When Rachel handed her a pink, engraved invitation during glee practice, Quinn smirked without thinking.
"A slumber party?" she asked scornfully.
"What, you mean you Fruit Loops never have slumber parties?" asked Mercedes.
"It's Cheerios," hissed Santana, handing Rachel back her invitation, "And we can't go. We have games on Friday nights."
"You can come late," offered Rachel, clasping the invitations to her chest and getting glitter all over her sweater in the process. "I just thought that a sleepover would give us a chance to bond more fully before sectionals. You know, a team that plays well together, works well together. I even heard that the Broadway cast of 9 to 5 the Musical sometimes went on trips toge-"
"I'll come," said Quinn, if only to shut Rachel up.
Rachel beamed at Quinn, a smile that made something in the pit of Quinn's stomach flip.
"So are we invited?" asked Puck, plucking the invitations out of Rachel's hands and scattering some of them across the floor in the process. "A sleepover with …manis/pedis and facials and karaoke? Sounds like fun."
"It will be fun," replied Rachel hotly, snatching the invitations back from Puck and smoothing them out, "But the only boy who is invited is Kurt."
"Really?" asked Kurt, surprised. "If it's because I would enjoy a manicure, that's true, but it means that you should invite Puck too, since I saw him at the spa at my last appointment."
The girls burst into laughter, and Puck's face turned a red that rivaled a tomato.
"Hey," he said, pointing his finger at Kurt and moving to include everyone in his glare, "Have you seen the women that go into those places? It's even better than cleaning pools. And they give hand massages."
"Sure, that's why you go," teased Finn, punching Puck's arm. Puck reached out to punch Finn back, in the face, but froze as Mr. Schue strode in and demanded that they settle down.
Rachel slid into a seat next to Quinn on the back row, and as Mr. Schuester gathered the guys to go over their part, she bumped her arm against Quinn's.
"I'm glad you're coming," she said quietly.
Quinn turned and glanced at Rachel's face. She was smiling, but not her triumphant or determined smile. And for once she wasn't a ball of frenzied energy. Quinn hadn't really spoken to her since their trip to the thrift store four days ago, but she had thought about her. Kissing a girl really hadn't been that different from kissing a boy, but it had been softer, and if Quinn was completely honest with herself, she wanted Rachel to kiss her again.
"Okay, Rachel, Quinn, come join the rest of the group so we can start this junk."
"Mr. Schue," said Rachel disapprovingly, shaking her head, but she grabbed Quinn's arm and dragged her down to the piano, too, causing Quinn's stomach to flutter again and her thoughts to take an entirely new direction.
*/*/*
Quinn was, embarrassingly, the first one at Rachel's house on the night of the sleepover. She held up the Spring Awakening CD as Rachel opened the door, and her "You left this in my car," was cut short when Rachel kissed her.
Quinn was so shocked that she didn't have time to worry about the neighbors seeing and being horrified.
Rachel pulled Quinn inside, and once again Quinn was stopped in her tracks, but this time by the way that what she assumed had previously been the Berry's living room was currently a temporary spa.
"Oh my god."
"Yeah," said Rachel shrugging modestly, "my dads went a little overboard. They're really excited for this sleepover. I haven't had one this big since my Liza Minnelli party back in sixth grade."
Quinn was choosing the perfect retort when the doorbell rang again, and Mercedes came in with Tina in tow, bringing speakers and her iPod and the promise that she was going to make this party rock.
"I can't wait for this karaoke," she said, plunking her speakers down on the coffee table. "In glee club I don't always get my time to shine, but wait until you see what I can do with some Beyonce."
"What about you?" asked Rachel, turning to Tina. "What are you going to wow us with?"
"I was th-thinking of a little Avril?" asked Tina uncertainly, handing Rachel her iPod.
"Girlfriend?" asked Rachel. When Tina nodded, Rachel beamed. "That song is so 2007, but I love it. I actually entertained the notion of going punk rocker after hearing it. But then I came back to my senses. Everybody goes through a rough stage in middle school, right?"
Quinn laughed out loud at the mental picture of Rachel in striped tights and a band t-shirt, but shut up when Rachel swung around to look at her.
"So what are you going to sing?" she asked.
Quinn felt a blush heat her cheeks, and she gestured to the CD that was still in Rachel's hand.
"Um, you know that song from Spring Awakening, Mama Who Bore Me? I mean, it kept coming on in my car, so I know the words. I'll probably just do that."
"I have the karaoke CD for the whole musical. But I was kind of hoping you'd sing some Aretha," teased Rachel.
Quinn laughed embarrassedly, drawing the attention of the other girls, and shook her head.
"No, no Aretha this time. I've decided to leave that for people who are a little bit more Motown than me."
Rachel winked at Quinn, and Mercedes laughed, and Quinn actually began to enjoy herself. Maybe the girls of glee club weren't as bad as she and the Cheerios always made them out to be. And after all, now that she wasn't a Cheerio, glee club was all that she had. She was no better than the people she used to scorn.
*/*/*
Kurt arrived with his home-concocted face mask recipe, and Rachel let Mercedes put her iPod on, and Rachel's dads came to same hello before disappearing to their bedroom for the rest of the night. Rachel was a surprisingly good hostess. Quinn had expected her to be uptight and anal about the way that everything was done, but she didn't even complain when Kanye started blasting out of the speakers.
"I think it's time for karaoke," said Kurt with a warning glare at the Mercedes. He got out his iPod and a pink flower, which he clipped in his hair before singing Popular from Wicked. He used Tina as his Elphaba, which made her blush, but she still volunteered to go next. And then Mercedes turned up the Missy Elliot, and Rachel sang Mariah, and after she was finished, they all spun around to look at Quinn.
"My turn?" asked Quinn, suddenly self-conscious. It had been a bad decision to sing one of Rachel's favorite songs, from one of Rachel's favorite musicals. Rachel would think she was an idiot if she screwed this one up.
But since when did Quinn care if Rachel thought that she was an idiot?
Rachel placed her hand on Quinn's back, urging her towards the make shift stage on top of the coffee table, and when Rachel winked from her spot on the sofa, Quinn felt her throat go dry.
And then the music came on.
Quinn missed the first phrase. She suddenly couldn't remember the words. She was choking up in front of some stupid glee kids, kids she hadn't cared about two months ago, and Mr. Schue wasn't even present, which made it even more ridiculous. And then Rachel bit down on her lip and frowned, and Quinn realized that she had to do it. So she opened her mouth and sang.
The words came to Quinn from the memory of the past week, when Rachel's CD had been the only thing playing in her car. This song especially had caught her attention, though she had to admit that she liked the whole CD. It seemed like a good show. Not that she'd ever tell Rachel that.
Finally, after an eternity, the song was over. Quinn liked singing, but she was no musical performer like Rachel. In fact, now that cheerleading was over for her, Quinn had no plans of performing any more. Well, except for in the background as Rachel stole the stage at sectionals. But that was different.
Quinn was afraid to look at Rachel's face. She heard the applause from everyone, but when she steeled herself to meet Rachel's gaze, she was surprised to see tears there.
"That was beautiful," said Rachel, her voice cracking, and Quinn felt tears well up in her eyes as well. Damn hormones.
"Maybe Quinn should take lead in a song," said Kurt, looking at her with newfound appreciation.
Quinn shook her head quickly. "No way. Pretty soon I'll be showing, and then they won't want me to be visible anymore, anyway. Not good publicity for the school."
"But you have the voice for it, Quinn," said Rachel, standing up and grasping Quinn's hand. "As much as it surprises me to say it, I think you could be leading lady material."
Quinn stared at Rachel, but didn't say anything. Rachel looked at her lips, and Quinn became self-conscious. She realized that she had been staring at Rachel's, too, which made her blush, and all of the sudden Rachel dropped her hand.
"Facials?" asked Rachel brightly, taking a step away from Quinn. "I even have little cucumber slices to put over our eyes."
Rachel went to get the cucumbers out of the fridge, and the girls sat around Kurt as he showed them how to properly apply the facial goop. When they were done, Rachel had them lay down on the pallets her fathers had set up, and one by one, she placed cucumber slices over their eyes.
Quinn was the last person that Rachel came to, and she tried to smile around the sticky cream on her face, but her lips wouldn't move. This made Rachel laugh, which made Kurt laugh even though he couldn't see anything, and under the cover of his laughter, Rachel bent down quickly and pressed a kiss to Quinn's lips.
Quinn was so surprised that she forgot how to breathe, and then Rachel placed the cucumbers over her eyes, plunging her into darkness, which gave her the sensation of being alone in her surprise.
"Later," whispered Rachel in her ear, so quietly that it seemed like a sigh, "I'm going to kiss you again."
Quinn shivered and felt Rachel lie down next to her, so closely that their arms were pressed together, and wondered how long this feeling of utter happiness could last.
And then Kurt and Mercedes started arguing about rap's place in the musical genre, and Tina's cell phone rang loudly with Katy Perry's voice, and Quinn sighed.
She would have to wait until later.
*/*/*
Brittany and Santana turned up while they all had cucumbers over their eyes, and Rachel left Quinn's side to let them in. It was Brittany's idea to play Two Truths and a Lie, and Rachel's to do a massage chain, and so they found themselves in a line on the floor in Rachel's living room, revealing their deepest secrets to one another. Maybe Rachel's virgin daiquiris that they had guzzled during karaoke hadn't been so virginal after all.
"I'm a virgin," announced Santana, provoking giggles, "I've kissed a celebrity, and I swallowed gum today in math class."
"Virgin," called out Tina, surprising everybody, and Santana shrugged.
"Yeah. You win some, you lose some."
"Okay," said Tina, kneading Mercedes' back with vengeance as she thought of what to say, "I've met Kelly Clarkson, I was born in China, and my favorite color is dark purple."
"Dark purple," guessed Kurt, but Mercedes shook her head.
"No way, it's got to be China. You were born in Ohio, T. You're not smart enough to be from China."
"You're right," admitted Tina. "But that's not w-what the football team says."
"The football team doesn't even know where China is," said Quinn. Rachel, who was behind Quinn, froze for a moment, but then Brittany started laughing, and the tension in the room dissipated.
"You go, Kurt," demanded Mercedes, and Kurt sighed audibly.
"I've had plastic surgery," he announced, "I've been slapped on the butt by the whole football team and…I've kissed a girl."
Rachel's fingers suddenly dug into Quinn's shoulders, and she gasped.
"What?" asked Kurt. "It's not that shocking."
"It's a lie," said Quinn quickly, to recover.
"Actually, I kissed a girl in first grade when a boy threw sand in her eye. It's plastic surgery that I've never had," corrected Kurt, his smirk evident in his voice.
"You and Kurt have something in common," Rachel whispered in Quinn's ear. Her lips brushed the outer shell of Quinn's ear, and then her neck, and Quinn closed her eyes and prayed that nobody would turn around.
"I-have to go to the bathroom," announced Quinn quickly, tearing herself from Rachel's grasp and standing up.
"I'll show you where it is," offered Rachel. She grabbed Quinn's wrist, pulling her out of the room, and if anybody thought that it was weird, they didn't comment.
"I can find the bath-" started Quinn, but she stopped when Rachel pulled her into the bathroom and shut the door behind them.
"I know that you don't really have to go to the bathroom," said Rachel confrontationally.
"How do you-" But Quinn had to stop again, because Rachel had grabbed her neck and was kissing her with a hunger that Quinn hadn't felt since the first month that she had dated Finn in ninth grade.
"I told you that I was going to kiss you again," breathed Rachel, her lips brushing against Quinn's as she spoke. Then she sucked on Quinn's bottom lip, causing Quinn to groan and Rachel to hold her tighter.
God, thought Quinn, but Rachel kept her from speaking aloud by sliding her tongue into Quinn's mouth. Quinn sucked on Rachel's tongue, and clung to Rachel's hips, and when Rachel nipped at Quinn's lips, Quinn slid her fingers under Rachel's sweater.
"Do you really want to -" began Quinn.
"You're the one with the boyfriend," said Rachel, her hands sliding down to Quinn's waist.
"Even my boyfriend hasn't touched my bare breasts," replied Quinn, shocking even herself.
"It isn't exactly your breasts that are going to be bare," pointed out Rachel as Quinn's fingers traveled up her stomach.
"Oh god," said Quinn a second later when she discovered that Rachel wasn't wearing a bra. So that was what a nipple felt like.
"Told you," gloated Rachel.
Quinn pinched Rachel's nipple between her fingers, which shut Rachel right up.
"Who's smug now?" asked Quinn.
Rachel's eyes popped open, and she narrowed her eyes challengingly.
"Take off your blouse," she demanded.
"What?" asked Quinn. If she had thought that it would be romantic with a girl, she had been wrong.
"Take off your blouse," repeated Rachel.
Quinn bit her lip, then shrugged and unbuttoned the blouse. Rachel dropped her arms, and Quinn shrugged the blouse off of her shoulders and caught it before it dropped to the floor. At Rachel's raised eyebrow, she sighed and took off her bra, too.
"Now it is my bare breasts," she said.
"Yes," agreed Rachel, looking at them. "Can I-"
"I didn't just take my bra off so my nipples could have fresh air," said Quinn tersely.
But instead of touching Quinn's breasts, Rachel tugged Quinn closer and kissed her again, gently, with her tongue but not her teeth, and Quinn had to hold onto Rachel's waist to keep from falling backwards with dizziness.
One of Rachel's hands slid up Quinn's ribs until it covered her breast, and Rachel's lips slid lower, down Quinn's neck, across her collarbone, until Rachel bent her head down and took one of Quinn's breasts into her mouth.
All of the breath left Quinn's body in a rush. She looked down at the top of Rachel's head, her dark hair contrasting starkly to Quinn's skin, and then at Rachel's lips, closed around her nipple.
"Dear Jesus," whispered Quinn, because the only words in her head at that moment were his name and Rachel's.
Rachel glanced up at Quinn and smiled, then bit her nipple playfully before releasing the breast and moving to suckle the other.
Goosebumps broke out across Quinn's skin, and she tangled her fingers in Rachel's hair and prayed to stay upright. But Rachel's lips were leaving her without a sense of direction at all, and as Rachel abandoned Quinn's breast and began to trail her kisses down Quinn's stomach, dangerously close to the waistband of Quinn's jeans, Quinn slid to her knees and placed her hands on Rachel's cheeks.
"Kiss me," she pleaded, pressing her breasts to Rachel's sweater-covered ones. Rachel kissed her, mashing their lips together, and Quinn dropped her hands from Rachel's cheeks to the hem of her sweater as she tried to figure out how to get the sweater off of Rachel without breaking their kiss. The sweater had just cleared Rachel's ribs when the doorbell rang four times in rapid succession.
"What the hell?" asked Rachel, pulling her mouth away from Quinn's. Then loud male voices came from the direction of the front door, which opened and closed, and Rachel was pulling down her sweater and opening the bathroom door before Quinn even had a chance to register what was happening.
"I think the guys are crashing the party," hissed Rachel over her shoulder as she headed to the foyer. "You'd better put on a bra before you come out."
Quinn took her time putting her bra and blouse back on, and when she was done, she fixed her disheveled hair and dabbed water on her flushed cheeks. When she finally left the bathroom, it was to find the boys of glee club, including Artie, sprawled out across the living room.
"Are we too late for manicures?" asked Finn teasingly.
Puck held up his middle finger in Finn's direction, and Kurt held up his baggie of nail files.
"It's never too late for manicures," he declared. "You have no idea how many times I've dreamed of you asking me to give you one."
Finn blushed, and everyone laughed at him, and Quinn slid in the back of the crowd next to Rachel.
"So I guess we'll have to wait 'til everyone's asleep to continue," Quinn whispered in Rachel's ear.
Rachel turned to Quinn, her eyes bright with determination.
"Not unless I can figure out a plan for having us land on each other for Seven Minutes in Heaven first."
End.