SuperGleek18, yeah, things are moving quickly for these girls but they're both okay with that. :) I'm glad you've enjoyed the story thus far and I hope that you continue to. Thanks for reading and taking the time to review. And to each chapter, no less. It's much appreciated.

irishinkjunkie1024 Thank you. I'm glad that you like the pacing. I agree that it might seem fast to some but as you said, for them, in this situation it's just the natural progression. At least, that's the way I look at it. To me it's as if this night was several years in the making. I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. And your comments made me smile. :)

Jaely Thanks

FaberryOTP Thank you. :)

gllover22 Thank you.

LaurenKnight13 Wow, some very powerful words there. I don't know about perfect, but I'm glad that you approve. :) There will definitely be more cuddles and fluffiness as well as some more of the steamy love scenes and much more of them getting to know each other. And yes, Santana will make an appearance along with some other friends. Thank you for your lovely review.

Author's Note: I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has favourited or followed this story. There is nothing more exciting, thrilling, pleasing or humbling to a writer to know that people are enjoying your work. Reading reviews and seeing the number of people who are taking a little time out of their day to read something I've written...well there just aren't words to express how that makes me feel.

Chapter 7

Quinn collapsed, exhausted and spent on top of Rachel and buried her face in the crook of the other woman's neck, inhaling deeply the salt of her skin. Rachel sighed contentedly and wrapped her arms around Quinn's torso, her fingers trailing idle patterns up and down her back.

"You know," Rachel said quietly into the peaceful silence "if someone had told my fifteen year old self that one day I'd be naked, in bed beneath Quinn Fabray, I probably would have recommended they seek professional help."

Quinn chuckled softly as she envisioned that particular conversation. It would likely have involved ranting, possibly a powerpoint presentation on all of the reasons why that particular occurance was not only improbably but also impossible and finally a diva storm off. Although, she couldn't imagine that a similiar conversation with her own younger self would have gone much better.

She might have wondered sometimes what it would be like to be with a girl, even fantasized about it on occasion but she'd reasoned it was only natural to wonder about it when her two best friends had been hooking up since the summer before freshmen year and besides, idle curiosity was a far cry from actual experimentation and if anyone had suggested that she was actually attracted to woman, or would one day hook up with Rachel Berry of all people she'd probably have ripped their head off.

"Because it was me, or because I'm a girl?" Quinn asked, her question muffled as her face was still pressed into the side of Rachel's neck. She grinned when she felt a faint shiver course through the other woman's body as her lips brushed against her skin with each word.

"Both. I would have been rocked by the suggestion that I'd sleep with any girl but you, specifically..." Rachel trailed off and Quinn chuckled once again.

"So you really didn't have even an inkling back then?"

The surface beneath her shifted as Rachel shook her head. "No. Not a one. Looking back now there are some clues that had I taken the time to examine more closely, probably would have led me to come to my realization sooner but back then I was so caught up in.."

"Finn," she supplied when Rachel faltered over her words. "And breaking the two of us up."

"Hey, that was only one...and a half years out of the four that we were in high school."

"Yeah, because he broke up with me and went back to you."

Rachel sniffed. "I was going to say, I was so caught up in all of the other drama that was high school..."

Quinn snorted, which earned her a light slap to her shoulder, but otherwise remained silent.

"...and Glee and schoolwork and preparing myself for my inevitable departure from Lima."

Quinn hummed in response. "So, what were some of these clues that you were so blind to back then?"

"Hmm, well..."Rachel started and then trailed off for a minute. "I was constantly checking out other girls, you, Santana...others... I told myself that I was just comparing my looks to yours, trying to see how I stacked up against you all but there was probably more to it than that."

Quinn nodded, she remembered doing a lot of that herself and her reasoning had been pretty much the same as Rachel's.

"Well, you did tell me once that I was the prettiest girl you'd ever seen," Quinn teased. "That probably should have been a sign." And the faint fluttering that she'd felt in her chest at Rachel's words probably should have been a sign to her but she hadn't taken the time to examine it, there had been too much else going on.

"Says the girl who drew pornographic pictures of me on the bathroom walls."

Quinn laughed lightly and pressed a kiss against Rachel's neck.

"I spent more time watching the Cheerios at football games than I did the team. I thought it was just because our team sucked and you guys were amazing when you performed but again, there was probably more to it than that."

"Anything else?"

"Probably a ton more but none that I can think of off-hand."

"When did you realize it then, that you were interested in women?"

"Sophmore year. Santana dragged me out dancing one night-"

"Please don't tell me you slept with Santana," Quinn interrupted.

"What? Ew. No."

Quinn's head shot up to glare at Rachel. "What do you mean, ew?"

Rachel giggled and brought her hands up to comb through Quinn's hair, her fingers sifting soothingly through it as she pushed it back off her forehead. "I meant, ew, that'd be like sleeping with my sister or something to that effect."

"Oh, okay." Quinn relaxed at Rachel's words and her ministrations and she laid her head back down against the other woman's shoulder. "Go on."

"As I was saying, Santana dragged me out dancing one night and while we were at the club she met a woman...Kara...Karen...something like that. Anyway this woman, we'll call her Karen just to make things simple, Karen was there with a friend and didn't just want to abandon her while she and Santana...hooked up for whatever it was they did so Santana begged me to "be her wingman" I believe was the term she used. I spent the evening talking and dancing with this woman, Andrea. I had a really good time and at the end of the night she asked for my number and if she could call me sometime."

"And you said?"

"I didn't want to hurt her feelings or cause any upset with her friend and Santana so I agreed and gave her my number. I honestly never expected her to call. And on the off chance that she did, I figured I could just tell her I was flattered but not interested. Then a couple days later she did call. She invited me out for coffee and before I even knew what I was doing, I said yes."

"Oh, God, that's adorable," Quinn breathed, trying not to laugh as she imagined Rachel out on an inadvertant date with this woman.

Rachel huffed.

"So, what happened?"

"We had coffee and talked and it was weird and disconcerting because as I sat there I just kept thinking over and over again that I was on a date, with a girl. But I had an amazing time. She was funny and smart and charming and beautiful and I was just smitten. We sat in that coffee shop for like four hours and the only reason we left is because I had to get to a rehearsal. I was so dissapointed to have to get up and leave. She walked me out and hailed me a cab and it was in that moment when she was holding open the door for me to slide in that I realized that I liked this woman and I wanted her to kiss me and ask me out again."

"Did she?"

"Did she what?"

"Kiss you? Ask you out again?"

"We dated for six months. She was lovely and I really liked her but as things unfolded it turned out we just weren't compatible."

"What was the matter, she didn't like musicals?"

Rachel huffed and pinched Quinn's arm. "No."

"Is that really any reason to break up with someone though?"

Rachel pinched her again, harder, and Quinn let out an indignant squeak.

"I meant, no, that wasn't the issue."

"So, she did like musicals? And you let her go?"

Rachel sighed heavily. "No, she did not like musicals. Are you happy? But that was only a very small, miniscule part of the whole incompatibily thing. We just had different interests, different tastes in everything and for awhile it was fun and exciting, exposing each other to these new things and exploring them together but after awhile it just got tiring, having absolutely no common ground."

"I'm sorry, Rach." Quinn put the teasing aside for a moment because she could tell that Rachel had really liked this woman. She propped herself up on her elbows so she could peer down into Rachel's eyes.

"Thank you," Rachel said softly, offering a tight, sad smile.

Quinn hated seeing such a forlorne expression on Rachel's face so she did the only thing she could think of to erase it away, she dipped her head and pressed her lips against Rachel's in a soft breath of a kiss.

Rachel's hands slid from her hair to the back of her neck, cradling her head as she deepened the kiss but didn't make any effort to increase the intensity.

The kiss was easy, languid and neither of them made any effort to escalate things. Quinn couldn't help but think it a bit odd that they were making out now, after having already had sex but at the same time it was...sweet. She was enjoying the slow burn in her abdomen from the way Rachel's tongue caressed her own and the way her fingers played lightly with the fine hairs at the nape of her neck and the way Rachel's body presssed up into her own, soft skin and smooth muscle sliding against her as their mouths moved together.

"You're really very good at that," Rachel rasped, breathless as they pulled apart.

"Yeah?" Quinn couldn't help but smile at the compliment as she dropped her head to Rachel's shoulder and sucked in a deep, steadying breath. It was such a Rachel thing to say. And the way she said it, her tone the perfect mixture of reverence and conversational that Qu

inn had no option but to be both flattered and amused.

"Yes. You have an excellent technique." Rachel's hands resumed their gentle stroking up and down Quinn's back.

Quinn laughed lightly. "I didn't realize there was going to be a critique of my performance tonight."

Rachel hugged and shook her head. Quinn couldn't actually see her face but she could picture the eye roll and the exasperated smirk on the other woman's face.

"You're really very good as well," Quinn informed her. "Bet you had to practise a lot to get that good."

"I'm not sure I like what you're implying."

Quinn chuckled at the indignant tone in Rachel's voice. "I'm pretty sure you started it. You're the one who said I was good first."

"But I never made any allusions as to how you got that that good."

"It was implied."

"Was not."

"Was too."

"You're impossible."

Again, Quinn just laughed and a moment later she heard Rachel giggle softly. She smiled at the sound and pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, nibbling lightly before turning her head and nuzzling into the warm skin. Rachel hummed lightly and began stroking soothing circles up and down her back.

"If you don't stop that, you're going to put me to sleep," she murmured a moment later, figthing to keep her lids from fluttering closed. Rachel's hands paused in their movements but remained pressed lightly against her shoulderblades.

"It is nearly six in the morning," Rachel pointed out.

Quinn nodded against her collarbone. "Are you tired?"

"I've been up for almost twenty four hours now," Rachel pointed out, sounding almost regretful.

"Me too," Quinn said, realizing that it had been almost a full day since she'd gotten any sleep. She and Lara had gotten up about six thirty the morning before for a swim and a workout in the hotel's gym before meeting with their director at the theatre.

"So, we should get some sleep then?" She knew that they should but she couldn't help but feel like she'd be missing out on time with Rachel by falling asleep.

"Might be a good idea."

As much as she would rather stay awake talking and making love with Rachel she was starting to feel the effects of being up all night.

Of course, there was the definite perk of falling asleep in Rachel's arms, of being soothed into slumber by the steady beat of her heart and the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Actually, the idea of getting some sleep was sounding better and better.

"Good night, Rachel," she whispered into Rachel's neck, letting her eyes fall shut.

"Night, Quinn," Rachel whispered back, her voice already sounding distant and her cadence slowed.