-Chapter nine-

And if you have a minute why don't we go?

"Daddy!" Rachel squealed in joy when she threw herself in Leroy's harms. The man chuckled and hugged her daughter. After a few seconds, Rachel let him go and she hugged her Dad, Hiram. "I missed you so much!"

"We missed you too, Pumpkin" Hiram said, ruffling her hair and grabbing Rachel's suitcase to put it into the car.

"And you must be Quinn, right?" a smile crossed Hiram's face as he saw Quinn standing a few feet from them, a shy look on her face. She was squeezing her own suitcase, her lips firmly pressed. "It's so nice to finally meet you, Rachel told us a lot about you."

"She did?" Quinn asked curious, blushing a little. Rachel smiled at her reassuringly.

"She told us she fell for this beautiful blonde who had the sweetest laugh ever and who was the kindest and purest person she had never knew, more or less" Leroy said, acting like he was trying to remember something from a long time ago. "And for what I see, she was right."

Quinn's cheeks were deep red.

"Daddy!" Rachel squirmed scoldingly, squeezing Quinn's hand. "Don't embarrass her!"

"I'm fine, Rachel, don't worry. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister and Mister Berry" Quinn offered them the best meet-the-parents smile she could give. "I'm Quinn Fabray, and Rachel talked a lot about you too."

"Only bad things I hope" Hiram playfully grinned, and Quinn heard Rachel's groan.

"Come on, ladies, let's go home" Leroy said, while they sat in the car, shutting the car-doors behind them.

"I'm gonna miss this place" Quinn said, giving an affectionate look at the school which was disappearing behind the car.

"Me too" Rachel nodded quietly, then she rested her head on Quinn's shoulder, "But we will come back and visit a lot. Mister Shuester asked us too, and I want to meet the glee kids that will come after us."

"Will we see our friends during summer?" Quinn asked worriedly.

"Of course, we all live in Lima or near Lima. You know, me and Puck can see each other from our bedroom windows. We live in front of each other."

"When they were young, Rachel almost set the home on fire" Leroy said from the front seat.

"What?" Quinn giggled.

"Yeah, it was because they found a way to communicate through the window. The had a candle and they had a code. With a sheet of paper they used to move the flame on the candle." Hiram sighed, "Once Rachel set fire to the curtains."

"Really?" Quinn laughed and she saw Rachel blushing deeply.

"I was seven!" she protested.

"Which is why you shouldn't have been allowed to play with candles" Hiram replied with a smirk.

"Yes, but you allowed me to" Rachel stubbornly replied, crossing her arms and pouting.

Quinn chuckled. That was going to be a great summer.

One week later

Rachel and Quinn were standing in front of a tombstone covered with flowers. Behind them there were Puck, Santana, and Kurt. In the grave was nestled a photo of a guy with a goofy grin. It was Finn Hudson's grave, and Quinn was feeling weird standing in front of a tombstone where there were the bones of the deceased first love of her girlfriend.

Rachel's hand was locked tightly with her own, and the tiny brunette was shivering a little.

"He was a good guy" Puck stated, patting Kurt's shoulder. The boy was wearing a football jacket with 'Hudson' printed on the back of it.

"I miss him, even if he was a dumbass" Santana said, smiling affectionately, "He would like you, Q."

"Can I…" Rachel's words were breaking by the tears, and she couldn't finish her sentence. She was sobbing now, and she nuzzled against Quinn's shoulder, hiding her face in Quinn's hoodie. The blonde hugged her and held her close as Puck, Kurt and Santana slowly walked away, to give Rachel some privacy.

"Hey, Rachel." Quinn sweetly said, "You remember what you said? That he was looking at you. You said it to me seven months ago, you know? I'm sure he is. And I'm pretty sure he's a little pissed at you crying, you know? He loved your smile, and I do too. He wants to see you smile, like, all the time."

Quinn hands were rubbing Rachel's back, who was shacking with sobs. She felt the brunette slowly nodding against her chest, and she held her impossibly closer.

"S-Santana was r-right, you know?" Rachel babbled, "H-he would have liked y-you. Yo-you're so g-good to m-me, Q-Quinn."

"That's because I love you" Quinn said, kissing Rachel's forehead, the only part of her face she could reach. "I love you so much, Starlet. You're gonna be amazing in… everything you'll do. And I will always be with you, along with Finn, okay? He will never leave you."

"What did I do to deserve you?" Rachel mumbled in Quinn's hoodie. The blonde sweetly put a finger under Rachel's chin and delicately lifted her head. She finally met those big brown eyes she loved more than life itself and pressed a kiss on Rachel's lips.

"You deserve the best, that's why you're stuck with me" Quinn playfully said, and Rachel chuckled.

"So much for the modesty, uh?"

"Please, you know I think you deserve someone better than me" Quinn replied, and she started talking again as soon as Rachel opened her mouth to protest, "But you chose me, and I'm not going to let you go. Ever. You're stuck with me."

"I think I can live with that" Rachel chuckled, and stood on her tiptoes to kiss again Quinn's lips. "I love you, Blackbird."

"I love you too, Starlet" Quinn breathed against her lips.

Five years later

"Rachel Berry, if you ask me one more time where are we going I swear to God I will kick you out of the car" Santana growled angrily, when an annoyed Rachel asked her what their destination for the seventeenth time in sixteen minutes was.

"San don't be rude" Brittany said sweetly at her wife. Yep, wife. Santana and Brittany's marriage had been the most important event of the past month. It was beautiful, and the perfect time to see again all their old friends, even mister Shuester and Sue Sylvester.

"I'm not rude, she's annoying" Santana replied, and Rachel snorted. It was nice to see how in five years they were still acting like they were in high school. For her part, though, Rachel was really annoyed. She was blindfolded, and she couldn't see nothing, not even a little of sunlight, nothing. Santana had practically irrupted in her resting room at the theatre and dragged her to the car without any explanation. Rude. Brittany presence reassured Rachel, though: Brittany could have agreed with murdering anyone, so Rachel was positive the Latina wasn't going to kill her.

Rachel's life was so perfect in her opinion. She graduated from Julliard with Kurt one year earlier, and the same year Quinn graduated from Yale. Now, Rachel Berry was 'The most sparkling star Broadway had seen in a long time' according to The New York Times. Quinn had graduated with excellent grades from Yale, and she was studying to became a psychologist. They lived in a cute apartment in Manhattan, with a little devil born in the flames of hell – also know as Luke, a German Shepherd who was born just three months ago. That little devil had already destroyed a carpet, two curtains and a lot of Rachel's stages costumes. He was lucky he had cute eyes, Rachel used to say at least once a day, and then she used to point at Quinn and say, and you're lucky she loves you.

"Here we are, Berry" Santana said, killing the engine and stopping the car. Rachel felt two hands around her head, and she was finally free to see again. Brittany opened the car-door for her, and Rachel stood up. And she lost her breath.

They were on a beach, a beautiful one. And there, next to the calm ocean, there was Quinn. There was this beautiful woman wearing a light green dress and a matched headband through her golden blonde hairs which were blowing in the breeze. Quinn was calmy walking with her feet in the water, unaware of Rachel's gaze.

"Go" Santana said, softly pushing Rachel's shoulder. The brunette suddenly felt inadequate with her black coat and black dress. She slowly walked towards Quinn, and she noticed that Luke was running and barking happily at her feet. God, that dog. Quinn turned around and her face relaxed in Rachel's favorite smile in the world. Her smile.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked, trying to seem pissed, but she only sounded amazed and lovingly, "Santana has just basically kidnapped me and dragged me here…"

"You're beautiful" Quinn simply said, and Rachel fell silent. How could this girl manage to silence her after five years? Ugh, who was she fooling? Quinn would never stop silencing her, not even in a hundred years.

"Says you" Rachel replied, incapable to stop admiring how beautiful Quinn looked in her dress.

"Wanna take a walk?" Quinn shyly suggested, holding out one hand. Rachel immediately took it, and they started walking together, Quinn's feet still in the water, Luke running around them and splashing them with water.

"You are amazing, Quinn Fabray, really" Rachel said, her cheeks caressed by the warm sunset.

"Only for you" Quinn said, "Because you really changed my life, Rachel. You saved me. If I didn't meet you… I would probably have tried to kill myself by now, and I'm not kidding. I was depressed, I was alone, nobody cared for me. And then you came and in sixteen hours I told you my whole story, and you chose to stay with me anyway. And I could never thank you enough for this, Rachel. I love you in a way that amazes me. I love you more than I love myself, coming home from psychology classes and seeing you curled up studying some song is the best moment of my day. Knowing that you will always be there for me makes me want to jump and dance because… I'm so very lucky to have you, Starlet."

Rachel was now crying. They had stopped walking, and Quinn was squeezing Rachel's hands, kissing away her tears.

"I love you so much" Rachel said, and she leaned in to kiss Quinn, her eyes closed. But she found nothing. She opened her eyes in confusion and she noticed that Quinn was half-kneeling, and she was holding a… oh, fuck. She was holding a ring. "Quinn…"

"Rachel Barbra Berry, will you marry me?" Quinn breathed. Rachel's knees gave out and she fell directly in Quinn's lap, kissing her desperately, her tears wetting Quinn's cheeks.

"Yes" she mumbled, her heart racing in her chest, only a few inches apart from Quinn's.

"Yes?" Quinn's hoping voice was simply too much for Rachel, who threw herself in Quinn's embrace, kissing her again.

"Yes, Blackbird, yes!" Rachel said happily, while Quinn slipped the ring in Rachel's finger.

"I love you Rachel" Quinn said. Rachel had all the intention of saying it back and kissing Quinn again, but she couldn't because a big wave surrounded them.

"What the fuck!" squealed Rachel, finding herself completely wet with salt water, still curled up against a giggling Quinn. "Are you laughing? Oh, my God! We're soaked, and my script…" Rachel rambled, then she saw Quinn who was still laughing. And goddamn, she was beautiful with wet blonde curls falling on her forehead, laughing happily. "Oh, you know what? Who cares" Rachel surrounded Quinn's neck with her arms and kissed deeply the laughing blonde.

Their lips tasted salty as the rest of their soaked selves.

"I love you so much, Quinn" Rachel mumbled, "So very much. But you're gonna shower Luke after this."

"I promise" Quinn giggled, then her hazel eyes locked with Rachel's deep dark ones, "We're getting married, Rach."

"We are, Blackbird" Rachel nodded, "And after that we are going to be stuck with each other for the rest of our lives."

"I can't wait, Starlet"

"Me either, Blackbird."

"Son of a bitch, she did it!" Santana said happily, looking at the scene behind her binoculars, sitting on the car hood. "Their kissing… ew, why are they still kissing?"

Brittany had climbed on a tree and she was taking pictures of the proposal with her professional camera.

"Oh, my God! A wave hit them, Britt!" Santana busted into laughter as she saw the two girls all wet and soaked. "Did you take a picture, Britt? Please, tell me you did!"

"I photographed the exact moment!" Brittany grinned proudly, checking her camera.

"Good, I'm going to keep the photo forever!" Santana grinned.

Brittany climbed down of the tree and she kissed the top of Santana's head. "I'm so happy for them, San."

"I'm so happy too, Britt. If you tell them, I'll have to kill you, though." Santana warned and Brittany giggled.

"They deserved their happy ending."

"Ugh, I already imagine baby-Berry singing Barbra Streisand in its crib." Santana groaned.