Thank you to all who are still interested in this story, I'm not really tired of it, but I do get blocked an awful lot while I write it so sorry if it's not as good as the beginning. Plus I'm working on some other stuff as well, so...anyway hope you like this chapter. Not sure if I do, the whole thing was centered around this idea I had for Beth making Rachel breakfast...seemed like a cute way to bring her back into the story, let me know what you think, I think it's a little long and nothing really happens, but...bleh...Also, Santana's back :)

Chapter 21

Quinn Fabray had never been in love. She had always believed that she was too practical to be the sort of person that could fall into the kind of love that resulted in sweaty palms, a butterfly stomach, or nervous giggles. And yet, here she was, giggling herself silly over a text message from Rachel, her stomach flipping a little as she sent a reply, oblivious to the way Puck and Santana were mocking her. "Is she always like this?" Santana's eyes widened in, mostly, mock disgust at her best friend.

"You don't think it's sort of cute? I think it's adorable." Puck teased at Quinn, who was oblivious to her friends.

"Gag me." Santana replied as she reached over and lightly tapped her on the back of the head. "Earth to Q. There's a conversation happening over here. Prioritize."

Quinn, who was once again smiling at whatever Rachel had sent to her looked up to the conversation and scowled at Santana before she sent Rachel one last message.

'Still coming over tonight?'

"I was prioritizing." She shot back to her friend as she temporarily set her phone in front of her on the counter. "I'd much rather hear what Rachel has to say, than listen to your incessant, and might I add, childish, mocking." Quinn glared at her friend, but she was unable to stop the smile from spreading on her face at the sound of her phone chiming with Rachel's answer.

'I have been looking forward to it all week, I might be falling over tired, but I'll be on my way as soon as we land, which should be soon :)'

Quinn grinned down at her phone despite the ribbing that she was taking from her best friends. Rachel had been in LA filming and recording for about three weeks and it calmed her to know that the first thing Rachel wanted to do was see her. She had told her over and over again during the last week that they could wait until tomorrow, but Rachel had insisted they do it as soon as she landed. Quinn easily drowned out the sound of her friends mocking her again and sent Rachel a reply before finally turning her attention back to the conversation that she had been ignoring.

Quinn was actually glad that Puck and Santana were around tonight or she might have fidgeted herself right out of her skin at the thought of seeing Rachel for the first time in three weeks. They had spent a fairly large portion of their time apart talking on the phone, when Rachel's schedule allowed it and Quinn wasn't busy with Beth, and when they weren't talking they were trading text messages, but she was like an anxious five year old at the thought of actually having Rachel in front of her again. "Do I look okay?" She asked suddenly.

Santana looked at her with such a disgusted look on her face and stood. "We're leaving, Q-bert. Have fun with your midget."

"Hey! I thought you were going to keep me company until Rachel got here. Don't you want to say hello?" Quinn knew she would go crazy without them. She stood quickly to follow them to the door.

"No, you're annoying." Santana shot at her as she leaned over and kissed Quinn on the cheek. "Later, loser."

"Puck?" She asked hopefully. He shrugged helplessly as he followed Santana.

"But I'll go insane." Quinn protested.

"Better you than us, and if I have to listen to you giggle one more time I seriously might do something crazy like punch you in the vocal cords." Santana said as Quinn watched Puck follow her through the door. When it slammed shut behind them, Quinn threw herself on the couch and pulled out her phone.

'I've been abandoned and it's all your fault'

She tapped out sullenly and reached for the remote. She was surprised a moment later when Rachel replied from her phone instead of her laptop.

'Quinn, I highly doubt that I forced Noah and Santana from your presence. My flight landed early. I am on my way to shower and then I will be over to relieve you of your loneliness. Do not do anything drastic ;)'

'I have a shower ya know. You could come straight here...Beth has some clean clothes you can wear'

':P'

'I was only kidding about the clothing part, I do have a shower'

Quinn replied hopefully. She had sent the message before she had a chance to think it out properly, but she was super anxious to see the brunette.

'Perhaps when you invite someone over, you should refrain from insulting their slight stature.'

'Come on Rach...you're tiny'

'I am only two inches shorter than the national average, Quinn.'

Quinn smiled when it took Rachel a few minutes to answer her and wished she could see the glare that was surely accompanying her comment.

'Did you just google that, lol'

'One of the many perks that are available with my phone plan, so yes. Also, I've been glaring at you since your comment regarding my height. I think the taxi driver is starting to become uneasy. If I get thrown out of the cab, we will be even for my part in your abandonment.'

Quinn's face hardened at the thought of anyone being less than friendly toward Rachel. She pictured the tiny diva being thrown out of the cab and having to stand on the street and simultaneously watch her things and hail a new cab and for some reason, as highly unlikely as the situation was, it irritated her.

'If he throws you out of the cab, I will RUIN him.'

'Are you wearing your 'Quinn Fabray, Head Cheerio' face right now? Because that would be extremely hot.'

Quinn blushed at Rachel's words and couldn't think of anything to respond with. A moment later Rachel saved her.

'Now, stop distracting me so I can pay the nice man and head up to take a shower.'

'Fine. Just hurry it up berry I miss you :)'

'How much?'

'….'

'Would you say that you missed me a tiny bit? Or maybe A LOT?'

Quinn rolled her eyes.

'Grrrr'

'Hmmm...Is that close to a lot?'

'ENOUGH! I miss you enough'

'Hmm, enough to what?'

'Enough to refrain from killing you when you get here'

'I think that's in the range of a lot...do you miss me enough to let me in?'

Quinn felt her blood rush and made a dash toward the door. When she threw it open Rachel was standing there wearing a grin and holding surprisingly, only one small suitcase. "I hope you don't mind, I had to bring my carry on." She said as Quinn stared at her in disbelief, she had not believed that Rachel would actually take her suggestion. She stared in shock until Rachel's smile faded and she started to babble. "Oh God. You didn't really mean it. I'm so sorry, Quinn. I just thought you were serious."

"Rach." Quinn found her voice as soon as Rachel started backing away from her door, but Rachel was in full babble mode and she wasn't stopping so Quinn did the only thing she could think of and stepped forward, invading Rachel's space and pressing her lips against Rachel's still moving mouth.

As soon as Quinn's lips hit hers Rachel relaxed into the kiss and when they pulled apart she breathed out as she touched her forehead to Quinn's collar bone and closed her eyes. "I missed you."

"Missed you more." Quinn said as she gently pulled away from the smaller girl and dragged her suitcase into her apartment, tugging Rachel with her. Rachel walked into the kitchen and threw her keys and sunglasses on the table and upon closer inspection, Quinn noticed how tired Rachel actually looked. "You look tired, baby. Are you sure you don't want to head home and rest?"

"I will in a little while. I just wanted to see you." Rachel smiled gently.

"Well, a bath will help you feel better."

"A bath will put me to sleep. I think I'll stick with a quick shower if that's okay?" Quinn nodded happily and Rachel headed down the hall to grab a towel and then turned toward the bathroom. Quinn headed toward her room and started rummaging through her drawers, looking for something for her girlfriend to put on. When she found something she headed toward the bathroom, knocked on the door and waited for Rachel's permission to enter.

"I found you some of my things to wear." Quinn called above the water and Rachel pulled the curtain enough to smile at Quinn and thank her. Quinn tried not to think to hard about the fact that Rachel was naked In her shower, She felt her face flush a little as she failed and spun around to make Rachel something to eat.

Rachel tried not to take too long in the shower, but her flight had been long and she was tired and the water felt amazing as it cascaded over her body. She ended up staying under the falling water until it started to run cooler and her fingers wrinkled from the exposure to all that water. She stepped out and dried off and threw on the pajama bottoms that Quinn had left for her and smiled as she pulled the NYU sweatshirt over her head as well. She folded her clothes and neatly hung them over the towel rack and combed through her long hair before she stepped out and found Quinn in the living room setting two plates of food on her coffee table. "Feel better?"

"Much." Rachel said as she took a seat next to Quinn. She stared at the blonde for a few moments until she could tell it was making her uncomfortable and then she moved to swing her leg over the other girl's lap so she was straddling Quinn's legs. "I missed you." She breathed as Quinn met her eyes.

Quinn watched Rachel smile and took a breath as Rachel leaned in and kissed her. She sighed when Rachel slipped her tongue gently into her mouth and when Rachel shifted to pull away, her clouded brain mumbled, "More." She pulled Rachel back toward her and kissed her deeper than before. Rachel's hands played at the back of her neck and hers rested on Rachel's thighs, both of them reveling in the feel of the other.

It wasn't long before Rachel was squirming in her lap and her hands were creeping up Rachel's borrowed sweatshirt. It was only when Rachel's hands left her neck and played over the bare skin of her stomach that she took a breath, loaded with willpower, and pulled away. "Hi." She whispered as Rachel rested her head against hers and stared into her eyes.

Rachel smiled shyly. "Hi."

"Your dinner is getting cold." Quinn pointed out.

Rachel leaned forward and pressed their lips together again, "You taste better." She said breathlessly before attacking Quinn again. Quinn felt like she was in heaven with the weight of Rachel's body moving against her on her lap and slipped her hands back under the borrowed sweatshirt, barely fighting the urge to get rid of it completely.

It wasn't something that they had discussed, but as their relationship had become more comfortable, it was a line that they had constantly and wordlessly approached before Rachel had to leave for LA. Quinn knew that they didn't have a normal relationship, so if the sweatshirt did come off, it wouldn't be too soon, she just wanted it to be more special for Rachel than a makeout session on her couch. Given their history, during both high school and their re acquaintance, they knew each other pretty well. Both of them had seen the best and worst of the other and Quinn found that this fact made her somehow more comfortable in Rachel's presence than she had ever been in her life.

Over the weeks that they had been officially dating they hadn't seen a lot of each other. Rachel was working constantly, but not unhealthily, and Quinn could only get away at certain times. The two women had spent the time ironing out the details. Learning small things like favorite colors and foods and once, during a fight for the remote, Quinn had learned every one of Rachel Berry's ticklish spots. Quinn found it odd and calming how well Rachel was able to read her and how quickly this allowed her to put Quinn at ease in any situation. Quinn could finally be herself.

She could finally let someone see a part of herself that she had always kept from everyone. She could be a dreamer and talk about art work with Rachel and tell her how a piece made her feel. Even if she didn't have all the words, Rachel would just seem to understand. She could be human and finally talk to someone about Beth and her fears over whether or not she made the right decision. She could plan their future, even if it was hypothetical at this point. She could be silly and girlish and carefree without feeling self conscious.

Rachel also knew the darker side of her personality, she had experienced it first hand during most of their childhood. She knew that Quinn could be mean simply for the sake of making another person hurt. She had seen how cold and calculating that the blonde could be and while Quinn felt her fair share of shame over some of her past behavior, when Rachel looked at her she didn't feel judged for it.

Rachel accepted her natural jealousy and her temper and made Quinn deal with them before they got so big that the blonde had to start a fight. Over the last few weeks Rachel had turned into a pro at spotting both and had no qualms about telling Quinn when she was being ridiculous (Did Quinn honestly think that Rachel was going to run away with the random gay guy that had stopped them in the street for a picture). It helped that Rachel was just as strong and stubborn as she was. It helped that Rachel demanded respect from Quinn, not just for herself, but she demanded Quinn have respect for her own feelings as well.

Most importantly, after their last real argument, Quinn knew that all of these things, the good stuff and the things that made it hard for her to like herself, were not going to scare Rachel away. While she had stopped actively trying to push Rachel away, she knew that there would still be times when she would do it as a snap reaction and it was comforting to know that Rachel wasn't going anywhere. It was the second time in her adult life that she had actually believed that someone loved her, even if Rachel hadn't spoken those words in months. It was still a little bit scary for her, but all she wanted was to make sure that she made Rachel feel the same way.

Quinn smiled against Rachel's neck as she realized that while her thoughts had run away from her, her hands had seen fit to venture further under Rachel's sweatshirt, the tiny singer had neglected to put her bra back on. Quinn's thoughts at how much Rachel loved her and the way she was moving in her lap gave Quinn a boost of confidence and as she lifted her head and found Rachel's mouth again with her own she palmed one of Rachel's bare breasts. Rachel's reaction was immediate and Quinn's head went fuzzy as Rachel sighed breathlessly as she felt her nipple stiffen against her hand. Rachel simultaneously deepened the kiss and moved her hips more roughly when Quinn moved her hand and squeezed. Quinn worked at Rachel's breast for a moment longer before she ghosted her hand over the brunette's rib cage. Quinn almost laughed when she felt disappointment course through Rachel's body as her hand made it's way back to it's safer spot on Rachel's back.

Quinn held Rachel as she buried her face into Quinn's neck to catch her breath and then it was her turn to groan when Rachel's full mouth latched onto a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. Quinn's breath hitched when Rachel didn't pull away right away and so did her hips when Rachel's fingers trailed up her sides under her shirt. The fact that she could be so turned on simply from making out and innocent touching excited her even more and She wanted nothing more than to pick Rachel up and carry her to her bedroom. She had no idea how her brain was even holding onto the fact that now wasn't exactly the right time for that. By the time Rachel's head was resting lazily against her shoulder and Quinn's finger were playing absently with Rachel's hair the line remained uncrossed, but Quinn had to throw their food in the microwave, as it had gone completely cold.

"So how was the shoot?" Quinn asked as they ate. She sat across from her on the couch, Rachel at one end, her at the other, their legs tangled in the middle as they each held a plate.

"Amazing." Rachel breathed out. "I can't even begin to describe it." She said around her food. "Oh! Idina Menzel. So wonderful. She has got to be the most amazing person alive. I also got to meet her husband, who was as amazing as she is."

"So what do you look like greenified?" Quinn asked with an amused smile, ignoring the way her stomach tightened in jealousy.

Rachel made a face. "Do you know how long it takes for your entire body to be painted Quinn? That's what I was doing most of the time while I was texting you. On stage, the makeup only has to be applied to certain areas, for the movie it had to be every where except where my underwear covers." She smiled and nudged her with her foot. "I may have talked about you an awful lot to anyone who would listen. After a week and a half Shane got all grumbly and said that if he had to hear your name one more time he was going to go insane and quit the movie."

Quinn blushed. She hadn't really thought about the fact that Rachel would talk about her to other people and she tried to keep the trepidation out of her voice as she asked, "To reporters?" She asked the question with caution because she wouldn't be upset if Rachel had shouted it from a mountaintop, she just needed to prepare herself and a few other people for that before it happened.

Rachel smiled, immediately understanding the hesitation in Quinn's voice. "Don't worry, Quinn. I would never do anything like that without talking to you first. Besides I've been envisioning the dramatic effects of unveiling you at some sort of award show, or possibly the premiere of Wicked." Rachel looked at Quinn with barely veiled excitement and hopefulness.

Quinn couldn't help it, she laughed. "How often have you thought about it?"

Rachel's smile spread over her face as she set her plate on the coffee table and tucked her knees under her. "Often enough. We could go shopping for dresses together."

"As long as they don't match." Quinn laughed.

"Fine ruin my dream why don't you." Rachel teased back as Quinn set her plate on the table and she leaned her head into the blonde's lap, replacing the food. "We could pose for pictures and hold hands and I could tell all about how I fell in love with you." Rachel closed her eyes and smiled as she thought about spending the rest of her life with Quinn. "We could even bring Beth to the premiere, she loved it when Shane and I took her." She said excitedly. "I showed your picture to my stylist and she already has some ideas."

Quinn, who up until this point had taken most of what Rachel was saying as teasing, raised an eyebrow as her girlfriend rattled on, rather dreamily, about what they would wear and who would do their hair. "Rachel?" Rachel opened an eye and peeked up at Quinn's face peering down at her with a curious eyebrow. "Are you seriously asking me this?"

Rachel couldn't read Quinn's reaction. She had thought about it a lot over the last few weeks, she usually attended things like that with Shane, but she had been unable to stop her mind from getting over excited about her and Quinn being on red carpets together. She had meant to give Quinn time to get used to her again before she made such a serious request of her girlfriend, but Quinn had been surprisingly at ease with her as soon as their lips had met on Quinn's door step. She had been worried that the time they spent apart would undo all of the progress that they had gained before she left. She had meant to ease her girlfriend into the idea, but She had gotten so wrapped up in her daydream that Quinn had picked up on the fact that this was actually something that Rachel wanted.

Rachel regarded Quinn for a moment. She wanted to sit up so she could better see into the other woman's eyes, but she didn't want to make the conversation any more serious than it was already becoming. She opted for honesty from her spot in Quinn's lap. "Yes." She said simply, keeping the pressure out of her voice. "I meant to wait at least a week to ask you, but I guess it sort of slipped out." She smiled, hoping to put Quinn at ease.

"Aren't you...worried, or scared of...what will happen to your career? Won't someone be mad or something?"

Rachel laughed lightly. "My career will be fine, Quinn, I happen to be decently talented." Quinn gave her own smile at Rachel's modesty. "However, I understand if it's not something that can happen for you right now. I can always go with Shane, or we can still go together, but without the matching dresses and hand holding. It will be enough to just have you next to me. In whatever capacity you feel comfortable with."

Quinn didn't mean to give Rachel the impression that she didn't want what the brunette was offering, she was just sort of surprised that Rachel was so confident in her talent and in herself that she wasn't afraid to tell the world about her relationship with Quinn. She felt a little bit guilty that she had expected anything less from her girlfriend. "When is the premiere? You're done shooting, so soon?"

"Not at all, Quinn. It still needs to be edited, Shane and I will need to go in and do voice overs and things for any changes or anything that came out fuzzy. It will be at least another six months. So you have awhile to decide."

"I don't need that long to decide, Rach. Of course I'd love to go. I'd love to hold your hand and go shopping with you. I just...there's some things that I need to do first, people I need to prepare." Quinn's voice trailed off and Rachel finally sat up to look at Quinn curiously. Quinn flushed under Rachel's gaze. "My sister and my mother. Puck's family." Quinn didn't mention her father, but she also needed to tell him.

"They don't know?" Rachel asked incredulously, but gently.

"My sister doesn't. She'll flip out, but I could give a shit about what she thinks. I'm pretty sure my mother already knows, but I've never actually said the words to her and I guess I'm still a little afraid of her reaction when I do. And most importantly, Beth."

"Beth doesn't know either?"

Quinn sighed. "Please know that it has nothing to do with being ashamed and everything to do with being private. I already had my struggle with being gay and I made peace with it a long time ago, I just...never got around to telling my family. I figured I would just wait until I found someone who was worth all of the struggle it would cause for them. And Beth already has so much that she deals with because of me and Puck, I just didn't want to add the whole 'mommy likes women' thing to her plate too soon."

"Of course, Quinn."

Quinn hated the way Rachel suddenly looked more tired than she had a moment ago and it occurred to her that she might be getting the wrong idea from everything that Quinn was saying and she scooted herself closer and hurried to speak again. "Hey, baby. I just wanted to know my time line. This is the sort of thing that has to be done in person, which means a trip to Lima that I have to budget in and make time for. I can't wait to go with you. We'll hold hands and kiss a couple of times for the camera and you can tell all the reporters how irresistible I am. I draw the line at matching dresses though." Quinn loved the way Rachel's eyes lit up and she leaned forward to kiss her. "Nothing that anyone has to say is going to scare me away from you." She promised when she pulled away.

Rachel relaxed back onto Quinn's lap and sighed contentedly. "I missed you." She said again before she jumped back into her daydream, this time adding all the details and colors that her stylist had mentioned for Quinn...

"Daddy." Beth nudged her father and leaned closer to his ear as she whispered his name. "Dad." She said a little bit louder as she shook him a little bit harder. "Daddy!" She yelled when that still didn't work. She giggled when her father bolted into a sitting position and looked confused until his eyes fell on her face. He flopped back onto his pillows and pulled his blankets aside so his daughter could climb up next to him. "Good morning, Daddy."

"Morning, beautiful girl." He said as he stifled a yawn and pulled her into a sleepy hug. "Where's my breakfast?" He asked playfully, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, his head was pounding and he thanked God that Santana had already fled. "Hey when did you get home? Did you steal a car?" She giggled again and shook her head.

"Mommy dropped me off, buuut she had to go to work, so she told me to wake you up." Puck felt his eyes slip closed as Beth chattered. "Daddy, wake up." Beth demanded and Puck gave a groan before he opened his eyes and smiled at the closeness of Beth's face.

"Alright, munchkin. Why don't you go put some cartoons on and I'll take a shower. Did you lock the door?" He rubbed his face as he threw his legs over the side of the bed.

"Yup."

"K. Bathroom door will be cracked if you need anything." Puck stumbled toward the shower and Beth headed back out to the kitchen. She was pouring herself a cup of milk when she spotted a familiar set of keys laying on her kitchen table. Beth put the milk away and picked up the keys examining the beauty and the beast key chain before she dropped them on the table and took off with sudden excitement to look for Rachel.

Beth found her a few minutes later sleeping in her mother's bed. Beth crept closer and shushed her own giggle, by clamping her hands over her mouth, as she listened to Rachel snore lightly and then touched her hand. Rachel's hand fluttered and she mumbled something about her nose and turned over, away from Beth. Beth was about to shake her awake when she formed an idea.

She missed Rachel. She hadn't seen her in a long time. She thought that Rachel had forgotten about her. She also didn't want her to leave. She didn't know why, but she thought she would if she woke her up. The only way to make sure she didn't was to make her happy. Beth thought about what made people happy in the morning.

Her dad liked a shower, but he said boys and girl weren't allowed to shower together and he was in there now, so no shower. Her mom liked a cup of hot tea, but she wasn't allowed to use the stove, so no tea. Her grandma always put on her robe and had what her mom called a mamosa, but she didn't know what that was and she was sure by the look on her mom's face when she said it that they didn't have any in the house. Her Bubbe liked cinnamon toast, which was the one thing that Beth could make on her own, but she wondered if that would be enough to make Rachel happy.

Beth pushed a chair up to the cupboard to take down the bread and put it on the counter with the cinnamon and butter. She put her hands on her hips and sighed. It didn't look very impressive. And Rachel was skinny. She needed more to eat than toast. Her mom always made her a big breakfast on the weekend and she loved it. She was going to do the same thing for Rachel. That would definitely make her happy enough to stay. She decided that since she didn't know what Rachel's favorite thing was to eat for breakfast, she would make one of everyone else's favorite.

Puck jumped at the sound of Beth's voice coming from the other side of the shower curtain and pulled it aside. "What?" He asked.

"Do vegans eat butter?"

"No. It comes from a cow."

Beth nodded. "Ok." She said and she was gone.

"Dad what about whip cream?" She asked when she reappeared a moment later.

"Nope, whip cream also says moo." Puck picked up the soap and dropped it a moment later as he jumped at the sound of his daughters voice.

Beth heaved a sigh. "Syrup?"

"Like for pancakes?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah as far as I know."

She disappeared again, but this time when she threw the door open, Puck was ready for her, "Dad, what about popcorn?"

"What are you doing?" Puck peeked around the curtain and smiled at the sight of Beth leaning into the doorway with her hand on the door knob.

"Daddy. Popcorn?"

"Sure, as long as there's no butter." Puck laughed. "Don't get into any trouble. I'll be out in a few minutes." He called after her.

Beth tore back through the apartment to the kitchen and started grabbing things out of her cupboards and off of shelves and laid it out on the kitchen table. It was everything she could find in their cupboards that she thought Rachel could eat. Beth's favorite part of breakfast was french toast, but Beth couldn't cook and Rachel couldn't eat milk or eggs. Her face screwed up in thought for a few minutes before she grabbed two slices of bread and put them in the toaster.

While it toasted, she pushed her chair up to the sink and washed some strawberries as she had seen her mother do many times and pulled a fork out of the drawer to pull the tops off of them before depositing them into her favorite bowl. She took them back to the table and sat down to use the fork and her fingers to half them up and sprinkle them with sugar. This was her mother's favorite part of breakfast besides the bacon, only she usually put them on pancakes with a little bit of whipped cream. Beth left them in the bowl and added them to the tray she had dug out.

Her dad's favorite part of breakfast, again besides the bacon, was eggs. She thought about throwing some in the microwave before she remembered that Rachel couldn't eat them and frowned at the ingredients on the table. She threw open the fridge and looked at everything before a smile spread over her face and she scooped some leftover corn onto a big plate and added it to the tray. They only thing she still needed were hash browns and Cereal, which aunt Santana had every time she came and slept on the couch. Beth poured the cereal and looked around for something to substitute for the hash browns.

Puck turned off the shower when he smelled something familiar coming from the kitchen and threw a towel around himself as his curiosity finally got the better of him. He hadn't been overly concerned when beth had popped in and out of the bathroom. She was a good kid and knew what she was allowed to touch and not allowed to touch on the rare occasion that she was unsupervised, so he hadn't been overly concerned. He might find a mess, but Beth was pretty smart.

Puck made his way to the kitchen to discover that the familiar smell was microwave popcorn and there was indeed a mess. His daughter hadn't noticed him and was busy arranging two pieces of darker-than-he-appreciated toast onto a plate of corn. He raised his eyebrows and bit back a laugh as she sprinkled on some cinnamon and then poured on the maple syrup. She grabbed a handful of popcorn and arranged it on the other side of the corn and stood up to look at her handy work.

He continued to watch as she filled a coffee cup with tap water and carefully carried it over to her tray and dropped a teabag into it, then did the same with his jar of instant coffee. She poured a glass of orange juice and was just about to douse a bowl of cereal with the same juice, when Puck stepped into the kitchen. "Beth Fabray, what are you doing?" He asked as he took in the spilled cereal, the strawberry all over the table and the floor, and the popcorn trail that led from the counter in front of the microwave to the tray that she had placed it on.

The sound of her father's voice made Beth jump and Puck made a dash for the orange juice as it landed on the table and poured onto the floor. "Daddy! There better be enough left for Rachel's cereal!" Beth exclaimed as Puck got control over the orange juice.

"Oh, I see how it is. Rachel gets breakfast, but I don't." It was only after he popped a strawberry (which looked like the safest thing to eat) into his mouth that he fully realized what Beth had said. "Wait a minute, Rachel's here?"

"Yeah." He noticed the way her smile lit up as she answered him. "She's sleeping in Mommy's bed. I thought I would make her breakfast so she would stay for a little while."

"How did you know she was here?"

"Her keys were on the table. See. Beauty and the Beast." Beth held up the keys.

"Yeah. Okay, Munchkin. You finish up and I'll go throw on some clothes and wake Sleeping Beauty. I'll carry the tray though, k. Don't want you to drop it." Puck looked down at the plate and smiled at the compromises that his daughter had made. No pancakes or whip cream for the strawberries, regular toast instead of dipped in egg, popcorn instead of hash browns and orange juice instead of milk. The only thing he didn't get was the corn. "Beth, baby. What's with the corn?"

"Rachel can't eat eggs, Daddy."

"I still don't get it."

"They're the same color, Daddy." Her voice sounded so much like Quinn's that the only thing that Puck could do was roll his eyes and head off to get dressed, feeling very much like an idiot that he didn't put that together sooner.

Rachel was snoring and Puck snickered as he leaned in close to Rachel's ear before yelling into it. "Curtain call, Berry! Move it!" Rachel sprung up so fast that Puck stumbled back holding the side of his face and cursing as Rachel looked around the room, wildly trying to gather her surroundings...

Thanks, if you made it this far :) Next chapter will be Rachel and Beth and Puck, and sorry for any mistakes you might have come across, I didn't edit it...no time.