room like she should be for standing her up!

When she flung open that stupid pink door, all the anger just evaporated in a matter of seconds. Out the window. Never to return. Quinn sighed and leaned against the doorjamb, shaking her head.

She had it bad, didn't she?

The most adorably sexy sight was laid out before her. Rachel was sprawled on top of her bed, sound asleep in a white tank top and the gold star underwear that Quinn bought for her on their six-month anniversary. It looked like she had been in the middle of getting dressed before succumbing to sleep, not even bothering covering herself with a blanket.

Quinn simply melted. Who cared about a stupid movie when there was something like this waiting for her right here?

Unable to keep the silly grin off her face, she crawled onto the bed, carefully positioning herself alongside the sleeping brunette. She could never get over how beautiful Rachel looked like this. She was always bubbling over with energy during the waking hours of consciousness, and she loved that – of course she did – but there was something about this too, a peacefulness. When she was quiet (impossible!) and simply free, only to explore her dreams. Gently, she brushed some of the silky, dark hair off her shoulder and pressed her lips to the warm skin. Rachel stirred slightly and Quinn continued kissing her, moving slowly upwards, sucking a little harder with each one. When her tongue came into play, Rachel sighed.

"Th'feels good," she mumbled sleepily.

Quinn took that as her chance to slip on top, wrapping her arms securely around her, her hand going underneath the shirt, and straddling a bare thigh, before finding her way to Rachel's mouth. The other girl moaned, returning the embrace and hitched her leg up higher on Quinn's waist out of pure instinct. They kissed deeply, languidly, as the blonde took her time exploring the inner recesses of Rachel's sweet mouth.

"Quinn…" she moaned, pulling her closer, then froze. "QUINN?"

Rachel shot up with a start, inadvertently forcing the other girl off. Quinn didn't let the movement deter her though; she had expected this, and kept kissing her, pulling off the tank top without a word of protest.

"Wh-what time is it?" she gasped between kisses, trying to crane her head around to see the clock. "The movie! Oh no! Did I…?"

"Yes," Quinn answered simply and pushed her so she was down on the bed again.

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "I-I didn't mean to- I was just so tired; I only wanted to lie down for a minute…"

Quinn wasn't really paying attention as she took off her own shirt and ran her mouth over the exposed flesh at Rachel's chest.

"You'll just have to suffer the punishment," she murmured, sliding her hands down the smooth skin of Rachel's thighs, kneading lightly before coming back up to undo her bra clasp.

"P-punishment?"

She tossed the bra aside and circled her tongue round a dusky, hardened nipple, making Rachel clutch her tighter to her body.

"You have to make love to me."

She was on the other breast then, using her hand to toy with the abandoned one.

"Quinn!" she whined breathlessly. "Don't you think that's unduly harsh? It was an accident after all."

"You weren't the one standing alone in a movie theater."

"But to demand such a thing of me…"

"It's the only way you'll learn," she muttered and slipped off the gold star panties, taking a moment to tease them over Rachel's head with a gleam of victory before dropping them off the bed.

"Very well," she groaned. "If that must be my consequence…I suppose I'll have to endure it with a smile."

Quinn laughed, teasing her lips over Rachel's trim belly before she nipped hard enough to make the girl yelp. Nuzzling that same spot, Quinn smiled still. She loved the way Rachel felt against her, how warm she always was, how good she smelled, how soft her skin was, how she tasted... The sensations were enough to make her wish she could burrow inside of Rachel forever, forever feel this way, forever be touching her.

She wrapped her arm around Rachel's waist and pulled her into the center of the bed so they were no longer at risk of falling off. Kneading Rachel's inner thighs, Quinn was delighted to find how turned on her girlfriend was already.

"Tell me what you want," she murmured against Rachel's ear and licked her lightly.

Rachel's breaths came in short and hot.

"I...uh...uh..."

Making her way across Rachel's jaw, Quinn made a similar journey with her fingers moving higher on Rachel's leg. When she stopped just short of touching her fully, Rachel whined, realizing that she really was going to have to speak if she wanted Quinn to keep going.

"I want you to touch me," she huffed and shifted her hips to try to get closer, but Quinn's fingers always danced back.

"I'm already touching you."

"Quinn!"

Any further protests were muffled by the blonde's lips on hers. Quinn kissed her thoroughly, almost to the point where Rachel literally ran out of breath, until she broke away at the last second, leaving them both gasping.

"Tell me what you want, Rachel," she whispered with her eyes ablaze and her mouth gloriously swollen.

Every single word uttered in that low, husky voice Quinn had, shot straight to Rachel's core, making her throb with an almost unbearable anticipation. Quinn licked her lips and settled herself in between Rachel's thighs, making the other girl gasp lightly.

"Your tongue," she gulped and raised her eyes to the ceiling in momentary embarrassment. "I-I want to feel your tongue on me."

Quinn gave a strained sort of moan, breathing hard against Rachel's throat where she was buried.

"Here?" she asked, slipping her hand up higher and into the heated wetness that waited there.

"Yes!" Rachel groaned and wrapped herself more tightly around Quinn, refusing to allow her to relinquish the contact she had finally given her aching body. "Yes, please."

"Please?" Quinn chuckled softly. "How polite you are when you know you were in the wrong."

Rachel was nearly insensate, gyrating her hips against Quinn's hand, desperate for more, and frustrated with how little her girlfriend was willing to work with her.

"Sorry, baby, but that's part of your punishment. You can't have what you want."

That woke Rachel up enough to open her eyes and stare at the blonde in bewilderment. "W-what?"

Quinn thrust into the warmth, dropping down to lave over the fragile flesh of Rachel's breasts again while she worked up a steady rhythm inside of her.

"...teach you to stand me up...!"

Rachel hardly heard her.

It didn't take long until she was swept over the edge and as her breathing slowed, she drifted off while nestled on the blonde's shoulder, warm, satiated, and absolutely exhausted.

"Hm, that was mean," she said sleepily.

"Are you actually going to try and tell me that you didn't enjoy it?"

Rachel cracked one eye open to peer at Quinn.

"It's just not fair." She shrugged lightly. "It's totally against the rules to make me tell you what to do and then ignore me."

"Did I happen to mention the part where you stood me up? Left me standing alone for over a half an hour with a bunch of prepubescent boys leering at me?"

"Oh, give it a rest, Quinn. You whine too much."

"Me?" Her mouth dropped open. "You're the one complaining that I didn't satisfy you exactly the way you wanted."

Rachel giggled. "Well, that's supposed to be your job. Doing it exactly the way I want."

She burrowed in closer and kissed Quinn's throat, perfectly content and ready to drift off into a blissful slumberland with her wonderful, adoring girlfriend.

"Fine," Quinn said softly.

Rachel was already half asleep, but managed a groggy, "Hm?"

"I said 'fine'!"

All of a sudden, Rachel lost her human pillow and was flipped onto her back with Quinn's hands around her legs, holding them open. Her eyes widened when she realized what Quinn was going to do.

"No, no, I was kidding!" She tried to push Quinn away in vain and groaned. "Baby, I can't! I'm so tired, ohhhhh…"

She gave up protesting.

"Now, was that to your satisfaction, Ms. Diva?"

Rachel groped around clumsily before getting a good hold and pulled Quinn in for a lazy, sweet kiss. She tasted herself on those lips. Quinn soon dropped down beside her again, and Rachel curled into her side, her eyelids drooping heavily with exhaustion.

"Quinn, please tell me you know I was only teasing about the first not being good enough? It was-"

"Shhh." She kissed her again. "I know. Just consider that one for me." She trailed her fingers up and down Rachel's arm lightly. "I wish you would have told me you were so tired. We didn't have to go out tonight."

"But we so rarely get to go out…" Rachel yawned and moved closer. "I didn't want anything to get in the way of that. I really wanted to go tonight."

"We'll go tomorrow."

"Promise?"

"Yes," she said, then added, "But I'm picking you up. You can't be trusted now."

"One time and I'm branded for life?" Rachel rolled her eyes and then softly added, "I'm sorry you got stuck there alone."

"It's okay. I mowed down an elderly couple on the way here so that worked out most of my anger."

"QUINN!" she gasped and sat up, gaping at her in astonishment. "You did no such thing!"

"What? They were old. It was probably their time anyway. I did them a favor."

"Stop it! Stop it right now!"

She laughed. "Okay, okay. I didn't hit them. They were pretty spry for old people. You should have seen them diving for the bushes."

"Your sense of humor astounds me sometimes…"

"I could say the same for your mouth."

She gave her a suspicious look. "I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult."

Quinn rolled them over, settling herself on Rachel's chest, in the crook of her neck.

"Take it however you want."

"Vehicular homicide is nothing to joke about, Quinn." She instinctively slid her hand into her hair, absently stroking the shortened blonde locks. "I didn't find that at all amusing."

"Did I mention you stood me up tonight?"

Rachel pinched her arm and she yelped laughingly. They snuggled down more cozily and soon drifted off to sleep. Quinn definitely got a taste of her own medicine when she woke the next morning to a wide-awake Rachel Berry and she wouldn't have had it any other way.