I do not own Glee

Rachel shoved the last of the empty plates into a garbage bag and looked around the room for anything that might have escaped her meticulous cleaning. She was trying to pretend she really loved cleaning, but the truth was, she was nervous. The Glee Club party had gone fairly well and she and Mercedes were supposed to spend the night. Rachel Berry was spending the night at Quinn Fabray's house. She still wasn't entirely sure this wasn't a dream. She kept thinking any minute now, she'd wake up and Quinn would call her manhands or throw a slushie at her. But instead, Quinn was helping her carry her sleeping bag upstairs, and giggling with Mercedes about the song Sam had sung tonight.

Rachel was unusually quiet as they got into their pajamas and spread their sleeping bags across Quinn's bedroom floor. It was almost one a.m. and they were all pretty tired, it had been a long day. But Mercedes was chattering away and Rachel was trying to pay attention. She had no experience with girl talk and she really didn't think she had anything in common with Quinn and Mercedes. It was easy enough to talk to them about school and Glee, but there was a big elephant in the room between her and Quinn, and she wasn't sure how much longer they'd be able to avoid it.

"I am so excited you guys! I have a date next weekend!" Mercedes confided, with a huge grin on her face. "I'm so nervous though!"

Quinn smiled at her. "First dates are always stressful, but I'm sure it will work out fine! Who is he?" Mercedes started talking about a boy from the football team with a dreamy expression. She said Kurt had introduced them before he'd left and they'd been talking for awhile and he'd finally asked her out. "So what do you think, are first dates always awful? Tell me about your first dates!"

Rachel froze. She really didn't want to talk about this with Quinn in the room. She glanced at Quinn nervously, but Quinn motioned for her to talk, so she took a deep breath and started to speak.

"So actually, most of my first dates have been with the same guy..." She wasn't sure she should tell them about their real first date, when Finn took her bowling. It was probably one of their best dates, until she'd found out he'd been lying the whole time. She didn't like to think about that though. She couldn't really tell them about dating him over break last winter either. He'd been so out of it and distant, they'd spent the whole break lying in his bed watching the movies she'd bring over and while she'd been trying to build a relationship, he'd only seen her as a distraction, so he wouldn't have to be alone and think about being betrayed by two of his closest friends.

"Anyway, my situation was kind of different than yours, because we were friends first. We kind of dated over winter break last year and when it didn't work out, we just decided to be friends." That sounded better than 'he dumped me to find his inner rockstar' anyway. "So we'd actually go out to eat after Glee practice or study together, but we weren't really dating. And then you know, after Jesse dumped me, he let me cry on his shoulder a lot." She frowned, she hadn't realized before how much she'd relied on Finn last year.

"At Regionals last year, we were waiting for our cue to go out and he walked over to me, I thought to wish me good luck, and I said 'break a leg' and he said 'I love you'"

"Aww!" Mercedes sighed. Quinn was studiously filing her nails. This was actually a lot more difficult to listen too than she had thought it would be. She was trying really hard though, she really needed these girls to be her friends.

"So, I guess our real first date was that next weekend." Rachel smiled at the memory. "I was so nervous! We'd never both been interested in being in a relationship at the same time and I was scared he'd realize he was too good for me!" Mercedes snorted at that, and Quinn felt kind of sick to her stomach, she'd probably been a lot of the reason Rachel didn't feel good enough for Finn.

"So he told me he was picking me up to take me to Breadstix. But instead, he surprised me with tickets to see Beauty and the Beast at the dinner theater! It was perfect. And afterward, he drove me home and we sat on my porch swing and talked until my daddy flashed the porch light and made me come in." She smiled at the memory. It had actually been the best part of the whole night, he'd put his arm around her and she'd laid her head on his chest and he'd twirled her hair around his fingers and listened to her ramble about the show and how it compared to the Broadway touring version she'd seen a few years before. And when daddy had finally decided it was time for her to come in, Finn had pulled her into his arms and given her the sweetest kiss. She had goosebumps just thinking about it.

"So yeah, that was it. But you know, we had Glee in common, so we always had something to talk about." Rachel stopped talking and looked over at Quinn. Quinn was looking at Mercedes, but she didn't seem angry. Rachel hoped she hadn't just blown it. She realized too late she probably should have just talked about her first date with Jesse.

"What about you, Quinn? Do you have any first date horror stories?" Mercedes ask Quinn, with a big yawn. Quinn laughed and said no, and then told them about her first date with Sam. Mercedes was snoring by the end of it, but Quinn could tell Rachel was still awake.

"Rachel..."

"Yeah."

"Do you want to hear about my first date with Finn?" Quinn asked quietly, but she didn't let Rachel answer. "We started dating at the end of Freshman year. And neither of us could drive. So my parents took us to Breadstix. And they sat at the table behind us, and it was so awkward. And you know, it never really got better. Sometimes, we meshed, but mostly we were never on the same page." She paused, but Rachel didn't say anything. "He's different now. You made him better, I think. And sometimes, I still hate that we didn't work out. But...I'm ok with it. It's all ok." She pulled her blankets tighter and rolled over, thinking maybe Rachel had fallen asleep.

Quinn's mind drifted to another first date. It was the week after she'd shown up on Puck's doorstep, begging for a place to live. He'd barely talked to her all that week, but he'd finally apologized to her after school on Friday. He'd said he was just being a baby about having to give up his bed, but she knew he was embarassed about his house. It wasn't as nice as her parents, it was messy because his mom worked ridiculously long shifts as a nurse at the hospital and it was mostly just Puck and his little sister at home. She had told him she'd rather be in his house, listening to the chaos of him teasing his sister and his mom pestering them about homework and hanging up coats, than the quiet coldness of her own home any day. She'd

been rewarded with a real smile from him, not that fake one he usually gave. He'd asked her about her plans that night and when she'd said all she had was homework, he'd asked her to watch a movie with him instead.

They'd ordered pizza and laughed about the movie, some slap stick comedy she would have yelled at Finn for picking out, and she's never been sure how she ended up curled into his side by the end. He'd held her long after the movie had gone off and they had talked about absolutely nothing until she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. He'd kissed her cheek when she got up to go to bed. She shook off the memory, trying not to think about how that chaste kiss had made her feel more than any of Sam's more passionate ones.

*Glee*

Rachel laid awake long after she thought Quinn and Mercedes were asleep. She didn't know how to respond to Quinn's statement. She kept feeling like she was in the twilight zone or something. For the first time in her life, she had almost everything she'd ever wanted. She didn't know what she would do when the bottom fell out, like it always did for her. She picked up her phone and texted Finn.

Are you awake?

Yeah, what's up? Do you need me to come get you? She smiled, he was so scared that Quinn was just using her friendship for some nefarious purpose.

No, actually, it was a really good night. I just wanted to say I love you.

Love you too, babe.

Rachel fell asleep thinking Quinn might be right. Everything was ok.