A/N: Hello, my marvelous readers! I give you, another update. This one I feel may be on kind of the shorter side, but it's probably my favorite chapter so far. Time jumps a little to the end of October, but I'm sure you all don't mind that much. I'm going to try and get at least one more chapter out before Christmas, just so you all know. :)

Rachel and Sam's teaching sessions went on for the next few weeks. Blaine and Rachel had started back at NYADA, which meant that they couldn't really practice at the dubbed "Fabranderson" household, so they moved it to Rachel's place, raising the suspicion of people in the apartment complex. Sure, Rachel, Sam, Kurt, Santana, and Quinn all knew what was really going on, but it didn't take long for rumors to start spreading about Rachel and Sam. They had started hanging out a lot more both in and out of the apartments, and rumors said everything from the two of them dating (according to Brittany) to Sam selling his body to Rachel for money because he hadn't found a job yet (according to Puck and Lauren). Surprisingly, Blaine hadn't heard the rumors yet, but Sam was thankful for that. He assumed it was because Blaine had been spending so much time focusing on school, that he hadn't had a lot of time for constant social interaction, up until Tina and Mike offered to take he and Kurt out for a double date a few days before Halloween.

"Well this is new- it's been awhile since I've done this." Kurt stated with a smile as he slipped off his jacket, hanging it up on the offered rack attached to the booth.

"Gone on a double date or been out to a restaurant?" Tina asked, doing the same. Mike let out a soft chuckle and shook his head as he picked up the menu. Luckily, the place wasn't busy.

"Double date. I frequently visit Santana's diner when I don't want to go home to Rachel's craziness." Kurt explained. The waitress came up to them and took their drink orders, then the conversation continued.

"She's not that bad, you know." Blaine piqued. "I think she's kind of.. okay."

"You haven't been there when Santana disrupts her morning routine or eats some of her pineapple. It's really.. well, crazy. Besides, Santana's diner has karaoke."

"I wouldn't be surprised if her craziness was because of Sam. Brittany's told me she's seen them going back and forth from the apartments." Tina added, taking a sip from the complimentary waters that were placed in front of them while they waited on their actual drinks.

"Rachel has been known to go boy crazy in the past. Don't even get me started on that. She was really into this guy named Brody last year, and while the guy had a banging body, he turned out to be a prostitute. She didn't believe either Santana or I when we tried to tell her!" Kurt joked, shaking his head.

"Jake totally thinks they're together, by the way. He and Brittany are both convinced that it's Sam's moaning coming from her apartment."

"No, Tina, that was probably one of Santana's porno's or something. I can assure you, Sam hasn't been naked in our apartment."

"Okay, so maybe they're not having sex, but that doesn't mean anything. You can't even deny that he's been around your place quite a lot."

Blaine was suddenly very intrigued by what was going on. He wasn't aware that Sam and Rachel had been hanging around very often; now that he thought about it, he hadn't been in his own apartment very often, either. He had been really busy with school and trying to find work that he didn't feel the need to be at home, especially when Sam has taken care of Quinn for a lot of his life. He figured they were fine. He didn't, however, expect Sam to start seeing Rachel.

"Wait, Sam and Rachel are dating?" The gelled-hair boy asked.

"Well, we don't know. Brittany thinks they are, but Puck is convinced that Sam is selling his body to her." Mike answered.

"That I can definitely say is false. As awesome as it would be to see that man without a shirt on, every time he comes over he has clothes on." Kurt replied.

Blaine lost himself in thought for the rest of the dinner. He couldn't believe this. Sam knew about his hesitance towards Rachel, so why would he think it would be a good idea for him to start dating her? It just didn't make sense. Sam would have told him, wouldn't he? Blaine smoothed through the motions of the date up until it was time for them all to head home. He walked them all upstairs, putting on a happy front, although he knew that he seemed distracted. After saying goodbye to the three of his friends he walked into his apartment, right up to Quinn who sat on the couch reading.

"Where's Sam?" He asked, tapping her shoulder.

Quinn's eyes widened a little and she set her book down. 'You're not supposed to be home until later.'

"The date ran short. Please tell me, Where is Sam?"

Quinn swallowed and was about to answer when Blaine perked up, hearing laughter coming from Sam's section of the apartment. He looked down at his friend and saw the expression on her face, and was about to get up and walk back to confront the duo when Quinn caught his arm.

'Blaine, it's not what you think it is. Please don't go barging in there like you know what you're talking about.'

Blaine couldn't help but glare at his friend. Deciding to keep quiet for the time being, he chose against speaking, and just signed. 'What is going on, then? Why are they being secretive around me?'

Quinn frowned, feeling defeated. She knew she had no choice but to tell him the truth. 'Rachel asked him to teach her sign language.'

Blaine's eyes widened. He huffed and stood up straight, starting to storm back into the room, but Quinn managed to get off the couch and stand in front of him. 'Please don't ruin this, Blaine. She's learning it for me.'

'Of course she's learning it for you! Everyone else learned it for you, too! Do I even need to mention Artie?' He used the name sign Quinn had given their old friend from California, one where he placed an "A" on the side of his face. 'He wanted to learn for you too, but he gave up because it was too hard. That's exactly what everyone does. They want to learn, then give up because it's too hard. They don't want to put in the effort to learn for you.'

Quinn shook her head and sighed. 'Rachel is different, Blaine. She's.. passionate, she's loving, she's determined, she's.. she's everything that everyone else wasn't.' She made the name sign for Rachel, which was an "R" in front of her lips. 'Just because she's hearing, doesn't mean she's like everyone else. She's really trying- hell, I've even been helping her when Sam can't remember the correct sign. We've both been working with her. She's different, Blaine. She's like you and me.'

Blaine just looked incredulously at his friend. 'Why are you defending her?'

Quinn shrugged her shoulders with a shy smile. 'Because.. I really, really like her, Blaine.'

Blaine's eyes widened and he shook his head with a small frown. How could he keep Rachel away now? Quinn seemed to trust her, but just because the blondes liked her didn't mean that he had to trust her. He was afraid for Quinn; afraid that Rachel would just quit like everyone else did. He hadn't spent a lot of time with her, so he wouldn't know. Quinn looked at him again and gently took his hand, then walked him down the hall towards Sam's curtain. She motioned for Blaine to look through, and with reluctance he did. He saw Sam working with her, showing her different signs that meant different things and he saw how open she was to it all. He saw how she took every comment with acceptance, how she would use his tips to better her signing. From what he saw, she was actually really good. He turned towards Quinn again, meeting her eyes before he raised his hands, seeing her Hazel eyes moving down to them.

'How long have they been doing this?'

Quinn smiled at him. 'Almost a month.'

'She's really good.'

'I know.'

'I don't like it.'

Quinn smiled brightly at him. 'I know.'

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Rachel had always been a fan of holiday parties. Since there wasn't any children in their apartment building, they hadn't a reason to dress up, until Rachel decided that they would be throwing a party that year. It was really short notice and she somehow convinced Kurt to go out and get decorations, and got Santana to go around and inform their friends about the festivities for the night while she worked on snacks and drinks. It was rushed and disorganized, but as the residents of the Kurtcheltana household found out a while ago, that always resulted in the best of moments for them.

It was no surprise that Santana was going to dress up as what she called a "slutty witch" with a short skirt, corset, and a small little hat atop her head, whereas Kurt was deciding to go the steampunk route. Rachel was still trying to find her costume by the time the doorbell rang, and she frustratedly huffed and called out for either Kurt or Santana to get it while she stood in her room, deciding between going as Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, or as Maureen Johnson from RENT. She heard people talking out in the living room but couldn't decipher the voices until she heard the ruffling of her curtain.

"I'd go with Maureen. Dorothy is so overdone and honestly, I think you can do better than a checkered blue and white dress."

Rachel turned towards the intruder and smiled softly when she saw Blaine standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. She looked back at her outfits and nodded, moving to put the Dorothy outfit away. "You're right, I'd rather go scantily-clad than cliche." She hung up the dress and turned towards him. "Let me guess.. Harry Potter?" She asked, motioning to his glasses and the robe he wore, donned with gold and red colors.

"Yeah.. Kind of Sam's idea. He wanted to go as Malfoy so I figured it was only fair that I went as his counterpart. Quinn wanted to be a superhero, though. It's like they switched places for the night, but I think it was just Quinn's way of saying thank you." He explained, stepping towards Rachel.

"Why would Quinn be saying thank you to him?"

Blaine looked down at his feet and then back up at Rachel. He sighed, then raised his hands. 'I know that he's been teaching you sign language.'

Rachel swallowed thickly as she looked at him. She could've sworn that they were being so careful. "We never intended for you to find out. Really, I was doing it all for Quinn- I wanted to be able to converse with her without you guys needing to be there. Not that I don't enjoy either of your guys' company-"

"Rachel, it's okay. I talked with her about it, and she's happy about it. Granted, I'm not that happy about it.. I'm just looking out for her. Her dad.. Well, I'll let her tell you that story. Basically, she never really had a good father figure growing up. Sam was her older brother, so he couldn't be both. So.. I had to step in. I had to make sure she was okay, had to keep an eye on her when her mom or Sam couldn't. I just.. wanted to protect her, you know?"

Rachel nodded and stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know you care about her, Blaine, but she's a big girl. She can make her own decisions, but I'm glad that you care so deeply about her. I'm not going to hurt you.. that I can promise you. I'm.. not like the horror stories you and Sam have witnessed, okay?"

Blaine looked down at his feet. He really wanted to believe Rachel, but a part of him was still holding back. He slid his hand into the pocket of his cloak and nodded at what she said, pulling out a pair of earplugs. As much as he didn't want to trust her, he knew he needed to learn. He reached for her other hand, and placed the earplugs in it. "Time for you to test out your skills."

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Rachel couldn't believe how well the one pair of earplugs were working. She could barely hear anything, and when she spoke she was either speaking way too quietly or too loudly. It even caused Santana to throw a few chips at her one time. Quinn had yet to arrive; according to Blaine she was putting the last finishing touches on her costume, but almost every other of her friends had arrived to the party at this point, and Blaine and Sam were happily interpreting for her. Kurt was surprised by her abilities, and Santana was beyond glad that she didn't have to hear Rachel's voice for most of the night- celebrating by turning the heavy beat of the music up louder.

The brunette focused on the beat instead of the lyrics and moved her body to it, learning that it was actually a lot easier to dance to rather than the melody of the songs. She took Jake's hand and led him over to where they had pushed the couches to the side to create a dance area, moving fluidly with him with a drink in her hand. Kurt was in the kitchen talking with Blaine and Tina, and Santana was talking to Mike and Sam, trying to work up her own courage.

"So you're telling me that you haven't talked to her since you ran back into the bathroom?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow at her. He and Santana had started up a nice little friendship over the weeks that he and Rachel had been practicing, and they found out that they actually had a few things in common.

"No, I haven't. Does that make me chicken shit? I think that makes me chicken shit." Santana stammered, glancing past Mike at Brittany who was dancing happily with Puck while Lauren glared at the two of them from the couch.

"It doesn't make you that, Santana. Just.. Go talk to her." Mike convinced her, then watched as she worked herself up, then walked over to the dancing blonde.

Sam watched from next to Mike and only moved when he heard a knock on the door. When he opened it he saw his sister standing there, dressed as the cutest version of Superman that he had ever seen. He welcomed her in with open arms and led her into the kitchen, letting her talk with Blaine while he got her a drink.

"Well don't you look adorable." Blaine commented, setting his drink down so he could sign. He looked Quinn up and down and watched as she signed 'thank you' before taking the drink that Sam handed her. Blaine wasn't personally planning to drink a lot, but he knew that Quinn rather enjoyed a drink or two at festivities, so he wanted to keep an eye on her.

After a few moments of conversing with those in the kitchen, Blaine smiled at Quinn and gently took her hand, leading her to the dance floor where he tapped Rachel's shoulder. Rachel turned away from Jake and smiled at Blaine brightly, waving at him with enthusiasm. Quinn noticed the earplugs in the girls ear and she furrowed her brow, looking at her brother-like friend.

'Did you give those to her?' She asked, looking between the two of them.

Blaine nodded and guided Quinn to Rachel. They danced together with the small group of their friends that had gathered in the area, all drinking and having a good time. Rachel had managed to keep the earplugs in her ears at all times, and as the brunette looked around at all her friends she noticed that Santana and Brittany had been dancing rather closely. Maybe she'd get her happy ending after all, Rachel thought, giving her roommate a thumbs up as the music changed to a slower song. Rachel could hear it a little through the ear buds but for the most part, she knew what was going on based on what was around her. She blushed sheepishly when she noticed everyone pairing up (Aside from Jake and Sam, who decided to go raid the snack table), and was about to join her friends at the snack table until she felt a tap on her shoulder, and Quinn offering her her hand. Rachel accepted it, and they slowly danced until the music changed again, which was when Quinn asked her if she could take Rachel somewhere.

Rachel followed Quinn out of her apartment and towards what she could only assume was the roof, given by the amount of stairs that she had to climb. She watched in awe as the skyline from their little apartment building came into view, showing the city she fell in love with from a lower, yet high, point of view. She walked over to the edge and swallowed at how magnificent it all looked, even from all the times that she's been there. It always seemed to take her breath away.

'Do you like it?' Quinn asked, getting Rachel's attention after coming up to lean against the railing with her.

Rachel nodded, "Yes, it's gorgeous." She signed. "How did you know about this?"

'I found the stairs to the roof one night when I can't sleep. Blaine doesn't approve of me walking around the city alone at night, and my light tends to keep Sam awake. So I snuck out one night, and I came up here. It's been kinda my safe haven ever since.' She explained, looking over at Rachel. The brunette nodded and they fell into a comforting silence until Quinn tapped her shoulder again. 'M-A-U-R-E-E-N? From R-E-N-T?' She asked, gesturing to Rachel's costume.

"Oh, yeah. And you have an excellent S-U-P-E-R-M-A-N outfit, might I add." Rachel replied, grinning at the girl. Quinn licked her lips and nodded, doing a little shimmy before posing while flexing, getting a giggle out of Rachel. She would do anything to actually be able to hear the girl laugh, but she pushed those thoughts aside.

'Do you like it? The earplugs?' Quinn asked again, pointing to her ears. She really wanted to be able to know Rachel's output on the night without actually being able to hear.

Rachel, thankfully, nodded at her, not even bothering to take them out at this point. It wasn't really worth it- she was enjoying her time. "Yeah.. but, how do you do it?"

'Do what?'

"Handle being deaf. These don't even block it out entirely. It's.. kind of strange, to think that you don't even hear the things that I hear with these."

Quinn just smiled at her. 'I'm going to tell you what I've been telling Blaine for years. I like to believe that things aren't really that different for deaf people, we just.. handle it all differently. I use colors at my example. Everything has a color, even sound. I just see them differently than you.'

Rachel beamed. "That's.. really beautiful, Quinn."

'You're beautiful.' Quinn replied without thinking, then a blush immediately covered her cheeks. 'Forget I signed that.'

"I don't think I could even if I tried." Rachel smiled at her, leaning forward to gently kiss her cheek. "Thank you, really."

'For what?'

"For letting me see colors the way that you see them."