Chapter 8: The Morning After

A/N: Now that we're nearing the end, I am suddenly a lot more motivated to write. Hah. So, without further ado, please enjoy!

It was almost the middle of the day when the girls were finally woken up by the sound of Rachel's phone ringing. "Rach..." the blonde groaned, "please make it stop." The brunette, being ever the morning person, sat up in her bed and tried to disentangle herself from the still half-unconscious blonde. She looks so gorgeous even when she's just woken up. "Rach!" Oh yeah. The phone.

"I'm getting it. You're not a morning person, are you?" Once she was out of the death grip the blonde was holding her in, Rachel practically pounced on her phone. Oh shoot. "Hi Santana!" she answered the call as chipper as possible. "How are you this beautiful morning, if I may ask?" The brunette kept her eyes fixed on the blonde, who was asleep again. Are we okay? She tried to asked telepathically. Please let everything be okay. She sent a prayer to the heavens that Santana wouldn't be able to tell something was off from her tone.

"I knew I should have just kept trying blondie's cell. What's up with her anyway? Why is she not answering? Oh Lord. You did it, didn't you?" Rachel's heart skipped a bit at that. "You talked her head off and she's dead." The brunette took a breath of relief, and chuckled.

"Quinn's fine, Santana. And you're still as pleasant as ever. She's still sleeping though. And you know, it's only polite to say hi back to the person you first contacted on the phone. It's just good phone ethiquette."

It took all the strength Santana had not to retort back with an insult. I need to make new friends for the sake of my own sanity. "Well, midget, wake her lazy ass up then! You two have until the evening to do whatever it is that you two do when you hangout and get it over with, because I owns both your asses tonight." Santana smirked to herself, being able to sense Rachel cringe on the other side of the line.

And she got the reply she expected in no time. "Santana! Language!"

"Whatever, Berry. You know you like it when I spice your oh so boring life up with my fierceness." Damn right, I'm that good, she thought, her smile growing.

"I'm going to hang up now. Text us with the details when you're ready to be civil, Santana." And with that, she disconnected the call. Bless the hobbit and her storm outs. Who knew it was this easy to shut the hobbit up? Santana dropped the phone back into her purse and started plotting in her own head with a wide grin on her face.

Meanwhile, Rachel was faced with a blonde, seemingly asleep, all sprawled on her bed. Stop checking her out! She's your friend. She came out to you because she trusts you. You do not jump your friends just because they expressed an interest in the female sex. Speaking of sex... NO! STOP! But... I wonder what it would be like to have intercourse with Quinn on this bed. Lost in her own thoughts and blushing profusely, the brunette hadn't even noticed Quinn stir up in the bed.

"You're staring." The blonde's voice was neither angry nor offended, maybe a little amused. She even giggled when Rachel was visibly startled out of her thoughts.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Quinn. I assure you I wasn't staring. I mean I guess I was but I wasn't oggling you. Not that your body isn't oggle-worthy because it definitely is, you're quite gorgeous really, but you must be feeling vulnerable after last night's conversation and it was not my intention to make you uncomfortable in anyway or objectify your body." The brunette was blushing so hard by this point, Quinn thought she might actually match the color of a tomato soon. I wonder if she's blushing because of the lack of oxygen or just because she's embarrassed. She looks so cute when she's all worked up and rambling like this though. Ahem... anyway. Focus, Fabray. Just because she took the news so well, it doesn't mean that she wants something more. I mean she's probably not even into girls at all so what's the point? "I mean I appreaciate the female body as much as the next person, and I have always considered myself open to the exploration of sapphic desires, but that doesn't mean I automatically have the right to..." WHAT?! Well, that was... unexpected. Though, not really... But still. I should probably interrupt her before she explodes.

"Rach?" the brunette stopped mid-ramble when she heard Quinn's voice.

"Yes, Quinn?" her reply was unusually high-pitched, probably because her mind was now on overdrive with thoughts of Quinn and explorations of sapphic desire and the combination of the two. Why can't I, for once, behave like a normal human being around her? I mean seriously. It's just a crush. I've had crushes before.

"Good morning." And with that, the blonde got out of the bed and grabbed her bag full of toiletries. Just before she left the room, she turned around and flashed the still blushing brunette a blinding smile. A gorgeous, amazing, breath-taking crush.

"So..." Great opening line there, Fabray. Smooth. They were now sitting uncomfortably in Rachel's dorm room, wide awake. The awkwardness they were too emotionally spent to face the night before was suffocating them.

The brunette replied with an encouraging smile and a simple "So." You're not gonna make this easy on me, are you?

"Rach, are we okay?" Quinn was scared. She hated admitting that to herself, she hated times like this when she felt she was about to fall into pieces for no reason. She knew, on a logical level, that Rachel was okay with all this. But that didn't change the fact that the brunette was the first person she actually came out to. And Quinn couldn't help herself but freak out about it. She thought about the night before and how Rachel had held her until she was done with her ugly sobbing, stroking her hair and just letting her get it all out. Then the brunette had grabbed her hand and dragged her to the bed with herself, dismissing the blonde's protests with a wave of her hand and a simple (and amused) "I trust you not to jump me while I'm asleep Quinn." After all the crying, and the emotional turmoil that had led to the moment, it hadn't taken the blonde long to fall asleep. She was, however, awaken at some point in the night, feeling the brunette pull her closer and wrap her arms around her, and whispering "It's gonna be okay. I know you don't really believe me now, but it will". Quinn had never wanted to believe in something more in her life before.

So Rachel was obviously okay with everything, but Quinn still needed a confirmation now that she was feeling relatively sane again. Not that those tight jeans are helping. Damn Rach.

"Of course we are." Rachel's reply was so soft, the blonde almost missed it. And she might have as well, if it weren't for the fact that the brunette, in less then two seconds, managed to close the gap between them and hugged her. "We are more than okay," she added, "Okay?"

"Okay." They both chuckled at that, still not breaking the hug, needing the connection.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily, blondie." Quinn lifted her head off the brunette's shoulder and gave her a bewildered look. "Yeah, you heard it. I called you blondie. Get over it." And with that Rachel tightened her already impossibly tight hold on the blonde. How do you make everything okay, just like that? Quinn felt her heart flutter in her chest.

Rachel was determined to hug the blonde as long as she could take. She needed her to understand that they were okay. She needed the blonde to trust her to stand by her, to realize that she didn't have to face the world alone anymore. She was there for her. She would always be there for her.

"Uh... Rach?" the brunette stepped a little back when she realized the blonde trying to get out of her death grip. "Did you just vibrate?"

"What? Oh sorry. It's my phone." Obviously. "Santana just texted. She says we and our behinds are to meet her up at a club at 10 pm." Quinn raised an eyebrow at that. "She might have used a more inappropriate word than behinds though."

"Now that sounds more like the Santana we all know and love," replied Quinn. Rachel looked confused for a moment.

"Can I... Can I ask you something?" Quinn felt the awkwardness and the tension fill up the room again. Uh-oh. That doesn't sound so good. I guess I owe her that much though.

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead." Quinn said, bracing herself for whatever question Rachel had in mind for her.

"Do you have a crush on Santana?" I was NOT expecting that. Quinn couldn't help but laugh at the idea, which only made Rachel more restless. "I mean Santana had been hinting at a secret for a while now, so I just assumed..."

Realizing that the brunette was actually serious, Quinn hastily replied. "NO. Rach... God no. Can you imagine me and Santana together? We wouldn't survive two days as a couple. I mean she's hot and all but... just no. She's not my type."

The brunette's face lit up at that. "What is your type then?"

YOU. "I... I don't know," was all Quinn could manage.

"You don't know?" Rachel seemed to be amused by that. I do know, but I can't just as well say it now, can I?

"It's all so new Rach. I guess I was too busy trying to get out of my own head space to be okay with everything that I didn't have time to think about anything else..."

"So, you've never..." OH GOD. STOP.

"Never," Quinn didn't even wait for the brunette to finish her question. She wasn't sure she could prevent herself from passing out if she did.

"Not even..." KILL ME NOW.

"Nothing. With any girl. Ever." The blonde could feel her face and ears getting hotter by the minute.

"Oh." Rachel was surprised, to say the least. She couldn't see how it was possible, the blonde was blindingly beautiful, to put it simply. Surely, women must have propositioned her before. Rachel made a mental note to ask Quinn if she was still practicing chastity later on.

"Oh?" Is she disappointed? What the...

Rachel was so lost in the idea of Quinn still practicing chastity that she didn't realize she was thinking out loud. "I've never had any experience with a girl, either." Quinn choked on air while Rachel looked mortified at the sentence that had left her mouth two seconds ago. Quinn felt herself get hot all over again, and she was almost sure the brunette was blushing profusely again. She forced a comforting smile to the brunette, while screaming internally.

Quinn decided to change the topic. "Let's go get something to eat. I have a feeling Satan's plans for tonight won't include dinner."

"Great idea!" replied Rachel, a little too enthusiastically. She grabbed her purse and coat. In less than five seconds, she was exiting the room. Quinn stood in the middle of the room by herself, still unbelieving at the way the weekend seemed to be progressing.

God help me survive tonight.

Thoughts? Loved it? Hated it? Did I manage to make you laugh? Should I give myself a pat on the back? Should I kick myself (not too hard though, I'm sensitive)? I heart reviews.