Chapter 5
It took a couple of seconds for Quinn to register what had just happened after Rachel dragged the double mattress into the tent they would be sharing with her mother. She took a few deep breaths and try to compose herself and shake any trace of any impure thought out of her head. It would be no different than sharing with Santana or Brittany or any of her other friends. Except she never found herself practically on top of them in the morning. They'd be in a bigger bed, though, so the chances of that happening again were very, very slim. They set up the air mattress and helped Quinn's mother with hers. Rachel made sure there were a couple of flashlights at the tent door on their way out.

"There's a couple of hours before dinner," Michael said when Quinn and Rachel emerged from their tent. "The lake isn't that far, you girls could go swimming."

Quinn shrugged. "Sounds good to me." She looked over at Rachel who looked rather eager and the pair went back into the tent to change.

Quinn set up the barrier in the two-room tent to change and quickly slipped on her one-piece (she still wasn't comfortable in a two-piece and wouldn't be until she was a Cheerio again) and a pair of shorts. When she bent down to pick up her clothes she realized the barrier had gaps around the edges and there was an almost perfect view into the other side of the tent. Rachel's bare back was to her, tan skin moving with muscles as she slipped on the top of a bikini and reached around to tie it. It was wrong, so wrong, to look. Rachel was her friend. And a girl. This couldn't be happening, it wasn't happening. Except that it was.

Quinn licked her lips as she watched the twitches and the flexes and Rachel's dexterous fingers tie the knots. The brunette had obviously already changed into the bikini bottoms and sinfully short shorts and when she bent over Quinn's mouth went dry. The moment was cut short, though, when her phone beeped signaling a text message.

"Shit," Quinn mumbled.

hows the hell hole? -s

Quinn took another quick peak through the gap before responding.

not as bad as i thought itd be

meet n e hot guys?

does it matter?

fine, hot girls?

shut up.

come on, like u dont look in the shower. i kno u check me out, fabray. spill it.

"Quinn, are you ready?"

Quinn snapped her head up from the phone screen, almost having forgotten exactly why she was in a swimsuit. "Yeah…yeah, I'm ready. Just texting Santana."

Rachel took down the barrier and stepped into Quinn's half of the tent, now with a t-shirt on over her bikini top. Quinn smiled a little but didn't miss the worried look on Rachel's face.

"How's Santana?"

"Nosy, as always."

"Does she…I mean…" Rachel bit her lower lip. "Does she know I'm here?"

Quinn shook her head. In the first few days she'd thought about it. She'd thought about texting or calling her friends to bitch about the fact that Rachel was there invading her summer but she hadn't. She knew she'd be bombarded and teased relentlessly; and in the first few days she might've gone along and enjoyed it. Now she knew now that she wouldn't be able to stand it and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it, either.

"You didn't tell anyone?"

"It's not because…"

"I didn't, either. Well…I doubt Finn would've cared. The only thing he's asked me thus far is if cheating counts if it's done in a different area code."

Quinn's jaw actually dropped at that. She knew Finn wasn't bright but that was kind of beyond unintelligent. "What an ass! You deserve better than that, you know?"

The look on Rachel's face was hard to describe and Quinn swore she saw the beginnings of tears before Rachel smiled.

"He's a teenage boy," Rachel sighed. "I don't expect much."

"He's been hanging out with Puck too much."

"That, too."

After a few seconds of silence, Quinn scrambled out the tent door and slipped on her shoes. Rachel followed close behind. It was only about a five minute walk to the lake; they found a short dock leading out onto the water. Quinn spread out her towel, Rachel followed suit and then stripped off her t-shirt. The sight of toned abs and tanned skin made Quinn's mouth water and a small whimper escape. She wasn't even going to deny it anymore. She couldn't, not with Rachel standing right there looking like that. Rachel Berry was hot. And Quinn Fabray kind of had a crush on her.

"Something the matter, Quinn?"

Quinn blinked a few times, her gaze going back up to Rachel's face. The brunette's look was something in the general area of smug.

"M-my knee. Just a little sore."

Rachel nodded. "Well, water therapy is very helpful."

"Yeah."

Quinn watched closely and with much interest as Rachel turned and headed down the ladder into the lake. As soon as the water hit her mid calf, the brunette shrieked.

"Cold! So cold!"

"Oh come on, Berry, it can't be that bad."

Rachel shook her head. "No, no, no. It's freezing!"

Quinn rolled her eyes as Rachel gripped onto the ladder and shook a little. Determined to show up the brunette (and maybe show off just a bit) she jumped off the dock and into the water. When she stood the water hit her shoulders and her feet were on solid ground and fuck, Rachel was right. The water was absolutely freezing.

"Oh shit!"

"I told you!"

Determined to not be the only one tortured, Quinn smirked and waded toward Rachel. Just as the brunette moved to step up Quinn wrapped her arms around Rachel's waist and pulled. She fell back into the water, completely submerged, but knew it would be worth it when she surfaced. Rachel was shrieking and flailing and swearing when Quinn finally came up for air.

"Quinn! What the h-hell? That was uncalled for!"

Quinn only smiled and splashed a little water in Rachel's direction getting her another squeal.

"I w-wasn't going to be the only one f-freezing my ass off!"

"That reasoning isn't anywhere near logical."

Rachel splashed water back at Quinn prompting a very, very cold water fight. Rachel was squealing and laughing, Quinn wrapped her arms around the girl's shoulders to try and dunk her but the short brunette was surprisingly strong and managed to reverse their positions to dunk Quinn. When the blonde came up for air she held onto Rachel's shoulders to steady herself and her skin immediately started to warm when Rachel returned the embrace.

"Are y-you alright?" Rachel asked with a grin.

Quinn nodded. She noticed Rachel trembling against her and that her own arms were covered in goosebumps. When she shivered, however, it wasn't from the cold. Rachel had pulled her in a little closer, her fingertips had grazed a line up the curve of Quinn's spine.

"W-we should get out to av-void hypothermia."

Quinn nodded again but didn't let go and neither did Rachel. The brunette's fingertips only gripped a little tighter and she moved a little closer and Quinn's heart raced a little faster.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rachel wasn't oblivious. She also wasn't entirely innocent. She knew what she was doing when she stripped off her t-shirt on the dock and she knew that Quinn's eyes were on her when she did. She also knew that Quinn was watching and practically drooling over her when they changed in the tent. The question on the brunette's mind, though, is exactly why she now felt the need to show off a little to her new-found friend. Things were moving at an extremely fast pace, Rachel thought. It had only been two weeks since they began their friendship and now…well now, Quinn was ogling her and Rachel was showing off in order for Quinn to stare more. Could it be that she was actually crushing on her friend? It was entirely implausible. But it was happening.

When Quinn gripped onto her shoulders after having been dunked in the lake, Rachel reacted not to show off but just…by complete instinct. She wrapped her arms around Quinn's waist and ran her fingers up the blonde's spine. After the few short words about getting out of the lake and neither one moving she gripped a little tighter; noticing Quinn beginning to tremble in her arms. Rachel made the first move, leaning in just a bit, but it was Quinn who almost closed the gap. Apparently it was also the least perfect time for Rachel's conscience to kick in, remembering she had a boyfriend (however unintelligent and annoying he was) waiting for her in Lima.

"Quinn…what are we doing?" Rachel whispered. The blonde's lips were so close to her own that she could almost taste her lipgloss.

"I don't know." Quinn brought her hand up to cup the back of Rachel's neck and threaded her fingers through dark brown locks and causing the brunette to shiver.

"T-this is too fast."

Unable to look the blonde in the eye anymore, Rachel pulled out of the embrace and swam toward the dock ladder. She glanced over her shoulder at the rejected blonde who followed close behind and tried to figure out exactly what to say to make the situation any less awkward. Nothing came to mind. Rachel dropped to the dock's edge, her feet coming a few inches above the water, and Quinn sat next to her with plenty of space between them.

"Quinn, this is crazy."

"I know," Quinn whispered.

"Two weeks ago…"

"I know, Rachel!"

"We need to talk about this. It's obvious that this short time together has sparked something in each of us that can only be described as lust or perhaps the beginnings of something more, I'm not entirely sure, but because of our continuing close proximity this isn't something that can be ignored."

"Trust me, it can be." With that Quinn got up off the dock, grabbed her towel, and began walking back to the campsite.

"What if I don't want to ignore it?" Rachel's question was barely a whisper but she heard Quinn stop and take a few deep breaths before continuing on.

Rachel sat on the dock for a few minutes longer with her mind absolutely blank until a cool breeze made her shiver and decide to go back to the campsite to warm by the fire. She slipped her t-shirt on and wrapped the towel around her shoulders to head back where she was met with small smiles from her fathers and a glance from Quinn. The blonde had already changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt and was sitting next to the fire, poking it with a stick. Knowing it wasn't the time to discuss anything, Rachel headed into the tent.

Changed and dry, Rachel pulled a chair up on the other side of the fire from Quinn and watched the blonde's eyebrows furrow every now and then. Quinn was probably thinking of the same things she was. Well, actually, there was only one question on Rachel's mind: How in the hell did this happen? In a span of three weeks she'd gone from being Quinn's worst enemy to caretaker, to friend, to crushing on her. It made absolutely no sense. Things were moving entirely too quickly. Rachel took a deep breath and decided that she would simply have to take a step back and re-evaluate. Maybe Quinn had been right, maybe she could just ignore it.

The atmosphere was a little tense and quiet without the pair chattering away over a dinner of hotdogs (tofu dogs they'd miraculously found for Rachel), store-bought macaroni salad, and chips. Rachel knew her dads noticed and Judy probably had as well but none of them said anything. They had their own conversation going on and at one point Rachel honestly felt sorry for Quinn because Judy still hadn't figured out that Rachel's dads were practically the opposite of stereotypical gay men.

"I intend on getting back into the dating game soon," Judy said with a smile. "I plan on getting a whole new wardrobe as soon as possible. Oh! Perhaps you two could help me out?"

Bruce choked a little on his bite of hot dog; Michael patted him on the back a few times until he swallowed. Quinn groaned and shook her head.

"Judy, we don't…I don't know the first thing about clothes," Michael said. "I wear a state mandated uniform at work."

"My wardrobe consists mostly of jeans and shirts with Lima Lumber printed on them," Bruce added. "I really can't help you."

"Oh," Judy sighed. "Well…what is it you do like to do?"

"We play basketball in the winter," Bruce offered. "There's an adult league, Lima Lumber always has a team."

"I play poker on Wednesday nights."

Rachel tuned out the rest of the conversation, instead choosing to look over at the blonde across the picnic table who was poking at her macaroni salad. Flashes of that morning went through her mind and she had to fight a smile and a blush at the thought of waking up with Quinn in her arms and that look…that spark…that something. She ducked her head back down to finish her dinner, tried her best to go back to ignoring everything, and sighed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"What if I don't want to ignore it?" Rachel had whispered.

Quinn stopped dead in her tracks and wanted to turn around but she couldn't. What had just happened was quite possibly one of the most terrifying moments of her life. It came only after finding out she was pregnant. She'd almost kissed Rachel Berry. And, unlike getting pregnant, she wasn't feeling any regret about it. And that? That is what terrified her the most. Three weeks ago she hated Rachel Berry with every fiber of her being. Three weeks ago she wanted to torture the brunette into oblivion. Three minutes ago she wanted nothing more than to attach her lips to Rachel's.

When she returned to camp and changed into sweats, Quinn curled up in a chair by the fire pit and poked at it with a stick while she contemplated the question throbbing in her brain. How the hell did this happen? These things don't happen, they just don't. Except to Quinn. Why does all of this shit have to happen to her? Why did she have to get knocked up and why does she have to start having feelings for her former enemy?

When the two families turned in for bed it hit Quinn again that she now had to share a bed with Rachel. Rachel, who she had been a split second away from kissing a few hours before. She lay down on the air mattress, as close to an edge as she could get, and waited as Rachel said goodnight to her fathers. She saw Rachel's flashlight head back to the tent and the front flap zip shut. Rachel said goodnight to Judy, residing in the left side of the tent and Quinn rolled over to face away when Rachel knelt down to crawl into bed. Just as the brunette settled in, Quinn's phone went off.

"Sorry," Quinn mumbled as she reached for the light. She opened the text message and had to read over it three times before she actually believed what she was looking at.

u will never guess who showed up my house beggin for it. Treasure trails idiot bf. So funny. -s

Quinn covered her eyes and massaged her temples. "Shit," she accidentally hissed out loud.

"Something the matter?"

"I don't know. Santana…you know."

Rachel hummed a response and stilled. Quinn turned her attention back to her phone.

Did u do it?

Hell yea we did. lol he got pissed again after. boy needs 2 figure out what he wants.

Again?

I took his vcard like a few months ago or whatever and he got trashed a few wks ago & we did it then 2 lol

Do you not have any morals, s?

I have needs blondie. U do 2 ur just so repressed that u dont kno it.

Ur sick. I'm goin to bed. Night.

Quinn sighed and tossed her phone back on the ground next to the air mattress.

"R-Rachel?"

Quinn was only met with a deep snore. She read the texts once more, hoping she was dreaming the whole thing. She wasn't. The shit was going to hit the fan at some point, she knew, and because of that she also knew she needed to get back on speaking terms with Rachel before it did. There had to be someone there when things fell apart. Quinn knew all too well what it was like to feel absolutely alone in a situation where you needed someone the most. The plan on how to get back to friends would have to wait because of the beginning of a headache starting behind her eyes signaled that it was past time to sleep. She pulled her sleeping bag a little tighter around herself and drifted off thinking of all the different ways she could murder Finn Hudson.