A/N: I do not own Glee, which is unfortunate, because the current writers are really pissing me off, although Thursday's episode was pretty good. Stay tuned to my gleeverse, which has Faberry as endgame.

Chapter 8

The morning was quiet. Flickers of light from the windows made the only movement in the otherwise still room. Rachel didn't know how long she'd been in this position because time was as frozen as the room. Sometime during the night the two girls had shifted. Instead of spooning they were face to face and the brunette was securely locked in Quinn's arms. She was warm and content in the blonde's embrace. For the first time since Finn's death, the brunette felt peaceful and at rest.

Because her internal clock was so precise, Rachel knew that she'd been awake since around six-thirty. Since then, she had no idea how much time had passed, nor did she care. She was content with her current status and was putting it to good use. The brunette had traced over Quinn's features with her eyes multiple times, never tiring of the beauty that was Quinn Fabray, the girl who was sometimes such an enigma. She was simultaneously fragile and strong, bold and shy, and hot and cold. It was the combination that had always drawn Rachel in, especially in high school. She recalled their last year of school as she unabashedly gazed at the blonde. Senior year had the two of them spending more time together both in glee and outside of it, forming a seemingly impossible friendship. Her life was somehow incomplete without Quinn.

During her musings, the brunette noticed a faint scar on the blonde's collarbone. She teared up when she realized the convergence of the dates. It was just about this time last year when Quinn had almost died in that horrific accident. The diva shivered at the knowledge that she had come so close to losing Quinn and subconsciously pulled her closer. She was still shocked by the fact that Quinn hadn't blamed her. Rachel blinked back tears at the memories that flooded her mind: the way the car looked like a crushed soda can, the nights of hospital vigils, and the blonde in a wheelchair in the hallways at school.

She was brought out of her reverie when she sniffled and Quinn's eyes snapped open. Rachel's wet brown eyes met red-rimmed pools of hazel that were filled with some foreign emotion. Before Rachel could blink, Quinn shuttered her eyes and they hardened in the early morning light. The brunette's throat closed up at the despair and defeat she saw on Quinn's face.

Unbeknownst to Rachel, Quinn had been awake for several minutes before she opened her eyes. The blonde took a few moments to commit to memory the feeling of lying in the brunette's arms. It wasn't too long, however, before it became overwhelming. The diva's probing eyes were like a physical caress on her body and Quinn finally couldn't take it anymore. The pressure on her heart was screaming at her to kiss the brunette and it took colossal control to resist the temptation.

She had abruptly opened her eyes and seen the awestruck expression that Rachel wore. That sparked hope within her until she forced herself to push the diva away. She had almost softened at the sight of glistening brown eyes, but she held firm. Quinn pulled back from the diva and rose from the bed. In her haste she got tangled in the sheets. That combined with sore muscles and aches from old injuries caused her to fall to the ground. Rachel hurried to her side, but Quinn shook her off. "Don't touch me!"

"But, Quinn, I just want to help."

"I said get away from me! Why did you even come here. I thought even you would be smart enough to take a hint."

"I'm here because we're friends."

"We were never friends, not really. I was stupid to think that I could do this with you!"

Rachel felt like she'd been slapped. She rolled her shoulders and hardened her own gaze as she stared down at the blonde. Before she even thought about it she had grabbed Quinn's arm and yanked her upward. "What's going on with you?" Rachel roared, incensed. She wrapped her arms around Quinn and held on. "I won't let you push me away!"

Quinn began struggling against the embrace. Rachel had her pushed up against the door. She met the blonde's molten gaze with equal ferocity. "You just don't get it, Rachel!" Quinn was practically screaming. "I have to push you away."

Rachel suddenly found herself braced against the wall as Quinn managed to flip their positions. Her arms were now pinned on either side of her head as the blonde stared at her with unblinking eyes that had turned a brilliant shade of green. Quinn closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the diva's and Rachel's breath hitched at the pain she had glimpsed briefly in those beautiful eyes. "It all just hurts too much," the blonde's voice dropped to a whisper.

"Why does it hurt?" Rachel responded quietly as she searched the blonde's face.

"Because of this," Quinn stated as she bent her head and covered Rachel's mouth with a kiss.

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From the moment Quinn had awakened in Rachel's arms, she had been afraid of this moment; the moment when her deepest feelings were on display. She was too used to being the second choice, the one who wasn't good enough, the forgotten friend. She had made her decision to move on and let Rachel go. She was trying to protect herself from the pain of always being the friend on the sidelines who had to watch the person she loved with someone else. She had made it through high school as that person, but they were adults now. Soon Rachel would get married to someone and have children. Quinn had tortured herself with the knowledge that she would only ever get to be the occasional sitter and honorary aunt. She had willed herself to be the friend Rachel needed in the past, but she just couldn't do it anymore; the pain was too overwhelming. She needed something back.

Earlier, when she was in Rachel's arms, she had decided to hide her feelings, but the resolve she was so proud of had crumbled when the brunette had pinned her by the door. Arousal shot through her body and she had reversed their positions in order to pin the diva. Their eyes met and her arousal only increased from Rachel's searching gaze and the feeling of their bodies pressed so tightly together. What she had wanted so badly was momentarily in her arms and she couldn't stand it. She had to have at least one taste of the brunette that held her heart.

Quinn was a goner from the moment she touched her lips to Rachel's. At the first taste of the diva, she traced the brunette's lips with a frantic tongue and thrust it past plump lips. She plundered Rachel's mouth with all the pent-up love and passion she'd always felt. She dropped Rachel's arms and pulled the girl closer as she deepened the kiss. Blood roared in her ears as she shuddered against the brunette, her body pressing the smaller girl into the door as her desire threatened to take over.

Rachel whimpered into Quinn's mouth, which broke through the haze of pleasure and gave Quinn the control to push away from the brunette. The blonde backed up several steps and almost tripped over a rug on the floor. She closed her eyes at her own clumsiness before glancing up to see the diva's reaction.

Rachel's arms hung limply at her sides and her eyes were glazed over. Quinn had to fight back a moan when she watched the brunette's limber tongue flick out over kiss-swollen lips as if to catch one last taste. Transfixed, the blonde stepped forward to recapture that tempting mouth, but Rachel held up her hand and moved to put some distance between them.

A/N2: They finally kissed! What did you think?