A/N: Just in case that last notice gave you the wrong impression, I won't be changing my plan for this story in the slightest. I don't get sad, I get defensive. Oh, and don't think this was a quick fix because in this chapter, very little has really happened.

-/-

Quinn was half asleep as she trudged back to her dorm room. When she actually made it to the door, she saw a note. Deciding that she could read it in bed, she pulled it off and walked inside. She walked to her bad and kicked off her shoes without bothering with the laces. She then let herself fall face down on the bed.

Although she was pretty happy to just fall asleep on her face like she was, Quinn knew that Brook wouldn't have bothered to write a note if it wasn't important. She lifted her head off her pillows and pulled the note to her face. Realising that she would need some sort of light to actually read what it said, she looked around for her phone. Even in the almost non-existent light, she could make it out next to her alarm clock.

Quinn sighed as she opened it up and then read the note. She immediately dropped the paper and focused on her phone. She quickly found Rachel's number and called it. Each second it rang was agonising. After what felt like hours, Rachel picked up.

"Hi Quinn."

"Rachel! What's wrong? Do you need help? Are you hurt?" Quinn rattled off the questions as quickly as they came to her mind.

"Would you shut up? Take you problems outside!" Quinn tried to send a death glare to Brook, but it didn't work as Brook had her head in her own pillows.

"Something's wrong though! You are the one that told me to call Rachel at one in the morning."

"Quinn. Quinn, I'm okay. I just need to talk to you." Quinn turned her attention back to her phone.

"You needed to talk to me at one in the morning?"

"You can never talk any other time!" The diva defended.

"I'll take that means that nothing is seriously wrong. In other words, TAKE YOU NOISE OUTSIDE BLONDIE!" Quinn threw a pillow at the half asleep redhead but did as she was asked.

"So what did you need to talk about Rachel?" Quinn asked as she closed the door behind her.

"I heard Brook yelling at you. That doesn't mean that you can walk around outside at night though. Wherever you are right now I want you to sit down." Quinn rolled her eyes. "Are you sitting down yet?" Rachel asked.

"Yes." Quinn lied.

"I know you to well. Sit down Quinn, I'm serious. I don't want you walking around at night on your own. It's not safe." Quinn put her back against the wall and slid down it until she was sitting on the floor.

"I'm sitting. What do you want to talk about?" Quinn didn't like that Rachel wanted to talk to her at 1a.m. Even by Rachel's standards that was a bit ridiculous.

"Why don't you ever talk to me?" Quinn immediately noticed the change in Rachel's voice. It had gone from its normal demanding and confident tone to one of ruin and insecurity. That meant that there was something wrong that would be very difficult to get Rachel to tell her and the situation would have to be dealt with very carefully.

There was another part of Quinn's mind that was telling her that she hadn't done anything wrong. Even if there was something wrong with Rachel, although it obviously made Quinn feel bad, it was probably Rachel's problem to deal with. It would help Rachel grow as a person.

"I try to Rachel. I'm just so busy all the time-"

"Too busy to send me a text?" Rachel interrupted. Quinn's eyebrows immediately narrowed and her head shot back a little, bumping the wall slightly.

"Yeah, I've been too busy reading the countless texts you've sent me." Quinn said as she clutched the back of her head. "Is that why you've made me call at one in the morning? To tell me off for not texting you when you haven't texted me?" Quinn could hear Rachel start crying. Her anger faded, but her resolve didn't.

"I'm sorry." Rachel no longer sounded insecure. Now she sounded flat out distraught and scared. "Please don't hang up."

"Shhh. I'm not going to hang up Rachel. Deep breaths, calm down." Quinn softened her own voice.

"Promise you won't leave me?" Quinn really didn't know where this was coming from. In all honesty, it scared her.

"Of course not. I love you Rachel, remember? Tell me what's wrong." Quinn pleaded.

"I miss you." Quinn wouldn't' take that for an answer.

"I miss you too. Now tell me what has got you crying and making me call you at one in the morning." She waited. Rachel was just hiccupping for a few seconds.

"Cynthia has been mean about you and I haven't said anything. She is always saying that a good girlfriend would call or text or talk to me at all. I know you do your best and I'm sorry." Rachel had calmed herself down a bit more now. There was less sobbing.

"It's okay. We can make a night where we make sure we call each other okay? Preferably a weekend."

"Why not a weekday?" Quinn cringed as she heard the question. There was no avoiding the topic.

"Because I have both work and school on weekdays and we would have to talk around now."

"Why do you work so much if it is making you get home so late? You need to sleep Quinn." The blonde in question was glad to hear that Rachel had stopped crying now and was almost back to demanding and confident.

"But it's the only time I can work and get as much money as I need." Quinn defended.

"How much money do you need? Really Quinn, minimum wage a week should easily be enough for food and maybe a little extra. It's no good having lots of money if you are killing yourself to get it." Rachel pointed out.

"I'm okay with it. Besides, it will be worth it."

"Wait. Will be? Quinn what are you saving that money for?" Quinn cringed again. That was a bad slip up. On the Brightside, Rachel seemed back to normal.

"I don't know." Quinn lied.

"Don't lie to me Quinn. What are you saving that money for?" Quinn closed her eyes and held the phone away from her face.

"So we can buy some nice stuff when we move in together." It was a good decision to take the phone away from her ear. Even at arm's length she could hear her girlfriend.

"Quinn Fabray I order you to stop working so late! I won't have you killing yourself so we can buy some unnecessary items the moment we move in together!" Quinn brought the phone back to her face.

"Rachel it's not killing me. Besides, don't you think it would be nice to have some money to be able to buy a couple nice things? You know, things like a nice big and soft bed instead of a hard rocky slab? I bet that would be nice. Me and you, just being together on a bed." Quinn lowered her voice as she spoke.

"I don't care for that sexy voice right now. I don't want a big elaborate bed if it's hurting you now." Rachel sounded adamant. Quinn tried a different approach.

"But if we can buy things like a nice bed later I will be able to sleep better. I can't sleep properly without being near you anyway."

"But-"

"Rachel, I'm okay. I promise."

"What if I get more hours too? Then you won't have to work as much." Although Quinn couldn't deny that that would be beneficial, she didn't want Rachel working any harder than she had to. Quinn was continuously lying when she said that she was okay. Every morning she woke up with bags under her eyes and she felt tired all the time. Rachel was worth it though.

"No, you just focus on Broadway. That's your job. I'm okay. Now, when is your best time to talk? I'm good for either Saturday or Sunday at about seven." Quinn just ended the discussion the only way you could with Rachel; by starting a new one.

"I don't really care. My schedule is flexible. Can you text me or something during the week though? I don't want to have to wait all week to talk to you." Quinn laughed.

"Of course I can. Just don't expect me to always talk to you first. You can talk to me too remember."

"But I don't want to text you at a bad time."

"If it's a bad time, I'll just have my phone on silent. You can't expect me to do everything Rachel."

"I know. I'm sorry, you do too much as it is."

"Why are you so reluctant to do anything first? Why is it that you always want me to text you first? Or call you? Or set something up?" It had been bugging Quinn since Rachel had first told her off for not texting.

"It's the kind of stuff that you always have to do. You're more of the initiator of the two of us." That wasn't a good enough answer for Quinn.

"So that means that you can't text me?" She wasn't angry; she was just trying to understand Rachel's way of thinking. If the diva thought she was being overly controlling and had to start every little conversation she wanted to know so she could change it. She wanted Rachel to feel like an equal.

"It doesn't mean anything."

"So it just means that you expect me to?"

"Is that wrong?" Quinn took a deep breath.

"It's not wrong. Just know that I am busy now. That means you can't expect me to do everything, okay?"

"I know, I know. I'll try and remember." Quinn yawned.

"We need to go to bed. When you get some time, just text me. It's not like I'll bit or anything, I'll save that for when we share a bedroom." Rachel laughed.

"You never used to do it much before we got separated."

"Times change. I may not, but the things I want to do might."

"Such as?"

"We aren't having phone sex at one thirty in the morning. Save it for the weekend."

"But I'm wet for you now." Quinn tried desperately to stop the mental images that were threatening to flood her mind. It was late.

"And you can stay like that until the weekend. Rachel, it's late. We both need sleep. I love you."

"I love you too." The both hung up. Quinn opened up her picture of Rachel. It was one of her many pictures of Rachel, but this one was just of the diva on her own. Just her head and shoulders. It was one of Quinn's personal favourites. She just sat in the corridor and stared at the picture for several minutes, wishing the real thing was with her. Before getting up, Quinn quickly pecked the picture.

She moved back into her room more quietly than she had entered it the first time. She owed it to the sleeping redhead after all she had done. She had just quite possibly kept her and Rachel together, and all the blonde had done was make noise and keep the girl up at a ridiculous hour.

Quinn walked up to her bed and let herself fall face down on it again. She was more tired now than when she had first gotten home. She was happier though. She really hadn't been thinking about it, but the lack of communication she'd had with Rachel over the last few weeks was taking its toll more than she had thought.

Sure, she had known she had missed the diva, but she had no idea until she had actually been speaking to her. Talking to her girlfriend had been a breath of her favourite air, and she was glad to know that she was going to get that breath at least once a week. Plus presents in the form of text messages. Quinn knew that she would definitely feel better when she woke up than she had in a long time.