Back at Rachel's house
"So, how did the tutoring go?" Hiram eventually asks during dinner.
"It went well." Rachel answers carefully, not wanting to let out too many details.
"Okay?" The dinner went rather silently, and Rachel retreated to her bedroom quickly.
"So Quinn is gay. Quinn is gay. But that doesn't change anything. Yeah, right. It actually changes everything." Rachel doesn't know what to think, what to read into this whole thing, not even what she feels.
When she checks her phone, it shows that she has a message from Quinn.
"Hey, just wanted to check if you got home alright."
"Ugh. Why does she have to be so sweet? What do I do now? Do I reply? Of course I have to. But,what should I say? I mean, sure I could say: yes, thanks for checking. But that seems boring, and I don't want her to think I'm boring. How about: I'm fine, the best I've ever been actually, cause I got to spend my evening with you! But that seems a little too flirty. Mhm, how about: I'm home safe and sound, and thank you for the tutoring me today! You're a great teacher. Yeah that seems about right."
She starts to type a reply to Quinn: "Hi~ I'm home, thanks for checking. Also, thank you for tutoring me today. Your a great teacher, and I had a great time. By the way, I'm utterly and desperately in love with you. Please marry me!" And then she deletes everything, which is the only right thing to do. Also, "Wait. Where did that come from? I'm not in love with her! Actually, you know what? Life is too short to pretend you're not in love with Quinn." With a groan, she throws her phone away, and decides to take a bath and recover from her adventurous day with one Quinn Fabray. When she exits from her shower, which, by the way, did not help with her mind, she goes to bed immediately.
The sleep was not her best, but good enough for her to have energy to face the next day.
Next day at school
"Hey. Thank god you're here." Quinn says standing at Rachel's locker.
"Of course I'm here, where else would I be?"
"I thought you might've gotten hit by a car or something since you never replied to my text yesterday."
"Oh right." Rachel curses herself internally for forgetting that. "I'm so sorry. I fell asleep and totally forgot about that. All that math we've done made me tired. I'm really really sorry."
"It's okay it's okay. I was just worried about you, that's all." Quinn smiles at her, way too charmingly.
"You were worried?"
"Of course I was. If anything happened to you, I would regret not stealing another hug from you before I left." Quinn says half-serious, half-jokingly.
Rachel is 100% sure that she's in love with Quinn from that moment, judging by the way her whole heart melts with the words that comes flowing out of the blonde's mouth.
"Walk you to class?" Quinn says bringing Rachel back with her. Rachel starts walking with Quinn by her side, thinking about how sweet this gesture is.
"What class do you have first?"
"Spanish. It's nice cause there's Mr. Shue, but there's also Santana, and I swear she is planning to murder me whenever she sees me."
Quinn chuckles at Rachel's description. "Well, in that case I demand a hug before I leave you. Just in case Santana succeeds, and this is the last I will ever see you."And, Rachel falls in love, again.
They arrive at the classroom, and Rachel, for the first time ever, thinks the McKinley High's hallway is too short. Really, she never would've thought she would be liking these hallways, but one walk with Quinn washes away all the horrible memories of being slushied. And she thought she wasn't in love with this girl.
"You should go to your class too, you'll be late." Rachel says turning into the classroom.
Quinn pulls the other girl's sleeve a bit roughly, forcing Rachel to stumble back to her side. "You promised a hug." Then, she wraps her arms around Rachel's body. Students are eyeing them like Kurt has just told them he was straight because apparently, there is no way Quinn Fabray and Rachel Berry can be friends. It's kind of embarrassing to be the focus of everyone, and it gets worse because the two of them are standing at the door, blocking the way, while others are trying to go into class.
"Quinn? We're blocking the way." Rachel manages to say in the bone-crushing and already-lasting-too-long hug.
"I don't wanna let go yet. Just three more seconds." Quinn whines, and Rachel is mesmerized. "Is this the real Quinn? It's so different from what she actually shows us. I wonder how many people gets to see this." Quinn eventually lets go, and lets Rachel get to class.
During Spanish, all Rachel can do is to stare blankly at the whiteboard while Mr. Schue says something about... yeah, she has no idea what he is saying. She keeps thinking about Quinn and how Quinn's hair smells and how she fits into Quinn's body perfectly.
"Hey man-hands! Who are you daydreaming about? Is it Q? You two have been weirdly close." Santana's voice startles her.
"It's none of your business." Rachel rolls her eyes and starts packing up her things.
"I heard Q isn't rejoining the squad, is that because of you?" Santana runs after her.
"It's still none of your business." Rachel steps out of the classroom and into the hallway.
"You've never liked her being in the Cheerios, but she never cared enough to consider your opinion. Now that you two are close, you made her decline coach's offer. This happened, didn't it? Just so you know she enjoys cheerleading, and she needs popularity, so don't dream about you being friends with her for a long time. It'll not be long before she realizes that you have nothing for her."
Rachel spins around and stares at the other brunette. She tries to look unaffected, but the words hurt, and they point out all of her insecurities when she's with Quinn.
"Hey, what's going on here?" A soft, charming voice joins them while Rachel feels a tender arm sliding around her waist.
"Oh hi Q, I was just telling Rachel here that she should stop interfering your life, and joining the Cheerios would do you good."
"It's none of your business San, I know you're just caring about me but I've made my decision and I won't regret it." Quinn flashes Santana one last smile and turns around to walk down the hallway, pushing Rachel with her.
"What Santana said..." Rachel starts, "is true, right? You do need the popularity."
"I don't need the popularity," the blonde girl says gently, smiling, "in fact, I don't need anything as long as I have you."
It took everything in Rachel to not kiss Quinn at that moment.
