A/N: Just so you all know, this chapter is about 1,000 words shorter than what I wanted to write. I just wanted to get something out there for you guys, but I also feel like I need to inform you all about something in the least-rude way possible. I've already messaged at least one person about this, but since most of my reviewers are guest reviewers, this is the best way to get the point across.

Blaine and Sam didn't know about Quinn being with Puck. Jake told Rachel in the last chapter, he even said that he couldn't get to Sam and Blaine because they had shut out almost everyone.

Blaine and Sam are over-protective of Quinn for many reasons, that will be established once we get to that point in the story. I don't want to give out too many spoilers for future chapters, but it seems like the more reviews I get that are about the fact that Sam and Blaine are over-protective, I just want to announce to you all what it is that I have planned, and that doesn't make for a good plotline, does it?

Lastly- Rachel apologized because she was over-reacting. It's what Rachel does. Sam didn't give her the chance to explain, which doesn't make her the bad guy, but instead of following them both out she let them assume what was happening and that was giving Sam the wrong idea. That's why she apologized.

I don't mean to go on a rant about this in an author's note but when I get the same kinds of reviews over and over again it's really unsettling. Thank you all for the feedback- good or bad- and I hope you enjoy this non-exciting chapter. Things in upcoming chapters will contain more.. plot thingys.

"Gah- haven't you ever heard of knocking?! Santana!"

"Sorry Lady Lips- can't knock if we don't have a door. Now get up." Santana whisper-yelled, pushing the covers off her obviously hungover roommate. She wanted to talk with him after seeing something that she didn't think she was going to see.

It was the day after New Years, and from what she could remember, things were.. intense. At Puck's party, it seemed like she had never left the dance floor. Brittany had handed her a drink when she walked in and dragged her to dance, and that's how they spent the rest of the night. She had really wanted to kiss the blonde at midnight, but she wasn't given the chance when Brittany had gone off to the bathroom just before midnight, and didn't come back until it was too late. It had put a damper on her night, but she didn't let it faze her. By the end of the night she had worked up the confidence (thanks to the alcohol) to ask Brittany out on a date later that week, so she was satisfied.

She had woken up that morning with a headache from hell, but also with the feeling that something was wrong. She remembered coming home with Kurt, whose hair had been a tousled mess and his clothes were wrinkled, meaning that he and Blaine had probably gotten up to something other than just dancing. What she hadn't remembered was seeing Rachel come home, but she also didn't see her at the party. So after she downed a couple painkillers and a tall glass of water, she began to investigate.

Upon pushing back the curtain of Rachel's "room", she saw Rachel in bed, which gave her a sign of relief. However, she also saw another form in bed, and upon further inspection she saw a head of blonde hair, and what seemed to be a naked torso. After letting her mind wander for a moment she remembered that Rachel was one of her best friends, then went to wake Kurt up to get his opinion.

"What is such a big deal that you woke me up at eight o'clock in the morning?" Kurt asked, attempting to tame his hair as he walked into the kitchen in a pair of sleep pants and a plain t-shirt.

"Berry's got a girl in her bed." Kurt's eyes widened and he crossed his arms.

"So? It's good that she's getting herself out there.. maybe she got over Quinn or something. I don't remember seeing her at the party last night."

"She had to of been. I saw Quinn there-"

"What does that have to do anything?"

"Quinn's the one in her bed, idiot." Santana snapped, shaking her head. "And I'm pretty sure Quinn's naked."

"You looked? Santana, that's an invasion of privacy!"

"It's not an invasion when she's basically topless on top of the covers!"

Kurt cringed. "Okay, well, if we're going to wake them up, you're going in there."

Santana shook her head and sighed. She didn't expect Rachel and Quinn to make up that quickly but geez, it seemed like Rachel was having better game than she was at the moment.

"That's not the point. Do you think they talked it out or that they just got drunk and started rubbing up on each other? I may seem like a bitch but come on- you have to admit that seeing Rachel moping around like that all the time was starting to get a bit depressing. And I know that if this isn't them getting together then it's going to be a lot worse."

"Then you don't have to worry about anything, Santana. Although, I do appreciate your concern." Both heads turned towards the entrance to the kitchen, watching as Rachel walked in wearing an over-sized t-shirt that read "McKinley High Athletics", which she presumably stole from Finn a long time ago.

"You guys talked it out?" Kurt asked, watching as the girl made her way into the kitchen and started the coffee pot.

Rachel nodded and smiled over at her friends. "Yeah.. We're dating."

"So you celebrated by coming back to the apartment and going at it in your bed? I'm kind of glad that I didn't come home before one in the morning."

"No, Santana, nothing happened."

"Is that why she's topless in your bed right now?"

Rachel rolled her eyes at Santana's antics. "No, Santana. We came back here and just talked and watched movies on my laptop, but she said she usually sleeps topless because she gets really warm while sleeping. I offered her a t-shirt or something, but she insisted on sleeping like that. But nothing else happened, I assure you. We're.. not really ready for that yet."

Santana didn't believe a word Rachel was saying. Something had to of gone down last night. "Right, and I totally didn't see Kurt and Blaine getting their mack on for most of the night."

Kurt blushed.

"Santana, that was rude. But seriously, nothing happened. Although, I'm more curious as to how you know that Quinn is currently shirtless in my room. Were you snooping around again?"

"Kind of hard not to when the roomie's got a blonde in her bed."

Rachel scoffed. "Sometimes I wonder why Kurt and I haven't kicked you out yet."

Santana smiled. "Because you guys would be lost without me? Besides, who can resist my awesome comebacks and ways of keeping things real?"

Rachel glared at her playfully. "Shut it, San." She poured two cups of coffee and headed back into her room, leaving her roommmates to bicker in the kitchen.

Once back in her room she set a cup on her nightstand next to a bottle of Aspirin and a water bottle, then sat on the other side of the bed, just watching as Quinn slept. She was right, nothing had happened last night. They had walked back to her apartment after the ball dropped and spent the night watching movies with subtitles. Quinn had even suggested muting the movie so Rachel could get a better sense for how she watched them, and if she had to admit it, Rachel found it pretty difficult to follow. Constantly reading what the people were saying and trying to focus on what was happening in the actual film was as difficult as trying to cold-read with someone who didn't even know what character they were playing. But she suffered through it, and by the end of it she got a better grasp about how Quinn must of felt every time she watched a movie or TV show.

When her cup of coffee was halfway gone she set it down then slowly pulled the covers over her, moving closer to Quinn and wrapping her arm around her. Quinn's skin against her hand felt smooth, and she wanted to stay like that forever, with Quinn in her arms. Her fingers lightly danced along the skin of the blonde's stomach, her nails tracing around her navel. She stopped when she felt Quinn stir, and then the blonde turned in her hands. Hazel eyes met Chocolate ones and Quinn smiled, leaning up to gently kiss Rachel's lips before she made a face, bringing a hand to her head. Rachel giggled then pointed to the coffee, water, and Aspirin on the table. Quinn nodded and sat up slowly, reaching for the bottles immediately. Rachel shook her head with a smile and stood, going to find a shirt for Quinn to wear for the time being. She handed the blonde one that read "National Show Choir Championship 2012" and a pair of her gym shorts, just so that the blonde wasn't walking around in only her underwear (even though Rachel wouldn't really mind) before she sat on the end of the bed.

She tapped Quinn's leg to get the blondes attention, then spoke. "Is your headache really bad?" She asked, pointing to Quinn's head.

Quinn only shrugged. 'Not like, death bad, but it's pretty bad. I didn't think I'd have that bad of a hangover.'

"You.. got pretty drunk with Puck last night."

Quinn cringed. 'Don't remind me, please.'

Rachel smiled sadly and moved back up to the top of the bed next to Quinn. She pushed a strand of hair behind the girl's ear and pressed her lips to her forehead. "Sam and Blaine don't know, do they?" She asked, already knowing the answer thanks to Jake the day before.

Quinn shook her head and reached for Rachel's hand, squeezing it for a moment before she let go to sign. 'No.. They don't. They.. they never asked where I went. They didn't question why I came home stumbling, if they were even home. They never knew.'

Rachel nodded slowly and was about to lay back down when Quinn suddenly sat up, bolting for the door to go to the bathroom. The brunette cringed when she heard the blonde retching and she shook her head, sighing as she stood up. She made her way around her room, picking out an outfit for the day. After getting dressed she left a note on the bed for Quinn when she returned, then made her way out of the apartment, and across the hall.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Rachel wasn't surprised when Sam answered the door. She had seen Blaine the night before; he had been pretty wasted so it wasn't a shock that the man was in the same position that Quinn was in her apartment. She smiled at the blonde and stepped inside when he offered, pushing her hair over one shoulder.

"So.. I take it she's at your place?" Sam asked after shutting the door.

"Yes, she's currently.. doing the same thing that Blaine's doing." She replied, going to sit down on the couch.

"I didn't think she drank that much.. I mean, I poured her the first few drinks but I didn't see her get any more after that." Sam sat down across from her, and they both looked up when they heard the toilet flush and Blaine came stumbling out.

"Oh, hey Rachel. I.. didn't hear you come in." Blaine whispered, holding a hand to his head. "Uh.. not to be rude, but what're you doing here?"

Rachel licked her lips and motioned for him to take a seat. "I know that this probably isn't a good time to do this, but I figured I'd do it when Quinn can't exactly stop me."

Sam and Blaine gave her a confused look.

"I don't think we should be going to any more parties at Noah's apartment."

"Why? Last night was fun.. Everyone was there." Sam piqued, looking over at Blaine. "Blaine was having fun with Kurt, Santana got to dance with Brittany.. What's the problem?"

"It's not the place that's the problem.. It's.. Noah. Did you guys notice after our.. slight falling out, that Quinn would disappear for a while? That she'd come back stumbling, incoherent and overall.. out of it?"

Blaine narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you talking about, Rachel?"

"Quinn was spending those times at Noah's place getting drunk off her ass. It.. I know that it was because of me, but I feel like.. Like I need to take responsibility for this. I know it's not Noah's fault but that's where she was last night, she was in his room drinking with him. Now, I highly doubt that Lauren would let Noah sleep with any other girl while they were dating-"

"Hold up, who said anything about Quinn sleeping with him?"

"Sam, have you been paying attention to how Noah acts around the other girls in our apartment complex? He has leering eyes, he makes sexual jokes, hell, half the time I don't even think Lauren even paid attention to the fact that he told Brittany that he wanted to bang her the other day!"

Both guys across from her were silent.

"I'm not.. I'm not saying we all have to stay away from him. I just don't really think we should party over there."

"Rachel, you're kind of asking a lot of us. We're all adults now, we can choose where we want to go to have a good time." Sam stated, folding his hands in his lap.

"I know, I know. It's not right of me to ask this of you both, but I saw the way that Noah was looking at her last night. It was like she was a piece of meat.. Like all that was stopping him was the fact that she could still form simple words with her hands. I don't want her around him."

Silence fell among the three of them. Rachel swore that she could hear a ringing in her ears; not even the shuffle of clothing against the upholstery was making a noise. She was hoping that she had made the right decision in coming to talk to the two people closest to Quinn.

"I'll talk to Puck. Rachel.. You're right. Blaine and I have been so busy with our own lives that we haven't exactly been doing what we're supposed to be doing- keeping an eye out for my little sister. I know we play a mean game when it comes to protecting her over the little things.. But what Puck is doing isn't right." Sam explained, running a hand through his obvious bedhead.

"Thank you, Sam.. Really. Now, if you both excuse me.. I'm going to go back over to my place and get Quinn back into my bed to help her cure her hangover." Rachel teased, smiling at the two of them. They gave her a nod in return, and she walked back over to her apartment feeling accomplished.