AN: Hey guys! So, this isn't the last part yet. It's part 2. I just really wanted to post, because you guys keep me motivated to write and I didn't want to put it on hold. This is what I've written so far. I think I'm going to go with a more Glee ending than an Imagine Me & You ending, but the whole balancing it out is going to continue still. I'm so glad that a couple of you liked it =) it really sucks that the transitions between the scenes keep getting skipped. It doesn't matter what I do, put a star or a hyphen or a squiggle or an extra blank line, FF doesn't seem to accept it. Hopefully it's still understandable. Enjoy this chapter! And remember, reviews equal motivation, inspiration, probably quicker updates and of course, loads of love and cookies!
"It was amazing," Quinn reassured Rachel for the umpteenth time. "I loved it. Really."
Rachel smiled and stared at Quinn.
"Don't you… have to go? You have an early day tomorrow, don't you?"
"No, it's fine! The shop doesn't open 'till noon on Sundays."
"Oh." This can't go on like this. "Quinn, there is something that I need to talk to you about. It's been distressing me for a while now. When I'm with you…"
"Actually, I forgot," Quinn said quickly. "I have an early delivery! I really should be going now."
"Of course, right," Rachel replied.
"I'm really sorry Rach. But tonight was amazing."
And Quinn jogged off to grab the nearest cab, while Rachel found that she'd returned to the bad habit of biting her nails.
Rachel was determined to just forget about it. It was something that she was terrible at – just forgetting about things – but she was going to do it now anyway, because, well, there wasn't much of a choice.
She was going to allow herself to just have fun today. She was going to rent a couple of dvd's and have a small musical marathon while Finn was at work. She picked up RENT, My Fair Lady and Cabaret before handing them over to the girl behind the desk. "These please."
"Alright," she said and started typing on her computer. Rachel's eyes wandered around the shop.
She averted her eyes when they hit the porn section, only to throw another look at it. She'd seen something. Rachel took a few hesitant steps and stared at the 'gay/lesbian' section. A strange fluttering low in her stomach made her aware that she should absolutely not be looking at this. Porn is horrible. It's absolutely degrading, these women often have terrible lives and God, she should not want to watch this!
"All done," she heard from behind her. Rachel felt like she'd been caught red-handed and quickly made her way back to the desk, before changing her mind and grabbing the first movie within reach.
"And this one, please."
"Georgie's Bush," the girl read out slowly, before a knowing grin spread across her face.
"It's for educational purposes."
"Call it what you want. Great choice, by the way. This one, you wanna watch!"
What has gotten into me? Rachel thought to herself, already partly regretting her decision.
Rachel paused the dvd of Georgie's Bush and took a couple of deep breaths. Her head was pounding and her skin felt clammy, and she didn't even want to begin to address the space between her legs. She tried to push every and any thought of Quinn from her mind.
Just satisfying your curiosity. For any future roles. You never know how helpful it could be to know how to behave in bed with someone of the same sex.
The knot in her stomach cued her in to the lies she was telling herself, and she decided to try harder to convince herself.
Notes, Rachel thought. I'll make notes. If that isn't professional, I don't know what is.
She searched around for a pen and paper, and settled down on the floor again. She'd started out on the couch, but had scooted closer to take a better look. Otherwise, what was the purpose of watching it at all?
She pressed play again before feeling the need to pause it once more. She shifted uncomfortable and felt the stickiness between her legs like a guilty whisper. Notes, she reminded herself.
What the hell is she doing with those fingers?
The door slammed and Rachel's disposition changed to borderline panic. She'd done nothing wrong, right? Yet still she was going to do her best to hide it. She was just putting the disc back in its box when her husband walked in.
"Hey Rach," he said with a disarming smile. "I'm really happy to see you."
"Hey!" Rachel said, her voice cracking. You're an actress! Act! "You're home early!"
"Yeah, just for lunch. I just had to get out of there, you know? So, what were you doing?"
"Nothing." Too quickly, Rachel. Act natural!
"What nothing?" Finn asked, kissing her on the cheek. "Oh, you got some dvds? Great! Which one do you want to watch tonight?"
He took the three boxes out of her hand before she could do anything about it, and Rachel tried to calm her heart.
"I remember this one came out. I saw it with Sam and Puck, I think. It was alright. Oh, my mom made me watch this. Totally boring. And…"
A cheeky grin appeared on his face. "Georgie's Bush?"
"What?" Rachel said, gasping. She ripped the box from his hand and started laughing, hoping it didn't sound too fake.
"Oh wow, this most certainly is embarrassing. I'm afraid that this is a mistake, because I surely didn't pick this. I'll take it back first thing tomorrow, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Finn said quickly, looking dead into Rachel's eyes. "It's porn, right?"
"I should think so, yes."
"And porn is degrading."
"Of course, obviously it is."
"Let's watch it anyway," he said with a pleading look. He smiled at her. "Come on, Rach. You know things haven't been the best in that department."
Rachel sighed and averted her eyes.
"I know it's my fault," Finn continued. "I've been so tired after work, and when we do, you know, I know I do-"
"No, no, it's me," Rachel assured him. "But I still don't want to watch it."
"Why not?" Finn said, begging his wife with his eyes.
"It doesn't turn me on," she said cheerfully, planting a short kiss on his lips before skipping off to the kitchen.
"Well, that makes one of us," Finn said softly, eyeing the box whistfully.
Sure, Finn had made a joke out of it, but that doesn't mean it didn't come from a genuine place. Things really had been getting slack in that department, and Finn couldn't help but wonder. Was it because they just got married? Was it because of work? Was it because Rachel was under stress from school?
He'd dialed his home number without hesitance, only to be met with the answering machine of Burt and Carole Hummel. Now he was questioning his decisionmaking, but the person on the other side of the line was already picking up. They were family now, right? And guys are still guys, even if they are…
"Leroy Berry."
"Leroy! Hey! It's Finn."
"Finn? Is everything alright with Rachel?"
"Yeah, yeah, sure, everything's fine," he quickly assured his father-in-law, before scraping his throat.
"Actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about. Man to man. Married man to married man."
"Okay," Leroy said in a deep voice. Finn was suddenly glad he was doing this over the phone.
"So, Rach and I have been married for a little while now, and things have been going a little down hill in the… *cough* bedroom department, if you know what I mean. And I was wondering, I mean, I know you're gay and all that but you got married once too, and if you-"
"Finn. Stop talking."
It stayed silent for a few seconds until Leroy was assured that Finn had honored his request.
"Okay. Rachel is my daughter. I like you well enough, I think you're a good man, you treat my girl well and you're the only one I can ever talk to about Football, but this is not acceptable. Because when you talk to me about this, the only thing I can think is that that jerk is defiling my daughter."
Finn swallowed hard, and faked a laugh.
"Well, we're not teenagers anymore, are we? So it should be better than back when Rachel lived at home, right?"
"You'd think so," Leroy said.
"Yeah!"
"But no."
"Oh."
"Hold on a second. Hiram wants you."
"I'm not sure if—hey Hiram, how is it going, man?"
"Happy 4th of July! How are my grandchildren coming along?"
"Your… eh…" Finn stayed quiet while he heard Leroy's voice in the background. Was it the 4th?
"Hiram, honey, bad timing."
"I should go," Finn said. "Telephone bills and all that. Bye!"
"Don't forget to have sex!" Hiram yelled into the phone and Finn hung up by slamming it down.
"Tonight," he said to himself, "we're going to have awesome sex."
It was perfect. He'd seen Rachel shave her legs that very morning and they could go see the fireworks tonight. It was like it was meant to be. He was mature, Rachel had her time of month 2 weeks ago, they were as settled as it would get. There was a big possibility Rachel was pregnant, with how she was acting. He hadn't realized it until talking to Hiram, but it would explain a lot.
If she wasn't, he was going to make it happen tonight. Everything would be alright, he was sure of it. This was the step they were meant to take now, and they would take it perfectly, like all the other steps in their relationship.
He kissed Rachel during the fireworks, and it was perfect. It was already perfect and so romantic, and he planned on making this a night neither of them would ever forget.
Rachel was in a horrible mood. She usually loved the fourth of July, but her mood had been sour all week and she didn't even have her period to use as an excuse. She'd somewhat admitted it to herself. There was something going on with her thoughts about Quinn and the timing was awful. This was not the point in her life in which she could afford to be… what? Spontaneously bisexual? Bicurious? Just curious? Just confused?
And it didn't help that when Finn almost created the perfect moment – outside of the fact that he tasted like hotdogs and Rachel felt like she was killing an animal with her bare hands, she'd specifically asked Finn to not kiss her right after eating meat! – she couldn't get into it and opened her eyes, spotting one familiar face in the crowd. Just seeing Quinn made her stomach flip and her mood turn even sourer than before. She broke away her lips from Finn's.
"Let's go home."
Finn grinned.
Quinn had called it an early night, mostly because Edie had a different idea of a good night out than Quinn. They'd left right after the fireworks, and Quinn had resisted Edie's attempts to drag her along to some hip gay-club in favor of her own bed. Now Quinn was again at that point that she'd been trying to avoid by going out – alone with her thoughts about being alone, and alone with her thoughts about Rachel.
She was a little less alone when the phone rang. Sure, it scared the hell out of her because she'd been falling into practically a trance with her focused thinking for the last hour or so, and yeah, she fell off her couch, but still.
"Hello?"
"Hey," a soft high voice came from the other side of the line. "I just found your number in my brother's old phone, he left it here, and I really wanted to talk to you."
"Who is this?" She asked, though she had a suspicion.
"It's H, of course!"
"Hey there, H. Shouldn't you be in bed? Shouldn't you have been in bed like, 4 hours ago?"
"My parents think I am in bed, but I stayed up late to watch the fireworks."
"I used to do that too. I won't sell you out."
"Thanks."
"What did you need to tell me?"
"I like a boy and he likes me back!" the young girl squeaked into Quinn's ear.
"Aww," Quinn gushed. "Is he cute?"
"Yeah, he's from my class and he told me today! And I've liked him since forever!"
"Congratulations! Your first boyfriend!"
"Not yet," she said. "But I'm still so happy! Can't wait till you get a boyfriend!"
No-one in Lima would have explained. Quinn heaved a deep sigh. It was kind of her duty.
"H, I should tell you something. I do think I'll spend the rest of my life with one person. But that person is going to be a woman."
"Oh I get it," she said. "My best friend is Martha Chang and I'd much rather spend my whole life with her than with any of the boys I know."
"Exactly," Quinn smiled.
"Doesn't mean you're a lesbian or anything."
Quinn laughed. This was probably the best she was going to get.
"Right. Now, off to bed! It's way too late already!"
"Night, Quinn!"
"Night."
"What kind of tea do you want?" Finn asked from the kitchen.
Rachel massaged her temple. I think I need alcohol tonight.
"I'll have some white wine."
Finn walked to the doorway and leaned against it, looking huge and incredibly sweet at the same time.
"Rachel, I need to ask you something."
"What is it?" Oh god, oh god, he knows. Have I been that obvious? Do I talk in my sleep?
"Are you pregnant?"
There was a stunned silence while Rachel recovered from the unexpected question.
"Have you been talking to dad?"
"Well, that too. But I thought, it would just explain… a lot of your… your… recent behavior."
Rachel's look softened. "No, I'm not."
Finn processed it, but his face quickly morphed into a cheeky grin.
"Do you want to get pregnant?"
Rachel frowned.
"I thought we agreed we would wait with that."
"But wait until what? We're as married as we could possibly get, we're completely settled, we've got our rhythm, why not, Rach?"
"What about my career? Have you paused to think about that?"
"I… yes, but we both know that it could take years until you don't have to worry about that anymore! What do you think?"
Finn's cell rang, and there was a silence until he picked it up.
"Rob, hello."
Rachel rolled her eyes as Finn walked to his desk in their bedroom. "I'm sure I had it here…"
If he was talking to his boss, it could very well take a while. She sighed and plopped down on the couch.
I shouldn't have overreacted like that when I saw Quinn, she thought to herself. It was perhaps a little overdramatic. And now I haven't spoken to her at all. Not since we ran into her at the supermarket.
Rachel hesitated, but her impulsive side got the best of her. She grabbed the phone and dialed Quinn's number. It rang a couple of times before she picked up. "Hello?"
Rachel hung up immediately, already regretting her stupid impulse immensely. Why was she acting like this? What the hell was the matter with her?
Finn walked back in with an unpleased expression on his face. He looked over to his wife and gave his best puppy-eyed expression.
"I'm so sorry Rach, but I have to go to this meeting Tuesday night."
"Tuesday? But… You were the one who was so incredibly determined to go to a Yankees game! You said you'd never been to one and that you thought it was your duty as a New Yorker!"
"I know what I said, babe, but I really can't get out of this one. You're gonna have to go with someone else."
"But I don't want to go with someone else," Rachel said pouting. The phone rang again, and Finn was the one to pick it up.
"Finn Hudson."
"Finn? It's Quinn."
"Quinn, hello!" Rachel's eyes widened comically. "Why are you calling?"
"Someone called my phone, and I-"
"Yeah, great," Finn interrupted her. "Listen, I just thought of something. What are you doing Tuesday night?"
"Nothing yet, why?"
Rachel started shaking her head comically and stood up, but Finn ignored her.
"Well, we've got tickets to this thing, but I have to work that day. Do you maybe want to go with Rachel?"
"Well… I… I… sure, I'd love to!"
"Great, Rachel will call you with the details. Goodnight!"
"Yeah, goodnight."
Finn hung up with a satisfied smile on his face.
"You shouldn't have done that, Finn," Rachel said darkly. "We just recently reconnected again. I'm not even sure if she is comfortable spending time with people from her past yet."
"Weren't you saying you were, like, meant to be friends now a little while ago?"
"Yes, indeed but…"
"See, I do listen!" He said with a wide grin.
"Have you even told her what we're going to do?"
"No, but she was a cheerleader. She loves football games."
"Quinn, I must say that I am embarrassed to be here with you. I never thought that I could be just that, but I am now. You were a cheerleader on and off for 3 years in High School, and you don't know the rules?"
"Well, I was kind of busy during the games, Rachel. I don't know if you've ever seen a cheerleading routine by Sue Sylvester, but they're pretty complicated and they kind of require your attention."
"But how does the cheerleading overshadow who they're cheering for? I believe that this is a matter of hierarchy, and football should be higher than cheerleading!"
"Did we even go to the same school?"
"Look," Rachel interrupted her. "I think he's going to try and score a touchdown!"
Quinn's eyes followed the small dot on the field, running between other small dots, dodging them left and right. The crowd spurred him on, and Rachel jumped up with her war face on, cheering on her team. Was it Quinn's imagination, or was Rachel's voice the clearest out of all of them? It was probably because she was too focused on the brunette and especially her voice. She reprimanded herself, and missed that the dot was tackled by number 9 from the other team.
Rachel screamed, completely outraged, and yelled toward the field: "You're a wanker, number 9!"
Wanker? Who says wanker when you can say fucker?
But Quinn had realized something. It wasn't her imagination – Rachel's voice silenced everyone. Her voice was by far the loudest in the stadium. She could maybe even be louder than the commentator if she wanted to. Her mouth dropped. She knew that Rachel had one hell of a voice, but in this context she noticed for the first time exactly how hard it was.
"How did you do that?"
"What?"
"Yell so loudly. My voice always gets shrill when I yell."
"I offered 4 workshops called voice & volume back in Lima, Quinn. They were even complimentary for Glee members, but I can't remember you ever taking one of them."
"No, but can you teach me anyway? Now?"
"Well, first of all, you have to use your stomach muscles. Don't give me that look, I know you have them. I believe your abs were one of the most-talked about things in the locker rooms. But I would very much recommend it if you'd stand up, so you can flex them better."
Quinn stood up, and Rachel placed a hand on her stomach. She could feel the abs flex beneath the thin fabric of Quinn's shirt, and she swallowed thickly. Who would imagine Rachel Berry in this position? And then to think that Rachel knew it was about to get a whole lot worse.
"Now broaden your diaphragm."
"My what? I don't think I have one."
"Quinn, don't joke around, I'm trying to be serious here. You wanted this, remember?" Rachel said. She didn't want to fall out to Quinn, but she was getting frustrated with herself and her behavior around Quinn.
"Sorry, Rach. Where's my diaphragm?"
"I told you a thousand times in Glee. It's one of the most important parts of singing, especially since we often had a small group that had to fill a big hall with sound."
"I guess I did it wrong, then."
Rachel took a deep breath, and slowly moved her hand up over Quinn's stomach. If she thought that doing it slowly would make it feel a little less like she was point blank grabbing Quinn, she was right. This was worse. She felt like an absolute pervert, like she was feeling her friend up.
And even worse, like she was enjoying it.
Quinn was very much conflicted. If Rachel went anymore up, this night could take a whole and other turn. First, how much self control was she supposed to have? If Rachel went up any further she'd be touching her boob and come on, there's only so much a girl can take. Second, if she went any further up, she'd be able to feel Quinn's heartbeat and her heart was racing. There would be questions.
But Rachel's hand stopped, right at the underside of her breasts. "Here is your diaphragm. You have to push it out against my hand."
"I can't feel it," Quinn said, swallowing to get a little saliva going in her sandpaper mouth. "Perh… perhaps if you put both hands there."
Rachel stood behind Quinn, a sweet smell piercing her senses when her nose brushed Quinn's neck. She placed her left hand on top of her right one, and said: "There. Do you feel it?"
Quinn nodded.
"Now imagine your mouth is a cathedral."
"My mouth is what?" She is adorable.
"It's about the space you have to fill. Imagine your mouth is this huge cathedral, and you have to fill it with sound."
"You lost me, sorry," Quinn said, shaking her head.
"Come on, Quinn. Try it."
The blonde girl shook her head again and loosened herself from Rachel's grip, albeit reluctantly.
"Maybe you should go back to try and explain the game to me."
"So, what do you want to do now?" Rachel asked cheerfully. She skipped beside Quinn, linking their arms together and looking up at her expectantly.
"I don't know."
"Great, I get to choose again! So, I know this amazing place where they don't have just karaoke, but musical karaoke! Usually you have to make arrangements beforehand, but they're rather familiar with me so I'm inclined to believe they'll be willing to make an exception."
"I feel like dancing."
"Dancing?" Rachel said, and contemplated the option, resting the tip of her finger against her chin before snapping her fingers.
"I believe I have the perfect place for that, too!"
Rachel threw in a coin like she'd done it a million times before. "Are you familiar with Dance Dance Revolution?"
"I'm not, but I'm open to the idea," Quinn grinned. You are in so much trouble, Fabray.
"Alright, I happen to know that you are quite an accomplished dancer. At the very least a most accomplished mover, with an admirable amount of body control, so I think you should fall in step with me rather easily. Just follow my lead."
And before she knew it, Dynomite by Taio Cruz was playing, and all the other songs of the rest of the night slowly took her back to High School.
They'd been walking around New York for a long time. For the first time in what felt like forever, Rachel was listening. And for the first time in what felt like forever, Quinn was talking.
After telling Rachel all about her decision to disappear after graduation and start a new life in New York, and carefully avoiding the subject of her first months in NYC, they'd now landed on the present. Quinn had explained how she'd realized how happy she was with working in a flower shop and decided to open her own, and Rachel was questioning her about the meaning and history of every flower she could think of.
"Tell me about the lily."
"For the hundredth time, no! I'm not telling you about the lily!"
"But it's my favorite flower," Rachel pouted. "You can't keep that one from me! It can't possibly be as bad as you think it is. Even if it is sexual in nature, I will have you know that I-"
"Please don't finish that sentence," Quinn laughed, fighting the urge to pull Rachel closer or run a hand through her hair. "You don't want to know. Ask me about the azalea."
"I don't want to know about the azalea, I want to know about the lily!"
"Ask me about the azalea."
"What about the azalea?" Rachel said, not even bothering to ban the irritation from her voice.
"It means, may you achieve financial security."
"Quinn! You are taking all of the romance out of flowers, even though it's almost impossible. Now tell me about the lily, for Streisand's sake."
"The lily means," Quinn started, seeing Rachel's apartment building doom up in front of them. "I dare you to love me."
Quinn walked on, to the entrance, chewing the inside of her cheek. It wasn't a date. It would have the best date, like, ever. But it wasn't a date.
"I had a great time," Quinn said and bit her tongue. Way to make this feel more like a date.
"Well that's good, I'm glad my company didn't ruin your night."
"No, it was great," she replied. "It was really one of my better birthdays."
"Today is your birthday? I can't believe Finn forgot about that! He should really know, shouldn't he? Perhaps even I should know, or have bothered to ask. Oh, maybe you mentioned it and I just didn't notice it! I should have gotten you something."
You already got me enough. "It's fine, Rachel. I mean it, today was a really good day."
"That's good," Rachel said in a small voice. They walked up to the door in silence.
"Well, this is my building," Rachel said cheerfully.
Quinn's heart was racing. Her inner voice had shut up, and her feelings had taken the wheel. Yes, it was a date. Rachel was a great date. And now, she wanted to end the perfect date in the perfect way – with a kiss. And she was sure that Rachel could offer her that. Rachel could offer her a perfect kiss.
And she was going to, because the smaller girl lifted her eyes from the ground and bored her gaze into Quinn's. Quinn wasn't imagining it – Rachel was moving forward, towards her, Rachel was going to kiss her. She was getting closer, and everything felt like slowmotion as her body was getting ready for a gently brushing of her lips against Rachel's.
Until a car honked, and Rachel jumped back.
"Goodnight, Quinn."'
"Goodnight."
Damn it, her mind had taken the wheel back, and she wasn't liking it.
Rachel waited 24 hours for the almost-not-exactly-but-could-have-been kiss to get out of her mind when she dialed a number in Lima.
"Tina? Hey, it's Rach. I really need to talk to you."
"Hey Rach, what's going on? You sound stressed."
"I'm perfectly fine, thank you. But there was something that I needed to ask you." Without waiting for an answer, Rachel barged on: "Have you ever kissed a girl?"
"No, I haven't. I'd like to kiss a girl before I die, though. Why?"
"It's… for a role."
"For a role?"
"Yes, I'm auditioning for this part about a girl who is struggling with her sexuality."
"Well, if you really want good advice, there's a number I can give you. Do you have pen and paper?"
Five minutes later, Rachel's heart was thumping while she was waiting for god knows who to pick up.
"Santana Lopez, who is this?"
"Santana? It's Rachel, Rachel Berry."
It was silent before she heard a snort. It sounded like a sneeze through the telephone.
"Rachel Berry, what can I do for you?"
"I have to ask you something. It's for a role. I need you to tell me about kissing a girl."
"Are you leaving Hudson for the superior sex?"
"What? No, don't be preposterous! I told you, it's for a role!"
"I was just messing with you, geez, relax. I've only kissed 3 different girls, but I still think I know my shit. They were all 3 different, though."
"Tell me, please," Rachel said in a pleading voice. She hoped it didn't come off as desperately curious as she felt.
"Well, first there's B. But you won't be kissing her. B is an awesome kisser, and she was my first kiss with, y'know, a girl. It was like, really soft and mushy. It really is different from a guy, or for me it was. But that's also because it's B."
"What about the others? I'm not talking about kissing the love of your life. I'm talking about kissing a girl."
"One girl was when me and B broke up, and she was alright. She kissed, like, really hard but still girly. And then there's Quinn."
"You kissed Quinn?" Rachel asked in an awed voice. "Wow. What was that like?" She said, licking her dry lips.
"Actually, great. Quinn was really controlled but she knew what she was doing. Listen, are you done yet? B's calling me."
"Yeah, I… yeah. Say hi to everyone from me."
"Bye, Berry."
Rachel let out a shaky sigh. This, a lot of this just had to do with sexual frustration. What she needed was to release said sexual frustration. She needed to have a good night out with Finn. As soon as possible. Tomorrow.
"Well, I had a great time," Finn said, trying to break the tension in the small car. "Didn't you? Yeah, I had a really good time."
Rachel didn't answer him, but drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. There must be something I'm missing. A way to release these frustrations.
"Hey, look," she said, pointing to Central park. "Finn, I have an absolutely crazy idea. I know that this will sound insane, but let's do it anyway. Come on, let's do it in the bushes!"
"What?"
"Let's have sex in Central park!"
"Rachel, no."
But Rachel had an evil smile on her face.
"Rachel, it's really cold and we have a bed and an apartment. We don't have to hide from your dads anymore!"
She pulled him toward her by his jacket, and a slow smile spread across her face.
"But don't you want me, Finn?" she said softly, before giving him a passionate kiss. His lips were chapped and frozen. Not at all like lips with lipgloss. But she was going to warm them up.
He kissed back, but pulled away after a moment. "Rach, we've got a home. What's wrong with our bed? Wait, what was that?"
"I didn't hear anything."
This time around, Rachel did hear the mysterious noise Finn was talking about.
"Whoever is behind that tree, please show yourself, or I will not hesitate to use physical violence!"
"Yeah," Finn added.
She heard the sound of a zipper that was being pulled up, and out stepped Blaine Anderson, waving his hands.
"Blaine?" Rachel said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Same as you, apparently," another familiar voice said. Kurt stepped out with a red, sweaty face and absolutely messed up hair. He had a glowing smile on his face.
Finn had grown silent.
"Well, we weren't actually at that point yet, we were just getting to it. Although I doubt if even that was the case."
"I'm afraid that we snuck out of a party due to lack of…" Kurt gave Blaine a look, and his boyfriend finished his sentence. "Self control."
Rachel giggled, and Kurt gave her a joyous smile.
"Well, control has never been one of Rachel's problems," Finn said, and Rachel's smile melted off her face.
"It was nice running into you," Rachel said to the 2 men across from her. "We should do that again, albeit perhaps at a more appropriate time, under more appropriate circumstances…"
She stepped forward to hug her friend, but Kurt stepped back. "I don't think that you really want to hug me right now."
"Oh, right. Well, bye guys!"
"Byebye, I'll give you a call tomorrow!" She heard Kurt yell, while he was already being dragged away from the scene.
This was getting out of hand. No wait, it had already gotten out of hand. This was definitely not the way Rachel Berry handled things, handled life. And it going to stop today.
She'd tell Quinn that they were better of as friends, and rather not too close.
Rachel felt like she'd diva-stormed all the way up to Lucy's Flowered Up and was high on adrenaline by the time she got there.
Quinn's face broke open with a spectacularly big and white smile, and Rachel stormed past her, into the shop. I'm about to hurt her feelings. She shouldn't be so happy to see me.
"Quinn, I'd prefer it if you didn't look so happy to see me. What brought me here, is that I don't know what is going on. I have realized that you make me feel something, something that I absolutely cannot feel."
Rachel took a deep breath in a last-ditch effort to control herself.
Quinn's heart was racing, one hopeful thought after the other breeding terrible nests inside her brain.
"I am married! To a wonderful man who has treated me so well for so many years, to someone who I've been with since high school! I can't do this to him, and everything about this situation is just spectacularly unfortunate!"
A costumer walked into the shop, completely oblivious to the scene that was playing out in front of him.
"Goodmorning! Could you maybe help me, I was hoping to start a herb garden and…"
Rachel diva-stormed her small body to the back of the shop and Quinn groaned. She picked up the biggest box of herbs she could find and pushed them into the stranger's hand.
"These, these. They're on the house. Now go, please!" She said, pushing him out. She closed the door behind her and tried to control her breathing. Rachel felt it too.
She walked to the back, where Rachel was already/still talking to either Quinn or herself.
"But there is truly no way, I can't, can't do this. I could never actually go through with this." She looked into Quinn's eyes. "So whatever this entails, I can no longer be a part of it. It needs to be put a stop to, and I am doing exactly that right now. I am so, so sorry, Quinn, but it's over."
She diva stormed back out and Quinn leaned her back against a wall.
It's over, she thought to herself. And it didn't even fucking start.
She heard the loud noise of a slamming door, someone was pulling her down, and suddenly lips were on hers, and she felt like she knew them already.
She kissed back fervently, not planning on holding anything back. She pulled Rachel closer while the shorter girl's hands lifted to her face. God, she'd had no idea how bad she wanted this.
Her hands took in everything they could while Rachel's tongue was invading her mouth. The smaller girl let out a soft moan and Quinn felt like her brain just exploded. She finally moved her hands to one steady place to rest – Rachel's ass – and squeezed. Rachel moaned again, pushed her body firmly against Quinn and sucked on the blonde's tongue. The blonde immediately pulled her closer, and Rachel, pleased with the reaction she'd gotten, did it again.
Rachel's homebase, for her hands to rest, was Quinn's neck. She was pulling herself closer by it, and it allowed her to run her hands through her hair, something she'd done several times already. She pulled away and laughed, in a little bit of relief and a lot of happiness. This was what she wanted. It was exactly what she'd needed.
Her eyes travelled up and down Quinn's disheveled appearance and she blushed when she noticed that the other girl's nipples had hardened and were showing through the shirt. Quinn pulled Rachel closer again and started kissing her neck, while Rachel was in a blissful bubble of so many things she wanted to touch.
Rachel felt her back straining as Quinn pulled her closer. They were sort of awkwardly leaning over each other, and it felt just short of perfect, so she decided to push Quinn down on the table. The girl dragged her along, refusing to break her lips away from Rachel's neck. The dark-haired girl let out a quiet moan when Quinn's thigh made its way between her legs.
The florist dragged her lips up from Rachel's neck – after leaving a mark – up to the side of her face, nuzzling her ear before kissing her way back to the other woman's lips. Rachel sighed into Quinn's mouth and bucked her hips down.
God, her lips are so soft and her mouth tastes so sweet! This is just awesome. I'm making out with Quinn Fabray. This is so, so awesome.
Quinn seemed rather eager, she moved her hands to the strip of skin exposed between Rachel's shirt and her slacks. She didn't hesitate to slide them up higher, and Rachel bit the other girl's lip, making a sound between a purr and a growl.
Rachel felt like she'd lost control over her hands, like they were now just moving up Quinn's body, sliding under her shirt and up her soft stomach. Only now did she notice that she was panting like some kind of ravenous dog, and tried to control her breathing. Quinn slid her hands to Rachel's front, and touched the underside of the smaller girl's breasts. Rachel realized that even breathing was damned.
She lifted her head to look down at the girl she was kissing, and started smiling before laughing.
How could it ever have seemed difficult? It's so easy.
Quinn looked up at her with the happiest smile Rachel had ever seen her wear, and her heart skipped a beat before racing on.
I'm so in love with her.
The main door opened and Rachel giggled, pressing her forehead against Quinn's. "Another costumer," Quinn said. "Great."
"Quinn?"
There were only a handful of people in NYC who called her that, and she recognized this voice immediately. Rachel's smile melted of her face.
"Quinn?" Finn asked again. "Are you in there?"
"Y-Yeah. Don't come in!"
She made her way past Rachel, through the door.
"Oh, hey!"
"Hello, Finn," she said, not succeeding completely in hiding her grudge. "What do you want?"
"To buy some flowers, of course."
"Right, of course."
"They're for Rachel," he added unnecessarily. "She's been a little bit… different lately, and I thought, what's better than well-timed flowers, right?"
"You're totally right." Quinn's grudge and chagrin was fading rapidly, to be replaced with guilt. She'd done it again. She'd gone back to high school Quinn. Stealing other people's boyfriends – okay, wife's – and being a total homewrecker. And again with Finn and Rachel.
"What does she like?"
"You know what she likes. Lilies."
"Lilies," Quinn sighed, "of course. Easy."
Quinn started busying herself with the flowers as Finn tried to keep his voice light in conversation.
"So how was the game?"
"Oh, it was fun."
"Yeah? How was Rachel?"
"I don't know, fine?" Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
"Did she talk about me?"
"No," Quinn said. Her hands started moving faster, trying to get the bouquet done already. Rachel had to be freaking out in there.
"Oh," Finn replied, disappointed. "Nothing?"
"Nothing at all."
"I think I'm not really good at being married and stuff," Finn said abruptly, completely ignoring Quinn's subtle attempts to make him clear that she did not want any conversation. "It's just, I don't know. I wondered if maybe Rachel talked to you, if I'm doing something wrong or whatever, I mean, I know you guys are pretty close."
"We're not that close."
"Well, Rach talks about you, and when she does, it kind of seems like you are."
Quinn swallowed thickly. She felt like she'd had her portion of emotions for the day. The happiness, the shock, the fear, and of course her lingering arousal playing parts.
"She didn't talk to me about you."
"Oh, well. I guess I just have to figure things out." Finn frowned deeply. "I love Rachel, but maybe I should have known getting married to her was going to be complicated. I just wish we could go back to how things were before, when we were just engaged. Things were awesome then. And simple."
"Good luck with that."
"I wish I knew what changed it."
The guilt, right. She'd almost forgotten about the guilt. Another emotion added to the list.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out."
"I have to," Finn said to himself. "I know I can do it."
"Well, this is a good start. Here are your flowers. They're on the house." Least I can do for wrecking your marriage.
"Thank you, Quinn. You know, you've really changed. I think you're better now."
Oh come on, is he doing this on purpose or something?
"Yeah. Good luck with your stuff."
"Bye, Quinn!"
He was barely out of the shop when she raced to the back, only to see an empty room with an open window. Quinn didn't hesitate to climb out of it and she raced around the corner.
Disappearing just around another corner was a flurry of chestnut brown hair, and Quinn began the chase. It lasted all the way to central park.
"Rachel, for fuck's sake, stop walking and talk to me!"
Rachel stopped and turned on her heel, staring Quinn down with an angry but tearful expression.
"What do you expect me to say, Quinn? Weren't you just there? I was lying there and I could hear Finn, hear my husband blaming himself. I promised him, we promised to each other that we would never, ever cheat again after all the drama it brought us in High School. I never imagined I would be the one to break that promise."
"You can put an end to this, you know," Quinn said, trying to keep Rachel's teary eyes locked with hers. She needed every bit of intensity she could get. "You can tell me to go."
"Quinn-"
"Tell me to go and I will," she said, crossing her arms defiantly. "Tell me that's what you want, and I'll disappear from your life and you'll never see me again."
"Is that what you want?" Rachel asked, and Quinn saw every piece of the insecure girl from McKinley High come to life in her expression. Time to take that insecurity away.
"I want you."
It came out a little more fiercely than she'd wanted it to, but she was thankful that it seemed to get the point across to Rachel.
"Quinn…" Rachel said, stepping closer. She lifted her hand and almost touched Quinn before dropping it.
"I know, alright?" Quinn replied, looking away.
"I can't. I'm flattered, well, more than flattered, but there's not a single way that this could work out well."
"Yes it could!" Quinn yelled, her voice cracking. "You could pick me!"
"I can't," Rachel said. The tears were now flooding her eyes. Quinn was reminded of the fact that they were both rather easy criers, that only Santana and Tina could rival them in that. She decided not to cry right now, though. She'd seen this coming – she didn't even know that there had been any hope at all until this afternoon. Maybe that made things all the worse, though.
She tried to read Rachel's eyes. The other girl wasn't going to say it, wasn't going to send her away. She hadn't really expected Rachel to do that, but now she saw that she'd been unfair. Rachel wouldn't send her away, but she also couldn't pick Quinn. It was Quinn's turn – Quinn's turn to be the bigger person, to stop Rachel's hurt, to make the decision for the both of them.
"We'll be alright."
Rachel sobbed, but Quinn was convinced that this was the right thing. The hardest path was usually the right one. Growing up sucks. Being responsible sucks. Being the bigger person sucks. Doing the right thing hurts. God, life sucks right now.
"Yeah," she repeated to herself, "we'll be just fine."
Rachel sniffled before another sob came out, and hugged Quinn firmly. Quinn hugged her back and pressed a kiss on top of her head. "Just don't forget about me. About me now."
"I won't remember anything else."
Quinn placed another kiss on Rachel's hair, and one on her forehead before stepping out of Rachel's arms. She smiled and turned around, determined not to look back and not to cry until she got home.