A/N- Lovely Readers,
As promised, this one came quicker than chapter 16 so hopefully you will all enjoy it! School is finally out so (not that I'm promising anything) updates should be coming a bit more regularly now. Thank you for continuing to read, review, and follow this story- your reviews make my day and keep me motivated to get writing so keep them coming! Shout out to my stupendous Beta who owes me hot chocolate ;).
So without further ado, enjoy!
"So then Quinn comes tearing up the stairs of our apartment building and I swear I could hear her three floors away. Anyway, she throws open the door and screams 'They're following me!'" Santana recounted the story earning a laugh from everyone squished around the table, everyone except Quinn who kept up glaring at her.
"I never knew you were so afraid of pigeons." Rachel sweetly from beside the blonde.
"I'm not afraid of them! But one tends to develop a dislike for the damn things when the dive bomb you for six blocks straight!" Quinn tried to defend herself but knew it was futile. For the past couple of hours, the group had been catching up and talking while Hiram and LeRoy prepared dinner, Santana wasted no opportunity to embarrass Quinn with some amusing story or anecdote that the blonde had tried to block from her memory.
"Quinn that's just a pigeon's way of saying they like you!" Brittany offered, trying to cheer her up from across the table, "Pigeons love Sanny too. Remember that time Ernie got into my apartment!?"
"I almost broke my arm that night!" Santana sad, slightly outraged that her girlfriend was talking about the memory with such fondness.
"That's because you tripped over Lord Tubbing ton trying to run away."
"I take it Ernie is a pigeon?" LeRoy clarified.
"Yup!" Brittany confirmed, popping the 'p'. "He lives in the gutter outside my apartment and now Sanny makes me scare him away from the window when she sleeps over." Quinn grinned in the reparation.
"How about we not talk about that evil thing?" the Latina suggested.
The rest of the evening followed in similar fashion, the six of them seemed to fit together and easily formed a sort of cut- and- pasted family all their own. Hiram and LeRoy turned in early with joking complaints about having to drive the girls to the airport the next morning. With them safely upstairs, the remaining couples overtook the living room. Sprawling out on couches, they enjoyed the rare time that they got together to talk and relax.
Santana and Brittany were squished into an arm chair while Quinn was perched comfortably on the couch, her feet on the coffee table and Rachel's head on her lap. Each of them had a glass of wine in their hand, the bottle sat open on the table.
"You two are never going to believe what happened last night!" Quinn said excitedly.
Between herself and Rachel, she was not normally the one to keep the group updated on their lives, but she could sense the brunette was just dying to talk about it. Though she would never bring it up herself.
"Do I want to know what happened last night? I mean we're best friends and all Q, but there are just some boundaries I'm not willing to cross and I really don't need to know about the bedroom habits of the Lima dwelling hobbit." Santana warned.
Brittany seemed lost to the allusion the brunette was making and just contented herself to playing with the fingers of the arm Santana had draped around her shoulders.
Quinn scowled at her friends and Rachel seemed to be gearing up for a lecture on modesty but the blonde jumped in before it could be delivered, "Get you mind out of the gutter, Lopez. Rachel asked me to move in with her!"
Brittany cheered in congratulation at the news and insisted on hearing the entire story while Santana made an off handed remark under her breath that Quinn thought sounded a lot like 'about damn time'.
Rachel jumped at the opportunity to retell the events of the previous night. She began when Quinn was having her meltdown in her room and conveniently attributed the anxiety to nerves about the Berry men's perception of her instead of the dining room blowout, which had happened just before the proposal.
Quinn just settled into Rachel's side and enjoyed her natural flair for the dramatics which was evident even in the simple recount of the question. She got lost in watching the brunette's eyes light up as she told the story and for the first time since she said yes to moving in with Rachel, she allowed herself to imagine what life would be like living with the brunette. Waking up next to her every morning, knowing that she would be going home to her at the end of each day. Even the monotony of daily life; washing dishes, going grocery shopping, doing laundry, looked attractive as long as it was with Rachel. She even began thinking about what their future could be, like an actual future.
She was brought back by Santana's questioning voice. "Our lease is up at the end of the year, right Q?" Rachel and Brittany were still talking about last night.
"Yeah, I think so."
"One month left." Santana nodded.
Brittany overheard the comment and suddenly got a determined look on her face, "You're not waiting until the end of the year, are you San?"
The brunette blushed as Quinn raised her eyebrow at her.
"Britt asked me to move in with her a few weeks ago and I said I would once you and Rach moved in together. I didn't want to leave you there." She explained.
Quinn didn't know whether to feel loved or offended. It was obvious that her best friend didn't want her to feel lonely that she would be stuck alone in their apartment. "So you two are going to live together." It wasn't a question so much as a statement, she knew it had been an inevitability from the first time Quinn had seen the two of them together.
"Yeah, I actually moved most of my stuff out last week." Santana seemed slightly ashamed, but Quinn felt even more so since she hadn't noticed the absence.
"What are we going to do with our lease?" The blonde wondered aloud. It wasn't like their landlord exactly liked them and he would probably be less than happy that they were trying to get out early.
Brittany was the one to provide a solution, "All you need to do is negotiate a lease- end agreement. It will be easier if you sacrifice your security deposit and if you can prove that there is something unsafe in the apartment. Because they're required to fix it. I bet you just have to mention the broken window locks and he'll be more than happy to get you out of the lease."
The other three gaped at the blonde.
"What?" She asked as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"Nothing, Britt." Santana finally answered kissing the top of the blonde's head, "We'll do that and hopefully get out of it."
Quinn nodded, she had no doubt that should they be able to keep Brittany focused on their lease and off of unicorns long enough, they would be out of the apartment in no time.
"Then there's just one thing left to do!" Rachel announced happily clapping her hands together and suddenly popping up so she was sitting upright.
"And what would that be Berry?" Santana asked.
"Moving party!" the Latina looked on incredulously but Brittany seemed to mirror Rachel's excitement, "This weekend, it'll be fun! We can finish moving Quinn and Santana out and moved into mine and Brittany's."
"Yay! Lord Tubbington can help." Brittany chimed in, bouncing happily.
"Alright, I'm in." Santana agreed.
"I wish we could all spend more time together." Rachel said in a very staged voice while Quinn mouthed 'whipped' at her friend, she completely missed the altered tone of her girlfriend's voice and the subtle wink she shot at Brittany.
Santana glared at Quinn while Brittany replied in an equally awkward voice, "So do I, if only there was something we could all do together when we get back to New York."
Rachel chewed her bottom lip gently as she tipped her head to the side in a thinking pose, "You know there, is that thing we have to do next week Britt. It's our only day off the show for a while, if only we could all spend it together instead."
"But I don't think we can get out of it. It's a pretty big deal." Brittany said with a pout.
At this, Santana and Quinn locked eyes and had one of their silent conversations and Quinn voiced their mutual thoughts, "What's going on?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Rachel tried.
Quinn just raised an eyebrow and looked down at her girl, "This conversation," she gestured between the brunette and Brittany, "is more choreographed than the musical."
Rachel sighed and gave up, "Fine. Brittany and I have been asked to judge a dance convention taking place at the theater."
Santana smirked, "And there it is."
"And you want Santana and I to accompany you?" Quinn filled in.
Rachel just nodded shyly. Quinn had been with Rachel long enough, she knew the brunette was rarely shy- especially when it came to things like this. She knew it was a ploy to get her to give in. She loved Rachel andshe hated that it worked every single time.
"We'll be there." Quinn relented.
"But you owe us a dinner!" Santana quickly threw in.
"Fine, but it's going to be vegan."
"Fine."
The girls finished their wine and Santana was the first to refill her glass, pouring a tiny bit more into Brittany's in the process. The blonde didn't normally drink and when she did, it never was much.
"Do you ever feel like you're living on Wisteria Lane?" Santana asked swirling her glass.
Quinn smiled, when they first started living together she learned of her friend's guilty pleasure in the old TV show 'Desperate Housewives'.
"Are you trying to tell us something, Mary Alice?" She joked, referencing the woman who killed herself in the very first episode.
"Don't be so morbid, Q. I just mean sitting around, sipping wine, talking about our lives. God, I feel WASP-y."
"We did this all the time when we lived together." Quinn tried.
Santana took a healthy sip from her glass before responding, "We drank wine from a box, sat on our floor, and I'm pretty sure you were still with boys back then."
For a moment they were all quiet, then Rachel broke out laughing, she was soon joined by the others and before they knew it, they had fallen into an uncontrollable fit of giggles.
"Thank goodness, she's come so far since then." Rachel said once she pulled herself together enough to form a complete sentence.
"We all have." Brittany said sagely.
They all mutually agreed that it was just about time they headed to bed so once Rachel deposited their glasses in the sink, she led everyone upstairs. They dropped Santana and Brittany off in the guest room, with the Latina making some comment about how the number of gay people living in one home was directly correlated to the interior decor of said home.
"Rise and shine girls! The Berry airport shuttle leaves in exactly two hours!" LeRoy called, throwing open the door of Rachel's room. He was already fully dressed and ready to face the day. If there was really any question as to where Rachel's natural zeal in the morning came form, it was easily answered in watching LeRoy.
Quinn just sort of mumbled and rolled over so she was more on top of Rachel than before and LeRoy laughed from the doorway. Something about seeing them asleep, hair wild, faces peaceful, bodies randomly entwined, put LeRoy at ease with their relationship. He inherently knew that his little girl was in good hands.
He crossed the room and threw the blinds up, flooding the room with early morning light. Normally he would just leave them to sleep but they had a flight to catch, so he paused to enjoy the way Quinn scrunched her eyes in protest to the light and tried to burrow deeper into Rachel's neck.
"I expect you downstairs in twenty minutes max!" he said going next door to rouse Brittany and Santana.
Rachel was the first to actually wake up, she rolled right out from under Quinn and shimmied into the jeans and shirt she had laid out for their flight back. She had made sure to have her and Quinn keep out their clothes for the next day so they could pack everything else.
Quinn just struggled to bury herself deeper under the covers.
"Come on babe, we have a flight to catch." Rachel tried.
"Do we have to?" The blonde whined.
Rachel grabbed the bottom edge of the covers giving them one solid yank, making them come off the bed easily leaving Quinn clutching a pillow. The singer paused only for a moment to smile at Quinn wearing only her underwear, but she couldn't enjoy the view for too long. She threw the clothes that Quinn had left out on the bed at the blonde, dropped a light kiss on her head, and headed to the bathroom.
"Yes, we have to go to New York and get you moved in!" Quinn only continued her grumbling, "Look on the bright side, hun. The sooner you move in, the sooner we can do things that people who live together do without having to worry about Santana coming home!" Rachel called over her shoulder.
"That's just cruel, Rachel Berry!" The blonde yelled back, finally getting out of bed and pulling her own pants on.
After a few minutes they went downstairs to a happily chattering Santana, Hiram and LeRoy.
"Where's Britt?" The other blonde asked, taking a seat at the table.
"Double checking the bags- she had a dream about forgetting the sweater she bought for her cat and now she keeps checking to make sure it doesn't come true."
Rachel sat next to Quinn, placing mugs in front of her and Santana, "You mean Lord Tubbington?"
"I refuse to call that cat by anything other than 'him' or 'it'." Santana replied easily taking a sip of her coffee, "I love Britt, but that cat and I will be at odds until one of us dies, and I intend on outliving it."
"Trust me, you learn to live with it. When Hiram and I started dating, he hated my cat. But eventually he came around- although, he did run away just before Hiram moved in." LeRoy said, dishing up plates of breakfast. Hiram laughed with a knowing smile which LeRoy immediately narrowed his eyes at, "Why are you laughing? Patches did run away, didn't he?"
"He um, he ran." Hiram evasively tried, but it was clear LeRoy wasn't having it, "He just didn't quite make it away."
"You didn't!"
"I took him to really nice shelter."
"Hiram!"
"They told me he was adopted by a sweet old lady."
The three girls watched the drama unfold before them, Rachel had never heard the story of Patches her father's cat. "Respect, Mr. Berry!" Santana said, holding her hand out for a fist bump, but dropping it as she saw LeRoy's disapproving stare.
"Don't you get any ideas." Rachel warned, "Brittany loves that cat more than she loves Lucky Charms."
"There's Lucky Charms?" Brittany asked excitedly as she came into the kitchen.
Santana answered with the biggest smile she could manage, "No B."
"Oh." the blonde took a seat on the other side of Santana and began picking at the plate before her girlfriend.
An uneventful breakfast and the time it took to shove their luggage into the trunk later, and the six of them were piled in Hiram's car. The Berry's didn't do SUVs so Rachel, Quinn, Santana, and Brittany were all jumbled in the back seat.
Thankfully, they arrived at the airport in record time and were soon waiting to join the ridiculously long line for security.
"It's been great seeing you girls again!" Hiram said, stepping forward for the first round of goodbyes, something the Berry's weren't particularly good with, "Don't wait too long before your next visit." He gave each of the girls a tight hug, ending with Rachel, "I expect you back for the winter holidays?"
"I'll see how much time I can get away. I think that they've scheduled a few Christmas shows and they normally want the mains for those, not the understudies." She told him. Winter holidays with her family was always stressful, no matter how much she loved her parents.
"Let us know." Hiram requested, going for the next round of hugs, he too pausing to give Rachel an extra kiss on the head. When he hugged Quinn, it was an extremely paternal gesture and a smile that allowed her to leave Ohio knowing that she both had his approval and could lose it in seconds should anything happen to his little girl.
The Berry men waved as they retreated leaving them to navigate the airport. Luggage checked, and going through security, the girls tried to keep a low profile. Even in Ohio they ran the risk of being recognized, especially since Rachel and Brittany had grown up there, and aside from the Buckeyes those two were the biggest accomplishment Ohio could boast.
Once they made it through and were situated at their gate, they still had half an hour until their flight was supposed to start boarding.
"I need coffee, anyone else want something?" Santana announced, dropping her bag in the vacant seat next to Brittany and grabbing her wallet.
"Yeah, I'm still half asleep." Quinn agreed, she helped Rachel secure two seats across from Brittany, "Do you want anything, hun?" she asked her girl who shook her head and began curling herself into the seat just as she had done while they waited to fly out of NewYork. Quinn joined Santana in walking down the terminal to the nearest shop.
Brittany kicked off her shoes and began humming while she watched a small boy and girl running around a line of chairs. They had on matching t-shirts from some local attraction park proving that they were just about to head home from a vacation. Their parents were sitting a couple of seats away from Rachel. The mother had her hair in a messy bun and was resting with her head on her husband's shoulder, her eyes tracking the children like a hawk. The father was half reading and half watching the kids- it seemed they had recently given up on trying to corral their children into sitting still.
"Did you get invited to Jack's wedding?" Rachel asked, she wasn't looking at Brittany but found herself following the kids with her eyes as well.
"Yeah, I can't believe he finally asked Suzanne. I didn't think he was ever going to get the courage to do it." the taller girl replied replied.
"Are you going?"
"We've known him so long I feel like we have to." Brittany was right, they had known Jack since Funny Girl, he was a part of the theatre's board of directors and had grown close to the girls. He even asked them to check out Suzanne before he asked the redhead to move in with him.
"It would be a fun night out."
"Double date!" Brittany cheered with a smile.
Rachel mirrored her expression, "Alright, then it's decided." She was quiet a moment watching the kids run around, their energy almost never seemed to run out.
Meanwhile, Santana was pouring over the menu at the coffee shop she and Quinn had found. "Which do you think has more caffeine, the 'Ohio Espresso Delight' or the 'Mocha Buckeye Frap'?" She asked with a concerned look on her face.
"I'm going to guess the first." the blonde suggested, ordering herself a normal black coffee which she intended to fill with as much sugar as would dissolve, and then just a bit more.
Once they both had their beverage and Quinn was busily stirring diabetes into her, Santana had one of her rare upfront honest moments, "We've come a long way haven't we?"
"Hmm?" Quinn was concerned where this conversation was headed.
"We're both in long term committed relationships, we're both moving in with the partners in said relationships-"
"Did you just use the term 'said relationship'?" Quinn interjected.
"Shhh. We both have promising careers ahead of us."
"What is it that you do exactly?"
Santana shot her a look, "Irrelevant. I'm proud of us."
The blonde finished fixing her coffee, "You're freaking out on the inside aren't you?" she teased. In all the years she had known Santana, she had never seen her friend be seriously committed to anyone, or anything for that matter.
"Just a bit, yeah. It's not like she's asking me to marry her, or have children anytime soon. It's just moving in." Quinn didn't waste the breath to remind her that those things were exactly what was expected.
"I like commitment, Santana, it's a fresh change."
The brunette smacked her friend on the arm but deep down she knew she liked the commitment too. They began slowly meandering their way back towards the other girls when Quinn stopped in front of a magazine stand. She snatched up a box of sour patch kids off the display, handing the woman behind the register a five dollar bill, Santana smirking at her and in response she grabbed another box of the candy. Change in hand, she led the brunette away from the stand and towards where the other two were waiting.
"Hungry Q?" Santana asked with her smirk still fully plastered on.
"Don't get me started. These are one of the few vegan friendly candies that Rachel actually likes. For some reason I can never find them." She turned the boxes in her hand.
"You're making me look like a horrible girlfriend, you know that right?" Santana held out her own hands, empty save for her coffee.
Quinn shook her head and threw a small stuffed bird from the store they were walking in front of at the Latina, "It's no pigeon, but Britt likes stuffed animals doesn't she?"
Santana put the bird back in the store front and instead picked up a purple frog, "She doesn't like stuffed animals, she loves them. And she likes frogs better thank eagles."
At this explanation the blonde burst into laughter, "You are something else Lopez."
She waited watching the people walk through the terminal while Santana went into the shop to pay for the frog. Her eyes caught on a group of young adults, likely returning from their Thanksgiving break to go back to college. In seconds, she could read the group like an open book.
A charismatic boy with unruly brown curls had his arm loosely thrown around a classically beautiful redhead next to him. He was telling a story which had the other two boys in the group completely enraptured, but the redhead was trying to covertly sneak peeks at a taller blonde boy across from her. Quinn knew that within days of them returning to whatever college it was they were headed to the redhead would break up with the curly haired leader and make a move on the other boy. The last boy was just sitting there oblivious to everything about to happen.
Quinn wondered if she had been quite as transparent when she was young. She liked to think she wasn't.
"Let's go." Santana said clutching the purple frog. Quinn was the first back, dropping into her seat next to Rachel.
"I got you a surprise." she smiled, placing a kiss on Rachel's temple and handing her a box of the candy.
The brunette's eyes lit up, "You shouldn't have!"
"Of course I did, I've been looking for a box of those for months." Rachel carefully opened the package, each tear was a perfect straight line and Quinn couldn't help but think how the little things Rachel did (like making sure she opened a box of candy along the creases), made her fall even more in love with her.
Across the aisle Brittany was enjoying her new stuffed frog and Santana was enjoying watching her. "They are too adorable aren't they?" Rachel asked, popping a couple of sour patch kids in her mouth.
"They're something alright." Just then the two kids who were tearing around the seats made their way back around and ended up on the floor by the feet of the girls.
Santana took a sip of her coffee as Brittany examined the frog, "I can't wait until we have a couple of our own." she said.
The brunette raised an eyebrow in surprise, "I didn't know that you actually wanted one." Rachel laid her head on Quinn's shoulder as the blonde stole a couple of the sugar coated candies.
"I've always wanted a few of them, at least two." Brittany commented.
"Well we can see about getting some once we get back." Her girlfriend promised.
Brittany's whole face lit up, "Really? I always thought it would be harder to convince you of this."
"Of course, whatever you want B. I'm just concerned about the aquarium, those things smell horrendous." The brunette stated, taking a sip of her coffee while Brittany got a confused look on her face.
"Why would we keep our kids in an aquarium?"
At the question Santana seemed to simultaneously choke on, and nearly spit out her coffee, her eyes grew comically big and she nearly dropped her cup. Quinn and Rachel cracked up, sitting across from them and watching this latest development.
"Kids?!" The Latina managed to gasp out when she could begin to try to catch her breath.
"Yes, what were you talking about?" Brittany seemed very entertained by the situation as well, but also still confused.
"Frogs!" Santana all but yelled.
"Why would we get frogs?"
"Why would we have kids?"
Brittany just shook her head, and gave Santana the most patronizing look she was capable of, "Because I love you and you love me." She said as if that was all the explanation that was necessary. She treated the whole situation as an inevitability, and both Quinn and Rachel knew that eventually there would be little mini Brittanys and Santanas running around.
While Santana seemed to be trying to get over the revelation that Brittany was already convinced they would be having children together, Rachel and Quinn laughed together in the way an older and wiser couple might. They waited a few minutes longer with Santana frantically trying to asks Brittany more questions about their future family (Are we adopting them? I sure as heck am not carrying children! Where are we going to live?), before their flight finally began boarding.
Everyone was instructed to line up in order of their ticket numbers. They were just about in the middle, sandwiched between families. The couple with the two small kids they had been sitting near ended up being right behind them in line and the children bounced up and down energetically. The little girl was holding her mother's hand like a life line and the little boy was asking millions of questions.
"How do planes stay in the air?" He looked up to his father.
"With engines, they push the plane so fast that it goes up into the sky." the man said with a smile. Quinn remembered when she thought her own father held all the answers. She couldn't quite pinpoint the exact moment when she realized he didn't, but she knew it was a long time ago.
Rachel seemed to notice the wistful look in Quinn's eyes so she gently squeezed their interlaced fingers and once she had Quinn's attention, she gave her a reassuring kiss. It was strong and gave Quinn a consuming joy that seemed ever present when she was near Rachel. Santana rolled her eyes when Rachel tangled her free hand in the blonde's hair and a small moan escaped Quinn's mouth, she resisted the urge to tell them to get a room- since they weren't normally affectionate in public, she let it slide. Their lips divided and Quinn ran a straightening hand through her hair.
It was the way Rachel picked up on small things (like her discomfort at the memory of her father) that really made Quinn fall in love with her.
Right as she was about to tell Rachel this, the little boy's questioning voice cut through a lull in the noise of the crowded terminal like a knife, "Daddy, how come those two girls were kissing like you and Mommy do?"
Several things happened simultaneously when that innocent question left the boy's mouth. Many people in line around them turned to see who the two accused women were, however Rachel and Quinn were still so close together and holding hands so it was relatively easy for bystanders to pick them out. Brittany stifled a giggle but had trouble hiding her large smile. Santana looked torn between amused at her friends' embarrassment, and outraged at the parents for not educating their kids on same sex couples. Rachel tightened her grip on Quinn's hand as though the blonde would be torn from her at any moment, while Quinn blushed a deep red.
There was dead silence and a complete lack of movement while the boy's father scrambled for an answer that wouldn't confuse his small son, and also not offend anyone present. It was the little girl still clinging onto her mother's hand that provided an explanation, "Because they love each other like Mommy and Daddy do."
Quinn's jaw dropped open, as did many others who heard the young girl's deduction. When nobody said anything, the girl was suddenly concerned. She looked skeptically at Quinn and addressed her as though she deserved an answer, "You do right?"
It was Rachel who covered for her girlfriend, "You're exactly right." She said with one of the widest smiles Quinn had ever seen her wear.
"How come Buster couldn't come on the plane with us?" The little boy asked after a beat, more preoccupied by their apparent abandonment of the family dog than by the four women ahead of them in line.
When Quinn finally looked at Rachel again, she was struck that the brunette seemed close to tears. She wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders, pulling the singer closer to her side.
Santana provided on of her well timed interjections, "I knew there was a reason I hated Ohio."
The others gave into a weak laughter as the line progressed forward to board the plane.
"Don't worry San, we're almost out." Quinn replied, keeping her arm around Rachel until they were finally situated into their seats and then she rejoined their hands. With the armrest pushed up and out of the way, Rachel spent the whole flight back to New York with her head cradled on Quinn's shoulder.
Nobody was waiting for them on the other side of the flight. No signs and no excited reunions. Just the familiarity of a city welcoming them home. It was still early afternoon so the four of them planned to go back to their respective apartments, unpack, get lunch, and meet later at Quinn and Santana's old apartment to gather the rest of their things.
Six hours, many suitcases, a handful of trips, and a healthy amount of Santana's complaining later, the four girls found themselves haphazardly arranged on the remaining furniture (a worn out couch, an olive green armchair, and the kitchen table set) looking at the bare space around them.
"You can take the television," Quinn began, taking a sip of wine from the plastic cups Rachel had discovered in the back of a cabinet- the dishes and real glasses were already packed- "if I can have the record player and the records."
"Deal." Santana smiled, she truly hated the antiquated machine. It drowned out whatever she was trying to listen to, and whenever she actually wanted to listen to a record, she couldn't get it to work properly. If ever a machine could have it out for a person, this one certainly did for her. "Who gets the couch?"
Quinn looked to Rachel who was at the other end of the couch, her feet resting in the blonde's lap, "Oh no, no way! I have a couch." She insisted when she understood the question in Quinn's eyes.
"You don't think this would go perfectly with your living room decor?" Santana asked jokingly.
Rachel didn't dignify it with a response.
"Lord Tubbington hates green, it makes him seasick." Brittany said, "We can't take it."
There seemed to be nowhere for the furniture to go, "We can't just abandon the couch!" Santana whined. Quinn raised a questioning eyebrow, the most she had ever remembered the brunette saying about the couch was how lumpy it was, how odd it smelled, or how awful of a color it was. The sudden attachment made no sense to her.
"Why not?"
The question only served to clearly outrage the tipsy Latina, "Lucy Q! Don't you remember the significance of this green monstrosity?" When Quinn shook her head no, Santana's eyes grew and a hand fluttered to her heart, "It was the first piece of furniture we bought together! For a while it was the only thing in here aside from our beds and clothes."
Quinn laughed at the memory, they had lived quite the life after college, "I remember." She then turned to look at Rachel with her best begging eyes, "Are you sure, Rach?"
The brunette placed her plastic cup carefully on the floor, sat up, and scooted so she was right next to Quinn looking up into her breathtaking hazel eyes, "Quinn, you know I love you and I would do anything for you. But I'm warning you right now, if this couch ends up in our apartment I'm going to light it on fire." The sincerity of her statement was punctuated with a quick loving kiss.
Any objection that Quinn might have still had to leaving the couch died when she heard Rachel refer to it as 'our apartment'. "You heard the lady Santana, its served its purpose and it's time to let it go."
"Fine." She shot back like a disappointed kid, downing the rest of her plastic cup.
"We'll curb it along with the chair and the kitchen set tomorrow morning. That seems like a job best done sober." Rachel concluded.
With that, they filed out of the room. Shortly thereafter, Rachel and Quinn unevenly pushed through the door of their apartment. Boxes lined the entryway from their many trips earlier and the sight brought a goofy smile to both of their faces.
True to her word, the next morning Rachel and Quinn met the other couple at the old apartment with two buff young men in tow. Before Santana could make a sarcastic comment that would inevitably end in 'kinky', the men had each grabbed an end of the couch and begun carrying it out of the apartment.
It took just a couple of hours before they were left in a completely bare apartment. Brittany had spend most of that time negotiating with their landlord and she triumphantly joined the other three in the empty space, "Well, you guys lost your security deposit, but you don't have to worry about December. You officially don't live here anymore!"
They all shared a short cheer and Quinn surveyed the apartment, "I don't think we would have gotten that security deposit back anyway." She smiled at the singed part of wall above the oven, and the poorly hidden hole next to where the couch used to be.
"How did that even happen?" Rachel laughed.
"The burn was from the first time Quinn tried to sauté onions." Santana offered, "We're lucky she didn't burn down the whole apartment."
Quinn blushed but was quick to retaliate, "Well, the hole in the wall was from when San came home drunk one night and slipped on the rug. Her foot went right through the wall and she thought it had fallen off because her leg was stuck in the drywall."
"No!" Rachel covered her mouth with one hand to try to hide her ever growing smile.
"It was a rough night!" The Latina tried to justify herself.
"Sure it was, honey." Quinn placated.
After moving all of Quinn's things into the apartment, both women were taken off guard by how easily their lives meshed together. The adjustment period went seamlessly- Quinn already knew which drawer the spoons were in, she knew what time Rachel woke up in the morning, and she slept through the brunette's 7 am elliptical routine.
The theater resumed business as usual, going back to eight shows a week for the leads (Rachel finally got an understudy). Even though both of them were working on the same show, their schedules were crazy and they often didn't catch each other until they were falling into a cab to go home at night. Quinn would always wait for the singer to leave the theater no matter how much Rachel tried to insist she go home and sleep because every night without fail, Rachel would spend however long it took to address all of her fans that waited by the back door for her to exit.
Quinn didn't mind, she loved watching her girlfriend in her element signing autographs and taking photos. Plus her favorite part of each day was when they would fall into bed together and she knew that she would wake up with the brunette by her side. Every night, she would wrap an arm around Rachel's waist pulling their bodies close together, nuzzle her nose into the singer's hair, and whisper 'I love you'. And Rachel always echoed her.
Though she did also quite enjoy when Rachel would go on her stretching fanatics. She remembered one Sunday fondly, Quinn had to go into the theater to look over some new lighting that Tina had talked nonstop about and Rachel only had an evening show so she was spending a rare day sleeping in.
When Quinn returned though, that was no longer the case.
"Honey, I'm home." Quinn called through the apartment, dropping her keys in the small ceramic bowl on the entryway table and hanging up her coat. She would never admit it, but she secretly loved saying that.
"Quinn! I'm in the living room." Rachel's voice floated back to her. The blonde could hear Barbra Streisand playing in the background as she approached the room and leaned to the back of the couch. Rachel was laid out on the floor on her stomach, her feet together, knees pressed into the yoga mat she was on, head resting in her hands as she strained to keep her hips on the ground as her knees moved up higher. All Quinn really noticed was how good the singer's butt looked in her yoga pants.
"Not that I'm complaining, but what exactly are you doing Rach?" she asked, circling the couch and settling against a pillow.
"I'm trying to increase my pelvic turn out."
"Your what now?" The blonde was completely distracted by her girlfriend's rear.
Rachel sighed and sat up, "My pelvic turn out. Mike said I needed to work on it."
"Good job, Mike." Quinn smirked.
The four women had all begun spending more time together as well. The moving combined with the shared trip brought them all closer together and whenever they could, they met at Rachel's apartment. The coffee table was slowly getting wear marks from where Santana would sneak her feet up when Rachel wasn't paying attention.
They kept each other honest and formed their own sort of unconventional family.
"For the last time Santana," Rachel shouted her voice slightly hoarse, as she came into the living room with a tray in hand, "feet off the table!" She smacked the Latina's feet away and dropped the tray onto the coffee table, "Who want's hot chocolate?" She asked distributing the cups.
Brittany warmed her hands around hers, she was sitting on the rug in front of the armchair Santana was in, "I love winter!" The tall girl said happily.
"Me too." Quinn agreed, she and Rachel were on the couch with their feet tucked up beneath them. Rachel was shivering, already halfway through her hot chocolate, she had her head nestled in the crook of Quinn's neck.
"I still don't know how you can make vegan hot chocolate." Santana wondered again, reveling in the velvety perfection that was Rachel's coco.
"It's actually quite simple and healthier than normal hot chocolate!" Rachel perked up, wiping her nose subtly and sitting up a bit straighter, "See, I just use dairy free soy- achoo!" She sneezed violently.
Quinn gently rubbed her back, "Are you alright babe?"
"Of course, I'm fine." The brunette attempted to cover with a smile, but it was torn apart as another sneeze ripped through her chest.
Quinn wasn't buying it and she placed the back of her hand against Rachel's head in a parental gesture of checking temperature, "You're burning up!"
"I have a naturally high body temperature."
"Has Berry fallen ill?" Santana mocked, her eyes wide in joke surprise, "I didn't think it was possible. If I were a germ I would be scared away by her constant babbling."
Rachel glared at the brunette before trying more earnestly to convince Quinn, "I'm not sick, really. I have a multivitamin and vitamin C every morning, I drink eight ounces of water with each meal, I have such a good immune system that when I was in high school they used me in a trial to test human resistance to chicken pox!" Rachel's voice cracked at the end of her rant and she immediately snapped her mouth shut, her voice never cracked.
"Is that why she sounds like she's clucking when she talks really fast?" Brittany innocently asked Santana who did her best to not choke on her sip of hot chocolate.
"That makes perfect sense, B." She agreed, stroking a hand through the dancer's hair.
Quinn ignored the two of them, "I'm getting the thermometer." With that she headed to the bathroom, closely followed by Rachel.
"I swear, I'm not sick!"
She located the device in the back of the medicine cabinet and before Rachel could try to protest anymore, she had slipped it into the brunette's mouth and pressed the little button. Rachel dropped defeated onto the closed lid of the toilet seat to wait until the thermometer beeped.
"It's probably because of all the time you spend outside after shows signing things. It's getting too cold for that and then you get home late and you don't get a proper night's sleep." Quinn began talking mostly to herself as she paced in front of the toilet.
"But I'm no-"
Rachel tried but was silenced by a look from Quinn and an insistent, "Don't talk."
The blonde continued to pace and Rachel did her best to smile around the thermometer protruding from her lips, she thought it was incredibly adorable how Quinn was making such a big deal out of a little fever. It showed just how much she cared.
Finally the device beeped and Quinn took it.
"What's the verdict, doc?"
"101.3," Quinn read. "Not high enough to go to the doctor, but you're definitely sick."
"So I'll go to bed early tonight and be perfectly fine for the show tomorrow night!" Rachel said in a rush.
"We'll see."
Santana and Brittany appeared in the doorway, "Britts and I are going to head home. While we've enjoyed our drinks which came with the Berry-Fabray-show as usual, we've got an early morning tomorrow."
"What are you two doing?" Quinn asked, allowing herself to be momentarily distracted.
"We're going to the zoo! Sanny talked to someone and I'm going to get to pet the giraffes!" Brittany shouted. Quinn smiled and mouthed whipped at her friend who promptly flipped her the bird.
"Don't forget, we have the dance competition to judge the day after tomorrow." Rachel reminded them and Santana instantly got a pout on her face.
"Trust me, we haven't forgotten." she said forlornly. "Come on Britts, lets blow this gay popsicle stand!"
"Feel better Rachel!" Brittany threw in from beside her brunette at the singer still sitting dejectedly on the toilet, "I hope you don't start growing feathers!"
The Latina laughed and pulled Brittany from the hallway through the front door with a, "Get better Berry!" thrown over her shoulder.
Once the door shut, Quinn moved into action, "Alright, bed time for the sick girl!" she announced, helping Rachel to her feet and walking with her to the bedroom.
"Wait, I have to clean up the cups!" She tried to break away from Quinn's protective arm and go back to the coffee table.
"No, I'll take care of it. You need rest." Quinn recaptured Rachel and easily lifted her into her arms, carrying her bridal style into their bedroom. She gently dropped the brunette onto her side and tucked her securely beneath the covers and dropped a kiss to her forehead before leaving to go clean up the remnants of their coco.
Quinn took her time washing the cups out before putting them in the dishwasher, she wanted to make sure they would be clean- Rachel would be very particular about her dishes. She wanted to give her girlfriend a chance to fall asleep so she wouldn't disturb her. So she cleaned the counters, making sure the granite sparkled, she even scrubbed the pan Rachel had used to boil the hot chocolate. Quinn was moments away from re-alphabetizing Rachel's Barbra CD collection when she exhaustedly gave in.
With the dishwasher quietly running in the kitchen behind her, Quinn stood in the doorway a half an hour after she had left Rachel to get some sleep, smiling in spite of herself. Rachel had completely overtaken the bed- her hair was splayed across the entire top of the mattress, she had stolen Quinn's pillow and had it curled beneath one arm, her legs were spread wide encompassing the entire width of the bed, the blanket had wandered haphazardly to hang half off the bed and only cover her torso after wrapping around her legs a few times.
A low snore worked its way from the brunette lump that was Rachel.
Quinn smiled even wider as she climbed into bed in the small space that Rachel had left her. She carefully tried to push the singer's leg out of her space, but before she could budge it a couple of inches, Rachel abandoned the pillow and curled her arms around Quinn's middle. She tangled their legs together and pressed herself in as close as she could to the blonde, nuzzling her face into Quinn's hair, she breathed a deep sigh of contentment.
They were squished on Quinn's half of the bed and with Rachel's fever, she was making her girlfriend overheat.
"You were never really asleep were you?" Quinn asked suspiciously.
"Mhm, shush. I'm sick." Rachel mumbled into Quinn's hair.
"You're about to be sick and bruised cause you're kind of pushing me out of the bed, babe." She warned.
Rachel scooted backwards until she was centered on the mattress, but kept her arms around the blonde so she was dragged by Rachel's unexpected strength. Quinn let Rachel snuggle tightly into her, but truth be told, there was nowhere she would rather be than next to the brunette.
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