It was Wednesday when Quinn next woke. She still felt pain throughout her body, but it was far less severe than the day prior. Today she was able to get to an upright position without much difficulty. And she had the most wonderful dream the previous night. Rachel had kissed her goodnight and even said those three little words that Quinn had being dying to hear for so long. And afterwards the tiny brunette curled up in bed with her.

But it was just a dream and she knew that, or at least she was sure it was. And the fact that she woke in the guestroom of Rachel's house didn't help her convictions at all. Though the blonde knew why she was here. She remembered trying to climb into Rachel's bedroom window and then falling when Rachel called out to her.

She stretched a bit, causing her some minor discomfort and then made her way to Rachel's room. The door was closed. Not wanting to just barge in she knocked, calling, "Rachel?" No response. "Rachel, its Quinn. Can I come in?" She bit down on her lower lip. "Rachel?" she tried again weakly, opening the door just a crack. Instead of seeing the brunette in bed, Quinn only saw Tony curled up in the middle. She went in further, looking around for the singer.

There was no sign of her. Rachel was gone. Quinn couldn't help but think that her precious little shiny star had been so eager to get away from her that she darted out of the house as soon as she woke up. But then the bathroom door swung open, revealing Rachel wrapping herself up in a towel. Hazel eyes raked over her entire body, memorizing inch after inch the perfectly tan and tone body that Quinn already knew so well. Only this time she had no clothes on.

Rachel was too busy adjusting her towel of even notice the blonde's presence. So when brown orbs finally looked up the singer shrieked, waking up her puppy and nearly dropping her towel and exposing herself fully. "Quinn, you can't just barge in here like that!" The blonde more saw rather than heard the singer speak. Her mouth was dry and right now Rachel wasn't the only one who was wet.

She tentatively licked her lips at the most delicious sight that she had seen in a long time. Those luscious lips kept moving, but no words reached Quinn's ears. All she could think of were all of Rachel's lovely curves, and all she wanted to do was to rip that towel off her body. But she couldn't go out and do that, so she was mildly pleased to find that she didn't have the strength to move her body. Ravishing Rachel right then and there probably wouldn't be the best way to tell her how she felt, especially not with Tony in the room.

The golden puppy in question had seen her reaction to seeing his mama like this. A new plan instantly formed in his mind. He leaped off his comfortable spot in Rachel's bed and ran up to the brunette. Once Tony was in front of her, he jumped up and bit down on her towel. It fell down with him, pooling around Rachel's feet.

Rachel shrieked again, making to cover herself up and barely noticing how Quinn's face was now a deep shade of pink and how her hazel eyes had become dark. The blonde stared unabashedly. Not that she could have done much of anything else even she wanted to; her brain wasn't functioning well enough to process much more than Rachel's small but perky breasts and the freshly trimmed patch of curls down there.

"Quinn get out!" She came back to her senses upon hearing that voice ring through her ears. The blonde darted out the door, closing it behind her. She then collapsed; her back against Rachel's door and her knew bent in front of her. Quinn was finally able to breathe, not even aware that she had been holding her breath before.

She brought her hands together in front of her, palm to palm, and closed her eyes. "Dear God, thank you for sharing with me your most perfect angel, Rachel Berry, in all her naked glory. Amen." She paused and then added, "And thank you for Tony as well." Quinn really loved Tony right now; it was almost as if he had been reading her mind in there. She made a mental note to give him a big kiss and hug the next time she had the chance.

Quinn sat there for a while, her head resting on the door. She knew that Rachel was trapped inside. And unless she was willing to risk climbing out the window, which Quinn highly doubted, then they'd have to talk about all this. She decided to use the time she had to brace herself for any and all possible outcomes.

Inside Rachel was doing much of the same. She hadn't made much effort to get changed; her mind was still reeling from what she saw… or at least what she thought she saw. She had been in a panic. She could have been seeing things. She must have been seeing things. She must have been seeing what she wanted to see. The singer couldn't think of another reason to explain why she saw what looked to be arousal in Quinn's eyes.

The last thing Rachel needed right now was false hope. It would be hard enough to just be Quinn's friend now that she had realized her true feeling for the blonde. She couldn't let herself be fooled once more that Quinn might feel the same. Rachel was sure that she wouldn't be able to bear that pain a second time. And at the same time she couldn't image how her life would be without Quinn in it.

She couldn't stay in her room or at least not that long, not if she were to planning on attending school today. And she had to attend school if she didn't want to draw the attention of her fathers. She looked over to her puppy, both upset that he had disrobe her in front or Quinn and desperately hoping that he could give her a solution to her problem.

But all Tony was doing was looking back between her and the door. His tail was wagging impatiently, as he eagerly waited for the moment that Rachel would open the door and Quinn would reenter the room. Rachel wasn't sure why she had expected anything else; Tony loved the two of them together and Rachel always felt compelled to do anything to make him happy.

And to make matters worse, he was pouting. Rachel really needed to build some sort of immunity to that. But right now she didn't have much of a choice. Rachel got up from the bed, wrapping her towel more securely around her. She went to the door and reached for the knob, but suddenly stopped. She spun around to Tony. "Don't do that again," she told him.

*whine*

Tony hung his head in shame. Rachel squatted down and brought a hand to his face. She lifted his head up so that he would look her in the eye. "I'm not mad at you, Tony. But you can't do that, okay?" He nodded his head, and she rewarded him a kiss on his head. She took a deep and opened the door.

Quinn, who was leaning against the door, fell back. Her head landed directly between Rachel's legs. She gulped, swallowing a lump in her throat. Rachel quickly hid the redness of her cheeks with her hands and retreated to her bed. Quinn scrambled to her feet, but made no move to approach the brunette. She stood awkwardly right beside the doorway.

Both had issues with speaking first. They waited in an uneasy silence. Tony grew tired and walked over to Quinn. He bit down on the bottom of her jean leg and tugged in the direction of the bed. He didn't have the strength to actually move her, but knew that Quinn wouldn't let him strain himself. She went along and sat down on the bed, leaving adequate between herself and Rachel. The brunette scooped up her puppy and placed him in the empty space. He nudged both of them on their sides, his eyes wide and needy.

"Quinn, I-"

"Rach, I-"

They spoke at the same time.

"You can go first."

"You go first."

Once again they were in synch, and after they were silent again. Tony became upset, but he noticed that the pair seemed to be a lot less worried about speaking to each other. They were smiling, if only shyly. Rachel lifted him up and placed him on her lap so that she could scoot closer to Quinn. Her chest was heaving, but she was ready.

"Quinn, I know that we don't… that we don't exactly feel the same about each other," she said quietly. "Or at least not anymore." She felt a stinging in her heart as the words escaped her lips. It was getting harder and harder for her to breathe. But she kept her eyes fixated on Quinn, watching her every reaction. Quinn's hazel eyes were soft and there wasn't a hint of bitterness. Rachel saw it as a good sign. "But I still want to be friends."

Hot tears poured from her eyes and Quinn's hand instantly shot up to wipe them away. "Rachel don't cry," she pleaded. She wrapped her free hand around the smaller girl and pulled her in close but made sure not to squish the puppy between them. She rubbed soothing circles on Rachel's back as the brunette nestled her head on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," the singer sobbed. "I'm just… I just… I don't." Quinn shushed, and just held her. They stayed like that for a bit with Rachel crying into Quinn's shoulder. It was for things like this that Rachel couldn't just let Quinn go. The blonde was always there when she needed her and was always so supportive. She wasn't sure how many more moments like this she'd have so she let this moment go on for as long as she could.

When her sobbing subsided, Quinn pulled back and gently wiped away any stray tears. "Rachel… I care about you… a lot." She paused to take a breath. "And you care about me too, right?" She mentally berated herself for not just saying what she had wanted to say. The blonde regretted her words even more when she saw the worried expression on Rachel's face.

"Of course I do, you know that," she replied in a disbelieving tone. Rachel couldn't believe that Quinn would actually question how much important she was to her. "You know that I…" She couldn't say it; not now, not like this. She felt wrong to say it.

"I love you too." Rachel stilled, Quinn taking hold of her hand and placing it on her chest. She could feel the blonde's heart racing as fast as her own. "That's what you're worried about, right? That I don't love you?" Rachel didn't answer… couldn't, but her features slowly transformed from a frown to a soft smile. "I should have said it earlier, and I should have really asked you out instead of… whatever happened." She stopped once more to check on Rachel. "But if you'd like… we could… you know?" She stumbled on her words while she fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

"Quinn, are you asking me out?" The taller girl stopped babbling and nodded slightly. "I'd love to… Friday?" she asked uncertainly, receiving another nod. "Okay, great." She looked down at herself, almost forgetting that she was still clad in only a towel. "Uh, could you…" she gestured to her attire. Quinn got the hint and left for the guest room across the hall. Once the door was closed, Rachel lifted Tony up and squeezed him tightly. "Can you believe it boy? Thank you, boy. Thank you for never giving up."

Inside the guest room, Quinn dropped onto the bed there with a lopsided smile on her face. She was sure that she had a guardian angel looking over her. There was nothing else she could think of that could explain how everything could work out after… after well everything. Quinn had long accepted the role of the best friend; she knew that their history would make a relationship. Yet here they were; a few days away from a date. A real date.

The door was wide open and Rachel entered the room once she was changed. She sat down next to her, with Tony at their feet, and placed a hand on her thigh. Quinn tilted her head towards the singer, the goofy grin on her face widening. "Okay, so I'm going to school now." The blonde bounced up into a sitting position.

"All right, just give me a sec to get ready." She jumped up but stopped when she felt Rachel's hand wrapped around her wrist. "Something wrong?" she asked, sitting back down.

"No, but I'd feel better if you stayed here," she replied. Quinn opened her mouth to respond, but was quickly cut off. "You hurt yourself pretty bad yesterday, and I was so scared. I just want you to rest," she requested. "My dads' even talked to your mom about it and she agreed that you should take the day off. And I'm so sorry for screaming like that. You wouldn't have gotten hurt if I hadn't."

"Hey, it's okay," Quinn assured, taking Rachel's hands in hers. "I fine," but Rachel didn't look too convinced. "But if it's that important I'll stay here and hang out with Tony, but I'm going to stay in your room." Rachel smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

*whine*

They looked down simultaneously at Tony. "Aw, you want a kiss too?" Quinn asked, picking him up and planting kiss on the left side of his face while Rachel planted one on the right. The got up and got settled in Rachel's room. "All right, boy. Say goodbye to mama."

*bark*

Rachel hugged them both, receiving kiss on the cheek from Quinn before leaving. "I'll see you later. Love you both." She blew kiss to them and descended the stairs. Rachel was a step outside the house when she heard footsteps behind her. She spun around only to soon find Quinn's lips on her cheek. Her face flushed instantly. She smiled nervously as she tried to gesture to her car. "I should uh…"

"Yeah."

AN: Okay so we're getting to the end of my original plot, but I'm going to continue on with this fic for a bit. But I think that I'm going to work on "Beauty and the Geek" next. That fic has gotten far more attention that I had originally anticipated. I guess enjoy interactive fics more than I thought. I got over twice as many votes than I had hoped for, so if you're following that fic expect an update within the next week or two.