SuperNina Thank you. I'm glad you thought so.

MsLSpatz: Thanks, lady.

Harley Quinn Davidson Thank you.

helly1bradleywyatt I'm glad you liked it.

progpoet Thank you. That's what I like best about the show and the fiction, not just the romances but the other friendships and interactions.

Guest: Thank you.

mysticmelodies Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I love writing the little moments between them.

LaurenKnight13 Thank you. That's sweet of you, but don't worry, I think this fic is going to be going for a long time. I'm already almost 40 chapters in and it's still the first week of their relationship, there's a lot of ground to cover. You'll be sick of it by the time I'm done. :p

gllover22 I'm happy it made you smile.

Fabraygron I'm glad you liked it.

wkgreen Thanks.

Irishgrl33 Thank you.

CarmellaD'Winter Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Chapter 39

"Tonight wasn't so bad, was it?" Rachel asked as she unlocked the door to her apartment. "I mean, you had fun, didn't you?"

Quinn nodded, even though she was trailing a few steps behind Rachel and knew that the other woman couldn't see her. She'd had fun. Maybe a little too much, if the way the floor was wobbling slightly under her feet as she made her way across the apartment to the kitchen was any indication. She reached the island in the middle of the room slid unsteadily onto one of the stools. She wrapped her legs around its rungs and laid her arms along the counter, her hands braced flat against the cool marble surface for added balance.

"Yeah, I had fun," she managed to say, without slurring any of her words. Or at least, she thought she did. From the way Rachel was looking at her right now from across the island, she wasn't so sure. She resisted the urge to lay her head down on her arms, not wanting to inspire any more of Rachel's mirth or amusement.

At least, she thought that's what it was. She couldn't quite tell. It might have been anger. The crossed arms, the raised eyebrow, the slightly pursed lips, it could really mean anything right about now. Quinn wasn't picking up on facial and tonal cues very well at the moment. Her head was a little fuzzy, her thoughts were coming to her slowly and as if from some far away distance.

She hadn't meant to drink as much as she had tonight. But, Santana had been picking up the tab and she'd just kept plying them with round after round. Then, she, Sam and Brittany had started playing pool and somehow it had turned into a drinking game, each of them required to take a sip every time they missed a shot, and two every time someone else had made them. From there it had been a slippery slope down to shots at the bar with Santana. She should have known better than to try and keep up with the other woman, but by that point she'd been feeling good, buzzed and amped and invincible.

Quinn didn't normally drink much, or often. Wine with dinner on occasion, a couple beers when she went out with friends. Never enough to get drunk. Never enough that she wasn't in complete control of her faculties. It had been a long time since she'd paid absolutely no mind to her alcohol intake and just let herself relax and enjoy the moment. A testament, she supposed, to how comfortable and trusting she was in the company of her old friends.

It had been a good night. A fun night. They'd laughed, a lot. So much so that her sides hurt, even now. They'd talked about old times, old friends, new life experiences and new people. It had been easy, familiar. Like they were catching up after a few weeks apart rather than a few years.

"We should do it again," she said, giving in to the temptation and laying her head down on her arms. "Soon."

She heard the scuffle of feet across the tile and the whoosh of the fridge being opened, but she didn't bother to lift her head and see what Rachel was doing. A moment later she felt a cool hand on the back of her neck, the fingers kneading lightly.

She turned her head to the side and pried one eye open to peer blurrily up at the figure hovering over here.

"Drink this," Rachel said, dangling a bottle of water into her field of vision.

Quinn's stomach recoiled at the thought of anything else being added to it and she let out a whimper.

Rachel's kneading fingers became lightly stroking ones as she smoothed circles along Quinn's back. "I know. But you're going to feel like hell tomorrow if you don't." Her lips turned up into a small smile, one that Quinn couldn't tell if it was sympathetic or sarcastic. "You're going to feel like hell tomorrow even if you do. But, trust me, this will help."

Quinn knew that. Reluctantly she pushed herself back up into a sitting position and reached for the bottle. "Do you have any aspirin?" she asked, fumbling with the bottle cap, trying to get it open. Rachel opened her palm, revealing two tiny white pills.

"Need a hand with that?"

"No." Quinn gave the water bottle one last tug. "Yes."

Rachel laughed as she took the bottle back and opened it with one quick twist. Quinn scowled at her, even as she raised it to her lips and took a long sip.

"I'm going to go and turn down the bed and get us something to wear," Rachel said. "Stay her and drink your water. I'll come and get you when I'm done."

"I can make my way into the bedroom by myself," Quinn protested, even though she wasn't sure if that was technically true

Rachel snorted. "Humour me, will you? Wait until I come back?"

Quinn nodded.

"And drink your water."

Quinn brought the bottle to her lips and quirked an eyebrow, or at least, she meant to. From the way Rachel rolled her eyes and smirked, she probably contorted the whole left side of her face.

"Be right back," Rachel said, squeezing her shoulders lightly. "Think you can manage to remain upright on that stool until I do?"

Quinn shot her a glare and Rachel retreated with a laugh.

She sipped the water slowly, ignoring the roiling in her stomach as the cold water was introduced, until finally she'd drained the last drop. With that task accomplished she twirled in her seat to face the rest of the room and braced her hands against the backs of the stools on either side of her. Slowly she slid forward until her feet were flat on the ground. She took a deep breath and held it as she eased herself into a standing position. The room swayed softly in front of her vision and her knees shook slightly but she remained upright as she took shuffling steps forward. Slowly, carefully, using the backs of furniture and walls for balance she made her way across the living room and down the hallway into Rachel's bedroom.

The room was empty when she crossed the threshold and cast in shadows, as only the bedside lamp was on. Rachel had already turned the bed down and it just looked so inviting, the comforter pulled down into a puffy pile and the pillows plumped and full. Quinn shuffled the distance across the room and tipped herself forward onto the bed, landing face first in a stack of pillows with an oomph.

She let out a soft sigh and wrapped her arms around the fluffy softness, taking a deep breath and inhaling Rachel's scent. The backs of her legs felt cold, so she flailed around until she managed to slide her feet beneath the covers and then settled back into position and closed her eyes, content and ready for sleep.

"I thought I told you to wait for me." Rachel's voice came from somewhere far away, as did the faint sensation of the bed dipping beneath her weight.

Quinn murmured a reply, one that was mostly muffled by the pillows she had her face buried into.

She heard Rachel huff softly behind her and then weight and warmth enveloped her as Rachel wrapped herself around her. She felt a kiss pressed against her temple and tried to offer a goodnight, but was already halfway to dreamland.

She woke late the next morning. What time it was exactly, she wasn't sure, but even without opening her eyes she could tell that the room was bright with sunlight that spilled in through the gap in the curtains that hadn't been pulled fully closed last night. It wasn't the gentle, golden glow of early morning either but the harsh glare of the mid-morning sun. Quinn squinted her closed lids tightly and turned her head to bury it into her pillow, a soft whimper escaping her throat at the pounding in her head the sudden movement unleashed.

"Hey," Rachel's voice rang loudly in her ears and she hissed in pain. "How are you feeling?"

"Not so loud," Quinn moaned, pulling the sides of the pillows up to cover her ears.

"Mmmhmmm," she hummed softly as blunt nails scratched lightly against her scalp as Rachel's fingers tangled into her hair.

"I have a bottle of water and some more aspirin here for you, when you're ready."

Quinn knew that both of those things would help the pounding in her head, and the cottony feeling of her tongue, but getting either would require moving, and the stinging of her retinas and the sharp pain shooting through her brain told her that wasn't going to be happening any time soon.

"Why are you yelling?" she protested, pulling the pillow tighter against her ears, even though she knew that it wasn't actually Rachel's voice that was the problem but her own hangover. The hand stroking her hair stilled against the top of her head and then fell away. Quinn whimpered at the loss of the comforting motion. "Sorry," she murmured and forced herself to turn her head to face the other woman. "I'm hung over and I'm cranky and I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take it out on you."

Rachel pursed her lips, not meeting Quinn's gaze but rather staring down at her lap for a moment before turning her head to meet Quinn's eye. "You had a lot to drink last night."

A scathing retort was on the tip of Quinn's tongue, but she bit it back. Her hang over was her own fault, there was no reason for her to be a bitch to Rachel because she felt like hell. She hummed a response, not quite sure what the appropriate reply would be. And even if she did know, she wasn't sure that she was in any position to offer it. Her throat was scratchy and felt raw, a side effect of the burn of whiskey sliding down it last night. She shouldn't have let Santana talk her into doing shots. And she really shouldn't have tried to keep up with her once she had.

"Did you get drunk last night to make it easier to hang out with everyone?"

It took a moment for Rachel's question to register, and another for Quinn to formulate a response, but once it had and she did, Quinn forced herself to roll onto her side, wincing slightly at the onslaught of sunlight and the spike in pressure behind her eyes.

"No," she said firmly, catching and holding Rachel's gaze. "I got drunk last night because it was so easy, hanging out with everyone. I let my guard down, and allowed myself to get talked into drinking games and shots and…I had fun, Rach," Quinn assured her girlfriend. She reached out and squeezed Rachel's hand where it rested on her lap. "I probably had too much fun. I'm sorry that you had to take care of me last night." She had a vague memory of Rachel holding her hair back as she threw up in the bathroom at the bar, and guiding her into a taxi and helping her over a curb and just generally making sure that she made it home okay. "Next time, feel free to just dump me back at my hotel."

"You weren't so bad last night," Rachel said. "A little tipsy. Nothing I couldn't handle. Besides, I don't mind taking care of you. In fact….I kind of liked that you let me." Her voice dropped a little on the last few words.

Quinn nodded in acknowledgement of what she'd said. She knew that she tended to push people away, to not let them see her when she was feeling vulnerable or uncertain. But, she wasn't like that with Rachel. She never had been, actually. Even back in high school, when they were constantly at odds with each other, Rachel had been the one that she'd let herself be open with. "And I like it when you do," she said, warmth rolling over her at the memory of Rachel's hands, soft and cool, stroking her neck and rubbing her back last night. And stroking her hair just this morning.

Rachel offered up a soft smile. "So….last night. You had a good time. Everyone loved seeing you…"

Quinn nodded, waiting to see where Rachel was going with this.

"What would you say about getting together again? Soon?"

"I think that sounds like a great idea," Quinn said, not quite sure why Rachel was biting her lip in apprehension. "And by soon you mean…..."

As long as Rachel didn't say right now, she was good.

"Well, I might have suggested to Artie and Tina that we re-instate Monday night dinners. Now, we were three beers in by this point, so they might not even remember that we had this conversation but..."

"But, what? I think it's a great idea."

"You do?"

"Yeah." Quinn's brow furrowed. "Why would you think that I wouldn't?"

Rachel shrugged one shoulder. "I just…you seemed fine with everyone getting together last night but then you got so drunk that it made me start to wonder if maybe you weren't having as good a time as the rest of us, or if you were having trouble being there. And, even if you were having a good time, Monday is the only night during the week that we really have time to spend together. I wasn't thinking about it when I said it, but then I realized-"

"Hey, Rach. Easy." She ran her thumb soothingly across Rachel's knuckles, trying to slow the torrent of words. "This Monday night potluck that you suggested, I'm invited, right?"

"Of course you're invited."

"Then, I'm still getting to spend my evening with you. Am I not?"

"Yeah," she said slowly.

"Then, I don't see the problem. Do I like spending time along with you? Yes. Of course I do." She waggled her eyebrows and shot Rachel a leering smile, which caused the other woman to laugh softly and shake her head. "But, this building a life together thing that we're doing? That means that I want to share all aspects of your life with you, whether it's listening to you tell me about your day or spending time with your friends-"

"Our friends."

"Our friends," Quinn corrected herself. "Or spending an evening just the two of us. Whatever it is, I'm in."

Rachel studied her for a moment, then a broad grin spread slowly across her face. "You really mean that, don't you?"

"Of course I mean that. I wouldn't say it if I didn't."

"I know. Sorry. It's just nobody else that I've dated has ever been quite so accommodating. I know my schedule is hectic. And inconvenient. It makes going out on dates really hard. And finding time to spend together practically impossible. It's put a strain on every relationship I've had since moving to the city. Then you come along." Rachel smiled softly and reached her free hand up to cup Quinn's cheek. "And you just take it all in stride."

Quinn leaned into the touch as Rachel's thumb slid softly against her skin, she turned her head, brushing a light kiss against Rachel's palm.

"The chance to spend any amount of time with you makes it all worthwhile," she said honestly. Though she didn't miss the way Rachel swooned slightly. She was still getting used to this apparent ability she had to always say the right thing. It was something she'd never been able to do before, she'd always found herself fumbling along through these moments.

Maybe it was a perk of being meant to be. She just wanted to make Rachel happy. She didn't want the other woman to ever feel underappreciated or like she wasn't worth every moment of Quinn's attention so she just, said whatever came to mind, whatever she could to make sure that Rachel knew how much Quinn cared about her.

"You're amazing, do you know that?"

Quinn offered her most winning smile and nodded solemnly. "Yes, I know."

Rachel laughed lightly and patted her cheek. "And, there's that modesty that you're so full of." She pulled her hand away and let it rest of where their hands were intertwined in her lap. "So, this hangover that you're currently suffering through. Do you think this is going to be an all-day thing or what?"

"I'll probably be okay after some aspirin and a shower. Why?"

"Well earlier this week, before I knew that you were going to go out and get drunk last night, I planned a date for us today."

"You did? What did you plan?"

"That's for me to know, and you to find out. If you're up for it. I can re-schedule if you-"

"I'm for it. Give me like, an hour. And a half. Maybe two. And I'll be good to go. I swear," she insisted, when she was Rachel was looking at her somewhat sceptically.

Rachel nodded. "All right. So, do you want to go shower now? I'll make us a light brunch and call my dad's and we'll leave about one?"

"Sounds good to me," Quinn agreed as she eased herself up into a sitting position, in preparation for sliding up and out of bed. "Wait, you're going to call your dad's without me?"

Rachel paused, halfway to her feet, and glanced over her shoulder. "You mean you actually want to talk to them?"

"Well, yeah." Quinn knew how important Rachel's fathers were to her. Of course she wanted to build a relationship with them as well. Just like she wanted Rachel and her mother to get to know each other. Although, admittedly, her reasons for that were quite different.

"I just thought-"

"I know," Quinn interrupted gently. She couldn't really blame Rachel for thinking that she wouldn't want to share in the father/daughter tradition of a weekly phone call, past relationships had shown her that's the way it was. But, Quinn wasn't like the other people that Rachel had dated. She wanted to get to know every part of her, even the family oriented, small town girl from Ohio part. It was one of her most endearing sides, if last week's conversation was anything to go by.

"Oh. Okay. Well, then you go shower and I'll make brunch. We'll call them while we eat."

"You know," Quinn said as she shuffled unsteadily across the room. "I'm feeling a little shaky on my feet. Maybe you should join me in the shower? Make sure I don't fall and injure myself or something." She raised an eyebrow at Rachel, who smirked at her and shook her head.

"Wow, that's sexy. What an enticement."

"Aww, come on Rach," She called after her girlfriend's retreating back.

"Do you really want to talk to my fathers over brunch, knowing that you've just had me against the shower wall?" Rachel shot over her shoulder. "What about your Mom? Didn't you say that you wanted to call her this weekend too?"

"Wow. You really don't play fair," Quinn called back as she made her way into the bathroom. "Guess I'll have to go it without you. You're loss."

Rachel's reply was muffled by the sound of running water in the kitchen so Quinn let it go. Truth was, she probably wasn't up for anything right now anyway. Still, it was a pleasant mental image to chase away the lingering effects of last night's drinking.

If it were anyone else, Quinn would probably be concerned that they hadn't had sex in four days. But, as she turned the faucet on and stripped down while she waited for the water to heat up, she could acknowledge that while the sex between them was great, amazing even, it wasn't what was amazing about their relationship. They had so much going for them, so much intimacy beyond the physical that she wasn't worried. Her attraction hadn't faded. Not in the least. But, it wasn't the most consuming thing either. It wasn't the driving force in their relationship. So while in the past she might have pouted about being left to her own devices to get ready for the day, now she was content to wash up, alone, knowing that Rachel was in the kitchen, waiting for her to emerge from her shower so they could spend the day together.