Sunlight streams through the window filling the room, Rachel lies stretched out on her bed, a soft buzzing from her phone interrupting her daydream. She rubs her eyes and reaches for the device. New Message (1): Quinn Fabray. 'Are you free?'.
Rachel tapped out a reply.
- 'Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. I do not currently have any plans for today.'
Quinn's reply was swift: 'Would you like that to change?'
- 'Certainly.'
'I'll be there in ten.'
Quinn stares at the clock on the wall, the hands slowly working their way around the face. She looks at Rachel reading on her bed, completely focused on the book. With anyone else the silence would be suffocating, awkward. But not with Rachel. It's never like that with Rachel. It's such a natural feeling for Quinn, so calming, she doesn't need to try to be anyone around Rachel. They can just exist.
Quinn moves slightly, shifting closer to Rachel.
Rachel tries to stay focused on her book, and not at the pink-haired girl lying next to her. She's read the same page for the last thirty minutes and still hasn't absorbed any of the words. She gives up.
"Are you going to fall asleep every time you come over?" She jokes, nudging Quinn with her elbow.
Quinn laughs, her eyes are already closing. "Shut up. It doesn't happen every time."
Rachel sets the book down, settles into her bed beside Quinn. Quinn curls into her side. They always end up like this, as if magnets lie just beneath their skin, drawing them together.
Quinn's hand rests on Rachel's hip and Rachel runs her finger over it.
"Do you know what you mean to me?"
Quinn draws her breath in, tries to move her hand away but Rachel pulls it to her own hand, intertwining their fingers. Quinn's eyes open and lock onto Rachel's, their faces inches away.
"Rachel-"
"I've never doubted you, Quinn. I always believed in you, I still do." Rachel says and squeezes Quinn's hand.
"People might call you-" she pauses "-horrible things, but that doesn't make them true. You're the most incredible person I've met. You're strong and brave and so resilient. There's so much I admire about you, Quinn. There's no one more important to me than you."
"I've treated you so unkindly. I don't deserve your forgiveness." Quinn looks away from Rachel. All these kind words that she couldn't believe.
"You deserve all the good and happiness in the world." Rachel cups Quinn's face with her hand, ran her thumb across the girl's cheek.
"You say all these wonderful things to me. Things I can't possibly believe." Quinn closes her eyes and places her hand over the one Rachel holds to her cheek.
"I mean every word that I say. It's all true, and you should believe it. I know it's easy to believe the cruel things that people can say." Rachel had stopped moving her thumb on Quinn's cheek some time ago, and the pair were now just lying there, neither one noticing that they'd inched closer to each other.
"You know, I always liked your hair this pink. You should keep this look." Rachel says, moving her hand to the girl's hair, running her fingers through the chopped, pink strands.
"Yeah." Quinn had never seen Rachel's eyes so dark, or her pupils so blown.
Rachel leans closer, and Quinn welcomes the embrace. She'd been waiting so long for this, she can't believe it's real. She also doesn't believe the kind words Rachel speaks to her, but it's becoming easier to believe in them. Quinn's never felt so at home, lying in Rachel's bed, in Rachel's arms, kissing Rachel. Quinn always wanted to come home.