Christmas was approaching and the summer months were long over. The snow falling outside was proof of that. When Rachel woke Quinn up that morning and left the room to make coffee, she wasn't expecting to open their bedroom door and find decorations scattered and hanging from all surfaces in the living room.
"Quinn! Wake up! Wake up!" Rachel yelled, jumping on the blonde and shaking her.
"What Rachel? What? What's the matter?" Quinn asked, alarmed as she sprang up from where she had been laying.
"Look! Outside! Go look!" The excited girl cheered as she pulled Quinn from the bed and pushed her towards the living room.
"He decorated" Quinn observed as she walked deeper into the room.
"That means we get Christmas!" Rachel cheered.
"Aren't you Jewish?" The blonde asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Only half and that hasn't stopped you for demanding me to make bacon for breakfast! Now come on! Look at the treeeee! Oh and the lights!" Quinn watched as Rachel ran around the room like an excited child. Her random acts of innocence is what kept the blonde smiling.
That was until the speakers crackled and Rachel came flying towards her to cling to her.
"Good morningladies. I'm glad to see that you are enjoying the festive decorations. As you are aware from the calendar and by the obvious weather outside, we are approaching the Christmas holidays. I would like you each to write down a gift for one another to exchange for Christmas. Also, since Rachel's birthday is in 2 days, Quinn you may submit a gift for her to receive. Merry Christmas ladies and Happy Hanukkah."
"That voice scares the fucking life out of me" Rachel whispered.
"Me too" Quinn agreed, pulling the brunette closer.
"Quinn?"
"Hmm?"
"What do you want for presents?" Rachel asked in a small voice.
"I want... I want you to sing me a song" Quinn replied, pulling back from Rachel to see her reaction.
"I'm – I'm not ready to sing yet."
"Okay. But just promise me I'll hear you sing again? It's been too long"
"I promise" Rachel answered and closed her eyes when she felt Quinn's lips against her head.
###
That evening, when Quinn was busy reading in the library, Rachel wrote her request to their capturer.
When Rachel was busy brushing her teeth, Quinn wrote her own.
They smiled at one another when they both headed towards the storage room, taking turns to slide each letter underneath the locked door.
###
On the 18th of December, Rachel Berry woke to find two boxes laying on their bed. One palm sized which held a gold star necklace with 'Love from Quinn' engraved on the back. And a large box with multiple DVD's of a variety of musicals. They spent the rest of the day on the couch watching each and every musical in the box.
###
On the morning of December 22nd, shutters dropped from the ceiling in front of the glass windows, blocking their view to their only access to the outside world. In panic, they both raced to the bedroom and hid under the covers, not moving until the speaker announced that renovation was going on in the garden and for them not to worry. They would soon be allowed out back outside. Quinn, having a theory of what was happening, assured Rachel that what was said was true.
But that didn't stop them from laying in bed all day. Only getting up to run to the kitchen for junk food and then running back to bed. They spent the day laying in bed, bringing up memories and talking of the 'good times' in Glee club.
Quinn mentioned that her favorite song that Rachel had preformed had been 'Keep Holding On'. This led to the discussion of Beth. A touchy subject for Quinn of course, but she felt comfortable enough with Rachel to discuss this with her. She now trusted the girl with her life as they had grown closer over these last 7 months of captivity.
###
On Christmas day, Rachel awoke and found the bed empty. She checked the bathroom, no sign of the other girl. She checked the kitchen, the storage room (where she found a package marked 'To Quinn, from Rachel', the library and the gym. She wasn't there. Just as she was starting to panic, she realized that the shutters were raised.
Running to the door, she spotted Quinn coming out of some foreign hut like building that had appeared in the right hand side of the garden. The blond had a huge smile on her face as she entered into the living room, pushing Rachel away from the door.
"What's in there?" She questioned.
"It's a surprise"
"What is it?"
"Do you know what the word surprise means?" Quinn laughed at the girl when a pout appeared on her face.
"Now now. No more pouting. You'll find out soon enough. But first!" She said, pulling Rachel over to the Christmas tree.
"Presents!" She cheered as they sat down next to the tree which did in fact hold multiple presents which had not been there the night before.
Sorting them into two piles with their names on them, Rachel and Quinn dug into the presents.
For Quinn, she found a brand new laptop with a note saying that she could use it for her writing; a type writer which also held a note saying that she could use it for her writing; a camera and developing set and an iPod.
For Rachel, she found a signed copy of Funny Girl by Barbra Streisand; a matching iPod to Quinn's; a mac laptop with a note for her to 'Make a Demo CD'; her own little digital camera and a sheet of gold stars which actually sort of shocked the girl and amused her.
After breakfast, they girls decided to exchange their gifts. Rachel grabbed the parcel that she had collected earlier and Quinn grabbed Rachel so that she could lead her to her gift.
Quickly running out to the newly built building, they hurried in through the door out of the snow and Rachel froze when she realized just what her surprise was.
A small recording studio had been built for her. In it, a booth holding a microphone stood. Outside the booth, a giant soundboard along with a mixing track dock and sound station sat. And also a comfy looking couch. The hut itself was warm and protected them from the outside weather.
"You got this for me?" Rachel asked, turning around to the blonde girl. She nodded.
"But, why?"
"Because I wanted to hear you sing" Quinn simply replied and then sat down on the couch, pulling Rachel to sit with her.
"Thank you" Rachel mumbled, still looking around and taking in her surroundings. This was all hers. Her own place to make music, to record the music that she's been writing and working on for months. This was the push she needed to start singing again.
"So, did I do good?" Quinn asked. Of course she couldn't take all the credit because of course she hadn't built it. But she had come up with the idea and she had recommended which music systems to get for the girl.
"You did really good" Rachel smiled and then pulled her into a hug.
"Do I get my present now?" Quinn asked, bouncing in her seat.
"You do" Rachel answered, handing her the box. "But, I don't know how you're going to feel about it. Just remember that I would do anything to keep you happy, okay?"
Quinn nodded, scrunching up her eyebrows in confusion of the other girls words and then turned back to the box in her hand. Opening it slowly, she gasped when she saw what was laying in the box. She reached in a pulled out the frame, dropping the box to the floor, forgotten.
Swiping her fingers over the glass of the frame, she took in the image that was her daughter. Beth.
"She looks just like you" Rachel commented, observing the picture of the little girl. Now that they had been in this house for so long, Quinn's hair had returned to the natural dirty blonde color she had had throughout her childhood.
The little girl in the picture, sparkling eyes and bone structure like Quinn, cheeky smile like Puck was beaming into the camera with chocolate covering her face.
"She's...She's perfect" Quinn whispered. Her daughter had changed so much from when she had first held her at birth. Of course Quinn had expected that. But the little tiny baby had grown into such a beautiful, perfect little lady.
"Of course she's perfect Sweetheart. She's your daughter after all" Rachel laughed trying to cheer the women up. She hadn't meant to upset Quinn with her gift, but obviously with the tears streaming down the other girls face, she had caused pain. Or not.
"Thank you" Quinn said, turning her eyes away from the picture for the first time since they had landed on it and to the girl sitting to the left of her. "Thank you so much for this Rachel" She said pulling the girl into a hug and holding her tight.
"So you're not upset?"
"No. I'm great full. This is what I needed. This is just what I needed. You're the best friend anyone could ever have!" She said with a smile on her face as she kept one arm around the girls waist and looked back down to her daughters smiling face.
"Really?" Rachel asked stunned.
"Really. Best Christmas gift. Ever" Quinn said, pulling the girl back to her.
Rachel squeezed the girl in her arms tighter. The butterflies in her tummy were fluttering over time today as she held the girl and she would really need them to stop so that she could focus on controlling her actions. For the past few months that they had been in the house together, Rachel had developed feelings for Quinn. But in fear that these feelings would not be returned or that Quinn would try to convince her that the feelings were coming from the dependency they have on one another, she kept them to herself.
"How about we head back inside and watch some holiday TV?" Quinn asked, standing up from the couch.
Rachel, still deep in thought about the butterflies in her stomach, hadn't even noticed that the blonde had released her from her grasp and had moved forward toward the door.
"Rachel? Are you coming?" Quinn asked again. But the other girl was still lost in thought. "Hey" she said, shaking the girls shoulder, finally snapping her out of her trance. "I said are you coming? Are you okay Rach?"
"Um. Yeah. Yeah I'm coming" She answered, walking out the door and then running across the garden followed by a confused Quinn.
When they both made it inside, Quinn stopped Rachel just as the door closed.
"Hey. Stop. What's the matter?" She asked, gripping onto the other girls wrist to prevent her from moving any further until she explained what was going on in her head.
"Nothing. Let's just watch TV" Rachel went to move but Quinn tugged on her wrist once more.
"No. Rach, come on. It's me. If you can't tell me, your best friend, then who can you tell?" Quinn asked the girl, looking straight into her eyes.
Rachel hung her head, and avoided eye contact. "That's just it. I don't want you to be my best friend" She muttered, just loud enough for Quinn to hear.
"Rach is this about you not forgiving me? Because I thought we were over that. You -"
"No. I forgive you. I more than forgive you, you know that"
"Then what is it Rach? Why don't you want to be friend's anymore?"
Rachel couldn't answer. She didn't have to proper words to express what was going through her head. So instead, she did the next best thing she could think of. She kissed her.
###
Pulling back from the kiss, Rachel leaned her forehead atop of Quinn's. "I can't be your friend. Because I want something more" She said and then pulled away to move into the room more. But once again, Quinn stopped her, yanking her wrist so that she could placed their foreheads back together. She took a look up above them and then closed her eyes.
"What's above us Rachel?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
The brunette looked up and then looked back at Quinn, who had her eyes closed.
"Mistletoe" she replied.
"Kiss me again Rachel" Quinn begged, looping her arms around Rachel's neck and guiding the girls lips to her own.
Slow, closed mouth kisses began. They held them for as long as they could before pulling back, taking a breath of air and then coming back together. As the intensity grew, so did the passion in the kisses until tongues dueled for dominance, moans became louder and hands began to wonder.
Quinn sighed as she pulled back, resting her forehead once again on Rachel's. "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that" She whispered out.
Pulling back, Rachel was shocked. Did this mean the Quinn had the same feelings that she had? That somehow, throughout all of what they were going through, she had also come to the same conclusion and developed mutual feelings for her?
"I like you" She whispered back.
"I like you too"
"Yeah?"
Quinn nodded and pulled Rachel into another kiss, cupping her face with her hands and holding onto the girl.
"Merry Christmas Quinn"
"Merry Christmas Rach"