Hey guys! Here is a (kind of) early and longer chapter to say thanks for all of the reviews. I really appreciate them. And yeah, I totally burrowed one of the scenes in this from the actual movie…but just because the scene was awesome! :). Hope you enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 3
"Wha…?" Quinn startled awake with a loud gasp as something slammed against the window of the car, causing it to shake slightly from the disturbance. Memories of the previous few hours came rushing back and she looked down at her suddenly empty feeling arms "Rachel?" she glanced around the car, only to find no sign of the small diva "Shit…Rachel?" she scrambled to sit up in her seat and peered out of the window but discovered she couldn't see anything due to the darkness. Feeling panic welling up at the lack of the brunette's presence she opened the car door and hurriedly got out.
"Rachel?" Quinn called out in a whisper yell as she took a step forward, squinting into the darkness "Rachel!" she glanced around to make sure nobody was approaching her before she began to walk warily away from the car, hoping against hope that Rachel was nearby "Berry!" she stopped suddenly in place, her breath catching in her throat as she felt an especially icy chill travel down her spine. She swallowed heavily before she revolved on the spot only to stumble backwards when she came face to face with one of the hooded figures from earlier "Oh. My…God."
The hooded figure took a step closer to her but other than that made no other movement.
Quinn glanced around, noticing she was once again surrounded and instinctively glanced back at the car to assess the distance though any thoughts of running back were dashed as she remembered that Rachel was still out there somewhere. She took a deep breath before she turned and ran in the opposite direction to the figure. She glanced back, only to see the figures were completely still behind her and quickly sped up her pace. Just as she turned to face forward again she collided with something solid which sent her flying back into the snow "Ow…fuck!" she looked up, only to be greeted by the sight of a stony faced man staring down at her.
"You shouldn't be out here." He said monotonously as he continued to peer down at her in a rather unnerving manner "It's not safe."
"I know." Noticing he was wearing something which resembled an old sheriff's uniform Quinn scrambled to her feet and took a step closer to him "My…Friend and I crashed our car. Or well…actually somebody ran us off the road." She motioned hurriedly back over her shoulder, feeling herself growing more worried by the second "Back there. And there are people watching us and my friend has gone missing and I don't know where she is."
The man merely stared at her stoically, not at all fazed by the fact that she was close to hysterical "You shouldn't be out here."
"What? I know! You said that already." Quinn said impatiently "Look Mister or…officer or whatever, we're stuck out here and I don't know where my friend has disappeared to so if you could ju…" she trailed off as the 'sheriff' grabbed her arm "Hey! What…?"
"You shouldn't be out here!" he snarled angrily as he tugged her closer to him "It's not safe here. You shouldn't be here…."
"I know that!" Quinn practically yelled as she attempted to pull away from his firm grip "And as soon as I find my friend we'll get the hell ou…"
"You can't leave." The man grabbed her other arm, obviously in an attempt to subdue her insistent struggling "You're here now so you can't leave this place."
"Like hell I can't!" Quinn fought even harder against his grip, causing his hold on her to loosen but to her alarm she found she couldn't completely break away from him "Let me go!"
"You can't leave." The guy repeated monotonously as he drew her even closer to him, practically lifting her from the floor "They won't let you leave."
Quinn whimpered slightly and turned her head to the side to avoid his cold gaze but she continued to fight valiantly against his bruising grip "Let me GO!"
"You shouldn't be here!" the creepy guy spoke again, louder this time to be heard over the blonde "You can't leave now."
"She said…" a voice sounded from the left "Remove your hands!" a mere second later something swiped through the air colliding with the man's cheek causing him to stumble backwards, away from them and Quinn found herself being pulled away by softer hands.
"Rachel!" Quinn gasped as she turned and grasped Rachel's arm lightly "Where were you?"
"It doesn't matter." Rachel responded, her face contorted with pain "Just…run!" she grabbed Quinn's hand and quickly began to run, pulling the blonde along with her. They ran for merely a minute before Rachel broke into coughing. She stopped and swayed unsteadily for a moment before she dropped to the snow covered ground, her body shaking with the force of the painful coughing.
"Rachel?" Quinn questioned in panic as she sunk down next to the coughing diva "Rachel? What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Rachel managed to answer through her heavy coughs "I-I'm fine."
"Berry." Quinn warned as she placed her hand lightly on Rachel's back.
"I'm okay." Rachel took a shuddering breath before quickly swiping her hand across her mouth and looking up at Quinn "Don't worry about it."
"Don't worry about it?" Quinn exclaimed angrily as she removed her hand and stood up "You run off and almost get us both killed and I'm not supposed to worry? What the fuck were you thinking? There are people watching us. I mean are you insane or just plain STUPID? You could have been hurt!"
"I'm sorry." Rachel whispered as painstakingly pulled herself to her feet "I don't…I don't know why I did that."
"You 'don't know'?" Quinn scowled, clearly not happy with the answer she had received "What is that supposed to mean? I thought I was the one with the head injury."
"I don't know." Rachel murmured quietly, seeming genuinely upset that she couldn't remember "It's like I had no control over what I was doing o-or where I was going" she gazed at Quinn pleadingly "You have to believe me…I would never just leave you like that. I swear I wouldn't!"
"It's okay." Quinn whispered, softening at the pleading look in Rachel's eyes "Let's just…Get back to the car, okay Berry?"
"Wait." Rachel winced causing Quinn to pause in concern "I have a…Problem. A really painful problem."
"What is it?" Quinn asked worriedly, her eyes already scanning the other girl's body for any obvious signs of injury "Are you hurt?"
Rachel raised her left hand in response to reveal the small knife she was clasping tightly "I can't let go. And it really hurts."
Quinn's eyes widened at the sight of the small knife clasped in Rachel's hand "H-how did that happen? It's freezing but I don't think it's cold enough for something to stick to your hand."
"I don't know." Rachel gritted her teeth against the intense pain in her hand "Ow, ow, ow…"
Quinn glanced around nervously and gently grasped Rachel's right hand "I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry?" Rachel questioned nervously.
"I have to get this off you…And it's going to hurt like hell." the blonde explained apologetically "Like…really hurt but I have to do it."
"Just do it…Quickly." Rachel whispered nervously before she bit down hard on her bottom lip.
"Right." Quinn breathed before she focused hesitantly on Rachel's hand enclosed in both of her own. With one last glance up she prised Rachel's fingers from the knife as quickly as she could. She winced guiltily as Rachel cried out in pain at the movement "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"It's okay." Rachel whispered even as her eyes began to water from the pain in her hand "It didn't hurt too much."
"We shou…" Quinn was about to reply before the sound of a twig snapping sounded from behind them and she swung around quickly "Oh Crap…"
"What?" Rachel peered over the taller girl's shoulder, her eyes widening slightly when they fell on the man from earlier with three hooded figures behind him "We have to get out of here." she grabbed Quinn's hand in her uninjured one and pulled her backwards. They stumbled slightly but soon found themselves in a full sprint through the woods, their hands somehow separating in the process.
"Whoa!" Quinn exclaimed as she attempted to veer to a stop at the top of a steep looking hill. She quickly lost her momentum however and stumbled roughly down it. Rachel who had been a step behind her had time to slide to a stop before she reached the embankment.
"Quinn?" she called down in alarm through her heavy panting "Quinn!" she glanced unsurely from the trees behind her to the steep hill before making her mind up and attempting to slide slowly down it. She hadn't anticipated just how steep the slope would be however and quickly lost her balance, flying head first into the snow and rolling the rest of the way down.
"Rachel!" Quinn's voice sounded in alarm and a moment later she had scrambled to Rachel's side to peer down at the dazed looking diva.
"You're okay." Rachel mumbled fuzzily, unconsciously lifting her hand to Quinn's cheek as if to prove to herself that the girl was indeed intact.
"I'm fine." Quinn nodded, looking concerned "Are you okay?"
"I-I think so." Rachel winced as she pulled herself to her feet with Quinn's help "Hey…Isn't that your car?" she motioned behind Quinn causing her to turn around.
"Yeah." Quinn responded, vaguely wondering how she had walked in a full circle since leaving the car "Come on, We should get back there." she tugged insistently on the brunette's arm and they rushed to get back into the car.
"How's your hand?" Quinn asked worriedly as she looked to Rachel's injured hand "Does it hurt?"
"Yeah" Rachel answered painstakingly "A hell of a lot."
"It's frostbite." Quinn stated more to herself than to Rachel "Probably second or third degree." she glanced up at the other girl and held her hands out "Give me your hands, okay?"
"Um…Okay." Rachel looked mildly confused but trustingly placed her hands in the other girl's open palms.
Quinn inhaled nervously before she shifted to pull her jacket, shirt and sweater up revealing her stomach.
Rachel began to pull her hands away, an unsure expression on her face "Quinn…"
"W-we need to rewarm your hands." Quinn stuttered through the cold "To get t-the circulation flowing again or y-you might lose your fingers."
"Not good." Rachel breathed out, her breath fogging in front of them "I don't think I'd be able to hold a microphone without fingers."
Quinn chuckled at the statement, though her smile quickly faded as she pulled Rachel's hands closer to her. She hesitated for a moment before she locked eyes with Rachel and slipped the younger girl's hands underneath her clothes, to come to rest on her stomach. Both inhaled sharply at the sensation but neither seemed to notice "B-body heat will help."
"It's f-freezing." Rachel stuttered as she unconsciously shifted closer to her blonde companion "And we're soaked from the snow now."
Quinn nodded in response; unable to stop the shiver that coursed through her as Rachel accidentally moved her hands further up her ribs.
"Sorry." Rachel blushed as she moved them back down.
"It's okay." Quinn whispered in response "Your hands are kind of…warm now." She paused in thought as an idea struck her "Rachel?"
"Yeah?" Rachel asked through chattering teeth.
"How cold are you?" Quinn inquired seriously.
"V-very." Rachel answered faintly.
"And wet clothes are making you colder, right?" Quinn asked softly "I ask because I know that I'm ten times colder than I was before so…"
"Wet clothes aren't beneficial to the situation." Rachel agreed, looking somewhat guilty.
"So I was wondering…" Quinn licked her lips nervously "If maybe…since our clothes are wet that is…um…I was wondering if maybe it would help if we…took them off? Apart from the essentials of course…We don't have to get totally naked. And erm…" she bashfully averted her gaze, a faint blush covering her cheeks "We could use body heat? More than we are now, I mean…"
Rachel smiled, finding herself inexplicably enamoured by the blonde's sudden shyness. It was certainly a side to Quinn she had never seen before "Okay."
"Okay?" Quinn looked up in disbelief, having expected the brunette to argue against the idea.
"Yes." Rachel nodded as she pulled her hands out from underneath Quinn's clothes "Your idea is very practical and it's clear that we aren't going to last very long in wet clothes."
Quinn nodded numbly as she watched Rachel cautiously take her jacket off followed by her shirt "Um…"
"What is it?" Rachel asked softly, a small smile creeping up on her lips despite her concern at the blonde's lack of movement "Because it seems like I'm the only one stripping over here."
"Right." Quinn took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her fluttering stomach and clambered into the back seat, pulling her jacket, hoodie and shirt off "Are you sure you want to do this Rachel?"
"Yes." Rachel nodded simply and made sure the doors were locked before crawling into the back seat "That is…if you're you okay with it?"
"Uh-huh." Quinn mumbled in response before they stripped themselves of the rest of their wet clothes, while sneaking quick shy glances every now and then.
"So now what?" Quinn asked in an uncharacteristically timid tone as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"B-Blankets." Rachel stuttered through the cold.
"Right." Quinn hurriedly jumped under the covers and motioned for Rachel to join her. The brunette did so and melted quickly against the blonde's warm form as the blankets were wrapped quickly around them.
"It's still c-cold." she stuttered after a brief moment.
"It's going to take a minute to warm up." Quinn murmured shakily as she unsurely wrapped her arms around Rachel's waist and pulled her closer.
"This is…Different." Rachel spoke thoughtfully after a moment.
"Different how?" Quinn asked apprehensively "Different as in…Bad different?"
"No." Rachel shook her head quickly "I didn't mean it like that. I just mean different…Good different."
"Oh…" Quinn's expression lit up with a smile, though she was unsure why she was relieved by Rachel's answer "Good. That's good."
"I'm actually surprised that you're okay with this." Rachel admitted softly.
Quinn frowned at the statement "I told you before that you're wrong about what I think of…"
"I mean because of your…Christianity." Rachel interrupted awkwardly.
"Oh…" there was an awkward pause before Quinn spoke again "Well…A) I'm not exactly a model Christian, am I? Sex before marriage and all. B) One of my best friends is gay and dating my other best friend. And C) We're not doing anything…sexual."
"Right…" Rachel mumbled.
They fell into silence for a few minutes before Quinn spontaneously giggled.
"What?" Rachel smiled at the sound.
"I was just thinking about what Brittany and Santana would be doing if they were in this situation." Quinn chuckled at her own thoughts.
"I imagine Santana would attempt to beat those guys up." Rachel smiled "Especially if they happened to look at Brittany in the wrong way."
"Probably." Quinn agreed softly, unconsciously running her fingers through Rachel's dark hair "But I was actually thinking about the fact that they would have no difficulty keeping warm."
"What do you…?" Rachel began to ask before her expression lit up in realisation "Oh…Oh!" she leaned up on her elbow to look down at the blonde "You mean…"
Quinn laughed at the exclamation as well as the blush that now covered the diva's cheeks "I do indeed."
Rachel rolled her eyes before shifting into her previous position "I imagine that would be an effective way to keep warm." They fell back into their mutual silence and Quinn's fingers resumed their light caressing of Rachel's hair.
"Do you think we're going to get out of here?" Rachel asked suddenly her voice turning slightly more sombre as she traced Quinn's bare shoulder with her fingertip.
"Of course we are." Quinn frowned "We just have to wait until morning and then we can get out of here. We'll be fine. Those guys outside are probably just trying to scare us…since they haven't really tried to attack us."
"Right." Rachel nodded though she still didn't look convinced.
"Listen to me." Quinn said forcefully as she noticed the brunette's doubt "We're going to be fine, okay? I'm not going to let anything happen to us."
"Thanks." Rachel whispered gratefully "I assume I'm slightly freaked out right now…And while we're on the subject I must apologise for running off before even thought I also have to reiterate that I would never have willingly left you alone."
"It's okay." Quinn reassured her just as softly as she reached up and pushed a strand of dark hair from Rachel's cheek. Her hand froze as the other girl's eyes locked with hers however "Rachel?"
"I don't know what I would do if you weren't here." Rachel admitted in a whisper as she leaned slightly closer "I imagine that I would be a hysterical mess right now."
Quinn's breath caught momentarily in her throat as Rachel's warm breath passed over her lips "A-anytime." Her eyes fluttered shut as Rachel leaned even closer and a moment later warm lips covered her own in a soft, hesitant kiss. She responded instinctively, leaning up to increase the pressure and tentatively lifting a hand to Rachel's cool cheek before they pulled away "Wow…"
"Wow." Rachel confirmed softly her eyes flitting over Quinn's lips to her eyes searching for any sign that the kiss was regretted.
"Where did that come from?" Quinn asked quietly, her voice slightly shaky due to their close proximity.
"I-I don't know." Rachel confessed "I just wanted to kiss you." she smiled bashfully and looked away "I kind of…Want to kiss you again."
"You do?" Quinn asked in surprise.
"I do." Rachel confirmed before she moved forward and captured Quinn's lips in a passionate kiss, her hands threading through soft dark hair.
Quinn deepened the kiss after a moment's hesitation before she felt Rachel's hand trail along her ribs "Wait…Rachel, wait. We shouldn't. If you're still…I don't think…"
Rachel pulled back, looking disappointed "You don't want to?" she didn't give Quinn time to respond and instead began to apologise quickly "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you again. I just assumed that since you didn't slap me for kissing you the first time that you may be open to…"
"Rachel." Quinn placed a finger on Rachel's lips effectively cutting her off "I want to. You have no idea how much I want to…It's just that I don't want your first time to be in the back of a car in the middle of nowhere. And I want it to be meaningful…with somebody that you love."
"But I lo…" Rachel began to object immediately though she quickly trailed off "Just…please Quinn?"
"Rachel…" Quinn sighed sadly and traced the other girl's cheek with her fingertips "I honestly don't think...I mean I don't want…I don't think that…"
"Shhh." Rachel stopped the other girls unintelligible babbling with a finger to her lips, mimicking the other girl's previous actions "Don't think. I don't want to think right now. I just want to feel. Please."
Quinn paused for a moment but found herself powerless against Rachel's pleading "I'll…I'll be gentle."
"Yeah?" Rachel's face lit up in a grin.
"Yeah." Quinn confirmed before she captured Rachel's lips with her own in a fervent kiss.
TBC