A/N: Day 15! Can you believe we are halfway through already? I just want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone reading these! Thank you for the all of the favorites and comments! I promise you I read every single one, and they all warm my heart so much. Anyway, this one is a sweet one, I think. Rachel comes to the realization that she's accidentally living as a married couple with Quinn when they aren't even dating. Enjoy.

Day 15: Accidents

Rachel swears it was an accident. She never meant for this to happen.

It was harmless, at first. She and Quinn had grown extremely close over their four years of college, and, with Quinn moving to New York to complete her Master's (at Columbia University, no less) and Rachel leaving the NYADA dorms, it had only made sense for them to get an apartment together. New York rent is notoriously high, after all. Between studying for finals, writing a senior thesis (for Quinn), and preparing for a senior showcase (for Rachel), they had also gone apartment-hunting on the weekends that Quinn visited New York during their final months of their last semester of college. It had been quite the trying time for them both, and especially for their friendship, but they made it out to the other side with a newfound respect for each other and an excitement for the future.

When they found a reasonably priced–for New York–two bedroom apartment in the Upper East Side, comfortably seated between the Theater District for Rachel and Columbia for Quinn, they jumped on it. Three weeks later, they had moved in, the day after Quinn's graduation ceremony in New Haven.

(She had given the commencement address and moved Rachel to tears when she had talked about how excited she was for her future in New York with her best friend.)

Cohabitating had been stressful at the beginning. They were used to sharing a space when they would visit each other over the weekends during school, but that was just for a weekend; living together was its own beast.

Rachel quickly learned that Quinn is quite the night owl, often staying up into the late hours of the night, and won't wake up until well into the following day. Once, Rachel had woken up to her alarm at 5:30 A.M. to find Quinn sitting at her desk in the living room, scribbling frantically on a sheet of paper. When Rachel had asked her why in Barbra's name she was still awake, Quinn had simply responded, "I'm writing."

Ever the morning person, Rachel had just shaken her head and moved to the kitchen to make her coffee for the day, wishing Quinn a good night when she had eventually padded off to her room to go to bed.

Rachel also learned just how adept Quinn is in the kitchen. She knew the girl could cook, but the first night Quinn had made dinner for them, claiming she was simply "trying out a new recipe," it had been one of the greatest home-cooked meals of her entire life. She told Quinn this much, and Quinn had just blushed and explained herself away, citing a childhood of homemaking and preparing to become a common housewife as an excuse. Rachel has never been quite the chef, having grown up mostly on take-out, so she was beyond grateful for this newfound skill of Quinn's.

After the first few weeks of getting settled in, living with Quinn Fabray turned out to be even better than Rachel had imagined. On several occasions, she has come home after a long day of grueling auditions to find Quinn making dinner for them both, or writing poetry at her desk, or playing games on some console of which Rachel's not exactly sure of the name, or asleep on the couch, some random movie playing on the TV. And, every time, no matter what, it warms Rachel's heart.

She thinks back to high school, with their arguments and boyfriend drama, and is amazed at how far they've come. They've built a life together here, in New York City, the city of Rachel's dreams, and getting to share this life with her best friend has exceeded every one of Rachel's expectations.

Except for one thing.

A few weeks ago, Santana and Brittany had visited them for Halloween, staying at their apartment with them for a week. Quinn, not wanting to sleep on the couch for an entire week, had given their friends her room and shared Rachel's bed for the week. At the time, Rachel had thought nothing of it.

Then, on their last day in New York, Santana had made an off-handed comment to her that shook her to her core. Brittany and Quinn were out at the grocery store, and Santana and Rachel had been watching (read: talking over) some trashy TV show.

"You know, Berry," Santana started, "It disgusts me just how domestic you two are."

Rachel was confused. "What do you mean?"

Santana just smirked and said, "You and Quinn have this perfect little life here in New York. Living together, having meals together, going out places together. If I didn't already know you guys, I'd be surprised to find out that you aren't a fucking married couple."

She had gone silent after that, leaving Rachel to sit and process her comments. And sit and process, she did. And she still is processing. For weeks, it has been all she can think about, her life with Quinn.

Every moment they've spent together in the past few weeks, Rachel has analyzed and overanalyzed, looking for any semblance of evidence that Quinn might have similar thoughts. Because, while it hadn't occurred to her before Santana had said anything, Rachel has come to realize that she does, in fact, have feelings for Quinn. Romantic ones. Extremely romantic ones.

She's realized that the warmth in her heart when she comes home to Quinn at the end of the day is affection, not just platonic love. She's come to realize that sharing a bed with Quinn had felt so natural, so content, simply because Rachel has a huge crush on her. She's come to realize that the feeling in the pit of her stomach when she sees Quinn with no makeup on, glasses askew on her face, looking incredibly soft in her sweats and a sweatshirt, is not simply a feeling of friendly appreciation of Quinn's natural beauty, but is, in fact, attraction.

Rachel likes Quinn. A lot. And probably has for a while. And she wants to be with her, officially. And, tonight, she's decided that she's going to take the risk.

When she gets home, Rachel finds Quinn curled up on the couch, a book in her lap, glasses on her face. As usual, her breath is taken away at the sight. Quinn notices her, giving her a smile and setting her book down, and she stretches her arms above her head, exposing part of her lower abdomen as her shirt rides up. Rachel's cheeks turn red, and she turns her head away to keep from staring at the abs that she knows are hidden under that shirt. She takes a deep breath, sets her purse down at the kitchen table, and walks over to sit across from Quinn on the couch.

"Hey, Rach," Quinn greets, and Rachel curses herself for how her heart flutters at the sound of the nickname coming from Quinn's mouth. "How was your day?"

"Huh? Oh, my day, it was good." Rachel stutters out.

Quinn scoots closer to her, raising an eyebrow. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it is," She says, "I, um, I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"Is this about Sam?" Quinn asks, "Because I swear I told him that he can't just call you in the middle of the night because I'm ignoring his texts to play Xbox with him, but he—"

"No, it's not that." Rachel interrupts with a laugh. "Although I appreciate you telling him that."

Quinn nods. "Of course. If it's not that… then, what's up?"

Rachel opens her mouth to speak, but she pauses because, well, how is she supposed to address this? "It's just about something that Santana said to me when she and Brittany were here a few weeks ago."

"Which is?"

She takes another deep breath, exhaling slowly. It's now or never. "She said that we have the 'perfect little life' here in New York," Rachel explains with air quotes, "And she said that… that, if she didn't know us, she would think we were… a married couple."

At this, Quinn's eyes grow wide, but her face remains expressionless. Rachel soldiers on, saying, "A-And it made me think a lot about me and you. I kept thinking about her words, about how we share this life together, that I absolutely adore and have cherished every moment of. I love living with you, and I love spending my nights with you, and I love having meals with you, and I love getting to see a side of you that no one else does, and I love..." She trails off, afraid to say the words out loud.

Quinn's staring at her, wide-eyed, a light blush on her cheeks. She adjusts her glasses, runs a hand through her short, messy hair, and looks at Rachel intensely. "Rachel, what… what are you trying to say?"

"I-I always pictured myself making a life in this city," She says, "It's always been my dream ever since I was a kid. And, these past months, I have made that dream come true. I've been living my dream. But what I never saw coming was having you there, too. I always pictured myself falling for someone that I would eventually meet here, but I never imagined that I would fall for the girl who came here with me."

Quinn gasps. "Rachel?"

Rachel just nods, tears filling her eyes. "I… I like you, Quinn. Like, romantically," She breathes out, feeling the weight immediately lifted off of her chest. "A-And I definitely understand if you don't feel the same way, but I just had to tell you because it's been weighing on my mind ever since Santana said that."

"You…" Quinn whispers, almost in awe, "You like me?" Her voice is soft, achingly soft, and Rachel is helpless to do anything but nod. Quinn lets out a heavy breath before she says, "I like you, too."

Rachel's heart leaps out of her chest. "Really?"

Quinn nods, smiling brightly, and Rachel smiles back at her. Her eyes drop to Quinn's lips, watching her tongue run along her bottom lip, and she wants to kiss her so badly. She looks up to Quinn's eyes, seeing them focused on her own lips, and Rachel takes the chance.

She leans in, taking Quinn's bottom lip in between hers, and words can't even describe how Rachel feels. Quinn kisses her back with fervor, their lips sliding together like a key sliding into a lock, like they were just meant to fit together. Rachel hums with pleasure, and she feels Quinn's lips curl into a grin before she pulls away.

She looks at Quinn, her eyes misty and shining with mirth, her mouth curled into the biggest smile Rachel has ever seen, and she grins right back.

"Be my girlfriend?" Rachel asks.

Quinn cocks an eyebrow with a mischievous grin. "I thought we were already married?"

Rachel laughs boisterously, leaning in to kiss Quinn again. Friends, girlfriends, married, whatever. As long as Rachel gets to keep kissing Quinn like this, she doesn't care what they wanna call themselves.

Falling for Quinn may have been an accident, but it's the best accident she's ever made.