Summary: Rachel has a secret and Quinn has figured it out - but will Quinn use this knowledge to exact revenge on Rachel for telling Finn that Puck was really the father or will she use her own experiences to help. WARNING - language and sexual content in the form of rape, also at some point possible reference to self-harm.

Pairing: Rachel/Quinn

Notes: Continuation: The start of an interesting weekend for Quinn and Rachel - The never ending weekend has finally come to an end, will Rachel go through with telling her fathers? Will Quinn keep her calm?

Warning: I don't think there's anything really to warn about...apart from this being surprisingly sappy and so un-angsty when compared to the rest of the story LOL

Disclaimer: I own nothings, but the random ramblings of which occur in my brain. Glee and any other copyrighted content used belongs to their respective owners.


By the time Hiram and Leroy had returned from the airport Rachel has a bundle of nerves. Never had she felt so anxious about talking to her fathers, well with the exception of telling them that she was pregnant and how she had ended up that way but this was a different kind of nervous. It wasn't fear that her fathers would reject her for who she was, after all why would they? To them it never mattered about the identity of who she loved, so long as they treated her right and made her happy they were happy, well for the most part. Leroy hadn't been particularly pleased when Rachel was with Finn. It seemed to Leroy that Finn would always mess Rachel around and he had been secretly pleased the day Rachel had informed them that she had ended things with the clueless quarterback. No, the thing Rachel feared was their doubts. She knew they would suspect this to be a reaction to what had happened. She couldn't blame them or anyone else that thought that, after all it was entirely logical and conceivable that being in a relationship with a woman was a defence mechanism. A way to protect herself from men. But it wasn't, she genuinely wanted to be with the blonde she had been seeing behind her parents backs. That thought brought a pang of guilt. Before January she had been nothing but honest with them. She was going to try to get that back, starting today. She missed the closeness she had shared with her fathers. She wanted it back. She just wasn't sure how to get it back. Or if she even could, but she was going to try.

"Hey girls," Leroy welcomed as he poked his head into his daughters bedroom, "miss me?"

"Hi Leroy," Quinn turned away from Rachel's laptop so that she didn't appear rude.

"Hi Daddy," Rachel sat up from her position on the bed, trying to clear her mind of the thoughts rushing through, "did you have a good trip?"

"I did," Leroy smiled.

"Did you get it?" Rachel asked.

Leroy just smiled in return, and tapped his nose knowingly, "I'm gonna grab a shower, then maybe we could have a light dinner? Have you guys had lunch?"

"Actually…" Rachel thought about it, she had been so wrapped up in her thoughts and showing Quinn the soon-to-be-nursery-guest-room that food had slipped her mind.

"Rae," Leroy tutted, "it's one thing to starve yourself but I'm sure poor Quinn must be famished."

"In all honesty I hadn't really thought about food," Quinn suddenly noticed the emptiness of her stomach, "until now," she added with a giggle.

"I'm starving," Leroy said jokingly, "I swear they offer better meals to death row prisoners than they do on planes."

Rachel rolled her eyes and lay herself back down, the twinge in her back telling her that sitting on propped elbows really wasn't the best decision.

"Right well I'll try to be quick in the shower so we can all eat," Leroy said before his head vanished from the doorframe.

Quinn returned her attention to the laptop screen, scanning the endless spam and junk as she checked her emails.

Rachel couldn't distinguish whether the flutter in her stomach was that of her daughter moving around or some particularly violent butterflies. Her eyes fixated themselves on Quinn's back; tracing the figure of the girl perched on the edge of the desk chair. She was going to tell her dads about their relationship. Even if they did disapprove, which she hoped to God they wouldn't, she wasn't going to give up the blonde, she cared too much for her to just give up on her. She would tell them, she could do this. She wanted to be with Quinn, and she would tell her fathers that, ok she wasn't going to tell them about her wants and desires surrounding the girl in question but she wasn't prepared to deal with them fully herself. She had to remain in control of herself. Rachel allowed her eyes to trace the curve of the blonde's waistline before darting her eyes elsewhere forcing herself to focus on the task at hand. She knew her dads were going to worry that it was too soon for her to be seeing anyone, regardless of their sex. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't come up with an argument against this. Perhaps they would be right, perhaps it was too soon but she wasn't going to let anything stand in her way. Life was full of mistakes, if this turned out to be one of them then so be it. She laughed softly at the thought, if only it was that simple, if only she was as confident as her thoughts were.

"What's so funny?" Quinn's voice broke through her barrage of thoughts.

"It's nothing," Rachel answered, "just thinking about what I'm going to tell my dads."

"Anyone ever tell you you think too much?" Quinn laughed.

"Not that I can recall," Rachel pushed herself so that she was sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed so that she wouldn't be tempted to prop herself on her elbows and provoke the twinge at the base of her spine, "usually they just tell me that I talk to much."

"Well that too," Quinn said cheekily over her shoulder.

Rachel stood and stalked over to the blonde, trying to be as quiet as she could, "Is that so?"

"It's been mentioned to me once or twice," Quinn continued to click through the never-ending supply of junk occupying her inbox.

Rachel continued to tip-toe gingerly towards the back of the girl currently enrapt in emails, all thoughts of seriousness and her impending talk with her fathers pushed aside for the moment. She stopped just behind the blonde, careful as to not cast a shadow against the screen of the laptop. "What you doing?"

"Jesus!" Quinn cried, her body swivelling to take in the close proximity of Rachel.

"No, Rachel," the brunette smiled cheekily.

"You," Quinn clutched her heaving chest, "are too much like your daddy! I swear I'm going to put a bell around your necks so you can't keep sneaking up on me!"

"Shhh!" Rachel said suddenly.

"What?" the blonde was confused, how could the girl before her go from playful to serious in less than a few seconds?
Rachel gently placed the pad of her thumb against the soft lips before and focused her attention to the sounds throughout the house. It was hard to focus on anything over the rushing water creaking through the pipes. It took her a moment to locate her Dad but as soon as she heard the fast tempo salsa beat wafting up the staircase she knew he was downstairs in the kitchen prancing around as he attempted to dance whilst cooking. Knowing that both her fathers were elsewhere and occupied she reluctantly pulled her thumb away despite her brain telling her to trace the lower lip, to commit the texture against the swirls of her thumb to memory.

"What was that about?" Quinn asked.

Rachel didn't answer, instead she leant forward, the lips that had a moment ago been silenced with her thumb now silenced against her own lips.

"Ok," Quinn smiled, her head resting against the brunette's, "I forgive you."

"Forgive me?" Rachel pulled back.

"Yes I forgive you."

"What for?"

"Shhhing me and not explaining why," hazel eyes traced the curves of the moistened lips before her, "if you're gonna shh me and then kiss me, I think I can forgive you."

"I just wanted to check where Dad was, I knew Daddy was in the shower," Rachel could feel herself getting fidgety under the blonde's stare, "I don't particularly want a repeat of what happened with Mercedes."

Quinn was going to form an answer, she had one in her mind, she had every intention of agreeing with Rachel that her dads finding out about them in the same fashion as Mercedes really wasn't a good idea but it didn't seem as important as seizing the lips in front of her.

It was Rachel who broke the kiss off; she knew that if she kept her lips against the blonde she would give in to her want to explore the tastes hidden behind the silken lips. "Daddy will be finished in the shower soon," she forced the words from her mouth, she knew that there was an element of truth behind them, albeit they had at least another ten minutes before Leroy would re-emerge.

"Ok," Quinn swallowed back the protest burbling beneath the surface, she had felt that pull, the slight shift, the subtle change in pressure from Rachel.

"Maybe we should go see if Dad needs any help with dinner?" Rachel said as she straightened herself, "And check that he hasn't detonated a food bomb in the kitchen."

"What?" Quinn laughed, "A food bomb?"
"Dad's not so good in the kitchen," Rachel toyed with the idea of grabbing the bag from the guest room to show her Daddy when he joined them downstairs, "me and Daddy came home from shopping one day to find that Dad had attempted to use the blender."

"Ok?" Quinn logged out of her emails, stood and stretched, relishing the way her vertebrae clicked back into place.

"He didn't put the lid on, hence food bomb. The kitchen look like an explosion had taken place," Rachel shrugged, "I'm just gonna grab something from the other room."

"He really forgot to put the lid on?"

"Yep," Rachel's voice floated through from the corridor, "he really did. It was a mess."

Quinn stood in the hallway, "I dread to think what that looked like," she said as Rachel re-emerged with the plastic bag in her hand.

"Like you and Puck when you were baking except everywhere," Rachel noticed the surprised look on Quinn's face, "Finn told me."

"Oh," Quinn remembered Puck's warning and knew she was going to have to tell Rachel, Not now, she pushed the thoughts of her ex-boyfriend as far away as she could and focused her attention on the bag.

Rachel caught sight of the blonde's gaze and pulled the bag against her, almost shyly, "I wanted to show Daddy, I didn't want him to feel like he missed out because he had to work."

"That's a good idea," Quinn noticed the way Rachel held on to the bag, that blanket was the most prized possession she had right now, "he'll be proud of you, you know?"

"Why?" Rachel began the descent down the stairs.

"Because Rach, look at you," she followed a few steps behind, cautious as not to follow too close behind and topple the girl in front of her, "I don't know how he couldn't be. I don't think I know anyone who'd be doing the things you are, I don't think anyone else is that strong."

"You do it."

"That's different and you know it."

"Only if I let it be," Rachel turned to face Quinn once she had reached the bottom of the stairs, "why do I have to let him rule over her?"

"Definitely proud," Quinn nodded, lightly grazing her fingers along Rachel's as she passed and made her way to the kitchen.

Rachel let out an annoyed grunt, she knew she wouldn't be able to push Quinn for an explanation in front of her dad so with a heavy frustrated sigh she followed after the blonde.

"I'm disappointed Hiram," Quinn said light-heartedly.

"Why's that?" Hiram asked as from his spot by the grill.

"Well Rachel was telling me all about your food bomb mishaps."

"Once," Hiram looked over at his daughter mock-accusations across his face, "one time! You're never going to let it go are you?"

"You covered the entire kitchen," Rachel said slowly, deliberately drawing out each word.

"One time!" Hiram countered turning his attention back to what he was doing.

"Entire kitchen!"

Quinn could feel the tug at the corners of her lips, she found herself wondering if this was more of the relationship Rachel had shared with her dads before Karofsky came and fucked it all up.

Rachel wondered over to the island and hopped up, as best as she could given the size of her middle, onto a stool, "What's for dinner?"

"Couscous and grilled veg," Hiram answered.

"Feeling a bit adventurous are we?" Rachel said playfully.

"I'll boot you out of my kitchen if you keep this up," Hiram laughed, he had so very much missed this banter with his daughter, even if it was cheeky and involved her mocking him, he had missed it greatly.

"You're so mean to your Dad," Quinn scolded half-heartedly as she took a perch beside Rachel, subtly letting her knee rest against the pregnant girls.

Rachel swallowed back the lump in her throat from the contact hidden from her father and suddenly found herself glad that she was still clutching the carrier bag in her hands, removing the temptation to rest a hand on the denim clad knee that rested against her own.

"What are you doing to your poor Dad now?" Leroy asked as he entered the kitchen.

Rachel swivelled on the stool, reluctantly moving her legs away from the devious blonde beside her, guilt creeping its way through her mind, "Nothing."

"And why do I find that hard to believe?" Leroy chuckled.

"I did nothing Daddy," she said sweetly, regaining her composure.

"And yet you look as guilty as sin," Leroy pointed out, his eyes noticing the bag within his daughters grasp, "what's with the bag sweetheart?"

"Oh," Rachel tightened her grip subconsciously, "I wanted to show you something."

"Rae," Hiram spoke over the clatter of cutlery as he rifled through the drawer, "why don't you go show Daddy in the dining room, away from all the food out here, you wouldn't want to get it dirty."

"What about helping you?" Rachel asked.

"I'll stay," Quinn offered, she knew Rachel needed the chance to share a moment with her Daddy, it hadn't taken her long to realise that Leroy would always be Daddy to Rachel and that she would always be a Daddy's girl. It wasn't anything against Hiram, Quinn realised this, but Rachel was so much more like Leroy in regards to who she was it was undeniable that she was Daddy's little girl.

"You sure?" Rachel asked, unsure as to whether she should leave Quinn to help out with dinner, it didn't matter how much time she spent at the Berry household she was still a quest.

"Yes," Quinn said authoritively, her tone leaving no room for questioning.

"Come on Rae," Leroy nodded towards the dining room, "you've got my intrigued as to what's in that bag that you wouldn't want to get dirty."

Rachel mouthed a silent thank you to Quinn as she clambered down from her stool and followed after Leroy into the dining room.

"Your dad was telling me on the way back from the airport you found a colour to paint the nursery," Leroy said as he took his usual spot at the dining table.

"Did he tell you how long it took?" Rachel asked semi-cautiously as she sat in the seat beside her father.

"He did say it was a little difficult to find the right colour," he smiled warmly at his daughter, "but then again what would you expect when faced with a multitude of colours?"

"Did he tell you about the other place we went?"

"He did, but he wouldn't tell me if you bought anything."

"Really?"

"I promise," Leroy's voice was full of sincerity, "he wouldn't utter a word to me about it, he just said you went for a look round and that maybe next weekend we could go the three of us."

"Yeah," Rachel replied, a little hope filtering through her voice, "I'd like that."

"Then that's what we'll do."

Rachel fiddled with a handle on the bag, it's rustle seeming unusually loud, "I bought something…when we there…"

Leroy sat waiting patiently, his urge to question what she had purchased overridden by his understanding of his daughter. He knew that when something mattered, truly mattered to her, it took her that little bit longer to find her words and that she would speak at a pace that most people would consider normal but was surprisingly slow for her.

"I got this…" she pushed the bag towards her father, "for her…"

Leroy carefully removed the blanket from the carrier and unfolded it, watching as the cream material creased and flowed as though it were the liquid of its named colour. He felt a wave of emotion surge through him that his daughter had thought to buy something for her daughter in the first place, given the circumstances she was conceived under it would be fully understandable and in a way easier to understand for her to reject the child and distance herself from anything to do with it but Rachel being Rachel she was sympathetic and compassionate towards the unborn child, that alone filled him with pride. He knew that very few women who were unfortunate to find themselves in this situation would show the courage his daughter was showing every single day, that wasn't to say they were in any way cowardly on the contrary the mere fact that they went about living after enduring such horrific things made them stronger than most.

He dared a glance towards his daughter, and took note of every crease and line that was etched into her face as she looked at him expectantly, anxiety radiating from her eyes. It was too much for him to bear; it was the face he had seen many times during her childhood. The time she had got her first A+, the day she landed her first lead in the school play, the day she had completed and passed her first singing grade. It was the look of searching her father to find the reinforcement that she had done well. Leroy forced himself to focus on the fleece within his hands, searching for the significance that lay within the simple material. He shifted his hands slightly so that he could rotate the blanket. The corners that were at the top a moment ago and folded over now revealed and lay cradled in the palm of his large, muscular hands. Stars, it had to be stars. He felt a pain burning within his lungs, a dull fire of loss that came with knowing that Rachel's dreams of being a star had been viciously stolen from her. He felt the sting in the corners of his eyes before he'd even registered his blurred vision.

"Daddy?"

Leroy pushed his chair back from the table; the blanket held in one hand, he patted his knee with the other, "Come here baby."

Rachel pushed herself out of her chair and stood nervously in front of her father, unsure as to whether she should embrace him the way she used to do without a second thought. However the apprehension wasn't for the reasons she expected from herself, she found her voice, timid and embarrassed, "I'm not as light as I used to be."

"Shhh," Leroy tapped his knee again and was this time granted his wish as Rachel sat on his knee and threw her arms around his neck. Leroy tried to keep himself together, the combination of the close proximity of his daughter for the first time all year and the gesture towards her daughter stirred with his pride at the woman she had quickly become when he hadn't been looking. He wished he knew that words to tell her everything he wanted her to hear, but the lump in his throat and his happiness of being able to hold his daughter reduced him to whispers as he stroked the ends of her hair and the top of her back, "I am so, very proud of you."

Rachel tightened her grip around her father, her face buried in the crook of his neck as she tried to fight back the tears that threatened to leak and stain his skin and clean shirt collar, "Do you think she'll like it?"

"She'll love it sweetheart," Leroy leant his head against the luxurious brunette hair.

They sat there for several moments, each of them doing their own internal battle to stave off their tears.

Quinn stood nervously in the doorway for a second before returning with the cutlery and salt and peppershakers to the kitchen.

"Everything ok Quinn?" Hiram asked, surprised that she had returned with the items she was going to take through to the other room.

"Yeah," Quinn said a little uncertain, her own thoughts causing havoc within her mind, "I just didn't want to intrude."

"Intrude? Quinn, you're pretty much a permanent fixture here. How can you intrude?" Hiram asked as he began to finish up cooking and readied the plates.

"Leroy and Rachel just looked like they needed a little longer," Quinn answered honestly.

"Hmm," Hiram mused over the plates, toying with the idea of going to check on his husband and daughter but feeling rude abandoning Quinn.

Quinn could see the struggles as they played over Hiram's slightly worn features, "I can take over dishing up," she offered, "I don't mind."

"Thanks Quinn," Hiram smiled sincerely at the young mother, she was rather perceptive for such a young woman, "I'll just be a minute."

"Ok," Quinn stepped into the role of finishing serving up dinner, thankful for a task to focus on. She found herself suddenly having doubts about Rachel telling Hiram and Leroy of their relationship, she knew they wouldn't reject Rachel for being with her, but what if they were upset about the way they had continued to explore a relationship further afield from friendship for several weeks without their knowledge. Surely if that were to happen it would hinder some of the progress and healing she had witnessed over the last half hour between Rachel and her fathers.

"Everything's fine," Hiram said snapping her out from her thoughts, she had finished plating the meals without even noticing that she had done so.

"I'll start taking these through," Quinn felt the need to be doing something, she had to figure out if today was the right time for Rachel to tell her fathers about them and she had little time in which to do it in.

Hiram followed behind her carrying the last two plates before he vanished twice again to bring through two wine glasses and two tumblers of squash as had become routine during the mealtimes since the girls had both refused the wine offered to them weeks ago.

They sat through their meal the same way they had done many others, chatting idly between mouthfuls as they discussed the weekend and the things they had each missed out on. Quinn and Rachel tactfully skirting around Quinn's conversation with Puck concerning her and Rachel. However even though they had successfully avoided the conversation throughout the meal it brought both girls to focus on the impending revelation to the adult Berry's. Although each girls thoughts were opposites of the others. Whilst Quinn worried that the revelation could harm the healing that had began between the family, Rachel hoped that it would only strengthen and aid the healing. The brunette felt that now was the time to be honest with her fathers, things before their dinner had felt so much like a time that felt like it belonged to another life and she felt that being truthful as she had been in that other life would help to bring it forth and anchor small pieces of it in her life now. So she waited her time, she would wait until they had finished eating and were all sat slumped in their chairs with pleased stomachs.

They talked about Quinn's mothers reluctance to buy a second hand car, Hiram informed his husband of his daughters desire to paint the soon-to-be-nursery-guest-room as soon as they had returned with the paint, Leroy complained happily about having spent the weekend in board rooms hashing out details and melding ideas until he had successfully landed the contract that would boost not only the companies but his reputation and Rachel sat and listened, focusing on each voice as they each took turn to speak and relished the comfort she found within each voice.

Hiram was the first to push away from the table, slouching slightly in his chair, "Well I don't think I did too bad, do you?" he said pleased with the outcome of his dinner.

"It was good Dad," Rachel said, attempting to keep the nerves from her voice, this was it, she knew it, everyone would praise her Dad for the dinner they had all enjoyed and then it would be her turn to take the floor.

"It was really nice Hiram," Quinn could feel her palms sweating, she'd heard the tiny crack in the good that gave away Rachel's intentions, "I've never had couscous before."

"Really?" Hiram asked, "Why didn't you say something? I wouldn't of minded doing something else for you."

"You never know if you like something if you don't try it right?" Quinn smiled at him, she knew that pretty soon he'd pick up on the double meaning of the sentence, "And I didn't want to cause you any more trouble and I'm glad I didn't, it really was tasty."

"It was nice babe," Leroy like his husband pushed back from the table but instead of slouching he sat at straight as he could, stretching his back out, "I think me and Rae should let you cook more often, what'd you think Rae?"

"Y-yeah," her voice gave her away this time, there was no way of hiding it, she had done the one thing she had never done.

"You ok sweetheart?" Leroy's words rushed, almost crashing into each other.

"I'm fine Daddy," the starlet cleared her throat, trying to reaffirm her voice, willing it to work the way it should, "I kind of have something important that I want to tell you," she looked at each of her fathers, and could see that they too were nervous and remembered the last time she had something important to tell them it had been her now very obvious pregnancy. "It's nothing bad, at least I hope you won't think it's bad," she knew she was beginning to ramble and that if she didn't get to the point soon she would lose her nerve, "I'm a little nervous," she admitted.

"We're all ears," Leroy promised.

"Just take your time Rachel," Hiram knew her full name was required; it was the one thing without fail that had always reassured her they were taking her seriously.

Her head was hung low, her almost black-brown locks falling and hiding her eyes, allowing her a quick glance towards Quinn, giving her what she needed. "I'm seeing someone."

Quinn found herself wishing that Rachel would get it done and over with so that she could suffer the fallout should there be one. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! She tried to hide herself, the expression on her face which she was sure would gave away what Rachel was trying to tell her dads so she brought the glass tumbler to her lips and drank deeply suddenly aware of how her mouth felt like the Sahara and her throat felt as though it were clogged with sand.

"Oh Rae please don't tell me you're back with Finn?" Leroy didn't bother to hide the distaste from his voice.

Quinn inhaled deeply at the wrong moment, the mention of Finn having caught her off guard and she began to sputter as squash bypassed its original destination of travel and began to fill her lungs. She slapped her palm against the top of her breastbone, allowing air to flood back into her lungs as the sputter came to an end, "Sorry."

"You ok?" Hiram asked eying up Quinn.

"Yeah," the blonde swallowed and found that her throat had a slight burning sensation, "I breathed in at the wrong time, I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing."

"You sure you're ok?" Hiram asked again, looking at Quinn knowingly but relented when she nodded her head.

Rachel looked at Quinn, and realised that the golden haired mother was just as nervous as she was and found it oddly comforting. She only allowed herself a brief look to confirm that Quinn was indeed alright, before answering Leroy, "No Daddy, I'm not back with Finn. Things with Finn and I are done, we had our chance and it didn't work out."

"Thank God for that," Leroy muttered.

"Be nice," Hiram chided.

"Are you sure this is the right time to be seeing someone sweetheart? I mean with everything that you've had to deal with and the baby being so close…" Leroy had his concerns, Rachel had enough on her plate right now she didn't need the added pressure of nursing a fledgling relationship and raising a baby, she didn't need the risk of a broken heart.

"It feels right," Rachel said, her voice full of conviction, she truly believed the words escaping her lips, her earlier insecurities and worries evaporating as she realised that she would somehow make them understand.

"And he's alright with the baby?" Hiram asked, he shared Leroy's worries but he also knew that Rachel needed their support, "He knows what happened?"

Rachel took a steadying breath, the room suddenly felt very warm and her cheeks as though they were ablaze, You can do this, "She knows," she took another breath, "she understands about my baby."

Leroy stared at Rachel shell-shocked, this he hadn't seen coming and his mind raced to place all the pieces together.

Hiram looked at his daughter knowingly and waited for his husband to catch up with what he had just been told.

"I know that you'll probably think that this is a way of protecting myself," Rachel's voice grew stronger with every word, she knew they needed to know the truth surrounding everything and she knew it was going to hurt them but she needed them to understand, how would they believe her if her voice was shaky and cracked? "Please try to understand, I wanted to tell you about this, everything. I wanted you to know what was going on, but I was scared. This isn't something new, this has been there for a lot longer than any of this." She paused to take a sip of her drink, she needed something to prevent her throat from closing up on her, "I know you know everything that I told the police, that you saw the video…I know you know I was at the park," she swallowed, fighting back the replay of images unfolding in her mind, she wouldn't let him keep doing this to her, she had to do this, she wanted to do this, even if it meant a night of little sleep, "I was trying to understand. I didn't understand why things with Finn didn't…fit. I wanted to understand everything that I was feeling; all these things that I know you would've been able to help me with. I was coming home to talk to you but I didn't…when I got home I couldn't…"

Leroy could no longer fight against the stream of tears that were racing silently down his cheeks. Hiram's eyes glistened as more and more of his precious daughters nightmare was revealed to them. This was the most Rachel had ever said to them about what she had been through and it felt like a searing hot blade twisting in their gut.

Rachel was joined in their tears, the pain burning in her fathers eyes eating at her more than she had imagined it would, "I wanted to tell you so much…"

Quinn couldn't take it anymore, she wasn't prepared to sit by and watch Rachel struggle. She moved her chair round the side of the table so that she were beside the brunette and laced her fingers with the trembling hand closest to her, "You're ok," she whispered.

Rachel nodded and swallowed back the fresh wave of tears threatening to shatter her, "I couldn't tell you, I didn't know how to tell you without telling you about what happened."

Leroy hid behind his massive hands, trying to spare his daughter the mask of pain and sorrow he knew he was wearing freely.

"Oh Rae," Hiram choked as he reached forward and cupped Rachel's free hand within his own.

"I really wanted to tell you," Rachel tried to stem the flow of tears that were busy leaving snail trails in their wake, thankful that Quinn was beside her, "I just…how could I?"

"Shhh," Hiram soothed, his thumbs rubbing over the tensed hand in his, "it doesn't matter sweetheart, you've told us now."

Leroy wiped at his eyes with his sleeves, "Just look at me," he tried to infuse humour into his voice. He finished drying his eyes, knowing that there would be more tears to come later that evening behind the closed door of his and Hiram's bedroom. "Thank you Rae," his voice was strained, and cracked as though he had laryngitis. Rachel looked at him in confusion, "I finally feel like I have my little girl back, I know it's not the same sweetheart," he stretched a hand towards Rachel's cheek and gently wiped away tears with the back of his hand, "but I've missed you so much."

Rachel gently squeezed Quinn's hand, silently asking that she let go and soon returned to her earlier position on Leroy's lap, arms wrapped around his neck.

Hiram blinked rapidly, willing that there be no more tears shed in front of his daughter before allowing his eyes to fall to the girl who watched the revelation silently, "So…this is why you were reluctant to accept the key yesterday huh?"

Quinn blushed under his focus and try to find the words to say how sorry she was for accepting the key under false pretences.

"Wait…" Leroy's head snapped up, causing Rachel to loosen her grip and sit at an angle so that she could see the blonde, "Quinn tried to refuse the key?"

Hiram rolled his eyes at his husband, "Catch up Leroy. Quinn's the girl."

"Huh?" Leroy had gotten lost, his mind still digesting everything, he was far too much like his daughter, his brain was currently dissecting every piece of information he had been given.

"THE girl," Hiram said again, his eyes darting between Quinn and Rachel.

"What?" Leroy's eyes darted towards his daughters face, "Rach?"

"That's what I was trying to tell you," she almost laughed at the look of shock on Leroy's face, "but I needed you to know everything else and then it all ended up in tears and"

"OK Rae, I'm caught up," Leroy stopped his daughters babbling and looked at Quinn, "so you're THE girl huh?"

"I'm sorry for not telling you both sooner," Quinn said guiltily.

"It's my fault," Rachel rushed, "I asked her not to tell anyone."

"It's ok girls," Hiram soothed, "no one's mad. What's there to be mad about? So how long has this been going on for?"

Rachel squirmed from Leroy's lap and returned to her place beside Quinn, she knew they were going to get the Spanish inquisition, "Since Mercedes went away," she knew her fathers would be able to work the dates out for themselves from that.

"A little while then. Well I must admit girls you kept that one very quiet," Leroy teased, "What about Beth?"

Quinn smiled, she loved the way Hiram and Leroy loved her daughter so much, "I spoke with Puck yesterday," she admitted guiltily, "he's fine with everything, he was actually really great about it all. We're not going to hide from Beth, I know this will affect her as she grows up but right now everything stays the same really, she'll still spend a week with me and then with Puck and as she gets older well we'll explain it to her."

"Are you both happy?" Hiram asked his eyes focused on his daughters.

"I'm happier than I have been," Rachel admitted, "I know it's not the answer everyone wants, but I'm just being honest. I'm happier when I'm with Quinn, it's like…" she paused a minute, chewing on her lower lip, "he's the constant cloud that follows me and keeps me in the dark but when I'm with Quinn he's a shadow and I feel more like I'm getting back to me." She could feel the eyes on her, provoking the heat that was climbing her neck to sit in her cheeks, "She makes me want to smile," she added bashfully.

"And Quinn," Leroy levelled his eyes with the hazel belonging to the blonde, "are you happy?"

"I think I am," Quinn smiled, "I've never known anyone like Rachel."

"She's our one of a kind," Hiram said proudly.

"Are you going to tell your Mom?" Leroy asked.

"Not right now," Quinn knew this would pop up, "things are still settling down, we're only just getting used to each other again."

"We're not going to push you into Quinn," Hiram added, "but don't you think you should?"

"I know that I probably should," she agreed with them, her mom did need to know, she no longer wanted to live life as strangers the way they had before, "but I have to think about Beth."

"You're worried she'll kick you again," Hiram stated, "well whether you like it or not Quinn you and Beth are a part of this family, more so than we had originally realised, you will never find yourself unwelcome here, ok?" He waited for Quinn to acknowledge his words which she did with a polite nod, "You should try talking to her, she may surprise you."

"Thank you," Quinn ushered.

"Ok," Leroy steered the conversation towards the things he knew his daughter would be expecting of them, "I think Hiram will agree with me, it's too late to be setting up any kind of rules. Rae you know how this house works, love is always accepted no matter what form it comes in, but I want you to take things slowly ok? This is new to both of you; you both have or very soon will have your own children to raise. That kind of stress can put a lot of pressure on anybody's relationship, never mind that you guys have senior year to focus on as well. Things are going to be difficult. So I just want you both to be careful ok? We love you both and we don't want to see either of you hurt, do we babe?"

"Of course we don't," Hiram continued, "just remember to be honest and respectful with each other. Quinn I know I don't have to warn you about breaking Rae's heart, that would be pretty stupid of me, just like Leroy says, don't go rushing into this."

"Ok," Rachel's words were soft, she was oddly calm despite the threatening images she knew were headed her way, but how could she not be calm. Her fathers hadn't rejected or try to dissuade her relationship with Quinn.

"Right well I'm not sure about you lot," Leroy said as he pushed himself away from the table, "but I think it's time to crash in front of the TV and not think about anything."

"I like your Daddy," Quinn said, "he's a smart man."

"I thought I was the smart one?" Hiram feigned hurt.

"You're the great cook," Quinn laughed, things seemed a lot lighter, her earlier fears had no grounding, they had been irrational. She stood and offered her hand to Rachel, who eagerly accepted it.

"Thank you," Rachel said she stood up facing the blonde.

Hiram and Leroy cleared the table and cluttered about noisily in the kitchen, giving the girls a change to be alone before they joined them in the lounge.

"What for?" Quinn asked.

"Knowing when I needed you by me," Rachel smiled lazily.

Quinn placed a chaste kiss against the salt-stained lips, "Thank you for letting me be there for you."

"I'm so going to fall asleep in on the couch," Rachel laughed.

"Yeah," Quinn knew the feeling, "too much excitement this weekend eh?"

"It worked out ok though."

"Yeah," Quinn gently tasted the salted skin once more, "it did."


Attention: Hey all! I hope you enjoyed this update, sorry it was so damn long! LOL I'm also sorry about the end, I'm not quite happy with it but I couldn't come up with a better alternative and I know you've been waiting patiently as it is.

OK a few questions, some are a repeat from last update.

1) Shelby - seems to be a bit of split vote at the minute - would you like to see her in this story? I have a workable plan as to how to incorporate her.

2) The rest of the group will be told before they all return to school, but do the girls tell the rest of the club members individually or as a group?

3) Is there anything you would like to see Rachel/Santana talk about?

4) Quinn will be telling her mom about her relationship with Rachel (I've yet to decide whether it'll be in this story or the sequel seeing as I'm trying to wind this one down) how do you think Judy will react? Is she going to fly off the handle or is there a softer side to Judy Fabray that was repressed behind the alcohol and domineering husband?

5) Does the douche back Karofsky have a younger brother?

6) There seems to be another split vote when it comes to Rachel/Santana and the roof - so again will the girls chat on the roof or somewhere perhaps a little safer?

7) You ever wondered why Q, S and B go by initial?

and I'm out of questions for now LOL

Ok so I have to say, I did my very best with this chapter but it was REALLY difficult to write, if something doesn't work for you that's fair enough but please be constructive in your criticisms ok? Can ya tell I'm kinda nervous about this chapter? Haha.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I beg you pretty PLEASE review :)

As always thanks to the wonderful chunkmunk09 and Davis B.P - you guys ROCK!