Chapter 20 – A Place We've Never Been

Rachel jumped slightly as her phone hit the couch cushion next to her. She looked up to find Kurt looking down at her with his hand on his hip. He had that look in his face—the one where he was about to say something he knew she wouldn't want to hear. Rachel knew that look all too well and could guess what he wanted to talk about.

"Why haven't you called?" Kurt asked.

"Called who?" Rachel asked even though she knew exactly who he was referring to.

"Don't play dumb," Kurt replied, putting his other hand on his hip.

Rachel sighed. "I just—don't know what to say."

"Hey, Quinn, I think I might like you," Kurt said, mimicking her voice.

Rachel titled her head, shaking it. "You know it's not that simple. What if I'm wrong? I don't want to get her hopes up only to realize I don't have the feelings for her that I think I may."

"Rachel, you told me yourself you used to have a crush on her before Finn," Kurt stated.

"I know, but—"

"No buts," Kurt interrupted. "Call her."

Rachel shook her head. "I need more time to think about it."

"You've been obsessing over it three days," Kurt said, sitting down next to her. "I believe you've had enough time to think about it. Now you need to act."

Truthfully, she was nervous about calling Quinn, but she didn't want to admit that to Kurt. For one, she had never really been the one to make the call to ask someone out, and for two, it was Quinn Fabray. With their complicated history, Rachel couldn't imagine things going smoothly and she was already preparing herself for heartbreak. That is, if she let her heart get involved.

"I'm simply not ready, Kurt," Rachel said, picking up her phone, and stretching across the couch to set it on the table. "I hope you can understand that."

"You're afraid," Kurt said, eyeing her.

"I'm—being cautious," Rachel replied.

"Well, that would be a first," Kurt said.

"Things are different now," Rachel stated. "It's not just me that I have to worry about. What about Beth? What if I bring someone into her life and she gets attached. Or you, for that matter. I don't want to bring someone into her life only to take them away from her. She's already lost enough; I don't want to do that again."

"Listen, I know you're worried about Beth—I am, too—but we can't put our lives on hold," Kurt replied. "I'm sure Shelby dated; this is no different than that. And if you're really that worried about it, just don't tell her for the time being. Wait until things get serious with someone before introducing them. Or in this case, don't tell her you and Quinn are involved. It's not like she needs to know, anyway. I'll be here to watch her while you two go out, and she can continue to think of Quinn as a friend of ours."

"What if—" Rachel sighed, shaking her head.

"What if what?" Kurt asked.

"What if I'm afraid of getting hurt, too?" Rachel asked. "This is Quinn we're talking about. She cheated on Finn with Puck, she cheated on Sam with Finn, not to mention the fact that she made my high school career a complete nightmare."

"As much as I don't usually believe that people change, I think we both know she has," Kurt replied.

"It's just hard," Rachel said, leaning her head on his shoulder. "When I look at her, I can't help thinking about all the times she hurt me. But then other times, she'll do or say something and I—" Rachel sighed.

"I know, sweetie," Kurt said, putting his arm around her, and rubbing her back. "I was there for it all."

"Why must everything be so complicated?" Rachel asked.

"Because the best things usually are," Kurt answered.

"For once, I would like it to be easy," Rachel said, huffing.

"It could be," Kurt replied. "All you have to do is ask her on one date; nothing more than that. I'm sure she would be fine with just seeing how things go."

"We should get Beth ready," Rachel said, lifting her head up.

"Don't think I'm going to forget about this," Kurt commented, narrowing his eyes.

"I wouldn't dare," Rachel replied with a light laugh.

As soon as Rachel and Beth entered the dance studio, the little girl ran off to join Emma and two other kids on the other side of the room. Rachel laughed, shaking her head, and took a sip of her coffee. She looked around, spotting Sheila and her friends near the entrance, so Rachel walked in the opposite direction. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with them today.

"Is Kurt not joining you today?" Zoe asked as she approached.

"No, he had to work," Rachel said, sitting down next to the other woman.

Rachel took another sip of coffee in hopes that the caffeine would ease her headache. She almost didn't want to come today, but Beth loved coming to class and she couldn't take that away from her. So, she grabbed a cup of coffee on the way, and did her best to ignore the constant throbbing.

"How was your week?" Zoe asked.

"It was—not the best," Rachel admitted.

"Everything okay?" Zoe asked, looking concerned.

Rachel sighed as she said, "It is now. A few days ago when I was leaving work, I saw a car wreck and it made me think of some things I had been trying not to think about." Rachel looked at Zoe, who had her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "My biological mother—Beth's adopted mother—died in a car crash."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Zoe responded.

"We had a complicated relationship," Rachel said, shaking her head. "I was raised by two fathers, who i love dearly, but I also wondered about her. She came into my life during high school, but then decided she wasn't ready to have me as a daughter. A few months later, she adopted Beth."

"That's—Zoe shook her head.

"I know," Rachel replied. "When she died—as much as it hurt when she adopted a little girl after rejecting me, I couldn't let Beth be raised by strangers." Rachel shook her head. "I don't know why I'm telling you all of this."

Zoe shrugged slightly. "It's okay; we're friends, and sometimes you need a friend to talk to."

"Yeah," Rachel said, trailing off.

"Why do I have a feeling there's more to the story?" Zoe asked.

Rachel smiled wryly. "Do you remember Quinn?"

"How could I forget?" Zoe asked, raising her eyebrow.

"She's Beth's biological mother," Rachel said. "Beth doesn't know that, though, so I would appreciate it if you didn't say anything."

"I promise," Zoe replied.

"Quinn and I went to high school together," Rachel continued. "We were not friends. She bullied me in every way imaginable and threw slushies at me on nearly a daily basis. She rigged the prom queen votes to make it look like I had won, only to announce that it was a joke. She called me things like Stubbles and Man Hands and humiliated me in her valedictorian speech. One time she even threw a party for the Glee Club or what I thought was for the Glee Club, but it turned out to be an elaborate ruse that the Cheerios planned. Worst of all, she made me doubt myself; all the names and all the taunts made me begin to feel worthless. I hung onto the one person who made me feel special, and for a while, I thought about giving up my dreams of New York because of it.

"How can you even be around someone like that?" Zoe asked.

"She wanted to see Beth and I wasn't going to keep her away," Rachel replied. "And then I began becoming friends with her. She's not the same person she was in high school. She can actually be really nice and when I had my little breakdown the other day, she was the one I went to." Rachel stared down at her hands. "I'm thinking about asking her on a date."

Zoe began laughing. "Are you serious?"

"I know it sounds crazy," Rachel said, shaking her head. "But as hard as it was for me to believe, Quinn likes me, and I have developed feelings for her. Well, developed isn't the correct word. Before things got really bad in high school, I had a crush on her, so I suppose I've redeveloped feelings for her."

"After everything you just told me, you like her?" Zoe asked.

"Am I crazy?" Rachel asked.

"Yes," Zoe said as she nodded. "But I say go for it, anyway."

"Really?" Rachel asked.

"Why not." Zoe shrugged. "I mean, do you trust her now?"

"I do," Rachel replied softly.

"What were you hoping I would say?" Zoe asked. "Did you hope I would tell you to ask her out or discourage you?"

"I'm not certain," Rachel said with a slight smile.

"Maybe you should figure that out and then you'll have your answer as to what you think you should do," Zoe said.

Rachel sighed to herself. "Maybe."

"Call her," Kurt said, dropping Rachel's phone down next to her.

"Why are you pushing this?" Rachel asked.

"Because you're going to drive yourself crazy," Kurt stated.

"It's late," Rachel noted.

"It's eleven," Kurt said, rolling his eyes.

"Which is late to be calling someone," Rachel replied. "It would be rude."

"I'm sure she'll forgive you," Kurt said, narrowing his eyes.

Rachel sighed. "I just—"

"No more excuses," Kurt interrupted.

"Go away, Kurt," Rachel said, grabbing her phone, and walking toward her bedroom.

"I've never known Rachel Berry to afraid of a challenge," Kurt called after her.

Rachel huffed as she pulled her curtains shut. Kurt had been bugging her all evening about calling Quinn and he'd only been home the past hour. Of course, he had been texting her every moment he could, as well. She was going to call Quinn, but she was trying to wait for the right moment. And by 'right moment' she meant when she finally worked up the courage to do it.

After getting everything off her chest by talking to Zoe, she finally made up her mind. Well, she'd really made up her mind days ago, but she just needed that final push. As much as it terrified her, she wanted to see what her feelings for Quinn meant for them. There were a hundred reasons she could think of to not make that call and only a few to do, but yet those few won out. If there was chance she could be happy, she had to try it even if the idea that Quinn could be that person seemed far-fetched.

Rachel stared at the phone in her hands and sighed. She really did plan on calling tonight, but she kept stalling, and now it was rather late . She knew Quinn would still be up, but that didn't make it any less rude. But Kurt was right—she was going to drive herself crazy if she didn't do it soon. The longer she thought about it, the harder it seemed to become to make that call.

Before she could change her mind, she quickly scrolled through her contacts and swiped her finger across the screen. As she stared at her phone, she thought about ending the call, but then it began ringing and she put it to her ear. Part of her hoped Quinn wouldn't answer, but then her voice said a soft, "Hello."

"Quinn," Rachel said, almost sounding surprised. "Hi."

"How are you?" Quinn asked.

"I'm—I'm okay," Rachel said, looking down.

"I tried calling you the other day," Quinn remarked.

"I know," Rachel replied. "I would have called sooner, but I've been a little busy. You weren't in bed, were you? I know it's rather late to be calling."

"Not yet," Quinn replied.

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked. "I can always call you back tomorrow if you were."

"Rachel," Quinn let out a light laugh, "what were you calling about?"

"Oh, umm—I just wanted to—" Rachel paused and took a calming breath. "I was calling to ask if you would want to go out tomorrow night. I know it's short notice and if you would rather do it another time or not at all, I would understand. It's very presumptuous of me to assume you don't have plans already, so—"

"Rachel," Quinn interrupted.

"Yes?" Rachel asked.

"I don't have plans for tomorrow night," Quinn stated.

"Oh," Rachel breathed.

"Does that mean—"

"We can do something," Quinn said.

Rachel nodded even though there was no way for Quinn to see it. "Would it be okay if I pick you up at seven?"

"That would be fine," Quinn replied, sounding amused.

Rachel smiled. "Wonderful. I will see you tomorrow, Quinn."

"Goodnight, Rachel," Quinn said.

"Goodnight, Quinn," Rachel replied.

Rachel threw her phone on her bed and flopped down next to it. She almost couldn't believe she finally did it; she asked Quinn Fabray on a date. If anyone told her she would do that one day, she would have thought they were crazy. Even now, it sounded a little crazy to her. The only problem was that she didn't know if Quinn knew it was a date. Regardless, she was happy with herself and would be sure to speak with Quinn more fully about her intentions when they went out the next night.

"Call her!" Kurt yelled.

"I did!" Rachel yelled back.

She heard Kurt's footsteps and then he popped his head through the curtains. "You did?"

"We're going out tomorrow night," Rachel informed him. "Oh, can you watch Beth? I probably should have asked you that first."

"I can switch shifts with James," Kurt said with a smile. "He owes me, anyway."

"Thank you," Rachel said, jumping off the bed, and hugging him,

"I'm just glad you finally called," Kurt said, raising his eyebrow at her when she released him.

She lightly shoved him, but was smiling, nevertheless. "I'll remind you of this the next time you're nervous about calling a guy."

"I don't get nervous," Kurt said, crossing his arms.

Rachel put her hands on her hips and said, "Duncan Parker."

Kurt scowled and threw his hands down. "Fine; you've made your point."

Rachel laughed, shaking her head. Now that the call was made, she felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. Of course, she'd been so worried about actually calling that she hadn't planned what to do on the date. When the realization hit her, the smile dropped off her face and she immediately walked over to her laptop to find a suitable date activity.

The moment Rachel stepped out of the taxi, her nerves hit her full force. She had been nervous from the moment she was standing on Quinn's doorstep—earlier, really—but she was afraid the blonde wouldn't like where she was taking her. She really didn't know a lot about Quinn considering they had known each other for years, so it was hard to pick the best activity for the evening. Smoothing down the sides of her black dress, she watched as Quinn stepped out and gave the blonde a smile.

"We're at NYADA," Quinn said, looking up.

"Yes," Rachel replied. "There is this event going on here tonight and I hoped you might enjoy it. It's this thing the school does each summer; they allow the public to participate and then there's an art showing of the previous year's work."

Quinn's eyebrow rose. "How do they do that?"

Rachel smiled. "You'll see."

It was something she and Kurt had participated in once before and they both had a lot of fun with it. When she saw that it was happening that weekend, she decided that would be what she took Quinn to. She still wasn't positive if the other woman would like it, but she hoped she did.

As Rachel turned to walk up the steps, she took a deep breath. She didn't think she had ever been this nervous on a date before. If it even really was a date; she wanted to broach the subject on the cab ride there, but she couldn't seem to get the words out of her mouth. For all she knew, Quinn just thought they were two friends going out for the night. She really wished she had been more explicit about it when she called Quinn to ask her out.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked as they entered the building.

"I'm fine," Rachel said a little too quickly.

Quinn cocked her eyebrow. "Really?"

"I'm just nervous you won't like this ," Rachel admitted. "I want things to go well tonight and I would hate for it to spoil the whole evening,"

"Why is it so important?" Quinn asked.

"Because I—" Rachel took a deep breath, knowing this was her chance, "would like our first date to be perfect." Rachel cleared her throat and looked away. "Unless you don't want this to be date. I wasn't necessarily clear on the phone, so I would completely understand and accept that you should have the right to choose whether or not you want this to be a date."

"You asked me on a date," Quinn said.

"Yes," Rachel replied, glancing at the blonde.

"Well—then let's go," Quinn said, giving her a smile.

Rachel breathed a sigh of relief and then internally rolled her eyes about how uncool she was being. She had been on many dates before, but this one was different. This was Quinn Fabray. They may be out of high school, but to Rachel, Quinn would always be the most popular girl at McKinley High, and she was very aware of the fact that she was on a date with her.

"Welcome," someone said as they entered.

Rachel smiled at the women and said, "Thank you."

"So, what do we do?" Quinn asked.

"Well, there are different stations," Rachel said, looking around. "Some are messier than others, and I thought it might be a good idea to avoid the ones that could potentially ruin our clothes since I am quite fond of this dress."

"It is a nice dress," Quinn said, her eyes roaming over Rachel's body.

Rachel blushed. "We should definitely avoid that room over there. They give you smocks, but it's essentially one big paint fight."

"Yeah, that probably wouldn't be the best idea tonight," Quinn remarked.

"There are still plenty of other things to do, though, so simply let me know where you want to go," Rachel said.

Quinn nodded and wondered over to one of the walls. There was a long canvas that was half covered in different colors lines. From further away, it looked like painted lines, but up close, it became clear that it was covered in writing.

"You write down one word on it," Rachel said. "It's called The Wishing Wall."

"The one word is my wish?" Quinn asked.

Rachel nodded. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to."

Without saying a word, Quinn picked up one of the pens available. She picked a spot that was a little more sparse with writing and quickly scrawled across it. When she was done and took a step back, Rachel saw that she had written 'forgiveness' on it. Silently, Rachel picked up a pink pen and wrote her own word next to Quinn's.

"I thought you would write 'Broadway'," Quinn remarked.

"Well, happiness would include Broadway," Rachel said, giving her a smile as she turned to look over what other people had written.

"I'm starting to think that paint fight could sound like fun," Quinn whispered practically in her ear.

Rachel gasped. "You're not serious, are you? When Kurt and I did it, I was washing paint out of my hair for a week."

Quinn laughed, shrugging. "Maybe."

"Good, because I think throwing paint at each other is more of a second date activity," Rachel commented.

"Maybe next time, then," Quinn said with a smirk.

Rachel tried to keep her face impassive at the remark. "Well, we can work on some pottery or there's a drawing section or I think there may even be some finger painting somewhere—"

"Actually, I have an idea," Quinn said.

"Oh?" Rachel replied, slightly intrigued by the look on Quinn's face. Quinn pointed to the room behind her and Rachel smiled. "Sculpting it is."

"You were right," Quinn stated.

Rachel smiled. "I thought you would like it."

"My bank account, however, is not such a fan," Quinn said with a laugh. "I almost went last week; I'm glad I waited."

"The bookstore was certainly more fun with you by my side," Rachel commented.

After eating near the bookstore Ben had taken her to, Rachel thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take Quinn. They ended up staying there until closing time, but Rachel didn't mind. She could tell by the look on Quinn's face as she looked around that she'd done well. The blonde had apologized several times for taking so long, but Rachel actually enjoyed watching Quinn look over everything. It was nice to see her so content.

"I hope you didn't have anything else planned considering how long I took," Quinn said.

Rachel shrugged. "Nothing that can't wait for another time."

Rachel easily hailed a cab and opened the door, allowing Quinn to enter first. When she climbed in, the driver looked at them and asked, "Where to?"

Rachel looked at Quinn and the blonde gave the driver her address since Rachel didn't know it. The ride to Quinn's was mostly silent except for the radio, which was playing quietly in the front. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence though. Usually, Rachel felt the need to fill every moment of silence while on a date, but this time was different. With Quinn, she didn't need to do that. She could often learn what the blonde was thinking or feeling by simply watching her.

She glanced at Quinn at they neared her apartment and then looked down at her hand. It was resting in the space between them and Rachel thought about reaching out and taking it. She didn't know if it was too much, though. They were having a perfect night so far and she didn't want to do anything to mess that up.

They came to sudden stop in front of the building, sending them both flying forward. Rachel huffed and shot a scowl at the driver before handing him over his money. Quinn's eyebrow rose slightly, but Rachel gave her a slight smile and shrugged. She had no intentions of going up to Quinn's apartment, but she did want to walk her to her door. And she didn't want the cab driver gawking at them while she did, so she would just find another once she bid Quinn goodnight.

After she stepped out of the cab, she offered her hand to Quinn to help her out. Once she was standing, neither let go, and Rachel smiled to herself.

"Can I ask you something?" Quinn asked.

"Anything," Rachel replied as she turned to lead them to the door.

"What made you change your mind?" Quinn asked. "I mean, it was only a month and a half ago that you made it pretty clear you weren't interested."

"A lot," Rachel replied, slowing down her pace. "I think I just needed to work through my shock and the more I've gotten to know you, the more I began to think there could be something here. It isn't always easy, but I'm trying to get past everything that happened in high school. I like who you are now; it's just trying to forget who you were then." Rachel sighed softly. "I agonized over calling you because I didn't want to ask you on a date only to discover that my feelings weren't what I thought they were. But I felt the only way to really know was if I did go for it and ask you out."

"And?" Quinn asked.

Rachel smiled. "And I believe I was correct about my feelings."

Quinn nodded and Rachel looked down as they stopped just outside the front door to Quinn's apartment building. She really didn't want this night to end even though she knew that wasn't possible. This was probably the best date she had ever been on and she was reluctant to say goodnight. But it was getting late and she told Kurt she would be back by midnight, which had already passed.

"You have paint on your neck," Quinn said, reaching out, and gently wiping it with her thumb.

"I did warn you," Rachel replied. "I'm certain we will both be finding colorful spots for the next week."

"Do you regret it?" Quinn asked.

Rachel shook her head. "No."

"Good," Quinn said softly.

"I should go," Rachel said with a light sigh. "I told Kurt I would be back by midnight."

Quinn nodded. "I had fun tonight."

"You did?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," Quinn replied softly.

"Maybe we can do it again?" Rachel said hopefully.

Quinn smiled, giving another slight nod. Rachel bit hit her lip as she stared at Quinn; the blonde tried to kiss her once before, so it would be okay if she did it now, right? She had never been the one to really initiate an end of the night kiss, but she had never been the one to ask the other person out.

She moved forward a step and her eyes dropped down to Quinn's lips. It wasn't the first time she wondered what it would be like to kiss the blonde—she even asked Finn one time what it was like—but it was the first time she was so close to doing it. When she looked up, Quinn was watching her closely. She couldn't read the other woman's face, but then Quinn bit her lip ever so slightly and Rachel couldn't take it any longer.

Rachel closed the distance between them and brought their lips together. The kiss lasted no more than a few seconds—it was their first date, after all—but it was enough for Rachel to know she wanted to do it again. When her eyes opened, Quinn was staring down at her with a faint smile on her face. Rachel wanted to lean up again, but instead, she sighed lightly and took a step back.

"Goodnight, Quinn," Rachel said.

Quinn smiled as she turned and said, "Night."