A/N: THANKS TO ALL THE FOLLOWERS AND A SPECIAL THANKS TO MOMO0424 FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT!

Quinn made her way to the auditorium for her practice session. The week had flown by with spending as much time with Rachel as possible. As if the stress of the competition wasn't enough, photographers had begun to follow her around and the numbers that sat outside Rachel's house had begun to increase as well. No one had broken a story on them yet, but there were a couple of pictures posted asking some questions. One thing was for sure, Santana could definitely spin a story.

Quinn took her usual spot and practiced her song before being taken off to go over hair and makeup for the quarter final show. Three more weeks and then she wouldn't have to hide anything and she could just be happy with Rachel. She sat in the makeup chair and was going through the motions not really listening when she caught sight of a bobbing blonde head pass by the door and then abruptly came back.

"There you are!" Brittany exclaimed claiming the chair next to her friend. "I have been looking all over for you. How did rehearsals go this morning?"

"I'm still having issues with the bridge. I don't know what my problem is," Quinn said bowing her head.

"You have to remember to relax," Brittany said quoting Rachel from the previous night. "You are thinking too much about other things when you should be thinking about one thing and the other things will be taken care of."

"Right," Quinn said with a smirk. It had only taken her a short time to begin to speak Brittanese.

"Are you going to wear the dress I picked out for you?" Brittany asked.

"Of course, it is absolutely amazing, Britt. Thank you so much," Quinn thanked with a genuine smile.

"I can't have my maid of honor going on national television looking frumpy. You are now a part of my family. As long as you're with Rae, I get to play dress up with you," Brittany said with a smile as she got up.

Quinn looked up hoping that the makeup artist had not heard that. No such luck. The woman was looking at Quinn with a shocked look on her face which was quickly replaced with a neutral expression, but Quinn knew the damage was done.

"Brittany, will you go get Santana and have her come here please," Quinn asked.

"Sure, why do you-" and it dawned on Brittany exactly what she had done. "She is going to be so mad at me."

"It's okay, go now," Quinn said quietly and sat back in the chair to wait for the fiery Latina to come and try to spin this situation.

It didn't take long before the door slammed open and Santana barged into the room holding a stack of papers talking into her headset. She looked at Quinn in the mirror and shook her head in warning before turning her attention on the surprised artist.

"You best be listening to me now. You are going to sign this nondisclosure agreement or I will make sure personally that you never touch another celebrity in this town again. I swear on everything that is holy I will end you and enjoy every minute of it. Do not test me," Santana spat at the makeup girl causing her to stutter.

"I-I-I didn't hear anything I swear," She stammered out.

Santana looked to Quinn for confirmation and turned back to the girl. "Do not play with me. I know you heard something that you were not supposed to and if it ends up anywhere from tv to a prayer pamphlet I will make sure you are sued for slander and defamation of character on top of never working again. In other words, I will own your ass."

The girl took the papers and signed quickly with a shaking hand. Santana took it from her and handed her a second copy. She lifted a meticulously shaped eyebrow and shook her head, "Go now."

With that the makeup artist all but ran from the room leaving Santana alone with Quinn. Santana melted into the same chair that her fiancé had occupied a few minutes earlier. She dropped her head into a hand and looked up at Quinn.

"You better not make this all for nothing or I swear to God what you just saw will be nothing compared to what I will do to you," Santana warned.

"Noted," Quinn answered. "How's Brittany?"

"Kicking her own ass at this moment. She will be alright. In case you hadn't already noticed, she has a tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. She doesn't mean any harm. I'm honestly surprised it has lasted this long without happening," Santana said checking her makeup in the mirror.

"Give her a hug for me and make sure she knows I'm not mad ok?" Quinn asked.

"No prob, Twinkie," Santana said getting to her feet and collecting her papers.

"Santana?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah," Santana responded.

"How long are you going to call me that? And do you think she is going to say anything? You kind of forced her to sign that and I don't think it would stand in court," Quinn said.

"Forever and I doubt it would either. I'm shooting for scared out of her mind," Santana said. "You still coming over tonight?"

"Not tonight. I need to rest up for tomorrow and practice, but tell Rachel I will call her later," Quinn said.

"Fair enough. Good luck tomorrow. If you won't leave the competition, you better at least win it all," Santana said as she backed out of the room.

Quinn waited a few minutes marinating on the conversation between herself and Santana. She wanted it all, the title, the girl, and the lifestyle; but was it all going to be worth the drama and worry. She shook herself out of the funk and looked deep into her own hazel eyes in the mirror. She would win it all so help her she would.

Pacing in the green room, Quinn kept watching the clock. She looked amazing in the dress Brittany had picked out for her. It was a classic form fitting black dress with a slit almost to her thigh. Her makeup had been done by a stand in, and that made her even more nervous. Her hair was pinned back with a single purple daisy.

"Just breathe. You have this down cold," she said to herself as she checked the clock again.

Quinn was to be the final performer of the evening, and with each eruption from the crowd, her nerves became ever more present. She all but jumped out of her skin when a knock came at the door and a stage hand entered to tell her she was up.

As she stepped out onto the stage, the audience went wild. She looked out into the crowd searching for her calm in the storm. She saw all three of them in close proximity. Rachel sat with the other judges smiling brightly. Behind her, Brittany was cheering loudly and Santana was whistling through two fingers. With those simple shows of friendship, her nerves calmed and she stepped to the microphone and the music started.

Quinn kept her eyes connecting with various parts of the audience throughout the first verse of her song. A sweet smile came across her lips and her eyes moved to Rachel as she started the chorus.

"Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight,

Just a touch of the fire burning so bright

No, I don't want to mess this thing up

No I don't want to push too far

Just a shot in the dark that you just might

Be the one I've waited for my whole life

So, Baby, I'm alright with just a kiss goodnight."

As the final notes of the song played, the crowd jumped to their feet in appreciation for the flawless performance that Quinn had just given. Quinn bowed her head and brought her gaze to her friends and lover. Rachel was beaming with pride, Brittany was fist pumping and jumping in place, and Santana was on her feet clapping and sending her a look that could kill.

After her performance, Quinn went to her dressing room and changed out of her dress and back into her jeans and her tight fitting v-neck tshirt. She had made plans to stay the night at Rachel's place and wanted to get a shower in back at her hotel before Santana or hopefully Brittany picked her up.

Quinn walked out the backdoor of the auditorium and was bombarded with lights and flashing cameras. Questions flew past her as she juggled her garment bag and her purse to push through the crowd and cross the street to get to her hotel. She finally let out a breathe when she reached her floor and stepped out of the elevator only to see Santana waiting for her outside of her door.

"You don't have to make it easy for me but you don't need to make it this difficult, twinkie," Santana said with a fire in her eyes.

"What did I do now?" Quinn asked wearily.

"Oh, nothing, besides screwing Rachel with your eyes while singing a love song on live national television. Did you see the reporters outside? Do you know that I shut off my phone because they want an official comment on which judge you were ogling from the stage?" Santana ranted while they were still in the hall causing doors to open and the few hotel staff present o the floor to look.

"I didn't think that it was that noticeable, and I only looked at her for one chorus. I kept my eyes on the crowd," Quinn argued as she unlocked the door and let them into her hotel room.

"I can't protect her if you keep making it so damn hard, Quinn!" Santana yelled. "You and Rachel and your Goddamn puppy love are going to be the death of me."

"I didn't do it on purpose. I was trying to make eye contact with the judges and I lingered. I'm sorry. Should I stay here tonight?" Quinn asked.

"Nope, get your stuff together. Rachel wants you at the house. You got her all sorts of twisted with that song. You did alright tonight. Two more weeks and then we can deal with phase two after you win," Santana said.

Santana and Quinn made their way down to the garage with Santana carrying Quinn's bag. They had almost made it to the car when the flash hit their eyes and the photographer stepped out. He took off before Santana could get to him.

"Shit," Santana cursed kicking her own tire when she returned to it.

A/N: SO WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? REVIEWS ARE MUCH APPRECIATED AND KEEP ME WRITING FASTER.