Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters.
A/N: Because many people asked for the story to be continued… This is for you guys. The story will be continued! Currently unbetaed, all mistakes are mine.
Quinn looked down at her navy blue lace dress and smoothed it out before she knocked on the door of the Berry household. She couldn't help but bounce from foot to foot in nervous excitement. It had been exactly one month - "it feels like so much longer" - since she and Rachel had become a couple, and she could barely contain her joy.
Since the couple had gotten together, Quinn's life had become better than she had ever hoped for it to be. Her self-loathing was gradually fading away, she got to kiss Rachel whenever she wanted to, her mother was going to an AA group, graduation was a week away, she had been accepted to Yale, and soon she would be able to perform with the girl she loves and her best friends at Nationals.
"Life f-in rocks."
The girl didn't hide her smile when the two Berry men opened the door.
"Quinn! What a surprise to see you here!" Leroy exclaimed.
"Yes, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Hiram asked with a playful smile. Quinn played along, knowing full-well that both men knew exactly why she was here.
She stood up straight and lifted her chin in the air trying to look tough and eligible enough for their daughter.
"I'm here to pick up Rachel for our date tonight, Sirs."
The amusing couple who had grown to be father figures in Quinn's life circled Quinn playfully appraising her.
"Hmm… Hiram, does she look alright to you?"
"I'm not sure, Leroy, something doesn't seem right…"
Quinn was trying her best not to laugh and she knew she had been caught as Hiram said, "You may be correct, I mean look at how red and tense her face is…"
"True, true, but her eyes are very jovial and pretty…"
"She does have enough muscle to defend our little star…"
"She is dressed modestly and appropriately…"
"Definitely better looking than that Flynn boy…"
"Much smarter too, dear."
"Ah hah! I know what's missing!"
"What might that be Hiram," Leroy asked with a silly smirk as the two advanced towards Quinn.
"A hug!"
Quinn tried to run with a laugh before being bombarded by the hugs and forehead kisses but it was too late, Leroy lifted Quinn up by the waist and spun her around in a tight hug and Quinn had no choice but to throw her head back in laugh. She loved it here at the Berry household. She was included and felt loved by all three of the residents. She felt like she was already the daughter-in-law the Berry men had always hoped for.
"Daddy, put her down! You'll mess up her dress!"
Leroy put Quinn's feet back down on the ground and continued playing out his role as Rachel came down the stairs, "What do you think now, hun? Good enough for our Rachie?"
Hiram just laughed and gave Quinn a side hug, "Of course she is."
Quinn just smiled between the two. She had never felt this loved by her parents, and she doubted that she would ever being to express her gratitude to the Berry men just how much it meant to her that they had taken her under their wing as soon as Rachel had announced their relationship to them.
Quinn turned her eyes to Rachel for the first time that night and her breath caught in her throat. Rachel was wearing a black button down dress that flared slightly around mid-thigh, with matching black heels. Her hair was in soft curls, with her bangs to the side. She had simple silver earrings on, along with her Star of David necklace. Rachel looked stunning.
"Oh… my… gracious…"
"She's absolutely gorgeous."
"I can't even think straight."
"You never can, you only think gay."
"Oh my god, shut up, I'm focusing on how beautiful my girlfriend looks."
The blonde stepped towards the girl and taking the brunettes hand in her own, kissed the girls knuckles; her eyes never leaving the other girls.
"Oh Leroy, look, she's chivalrous too," The short man said with a cheekily grin.
Quinn blushed and intertwined Rachel's fingers with her own. She played out the rest of their improvised script with a faux-serious face.
"Mr. Sir and Mr. Sir, I would be honored to take your daughter out this evening, with your permission, of course."
The men glanced at each other and looked around the room as if they were weighing the pros and cons.
"Ehhh….." The two men said together.
"I'll have her home by curfew?"
"Oh, alright, since you make such a convincing argument, go on and have fun."
Quinn and Rachel both squealed and ran to the doors as best as they could in heels.
"Thank you Mr. Sir and Mr. Sir," Quinn called out with a grin before exiting through the door with her beautiful girlfriend.
"See you tonight, girls!"
"Bye, Dad, Daddy!" Rachel called out beside her. Quinn led Rachel to the passenger door and replayed their first afternoon together.
She leaned against the passenger door of her car with a smile and pulled Rachel to her by the hips, "Okay, so I'm pretty sure your dads wouldn't like it if I just made out with you right here, but I wanted to relive our first few moments together."
Rachel just laughed and kissed Quinn's cheek, "Well, I wouldn't mind if you made out with me."
Quinn just pushed back from the car and opened the door for Rachel, "I don't want this night cut short is all. Your noble steed, madam."
Quinn felt a goofy grin spread its way across her face as Rachel played along and curtsied, "Why, thank you, you gorgeous knight."
Quinn raced around to the other side of the car - even making sure to stumble a little bit - and climbed into the drivers side. Quinn's heart was racing, tonight was going to be a special night. No, they weren't going to do that. Not yet, anyway, it was still too early in their relationship for that, but Quinn had a special plan for tonight. She was going to sweep Rachel off her feet all over again, and she sent off a quick prayer that everything would go smoothly.
The blonde intertwined her fingers with Rachel's and looked over at the girl, "Hey, Rach?"
"Yeah, CQ?" Rachel turned to look at her and stroked her thumb against the top of her hand. Quinn still managed to feel flutters at the nickname Rachel had for her. It always reminded her of the beginning and so helplessly in love she had been with Rachel; and she still was in love with Rachel, but it wasn't helpless anymore. It was clawing and striving and growing and stretching for miles, never stopping or ending.
Quinn brought their entwined hands together and kissed the joined hands, "You're a very special person in my life, and I hope this night is as magical for you as you being in my life is for me."
She bit her lip to hold back a smile at Rachel's speechlessness. It was always her favorite pass time to find words that would make the usually-ranting girl speechless; but of course, it was even better to know that she always meant the words she said to Rachel. It was more than true that Rachel was incredibly important to Quinn, but tonight, Quinn wanted to find a way to show her.
Quinn turned the car on and turned on her CD player. Immediately the confined space was filled with the distinct melody of Don't Rain On My Parade.
"Quinn! We don't have to listen to Barbra just because she's my favorite, you know that. I know she isn't your favorite, I want this night to be about the both of us."
Quinn just chuckled as she continued to drive to the first place on their agenda for the night, "Oh trust me, the girl singing this song is definitely my favorite."
"Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter, life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter," the voice sounded through the speakers and Rachel's jaw dropped.
"Quinn, is that me?"
The blonde just smiled and nodded, "I thought it was time that the one and only, fabulous star, Rachel Berry had her own album."
Rachel squealed and turned the volume up as her voice resounded through the car.
"Oh my god, this is amazing! I have my own album? How did you get the recordings? I'm pretty sure I never just sat down and recorded an album."
Quinn just smiled at Rachel as she pulled up to a red light, "Well, this song is from the video recording of us at Nationals. Some of them are from Sectionals, and a lot of them are from your myspace recordings. Your voice is phenomenal Rach, if you get past all the copyright stuff I'm one hundred percent sure that you could make a lot of money selling those CD's."
Rachel just squeezed her hand and began singing along happily to the sound of her own voice.
The pair pulled up to Quinn's first place for the night just as Rachel was belting out the last note of Defying Gravity. The blonde was pretty sure was defying the laws of physics because she felt as if she was walking on air. Her heart was light, and she felt that the only thing grounding her to the Earth was Rachel's hand.
When the recorded Rachel and the real Rachel finished their note perfectly, Quinn turned off the car and gently helped the brunette out. Quinn admired the way Rachel's face lit up as she realized where they were.
"The theatre?"
"Something we can both enjoy together," Quinn smiled as she led the way to the ticket booth, "Two for tonight's show, please."
The blonde thanked the ticket master as she took the vouchers and kissed Rachel behind the ear before they walked into the foyer. She grinned at Rachel's blush and led them to their seats.
"What's the play tonight?" Rachel asked as they settled into the cushioned chairs. Rachel played with Quinn's fingers and was proud that she didn't mind if people saw when she kissed Rachel's temple.
"One of my favorites; Annie."
"Oh, yay! It's one of my favorites too." Rachel leaned her head on Quinn's shoulder and Quinn happily began to run her finger through the soft locks.
"I know, I saw your Favorite Musicals list on your blog. Sadly, Funny Girl wasn't scheduled on the Lima Theatre's upcoming shows. And don't worry, I already filed a complaint with them about it."
Quinn gently ran her fingertips up and down the chuckling, but blushing, brunette's arm, just as amazed as she was a month ago when goosebumps followed her trail.
Just as the lights dimmed and curtain began to lift, Quinn whispered into the brunettes ear, "I love you, Rach."
And as the first notes of Maybe began filtering through the air, Quinn felt a flood of warmth come over her as Rachel whispered back, "I love you too, CQ."
The girls emerged laughing and giggling, talking animatedly about the play and how much more amazing Grace could have been if Rachel had been cast the role.
The climbed in the car, and Quinn smiled over at Rachel, "Hungry?"
Rachel nodded and rubbed her stomach playfully, "Famished."
Quinn threw the car in drive and headed off to their next destination, "Well let's get that settled, love."
Soon the couple arrived to a gravel road. Quinn drove down until they couldn't see the main road or any city lights.
"Uhm, Quinn, I'm sure this is a romantic plan, but where are we?"
Quinn just smiled and leaned over the console after she parked, and kissed Rachel slowly and passionately.
"No worries, my love, trust me."
Rachel nodded and left a lingering kiss to Quinn's lips. Together, the pair emerged from the car and Quinn walked over to take Rachel's hand.
Quinn watched Rachel's face intently, and smiled when Rachel's jaw dropped and tears filled her eyes. The blonde turned her attention to the scene in front of her. She smiled at how well everything looked. She had given Santana and Brittany strict instructions to have everything set up before they arrived and it looked like they had fulfilled their duty.
Rectangular lit paper lanterns of various colors outlined a path to a blanket that was lit with a battery powered lantern. Gardenia petals were scattered along the path between the lanterns, and Quinn let Rachel walk in front; wanting to watch the brunette take in the scene before them.
Rachel turned back to Quinn with a disbelieving laugh and a delighted sparkle in her eye, "You did all of this?"
Quinn walked slowly back to Rachel, not wanting to rush one second of this, "I had a bit of help, but yes."
She intertwined their hands and pressed her lips against Rachel's softly. Quinn put as much love and feeling as she could into the kiss. She gently slid her tongue against Rachel's bottom lip asking for entrance, which the brunette was happy to oblige to the request. Quinn released one of her love's hand and placed her free hand on Rachel's lower back, bringing the smaller girl closer.
Their tongues met, and Quinn swore that the earth was tilting on its axis, just like she had imagined all those weeks ago. The hand on Rachel's back moved to tangle in Rachel's hair as the kiss became more passionate and needy. Quinn was putting her all into this kiss. She wanted to show Rachel that she was in this for the long haul. She wanted to show that she truly loved Rachel, and that there would be no more hiding, ever.
It had been difficult for Quinn to open up this past month, mostly out of habit; but soon the girls would spend any chance they could get talking and telling old stories. Quinn hadn't yet spoke to Rachel about her father, but she was extremely thankful that Rachel never pried.
The couple pulled away gently and walked hand in hand over to the blanket, which Quinn was happy to see that it had the picnic basket on it that she had handed over to her two best friends earlier that day.
The pair sat and kept stealing shy glances at one another as they enjoyed the silence and Quinn pulled out the silverware and plates. She handed some to Rachel, and pulled out the Tupperware containers that held their dinner.
Quinn pulled off the plastic tops and began to decorate the plates with various foods and sauces. The blonde was happy to find that the food was still warm, and that Rachel trusted her enough to not ask whether or not the food was vegan.
"Oh my god, this is amazing," Rachel practically moaned out, "What is this?"
The blonde smiled fondly as she looked over the shadows, contours, and highlights of Rachel's face illuminated by the small lantern between them. She took a sip of water from her chilled water bottle and handed one to Rachel before she spoke, "Well, I believe what you ate was the, totally vegan, fettuccine alfredo."
Quinn looked around on Rachel's plate and pointed to various items as she listed them off, "This is my best attempt at a risotto, it has peas and mushrooms, and I'm not totally sure I did it right, but I tried my best. Here, we have simple salsa with some pita chips. I realize it's not the best cohesive meal, but I just wanted things that tasted good."
The blonde blushed when Rachel chuckled, "It amazes me that you can sometimes talk more than me."
Their eyes connected and it was as if something was holding them there because Quinn felt as if she couldn't look away.
"Rachel just looks so beautiful…"
"The way her eyes are shining…"
"I love her."
"I really, really love her."
"Rachel, I love you."
Quinn was mesmerized as a spark flew through Rachel's eyes and the way the girls breath caught; the way the brunette's eyebrows raised and the way the girls smile grew slowly and steadily as she let Quinn's words flow through her. Quinn admired the way the girls lips slowly began to form into the words, "I love you too."
They looked at each other for a few moments longer, taking in the true gravity that the words held. Rachel placed her hand over Quinn's, and the blonde was sure that tonight was the best night of her life thus far.
The pair continued to eat in silence, Rachel's fingers between Quinn's. They reveled in how comfortable the quietness was, honing in on the soft chirp of crickets and the sound of moving currents from the lake that didn't lay too far away.
After they had finished their dinner, the couple had turned off the lantern and laid back against the soft fabric beneath them to revel in the dark blanket of night that surrounded them; for all the paper lanterns had dimmed or blown out from the occasional gust of wind.
Quinn hummed quietly under her breath as Rachel laid her head against the blondes chest. Instinctively, her fingers threaded through Rachel's hair and ran through it slowly and comfortingly, up and down.
"Mm, if you keep doing that I'll fall asleep," sighed Rachel quietly.
Quinn hummed in response, but continued anyway. Her mind was running with things that had happened this past month, and recalled how happy she had been during that time. She thought back to her first date with Rachel, and smiled gently as she remembered the memory.
"Remember our first date?" Quinn asked quietly as not to disturb the peace.
"Of course I do," Rachel responded sleepily, "It was amazing and so sweet. Just like tonight, but with impossibly more jitters. The simple coffee shop and the hours we just sat and talked together. I wasn't big and fancy, but it was still special because we were with each other. I loved it."
Quinn kissed the top of Rachel's head and replied gently, "I did too."
They both closed their eyes, listening to the shallow breaths that left slowly through their mouths.
"Do you mind if I ramble, Sweetheart?" Quinn asked quietly and she felt Rachel smile against her.
"Me? Of course not."
Quinn drew a deep breath in through her nose, and brought her hand that wasn't going through Rachel's hair, around the smaller girls waist drawing her closer.
"I never thought I would be doing this with you. I imagined watching you from a far for the rest of my life. I imagined watching you on the television as you accepted your first Tony Award, and crying as I watched you have the night you always imagined come true. I imagined sending my prayers to whoever would listen, that you would somehow, some way feel my love and pride in you while you were on that stage.
"I never believed that I had a chance with you, but by some magical twist of fate, you were the one to tell me that I did have a chance. Rach, you're my one," Quinn paused to kiss the girl on the top of the head and smiled when Rachel kissed below her collarbone.
"And I know we have only been dating for a month, but I have never, ever felt this magnitude of love towards anyone. I want this relationship to grow and flourish. I don't want to mess this up. You're the one thing in my life that has meaning. I know I'm not out to my mom yet, or the whole school, but I just want to reassure you that I am not ashamed of you. I will do whatever you need me to do. I want to make you happy."
And suddenly, Quinn was off. She was off in her Charlie world, letting herself flow out to Rachel through words and poetry that she didn't mean to actually happen.
"Rach, you're like a flower growing through my heart. You creeped in with a single bud, but soon you bloomed into an empress of a flower; spreading your vines, leaves, and petals throughout the cavities of my body and through the veins and arteries and capillaries. I had died in resentment and sadness, accepting the fact that my life would never reach a happy place, but you were the electric shock that brought me back to life when I was sinking into an abyss that wanted to swallow me whole and rip me apart into shreds of nothingness. The parts of me that had already been consumed by despair were repaired by you without you even knowing it.
"The words you sang, the words you spoke, the words you wrote, were all things that healed me. But know, my love, that you saving me is not the only reason my heart shines and goes out to you. My love for you is filled with multitudes upon multitudes of reasons. Rach, you're the stars in this sky above us, and the lights that shine on this Earth. You're the plants that grow, and the life that walks it. You're like an explosion of confetti, ya know?"
The blonde slowed her movements through Rachel's hair, and smiled at her soft chuckle from the confetti part. Quinn spoke breathily in pure amazement, "So vibrant and diverse. Your influence spreads everywhere. Even the people that claim to dislike you, must admit that you have talent. They know damn well that you're going to be one of the few people to actually leave Lima and make something of themselves."
Quinn stared up at the billions of stars that shined down upon them, and then turned to look at the star that lay against her, "You're made of starlight, and stardust, and atoms, and a complex code of DNA. You're so unique. So talented, creative, and so incredibly special. No one can compare, and I feel so incredibly honored that you have chosen me to spend your time with."
Rachel looked up and Quinn's breath caught for the millionth time as Rachel's eyes connected with hers. So much love was shining through them, even though the couple laid in complete darkness. There was no need for anymore words between the two because they had a silent communication. They knew that they were in this for the long haul, and they knew the love that they held for each other even after such a short amount of time. They knew that they would go a far as they could possibly go in this relationship, and they knew that they were going to have a damn fun time while on the way. They understood that life would throw obstacles at them, but they knew more than anything that they would jump over hurdles together; hand-in-hand.
They leaned forward and brought their lips together in a deep passion. They expressed through their lips that they understood the pros and cons of being in this relationship. They pushed how much love they held through that kiss to show that they didn't care what consequences were to come throughout the coming years; they would find a way.
Quinn cupped Rachel's cheek, and the brunette cupped Quinn's neck. Their lips glided over one another and soon their tongues were fighting each other playfully; exploring and searching for all the special spots that would drive the other crazy.
Quinn gasped as Rachel's leg swung over her body, making it where the brunette was straddling her loosely. She gripped Rachel's hips, gently massaging them as time went on.
Their lips were swollen when they pulled apart and Quinn was mesmerized by how sexy and gorgeous Rachel looked with her hair framing her face and her body over her own.
"Hi," Rachel breathed out breathlessly, biting her lip slowly and sensually.
"Oh… my… god…"
"If she does that again I might not be able to control myself."
"That was fucking hot."
"And.. so.. so… amazing.."
"Lord, give me strength."
"Hi," Quinn breathed back.
Quinn's heart fluttered as Rachel's smile lit up the night. Their lips melded once more and Quinn couldn't help but think, "Yeah, life f-in rocks."
A/N: So! There you have it; the beginning of the continuation of the story. It wasn't too fluffy was it? I was thinking of adding this as a sequel, but I wasn't too sure, so I posted it here. Do you guys think my writing has changed? I feel like I've changed POV's somehow when I write either Quinn or Rachel. Hm. Anyway, I would love to hear your feedback. Thank you for reading! I desperately hope you liked it, and I hope you'll stay along for the continuing journey!