A/N- Thank you all for the continued reviews and favorites, they make my day :). This one will give some insight into Quinn's background for the lovely who asked about that, it's a nice long chapter for you!
"Remember how we always somehow ended up sleeping in that car?" Rachel asked with a reminiscent smile.
The blonde laughed, "Of course. We were like hobos. Every single time we went camping and you complained about the hard ground! But it held up well through all the trips we had in it. Like our first anniversary."
"Bug spray?"
"Check."
"Sunscreen?"
"Check."
"Sleeping bags?"
"As if you'll actually sleep in your own."
"Sleeping bags!"
"Check."
"Beef jerky?"
"Trick question, no. But I do have fresh fruit, fruit leather, trail mix, and granola."
Rachel huffed as she retied her hiking boot for the third time, "Do you want to go out and double check the bags again?" She asked.
"Rach, if you don't get your cute butt in my Jeep in the next five minutes, I'm tying you to the top."
LeRoy laughed from the top of the stairs where he had been watching the girls, "I always knew she was good for you Rachel, but now I know why."
The brunette rolled her eyes, while Quinn just smirked at the back handed approval, "Thank you Mr. Berry."
The tall man made his way down the stairs with a smile, "How many times have I told you Quinn, call me LeRoy. You've practically lived at this house for the last year, I've walked in on you and Rachel doing things I would rather not remember, and you helped rewire our cable. I think we're on a first name basis."
Quinn eyed her girlfriend as she bent down to retie the other shoe, "I'll try to remember that, LeRoy." Before Rachel could get the other shoe undone again, Quinn grabbed her around the waist and effortlessly threw the smaller girl over her shoulder, "If you'll excuse us, we have a camping trip to be getting on with."
The man smiled as Quinn carried his daughter all the way down the driveway. She deposited Rachel in the passenger seat and shut the door before the brunette could formulate another way to stall them.
"Goodbye Mr. Berry!" Quinn called, going around to the drivers side and pulling away from the curb while he was still chastising her for using his last name.
"I don't understand why you protest so much whenever we go camping." Quinn said once they had gotten out of the neighborhood and were headed for the highway.
"I don't understand why we go camping so much."
"Because camping is fun. We always have a good time when we go together."
"That's because you bribe me with chocolate and cuddling."
The blonde laughed at Rachel's pout, "That's how I get you to do most things."
Rachel switched to a new tactic, "You know, most couples go out to dinner on their one year anniversary. Something quiet and romantic with nice lighting."
"Well we aren't most couples."
Rachel sulked against her window as Quinn merged onto the highway, "Alright, out with it. Why have you been dragging your heels since I told you I made reservations at the campground?" The two had graduated high school a few weeks prior so they had a whole four day trip planned.
The brunette considered holding out on her girlfriend, but she knew she always caved in the end, "Because you plan everything. Don't get me wrong Quinn, I love it when you plan our dates and when you surprise me and everything. But I was going to try to surprise you with some huge romantic gesture for our anniversary and you beat me to it."
Quinn's smile just grew, "Really? Was that it?"
"Don't you smirk at me Quinn Fabray! Yes that's it." Rachel said, smacking the taller girl across the gearshift.
Quinn shifted into fourth and grabbed the brunette's hand and held it tight, "Babe you should have just told me, I promise I won't do anything for our two year. That one's all you."
"What makes you think I'll still want to be in a relationship with you in another year?" Rachel joked.
"Just the fact that you love me!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!" To accentuate her point, the blonde leaned over and planted a kiss to the top of Rachel's head which caused the smaller girl to shriek.
"Eyes on the road! We're on a highway!"
They had been camping together many times in their year long relationship- both alone just the two of them and with family or friends- so setting up their campsite was a smoothly rehearsed dance. Quinn dealt with the tent while Rachel handled organizing the supplies and making a snack. All together, they were finished in fifteen minutes.
Once they had the initial preparation done, Rachel's mood brightened considerably. She would never tell Quinn, but in her mind she was already planning their two and three year anniversaries.
They spent the morning on a nature walk, and in the afternoon Quinn even convinced Rachel to go fishing. The fishing, as usual, turned into Quinn sitting on the shore with two poles while Rachel took refuge in the Jeep. Eventually it began raining and Quinn reluctantly joined the brunette in the car.
She rigged the poles so that the lines were still in the water but the poles were sticking out of the front windows and sitting on the drivers seat. Quinn and Rachel settled into the backseat.
"Remember the first time we went fishing together?" Rachel asked, she was drawing hearts on Quinn's thigh with her pinky.
"Of course. I caught three fish and you fell into the lake, lost the pole, bruised your leg, got water all in my car, and suckered me into giving you my Cheerios jacket which I still haven't gotten back." Quinn knew it was now Rachel's favorite jacket and she wore it frequently.
The brunette glared at her before joining their hands, "And you're never going to get it back. That's not the part I was talking about."
Quinn knew exactly what the shorter girl was referencing. The first time they had gone camping- about two months into their relationship- they were with some of Quinn's friends from McKinley. They all went fishing and when it rained they sheltered in their respective cars with Rachel and Quinn in the yellow jeep. That was the first time that Rachel asked about Quinn's parents. She was concerned because she still hadn't met the Fabrays and Quinn spent most of her free time at the Berry household. The brunette had heard some things about her parents from Santana and Quinn would sometimes drop random comments about them but they were largely a mystery.
It was in the back of the Jeep that Quinn explained how her father had kicked her out at 16 when he walked in on her and their priest's daughter making out on the couch. Her mother had convinced him to let her move back in after a week but he still refused to acknowledge her existence. He never talked to her, he didn't pay for anything for her, he wouldn't allow her to keep her car in front of the house. It was like she had died and was a ghost floating around their home- unseen, unheard, and unacknowledged.
At Rachel's insistence, Quinn brought her to their house for a dinner to meet her mother. The dinner was dead silent with the only exchange occurring when Rachel complimented Judy's cooking and the woman gave her a pained smile in response. Once they finished eating, Quinn practically dragged Rachel out to the Jeep.
That was the only time that the brunette had set foot in the Fabray household unless she was alone with Quinn.
From then on they only really had deep meaningful conversations like that when they were in the safety of the backseat. It was their little bubble of security.
In the present though Quinn just gave Rachel a warm smile which looked nothing like the one her mother had given the girl that night and kissed her lips lightly, "I remember the other part too."
"Well I just wanted to tell you I love you." Rachel smiled as she saw Quinn's eyes sparkle like they did every time she told the blonde that. She knew that Quinn didn't hear those three words enough and over the past year she had made it her mission to remedy that.
"I love you too."
One of the poles began to bounce against the window, pulling them out of their intimate moment. Quinn jumped out of the car and grabbed the pole, reeling it in like a pro. Rachel just pulled out her camera to capture the moment, laughing as a rainbow trout came flying out of the water as if summoned by Quinn. The blonde carefully removed the hook from its mouth before placing the fish back in the lake and allowing it to swim away. They always released the fish they caught together.
"Satisfied?" Rachel asked through the crack in the front window where the other pole was still leaning.
"Not yet." Quinn got a sneaky smirk on her face while she wiped her hands off from dealing with the fish.
The blonde approached the car, she was dripping wet from the rain which didn't seem to be letting up anytime soon, "What are you doing Fabray?"
"Nothing."
"You're not getting in here when you're wet like that."
"It's my car."
"I don't care."
Quinn rolled her eyes and opened the back door before Rachel could press down the lock. Once inside, she made a big show of wringing out her wet hair before suddenly lunging at Rachel and engulfing her in a tight, watery hug.
"Quinn! Get off!"
"I thought you loved me!"
"Quinn!"
That evening when the rain finally let up they had a small campfire to roast their marshmallows over as they made s'mores before retiring to their tent. It was a small plastic contraption with barely enough space for a full sized adult to lie down in, but it fit both of them snugly. As the blonde expected, after they had been snuggling together for a little while, Rachel wormed her way into Quinn's sleeping bag. They fell asleep quickly with Rachel's head on the blonde's chest, pressed together tightly. But they were woken up after a couple of hours by loud rain pounding on their tent.
"That doesn't sound good Quinn." Rachel said with a small sigh.
"I doubt we'll wash away, babe."
The brunette rolled her eyes, "That's not what I'm concerned about. What if the water gets in here? I don't want to get soaked in the middle of the night."
"What do you want to do?" Quinn surrendered, still drowsy from being woken, she knew that Rachel's stubbornness would win out like it always did.
"Can we sleep in Bee?"
"You do realize you're going to get wet running from the tent to the car right?"
"I guess you're just going to have to warm me up." Rachel said suggestively, rolling over in the small space so she was totally on top of Quinn. She pressed her lips to the blonde's in a slow soft kiss before quickly slipping out of the sleeping bag, "So what do you say?"
"Argh, fine."
Rachel smiled before slipping her boots back on and grabbing the car keys while Quinn gathered up a sleeping bag to take with them.
"On three." Rachel said, preparing to unzip the tent, "One, two, three, go!"
They sprinted the few feet to the car with Rachel in the lead but when they spilt to go around to the back doors, Quinn head a high pitched shriek and a thump. She began laughing even before she turned around to see Rachel lying flat on her back in a puddle of mud.
"There's no way you're getting in my car now!"
"Just help me up!"
Quinn hauled the brunette to her feet and took the key so she could get in the Jeep.
Rachel hopped in behind her with a groan.
She was covered in mud.
"You were right babe, this was a great idea to avoid getting wet." Quinn said with a wide smile.
"Shut up and unroll the sleeping bag." Rachel said pulling off her soaked boots and socks and throwing them in the the trunk area of the car. When Quinn looked at her next she did a double take as it registered that the brunette was peeling off her mud-stained shirt. Next to go were her shorts and she was left shivering in the backseat in only her bra and underwear.
"Worst anniversary ever." She muttered sliding into the sleeping bag while Quinn smiled and pulled off her own boots.
"Best anniversary ever." She said following the brunette into the bag and pulling her close.
"And then we went to sleep and had a great camping trip!" Rachel interrupted the story with a slight blush on her face. The kids eyed her suspiciously and Nora was the one to call their mother out.
"You do realize we aren't that innocent right?"
"Well you're not going camping alone with your significant other either." Quinn replied smoothly.
A/N- I can't help, I just love the idea of Quinn and a preacher's daughter. Yes, I realize that this is the second story I've written where this happens :). Remember, reviews are love!