Disclaimer: I do not own Glee characters. I do not own Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I do not own a cat and I do not own a dog.

This is AU because one, The Glee Gods choose to ignore the undeniable sexual chemistry between Rachel and Quinn and two, I believe it is fairly impossible to erase memories from your brain, but you never know. This is also set in the future, but the past is definitely revisited.

Summary: After two and a half years, their relationship, in the end, could not stand the test of time. When Quinn finds out that a heartbroken Rachel underwent a procedure that erased not only their relationship, but her entire existence from her memory, she is devastated. In order to get over the pain, she undergoes the same overnight process. But as the memories begin to pass her by and she revisits the times where they were happy and perfectly in love, she worries that she made a horrible mistake.

A/N: Yes...this is a story inspired by the brilliant movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. One of my favorites. If you've seen the movie then you pretty much know the basis of the story, however if you've never seen nor heard of it then this will be interesting (hopefully). You do not need to watch the movie before reading this fic, actually it might be better if you don't, but you should still watch it sometime in your life. And if you've already seen it, watch it again because seriously, the movie's awesome.

Also, do not expect all the chapters to be this long. Please God no. This is only a very long prologue, but this could probably help you imagine how long this story is going to be. I mean, I have about three years of a friendship/relationship to tell...in reverse. So it's going to be pretty long. I have to warn you all: I have about three million books lined up that I want to read, classes that start in a little more than a week, I am distracted fairly easily, I have to squeez sleep somewhere in there, and I'm writing this story as I'm posting it so updates will be spread out, but hopefully not too far. New Years Resolution is to finish this story...and quite possibly the other stories I have. Anyways. Go forth. Read. Ponder. Enjoy.

Quinn's eyes snapped open to the sound of her cell phone. She groaned and buried her head into her pillow to get away from the annoying ring, reaching blindly over to her nightstand. Her fingers closed on the piece of plastic and she answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Wake the fuck up, Fabray."

Quinn winced at the piercing voice, her hand reflexively bringing the phone away from her ear. She glanced at the clock and had to refrain from throwing it across the room because of the stupid green 6:00 the glared back at her. It took everything in her to keep herself from throwing her cell phone and Santana's stupid voice right out of the fucking window. Instead she gave a small, tired whine and closed her eyes, burrowing her head under her pillow.

"Oh my god, Santana, what the hell. It's six o'clock in the morning."

The line went silent. "Fuck. You."

Quinn chuckled. "Is Brittany okay with that?"

"Hey, shove it up your ass, blondie. This is your fucking wake up call. So get out of your lovely queen sized bed and get ready. I will beat the shit out of you if you miss your flight because I do not like waking up at six o'clock in the fucking morning. On a Saturday. For your lazy ass." Santana growled.

Quinn turned on her back and stared blankly at her ceiling, happily drowning out Santana's voice with her thoughts. Or lack of thoughts. She almost forgot that she was going back to Ohio today. She turned her head to the side and looked around the bedroom of her apartment (benefits of her father's guilt money) in a daze; something wasn't right. Her bags were packed and lined up neatly by the bedroom door. Her plane ticket was on her nightstand next to her keys and the clothes she planned on wearing were folded up and placed on the armchair in the corner of the room. Very neat. Very organized. One look at her calendar told her that she had finished the last of her finals yesterday morning, thank God, so she should feel relieved and excited for a much needed vacation. But she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something was out of place or missing. And, honestly, she just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Q, you better not be asleep!"

Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Can you give me a fucking second to wake up, please?"

She placed her head into her hands with a soft groan, rubbing small circles on her temples. She was so exhausted and felt so light headed, it was taking her a while to find her bearings.

"Are you alright, Quinn?" Santana asked quietly, her voice concerned. Quinn raised an amused eyebrow, her lips quirking upward.

"I'm sorry, what did you just call me?"

Santana paused before answering. "Your name?"

Quinn bit her lip to hold back her curious laughter. In all the years that Quinn has known the Latina, she could count the number of times Santana has said her first name on her hands, with a few fingers to spare. It only came out when she was very concerned or sad, which are emotions Santana shoves in the very dark depths of the black hole that is her heart.

"Are you high?"

"What? No, bitch, are you stupid?"

Quinn laughed. "I'm fine, S. My finals just took a lot out of me."

Santana was silent, Quinn almost checked to see if she lost the call before she spoke again in a more casual tone, but still with a tiny, tiny, sliver of concern.

"What did you do yesterday?"

Quinn turned on her side and closed her eyes, smiling as she breathed in the comforting scent of her pillow. She thought back to the day before and it didn't surprise her that her memory lacked many details; they all blended together now. It didn't worry her, it's just what happens when people get older. Everyone becomes so used to the tedious days and gets so caught up in school, work and life that time just flies by unnoticed. She remembered every detail of her time in California so vividly she could paint it with her eyes closed and maybe even do a rough sketch of the decade or so that she lived in Lima as a little girl. The last two years of high school that she spent back in Ohio and the first year and a half in college at NYU were nothing but a few very blurry photographs.

So what did she do yesterday? That required time to think.

"Turned in my last final, went to work to get my paycheck, came home, packed and went to sleep." Quinn ran through the list again in her head before nodding. "That's it."

"That's it?" Santana asked carefully.

"You know me, San. I lead a very dull and very boring life." And very lonely was on the tip of her tongue but she'd keep that to herself. She's used to being lonely, has been for years. Bringing it up would only prompt Santana to push her into getting into a relationship and tease her relentlessly for her solo lifestyle. And it was six o'clock in the fucking morning, way too early for a love life lecture, especially one from her extremely snarky best friend.

"I highly doubt that's true," Santana grumbled.

She heard Santana sigh on the other end and a sleepy voice that could only be Brittany, who was, no doubt, sleeping right next to her.

"Brittany wants to talk to you."

Quinn couldn't keep the affectionate smile from crossing her face. "Put her on."

There was a small shuffle before the tired, but still bubbly girl greeted her.

"Hi, Quinn."

"Hey you."

"Are you still hurting?"

Quinn furrowed her brow; sure she was tired and disoriented (if that was even the best word to describe it), but hurt? She was hurt? She tried to think back to their previous conversations but was coming up with nothing. She could hear Santana scold Brittany in the background and the corner of her lips began to turn upwards. As confused as she was, it was always nice to have someone worry about her.

"I'm perfectly fine, B. I'm not hurting at all."

Brittany sighed. "That's good. I don't like it when you're hurting."

"I don't like it either."

"Good," Brittany's smile could be heard through the phone. "I love you."

Quinn grinned. "I love you, too. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Okay," Brittany mumbled. "I'm going back to sleep now."

Quinn giggled as Santana came back onto the phone.

"Alright, bitch, seriously. Get ready. Do not miss your flight because I will not be picking your ass up from James Cox at any other time."

"But you will when I tell you to," Quinn grinned. "I'm getting ready now. I should be landing at around ten. Don't be late, I won't appreciate that."

"Am I ever late for anything?"

The blonde huffed a laugh. "Are you being serious right now?"

"Whatever, just hurry the fuck up."

Quinn rolled her eyes and ended the call.

She sat up, swung her legs off of the bed and ran her fingers through her bed ridden hair. Her neck was sore from sleeping on her back and she winced when she turned her head to look at her clock. She had about thirty minutes before she needed to leave. She stood up and looked around her small bedroom. It was painfully plain, there were holes in the walls where she assumed pictures or paintings were supposed to go but hadn't gotten around to putting them up. A year and a half in this apartment and it still didn't feel like home to her. She had her friends. She had Santana, Brittany, Kurt, Tina and Mike, and occasionally Puck and Sam. New York was great, it was fun. But she felt absolutely disconnected. She actually wanted to go back home to the godforsaken town of Lima, where the heart is. Or something like that.

She quickly got dressed, fixed her hair and took her bags into the living room before walking into the bathroom to finish getting ready. She froze in the doorway.

The mirrored cabinet over her sink was cracked; creating a near spider web effect reaching to the wooden frame around it, and with just one glance, there was no evidence of what may have caused it. She carefully walked further into the bathroom, her eyes darting around searching for a fallen object or just something that could explain what happened. There was nothing out of place, there were no rocks or foreign objects lying around, the window was closed so a bird couldn't have flown in during the night. And she's a light sleeper; if something broke the glass, she would've heard it.

A knock on the door shocked her from her thoughts and she quickly, but carefully, pulled the mirror forward to grab her toothbrush and began brushing her teeth before running to the door. She looked through the peephole and smiled at the sight of her very tired and disgruntled friend before opening the door.

"Good morning, Max."

The shorter girl leaned against the doorframe, her dirty blonde hair tied up in a loose ponytail, her glasses perched precariously on the tip of her nose. Blue-green eyes glared at Quinn from over the brim of the coffee cup in her hand as she took a sip.

"I hate you so much right now."

Quinn smirked. "You could've at least brought me some coffee," she said, pointing to the cup with her toothbrush.

"I did," Max took a lengthy gulp before handing it to Quinn. "Here you go. Don't worry about paying me back."

"You're so kind."

"Well, you look like you have rabies. "

Quinn beamed playfully, baring her foamy teeth at Max, who chuckled, before setting the cup down on the coffee table. "I'm just finishing getting ready. I'll be done in a few minutes."

Max followed her back to her bathroom, dragging her feet. She instantly perked up when she saw the mirror.

"Oh my God, what the hell happened in here?"

Quinn looked into the mirror again and shrugged before spitting the minty foam into the sink.

"I have no idea."

Max hummed in thought and stared curiously at Quinn as she finished brushing her teeth. Quinn straightened up after rinsing out her mouth and spotted Max looking at her in the mirror, noticing the way she worried her bottom lip with her teeth.

"What?"

Max seemed to snap out of a daze. "What?"

"You want to ask me something." Quinn turned around to look at her with a small knowing grin.

The shorter girl pursed her lips. "And suddenly I don't care very much anymore."

"Come on. You don't have to lie to me."

"But it's always funnier if I do."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Just ask me."

"Well, after all this banter, it's just going to seem anticlimactic."

Quinn grabbed the hand towel and threw it at her, smiling brightly when it hit the other woman in the face. Max caught the cloth in her hands before it fell to the floor, trying to look annoyed, but couldn't prevent the upturn of her lips. She sighed and dramatically rolled her eyes when Quinn crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow, waiting.

"Fine. How are you?"

Quinn blinked. "That's it?"

"I know. Anticlimactic, right?"

"I'm fine," Quinn narrowed her eyes, "Why?"

Max glanced at the mirror. "I don't know. You've got a cabinet that looks like someone rammed their face into it, but you don't know how it happened, but you have a memory like an elephant and it's not like you ever sleep."

Quinn turned back to look at the mirror and had to admit that it was a little odd. Something definitely hit it, it would be something anyone would remember happening or doing. "Well, I've been pretty busy with work and school. Maybe it happened while I was gone." Lies. Kind of.

"Maybe." Max's eyes lit up and she smiled. "Anyways, how'd the final go?"

"Swimmingly," Quinn answered, thankful for the change of topic. She grabbed the rest of her toiletries before walking past Max and into the living room. "My professor really liked it. It's going in the art show when school rolls around again."

"Well, I must admit it was a beautiful piece of work, my lady. I was so moved. Close to tears, I swear it."

"You flatter me."

"I know. Clearly I'm still half asleep," Max smirked at her before plopping down on her couch and grabbing the coffee cup again.

"Hey. Stop drinking my coffee."

"But you just brushed your teeth. It's going to taste disgusting if you drink it now and I'm not about to let this absolute godsend get cold," Max closed her eyes and moaned as she took another sip. "Oh god, it's so good. It's like a hot, liquid heaven."

Quinn chuckled and shook her head as she grabbed her keys and a couple of duffle bags by her feet. "Come on, bitch, help me bring this stuff to the car."

"So."

"So?"

Max watched silently as Quinn doodled into her sketchbook. She looked up, her eyebrow arched expectantly.

"What did you do yesterday?"

Quinn shrugged and went back to her drawing, erasing some of the random lines. "Nothing. Turned in my final, got paid, went home, packed, slept."

"That's it?"

Quinn looked back up at Max, her eyebrows furrowed curiously.

"Yes, is that not enough?"

Max shrugged and decided to drop the conversation. She scanned the crowd around them as they sat outside of the terminal gate, waiting for their flights to board. Or, really, Quinn's flight to board because Max's flight to California didn't leave for another few hours, but since she's such an awesome fucking friend, she gave Quinn a ride to the airport. The majority of the people looked just as tired as she felt; most of them that were occupying the seats were either dozing off or already asleep. There was one person, however, who seemed awake enough for all of them, even if all she was doing was reading sheet music. Her leg bounced up and down, most likely in tune with the music she was reading, and her mouth moved rapidly as she reviewed the lyrics under her breath. Max's eyes widened in recognition and her head snapped towards Quinn, only to find her staring intently at the same girl. She smiled in pure delight as she looked between the two women a few more times before leaning in close to whisper in Quinn's ear.

"She's pretty cute isn't she?"

Quinn jumped in her seat and blushed, looking back down to her sketchbook.

"Yeah," she agreed quietly, stealing another glance at the small brunette. In truth, the girl was absolutely gorgeous. Just the sight of her made her heart beat frantically while at the same time stealing the breath from her lungs. Which was ridiculous; she didn't know the girl, let alone talked to her or even seen her before and her heart is already lurching for her? And from the look on Max's face, the bitch was clearly enjoying the effect this beautiful stranger was having on Quinn.

"It looks like she's catching your flight."

"Clearly."

Max's smirk grew. "Maybe you should introduce yourself."

"And why would I do that?" Quinn asked as she focused her attention on her drawing and not the girl in the next row.

"You were drooling. I was worried I was going to have to start building a giant boat and gathering two of every animal."

Quinn's blush deepened and she scowled at her friend. "Why do you have to be such an asshole?"

"You must be rubbing off on me," Max laughed when Quinn hit her on the arm, "Ouch. If you're shy, I don't mind being your wing woman."

"Will you stop please?"

"I'm absolutely positive she wouldn't say no to your hot piece of ass."

"Maxine!" Quinn snapped at her, exasperated.

Max visibly winced. "Jeez, mom."

"Thank God, I'm not your mother," Quinn grumbled under her breath. "I don't know if I would be able to keep from strangling you every time you open your mouth."

The other girl shook her head with a smile. "My mother adores me."

"I'm sure it's only because she has to."

Max just chuckled, but left her alone. Quinn sighed with relief and looked over to the next row, only to gasp silently when she found a pair of dark brown eyes staring back at her. With their eyes connected, something in Quinn's heart snapped and she was afraid of a sudden heart attack and everything around them was blurred and muted. The brunette gave a small smile and Quinn couldn't help but return it. The woman dropped her eyes to the sheet music in her lap and tucked a strand of hair nervously behind her ear, the smile never leaving her face.

If anything, it grew.

Max sighed, a very pleased smile on her face, her hand clutched dramatically over her heart. "Oh God. Quinn, I think that was one of the cutest things I have ever seen."

"I fucking hate you."

Two hours later, Quinn's plane landed in Ohio. After gathering the rest of her luggage from the baggage claim and struggling with them out of the airport, she whipped out her phone to call Santana. She set her luggage on the sidewalk and sat on top of one of her bags.

After a couple of rings, Santana picked up. "We're at the airport; calm the fuck down, Fabray."

Quinn smiled. "I was beginning to worry."

"Please," the Latina snorted. "There's just a bunch of assholes here that don't know how to get out of my fucking way." A blaring honk sounded through the phone followed by a string of what Quinn could only guess were curse words in Spanish.

"San," Brittany scolded in the background.

"Sorry, baby."

Quinn smirked. "Whipped."

"Hey you better watch it, Q. I have no problem turning around and leaving you stranded here in the lovely cold December weather."

"Please don't. It's already been such a long day."

"Oh boo hoo, bitch. I'll see you in a couple of minutes. Think you can hold out on your own without crying like a little baby?"

"I think I can handle that," Quinn chuckled before hanging up and scanning the busyness around her.

There were many people lined up next to her waiting for their rides or hailing down taxis. She flipped up her collar to fight against the blistering wind and wrapped her coat tighter around her body. On the other end of the walk, Quinn spotted the beautiful angel from the terminal. Her brown chestnut hair whipped in the wind and her small hands were held up to her mouth as she blew on them to keep them warm. Quinn was captivated; she's never met anyone who literally stole her breath away, made her world spin, and a bunch of other cliché shit, and she doesn't even know the woman's name. The girl turned her head towards her and their eyes connected once again. The world around them was drowned out and blurred by the pure intensity flowing between them. The girl smiled at her and Quinn didn't hesitate to smile back. She raised her hand in a wave and her heart soared when the brunette raised her hand in return, wiggling her gloved fingers.

Quinn bit her lip in an effort to keep herself from grinning like an idiot. An SUV pulled up in front of the other woman, but her eyes were still locked with Quinn's. It wasn't until the front doors opened and two men exited the car, scooping the girl into their arms that she realized they were even there. Quinn could hear her squeal from where she was and couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips. The men helped the smaller girl put her luggage into the car and with one last lingering glance at Quinn and another small wave, she hopped in the backseat of the truck. Quinn watched the car drive away and she felt her heart clench when the car was out of sight. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of a car horn and Santana screeched to a halt in front of her.

"Hey, bitch!" Santana smirked at her from the driver's seat. Brittany jumped out of the passenger seat to engulf Quinn in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oof!" Quinn grunted as she was almost knocked off her feet. She found her balance and wrapped her arms around the taller blonde.

"Hi, Quinn!"

Quinn laughed. "Hi, B. It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too," Brittany pulled back and beamed at her. She bent down and picked up one of her bags. "Come on, Q! Santana promised me sexy times when we get back home. Let's go!"

"Britt…"

"You said you wanted to get Quinn home as soon as possible, so I'm just speeding her along." She turned back to the amused blonde with a bright smile. "I'm so happy you're here, Quinn!"

Quinn raised her eyebrows and looked over to see a blushing Santana leaning her forehead on the steering wheel. She chuckled and turned to grab a couple of bags and walked to the trunk. She called to the front of the car. "You know, it's nice to help, Santana."

Santana smirked. "You made me get up at the ass crack of dawn and drive an hour and a half to come pick you up from the airport to bring you back to Lima. I think I've helped you enough for today."

Quinn rolled her eyes and she and Brittany finished packing her belongings before getting back into the car to begin the journey home.

"So, Q."

Quinn rolled her eyes. Sometimes she swore Max and Santana were separated at birth.

"So, S."

"Who or what were you gawking at when we pulled up?" Quinn blushed and could see Santana and Brittany share a smirk from the front seat. She looked out the window and thought about the short brunette that had invaded her mind since New York.

"No one."

"You're lying."

Quinn's eyes snapped to the front seats to find Brittany peeking at her from behind her headrest, a knowing grin on her face. She looked back towards the window, resting her head against the glass.

"Just some girl," she answered quietly. Brittany giggled excitedly, practically bouncing in her seat.

"Really? What's her name?"

Quinn's blush deepened, but she shrugged and bit the bullet. "I don't know."

Santana laughed while Brittany looked confused. "Well is she hot?"

Quinn could only nod as she bit her lip again to keep from smiling like the Cheshire Cat on crack. Santana rolled her eyes and Brittany awed and sprang from her seat to pull Quinn into another hug.

"Brittany, what the hell!" Santana yelled as Brittany's legs that were still trapped in the front seat nearly hit her in the face as she swung them back and forth in her excitement. "Sit back down and put your seatbelt on!"

"Aw, San! Quinn found someone!" The blonde climbed back in her seat, but still faced Quinn in the backseat, grinning at her and clapping her hands happily.

"I didn't find anyone, B," Quinn replied sadly, even if she couldn't help but smile at her friend's childlike behavior. "I don't even know her. Besides, I probably won't ever see her again." Santana smirked at her from the rearview mirror.

"You seem pretty sad about that, Q. Are you sure she's just some girl?" she teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

"I'm sure," she whispered even though her heart angrily disagreed.

Quinn walked through the front door to the large house (more benefits of a guilty father) and dropped the majority of her bags by the staircase. She was immediately tackled by a gray and white husky, barking in his excitement and she had to grab the stair railing to keep from falling over. She smiled and looked into the blue eyes, kissing the dog on his head.

"Hey, Luck. Where's your mommy?" Luck licked her hand in response.

The house seemed quiet, but her younger sister's car was in the driveway when she pulled up so Quinn figured she was locked in her room. She trudged up the stairs with a couple of her bags and headed straight for her bedroom, dying to catch a couple more hours of sleep in her big comfy bed. She pushed the door open to her room letting Luck run in excitedly before her while she stopped to examine it. Her walls were covered with paintings and drawing she had finished over the years and a couple of pictures of her friends and her sisters and she smiled at the memories. She walked to the middle of her room and dropped her bags by the foot of her bed before plopping down on her comforter and sighing in content. It felt great to be back in the house with her family, even if the nagging feeling that something was wrong wouldn't go away. She just needed a couple of hours of sleep and everything would be back to normal.

"QUINN!"

Quinn started and snapped open her eyes in time to see a blur of short blonde hair before the air was pushed out of her lungs as the perpetrator jumped on her.

"I've missed you so much, it's so great to see you!" the younger girl squealed into her shoulder and she held her in a death grip. Luck barked happily in the background. "How've you been? How's New York? How's college? Tell me everything!"

Quinn laughed at her little sister's excitement and pushed the girl's shoulders back so she could see her face. Joyous, blue eyes met hazel and Abigail beamed at her. "Hi, Quinn," she said breathlessly.

"Hey, Abby," Quinn greeted as she sat up, Abigail slipping off of her lap to sit next to her on the bed. "It's good to see you, too." A soft meow came from the side of her bed and she peeked over the side to see her unusually small brown, white and black Savannah cat, Jinx. Identical hazel eyes seemed to sparkle with excited recognition when they looked up at Quinn. She smiled and reached her hand down for the cat to brush against her fingers.

Abigail smiled brightly at her. "Did you bring me another painting?"

"Maaaybe," Quinn drawled, a grin playing on her lips. Abigail's room was like a gallery to the art that Quinn made for her and she would have found it a bit unnerving if she didn't find it completely endearing (and of course, if she wasn't her little sister). Abigail giggled and wrapped her in another hug.

"Can I have it now?" She brought Quinn back at arm's length to stare closely into her eyes.

"On Christmas." Abigail pouted, but Quinn narrowed her eyes. "Christmas or New Years. Pick one."

The younger girl sighed. "Fine, I'll wait." Instantly, the almost permanent smile was back on her face. "Anyways, how've you been? How's the Big Apple?"

Quinn lied back down on her pillows and felt the bed dip as her sister settled down next to her. Jinx jumped on the bed and curled into Quinn's body and she scratched behind her ears, earning an appreciative purr and a wag of her tail. "Life consists of school, work, and social activities on repeat. And New York is as busy as always."

"Well, aren't you just a ball of all things exhilarating," Abigail replied dryly. Quinn nudged her in the ribs.

"Shut up. How's your senior year going? Coach Sylvester still trying to overwork you into perfection?"

The younger girl rolled her eyes. "Of course she is. I still have practice every Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday morning even though we're on vacation. But senior year is amazing; I'm having so much fun. I can't wait till it's all over and I'm out of that hell hole."

"Are you still ruling the halls with your HBIC status?"

The younger Fabray scoffed. "Of course. It's in the Fabray blood, Quinn. I'm sure you are fully aware of our natural power to command mankind and take over the world," Abigail gave a very smug smile, but Quinn just laughed. Her sister was probably the nicest Head Cheerleader in William McKinley High history. The artist smirked and poked her sister lightly in the stomach.

"And how's Amy?" Abigail blushed with a smile, turning her head to hide it slightly in Quinn's pillow.

"Absolutely amazing, as always," she mumbled, a small giggle escaping her lips. Quinn awed at her sisters adorable shyness, as she always was when Quinn, their sister or their mom mentioned her girlfriend of nearly three years. "Stop teasing me. I can sense your amusement."

"She's coming over later isn't she?"

The cheerleader lifted her head and nodded it vigorously with a bright smile. Quinn narrowed her eyes playfully.

"Do we need to have an open door policy?"

Abigail smirked coyly. "Mom already enforced one. She caught us in a very compromising position when she came to wake us up one morning."

Quinn arched an eyebrow. "And what position would that be?"

"We were simply spooning. Naked."

"Oh my god," Quinn laughed and shook her head, imagining the look of shocked embarrassment on her mother's face and then closed her eyes to block out the visual of her younger sister in bed with her girlfriend. "You are going to kill our mother."

The cheerleader rolled her eyes. "Like I'm the only one to cause her some emotional stress. Between you and Nora, what I do is like spilled milk to her now."

Quinn smiled and nodded. "That's true. But at least I never had to have an open door policy enforced on my bedroom."

The artist watched as Abigail looked down to her quilt, the carefree smile lessening to that of concern. She looked back up slowly to meet the hazel eyes across from her. "How've you been, Quinn?"

Quinn hesitated slightly, taken aback by her sister's sudden change in attitude. "I thought I already answered that."

"You've told me what your life consisted of, not how you're doing in said life," Abigail challenged.

Quinn sighed. "What is with everyone's concern about me today?"

Abigail stared deep into her eyes before shrugging.

"I guess everyone just worries about you too much," she answered quietly. "So, how've you been?"

Abby was hiding something and Quinn knew it. She could see it in her eyes. She wanted to pry, she really did, but knew, just knew that Abigail wouldn't say anything. And she was really fucking tired right now. She'll pry it from her later.

"I'm fine. Everything's great," she replied, trying to put as much sincerity in her words and eyes as possible. Abigail stared a little longer, trying to find a crack in Quinn's calm demeanor. After a few seconds she seemed satisfied and her face broke out into a smile. She reached over and pulled her sister into a gentle hug. Quinn hugged her back.

"I've missed you, Quinn."

Quinn smiled into the cheerleader's hair. "I've missed you too."

Abigail pulled back, her smile as bright as ever as she hopped off of Quinn's bed, the conversation forgotten and in the past.

"Okay. I know you're exhausted, so I'm going to let you sleep. I'll let Nora come and wake you up when she gets home. I'll tell her to give you a couple hours," she said as she walked towards the bedroom door.

"Where is dear sister Nora?"

"Out shopping since mom won't be back from Boulder until Christmas week. Come on Lucky," she answered as she practically skipped out the door, Luck close on her heels. "Sleep tight, Quinn!"

"Bye, Abby," Quinn yawned and closed her eyes, welcoming the much needed sleep as her cat burrowed into her covers with her.

She was awoken a few hours later by her sheets being snatched from her body and she shivered from the cold air around her. She curled up into a tighter ball around Jinx and groaned.

"Why are you so mean?" she asked groggily as she reached blindly for her covers, too tired to really open her eyes. She grunted when a pillow was slammed down on her head and an all too familiar laugh rang out.

"Aw, did the big bad Nora wake you up. I'm sorry."

Quinn covered her face with her arm as the pillow came down on her again. Jinx hissed at the disruption and hopped off the bed to saunter out of the room. Quinn frowned as she watched the feline leave.

"You scared away my baby."

Nora shrugged. "She'll love me again when it's me that's feeding her."

"I'll feed her when I get up," Quinn mumbled and snuggled back into her pillow, closing her eyes. Her head hit the mattress with a soft thud as the pillow was snatched from under her only for it to be slammed down on her face along with the one that was already in Nora's hand. She sighed. "Okay. I'm up now."

"Fantastic," the older blonde smirked and tossed both of the pillows on top of Quinn.

The artist stretched languidly and glanced at her sister, noticing her expectant stare. She swung her legs off of the bed to sit up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "I'm fine," she whispered.

Nora blinked. "What?"

Quinn blinked back and shrugged, lifting her arms up in another stretch. "You were staring. I just figured you'd ask me how I'm doing. It seems to be a trend with everyone today." Nora raised her eyebrow and giggled.

"Oh Quinn," Nora cooed and sat next to her sister, throwing her arm around Quinn's shoulder to give her a side hug. "You know I don't care."

"It's good to know you love me," Quinn deadpanned.

"It's more like an obligation."

Quinn rolled her eyes and shrugged Nora's arm off of her shoulder. "Please tell me you didn't wake me up so I can be your punching bag. Where's Abigail? Go fuck with her."

Nora suddenly beamed and grabbed Quinn's arm, pulling her from the bed and out of her room before Quinn knew what was going on. "You have got to see this."

Quinn, still trying to wake up completely, stumbled after the excited blond as she was dragged down the stairs. She nearly ran into Nora's back when she stopped abruptly in the archway of the living room pointing towards the couch. She peeked around Nora's shoulder and had to bite her lip to keep from laughing loudly at the scene in front of her.

"Look at your sister."

Abigail lay on the couch, with Luck next to her, clad in a WMHS cheer t-shirt and yoga pants, her short hair tied back into a ponytail and half of her body leaning off the edge as she reached for Jinx, who sat just out of arm's reach. An opened bag of Doritos and Baked Cheetos were on the coffee table next to a couple of DVDs and five different books, all opened. Her guitar leaned against the arm rest by her head, the pick placed snuggly between the first and second strings. Jinx nipped playfully at Abby's fingers as they wiggled in their attempt to grab her.

"Come here, Jinxie," Abigail cooed and giggled. The feline stood up and walked under her arm and jumped on the couch, settling on Abigail's stomach. Jinx patted Luck on the head with her paw, and the dog returned the greeting with a lick to her face. The cheerleader grinned at the animals and looked up, finally spotting her very amused sisters watching her. She lifted Jinx up and turned her around so she could face Nora, who was quietly chuckling, and Quinn, who tried to hide her smile behind her sister's shoulder.

"Look, Jinxie, your Mommy's awake!" she lifted the cat's paw in a wave and bounced her on her hind legs. "I want chicken, I want liver, Meow Mix, Meow Mix, please deliver." Jinx meowed, causing Abigail to giggle again and she hugged the animal to her chest.

Nora laughed and looked over her shoulder at Quinn, nudging her in the ribs. "Wave back, don't be rude."

"I don't know if I should be condoning this type of behavior," Quinn whispered.

"You should. It's hilarious."

Quinn put a hand to her forehead and smiled as she watched Jinx squirm against Abigail's tight hold while she talked a mile a minute. "Did she take her medicine?"

Nora shrugged. "I have no idea, but I do know what she did take."

Quinn eyed the junk food on the table and her sister's bloodshot eyes and constant giggle. "At least she doesn't smell."

"Well, it would seem that little Abster got her hands on some highly potent brownies."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Did she get them from you?"

"What? You think I'm stupid?" Nora rolled her eyes and nudged a smirking Quinn in the shoulder again. "Fuck no; she didn't get them from me. Like I would waste a perfectly good brownie on this nut. I'm sure whoever gave it to her is trying to kill us. It's, like, a marathon trying to hold a conversation with her and she won't shut up." Nora grinned and tapped Quinn on the shoulder. "Tag, you get to watch her now. I'm going to grab something that isn't complete stoner food to eat."

Quinn watched Nora walk to the kitchen, laughing quietly to herself before turning to study her very high sister. She walked slowly over to the other end of the couch, lightly pushing Luck so he could get off and lay on the floor. She sat down, letting Abby put her feet on her lap. Jinx was finally able to squirm free from Abigail and crawled down the length of her body to settle on the armrest next to Quinn. Abigail rolled her head to the side to stare blankly at the pitch black on the television screen.

"So, Abigail," Quinn scanned the materials on the coffee table, "what are you up to?"

The cheerleader snapped her head back to look at Quinn with a lazy grin.

"I got brownies, Quinn."

"So I've heard."

"Would you like one? Puck did a great job."

Quinn blinked. "Puck?"

"Puck, yes."

"…You're buying brownies from Puck?"

Abigail sat up, her brows furrowed. "Quinn, are you listening to me? Listen to me. Puck gave me these yummy brownies that I have been nomming on and I think you should nom on one, too. They'll make you feel better. Relaxed. Focused."

"Yeah, you seem really focused," Quinn mumbled, staring once again at the mess on the table. The other girl glanced at it as well.

"I may have forgotten to take my Adderall after lunch," Abby whispered under her breath before turning back to look at Quinn, a large grin on her face. "So do you want one?"

Quinn smiled. "Maybe later."

Abigail frowned. "But you're sad now. I don't want you to be sad."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're lonely. You've never been so lonely," she leaned forward and gently grabbed Quinn's face with both hands, pulling it towards her to stare closely into her eyes. "God, your eyes are so loud sometimes."

Quinn froze. She tried to lean away from her sister's grip and prying eyes, but the armrest was already digging into her back and her body was trapped under Abigail's legs. The cheerleader always had the ability to make Quinn feel like she was made of fragile glass. She felt the telltale sign of tears prickling behind her eyes and she didn't know why. She closed her eyes, carefully grabbing her sister's hands and pulling them away from her face.

"It's okay, Abby," she whispered, opening her eyes to see Abigail still staring at her. "I'm fine."

The younger blonde leaned back and lifted her legs off of Quinn to cross them Indian style. Propping her elbow up on her thigh, she rested her chin on an opened palm and smiled softly.

"Two and a half years," she said quietly, her eyes glazed over as they traced the contours of Quinn's body. "That's a really long time, Quinn."

Quinn hesitated. "A long time for what?"

"Everything!" she shouted, throwing her hands in the air, making Quinn, Luck and Jinx jump. "So much happens in that amount of time. I mean, who can forget all of that! No one forgets anything. The mind is a room and the memory just gets lost in the messiness. It's all still there, Quinn. We just have to search and organize." She paused and bit her lip, her eyebrows scrunched in contemplation. "But, this time is different, isn't it; this time someone came into your freakishly clean room and hid your things from you. The villain! Together, Quinn, we will find your stuff." A smile broke out over her face and she clapped in her excitement. "Oh! We can be, like, superheroes! Do you want to be a superhero with me, Quinn? We could have capes and secret identities!"

"…Abby, what the fuck are you talking about?"

Abigail sighed and put a hand to her head to gather her thoughts. "Okay, I'm going to need you to pay attention this time because I'm starting to forget what we're talking about."

She opened her mouth to begin her speech, but was interrupted by a grape hitting her in the head. She picked it up and looked towards the kitchen to see Nora standing there with a bowl of fruit, rolling her eyes. Abigail's eyes widened and she beamed before reaching over to grab the bag of Doritos. "Nora! Trade me."

The older Fabray scoffed. "Absolutely not." She walked over to the armchair and sat down, popping another grape into her mouth.

"But they're so good," Abigail replied around a mouthful of chips.

"Sylvester is going to kill you if you keep eating those."

The cheerleader's eyes widened, her hand frozen in midair, a chip dangling from her fingers. "Oh my God, you are so right. I completely forgot about that stupid diet." She shoved the chip in her mouth. "What should I do?"

"Stop eating."

"I can't," she mumbled around a mouthful of chips. She swallowed and pointed to the Cheetos still on the table. "I can eat those though, yeah? They're baked. Oh my god, wait," giggling, she leaned over and reached into the bag, pulled out a chip and showed it to her sisters, "look, it's like I'm a giant caveman! These are fun."

Quinn laughed and reached over to grab a handful of fruit. When she reclined back into her seat, she looked over to see Abigail staring at her with a big delightful smile on her face, her eyes swimming with excitement.

"Quinn! You're eating berries!"

The artist looked down in her hand to see, yes, a couple of strawberries and blueberries. She looked back up at her sister, her eyebrow arched. "Yeah?"

Abigail stared above Quinn's head. "My God, the light that is shining down upon you right now is the light of destiny! This is the first sign!"

Quinn blinked. "The first sign for what?"

Abigail grinned. "That you belo -" Nora quickly threw another grape at Abigail, hitting her in the face. The younger girl paused to gape at her sister, slowly bringing the grape to her mouth. "Now you're just being silly. I hope you know that this means war," she reached into her bag of chips and picked one out before flinging it at Nora like a Frisbee. "Ninja star!"

The Dorito hit Nora's cheek and she glared at the giggling girl on the couch. She stood up slowly and handed the bowl of fruit to a smirking Quinn. Abigail, still laughing, held up a finger to ward her off.

"Now, now, Nora. Don't be silly," she warned as she stood from the couch and circled it to put space between her and her sister. Luck lifted his head to watch. "You don't have my ninja skills. I will dominate you in battle, so I suggest you calmly sit down and we can forget about this altercation."

Nora smirked and shook her head as she pursued Abigail. "You threw a chip at me."

"Did I?" Nora nodded. "Oh. I hope you ate it. You shouldn't be wasteful. You know there are starving children in Africa right now."

Nora lunged at Abigail, who squealed and ran to the front of the couch before getting tackled to the ground and tickled. Luck sprang up and jumped around them, barking happily.

"Stop it, you knave! Unhand me this instant! My body, my choice!"

The doorbell interrupted the sound of giggles and, like Luck next to her; Abigail popped up her head and looked towards the door eagerly, giving Nora the chance to knock her to the floor again.

"Oh, wait! My love, she calls for me!" the cheerleader reached her arm out towards the door before squealing out in laughter as she tried to get away from Nora's tickling fingers.

Quinn stood up to answer it and looked out the window to see Abigail's girlfriend grinning at her with piercing green eyes, a hood over her head and black bangs falling into her eyes. A duffle bag hung off her shoulder as she waved excitedly. Quinn smiled and opened the door, shivering at the cold air.

"Hey, gorgeous."

Amy grinned and gave a firm hug to the artist before pulling down her hood and taking off her mittens.

"Hi, beautiful, I've missed you. Abigail told me you were home, after she finished telling me about some plan to take over the world and fight bad guys or something. I figured she's just saying that because she's high," the girl laughed and took off her jacket before hanging it up on the coat rack by the door, revealing a yearbook staff shirt from 2011. She took off her boots and followed Quinn back into the living room, stopping in the archway to study the scene before her while the blonde resumed her place on the couch. Nora, now sat upright with Abigail lying down trapped between her and the couch (who seemed to have given up temporarily in favor of admiring the softness of the rug with her face), looked over and smiled.

"Amy, what a surprise," Nora greeted dryly.

Amy waved. Luck bounded his way over to her and she kneeled down to greet him with a hug, bracing herself with her hands when he tackled her. Abigail beamed at her from the floor.

"Hi, baby!"

Amy giggled and walked forward cautiously, not quite sure of what would happen if she were to step too close. "Hey you," she bent down to give the cheerleader a small but loving kiss and gave Luck a peck on the head before looking at the table. "What's with all this mess?"

"That's my mess," Abigail smiled proudly as she pushed at the body on top of her to gain the upper hand in the fight, but Nora just smirked and refused to budge.

Quinn rolled her eyes and lifted her feet onto the couch, Jinx jumping off the armrest to snuggle into her side. She grabbed the remote off the table and turned on the television.

"What is - Quinn, is that the food channel? Is it Ace of Cakes? I love that show! Nora, get off, I wish to sit comfortably while I watch them make amazing things out of cake." Abigail lifted her head as much as she could with Nora's body pinning her to the ground. "Quinn, come on, we're supposed to be a team against this woman-child. Help me."

Quinn tore her eyes away from the screen long enough to glance at the two. "You're too far."

Abigail scowled and waved her off. "Oh, you are worthless! You know, sisters are supposed to love each other through thick and thin, but I think you both suck."

"Then ask your girlfriend."

"Amy, help me get rid of this offender!"

Amy giggled and shook her head from her place leaning against the armrest of the couch. "But you're my knight. I'm the damsel in distress, remember."

"See, this is why I didn't ask you. The damsel always gets to sit on her delectable ass while her knight does all the work. And when the knight gets home from slaying the fat, ugly dragon," Abigail shoved Nora in the back and giggled when she received a middle finger from the oldest blonde, "she will be rewarded with kisses and good times. So you're lucky you're hot or I wouldn't put up with your total disregard for my comfort and all around safety."

Amy grinned at her. "I love you, too, baby."

"Aw, sweetie!" Abigail smiled lovingly at the raven haired beauty as she leaned down to give her another kiss. The cheerleader reached up and pulled Amy's hair out of the ponytail it was in and ran her fingers through the black tresses. "Like a goddess," She whispered. Amy blushed and gave her another kiss.

Nora rolled her eyes and looked over at Quinn. "They're giving me diabetes."

"Shut up, they're cute," Quinn whispered with a smile, nudging Nora in the back of the head with her knee.

"Gag me."

Abigail turned her attention to her sister and pushed her in the shoulder. "Nora, you're physically interrupting valuable, unsupervised cuddling time with my girlfriend. That's very thoughtless of you and I hope you feel bad."

Nora just laughed. "Aw, do you really? I guess you'll just have to use your ninja skills to get out of your predicament."

"I refuse to use my amazing techniques on you. You need to be alive for Christmas or mom will kill me."

"Well then, I guess you'll just have to watch TV from down here. Sorry, Amy," Nora smiled sweetly and settled back against Abigail and the couch. The cheerleader, her eyes glued to the TV screen, reached over to pull Amy closer so she could place her head in her lap and laced their fingers together. Luck lied down next to Abigail, placing his head in Nora's lap, who immediately began scratching behind his ears. Quinn handed the bowl of fruit over to Nora and the four of them settled down to watch the Food Network.

Abigail didn't pass out until close to midnight (in her bedroom with Amy, the door closed and probably locked), after countless random conversations and many intense rounds of MarioKart because even though Abigail was beyond high, she definitely still had ninja skills when it came to green shells, trick boxes and bananas and everyone else made it their mission to make her lose. As she slipped her arms into her thick, collared overcoat, Quinn looked down to find Jinx staring up at her, a plea in the hazel eyes. Quinn grinned.

"Do you want to come with us?" she asked quietly as she fixed the collar onto Luck's neck. Jinx meowed and Quinn kneeled down so the small cat could climb into her black hooded jacket that was under the coat before carefully zipping it up and keeping her snug against her chest. She partially buttoned up the overcoat, slipped on her gloves and walked up to the front door, opening it up and wincing at the harsh cold wind that hit her in the face. She grabbed the leash off the small table by the front door and connected it to the husky's collar.

"Where are you going?"

Quinn turned around to find Nora standing at the bottom of the staircase, wrapped in a soft robe with a steaming cup of tea in her hands.

"A walk."

Nora hummed and walked forward. "Don't freeze to death. I think Abigail is going to be unconscious until tomorrow afternoon and Amy will most likely be with her so I won't have anyone to pick on if you turn into a human popsicle."

"What flavor would I be?"

"Shit flavored, obviously," Nora smirked and closed the door.

Quinn chuckled and rolled her eyes as she walked out into the snow, lifting her hood over her blond hair. Quinn kept a loose hold on Luck's leash (she only put it on him to avoid getting a ticket anyways) and put her hands in her coat pockets, letting Jinx rest on her forearms. She began walking towards the park she knew was at the end of her block, but had never really visited. She remembered Brittany telling her about the dates where Santana would take her to the duck pond that was there, which was ridiculously adorable and Quinn teased the Latina for weeks about it. She figured it would look beautiful deserted and covered in a layer of snow. Jinx fidgeted in her jacket, causing Quinn to wince when one of her claws poked through the fabric.

"Ouch, Jinx!" she looked down at the feline who stared back up innocently. "Such a pain in the ass."

Jinx meowed indignantly and Quinn grinned, lifting her up a little further on her chest. Jinx nipped at Quinn's chin making her laugh before moving her face and kissing the top of the cat's head.

The street and the park seemed deserted, which was a little unsettling when compared to the business of the Big Apple, regardless of the weather, but Quinn reveled in the silence. She trudged up the street leisurely, in no rush to pass the decorated houses and the beauty of Mother Nature in the winter. This was something she couldn't do in New York City and she wasn't going to waste it.

It was when she got closer to the park that she heard it: soft, beautiful singing. She slowed her walk down and squinted in the direction of the park. There was a girl standing next to a large oak tree staring off towards the pond, swaying slightly to the music she was producing. She was poorly illuminated by the streetlight next to her so Quinn couldn't make out any of her features even if she was facing her way, but she was instantly drawn to the sound, like a moth to the gates of hell. Luck began to pull away from her and she grabbed on to his leash to keep him back, but he whined and pulled harder.

"Luck, will you calm do – ow! Jinx!"

During her effort to contain Luck, the cat scrambled out of her jacket, her claws poking Quinn in her arms and chest. She let go of Luck's leash and he took off towards the woman, Jinx hot on his heels.

"Jinx! Luck! Get back here!" she whispered as loud as she could without alerting the woman. She ran after them, not wanting the animals to scare the singer, but slowed to a stop as the girl turned around at the excited barking and calmly watched Luck and Jinx run up to her. The dog immediately sat at her feet and wagged his tail as she kneeled down to pet him on his head. Jinx lifted her front paws onto her thighs, wanting some attention and was pleased when the girl scratched her behind her ears. Quinn smiled at the scene and walked over to them, calmer now that she knew the woman wasn't frightened. When she arrived, the singer had Jinx in her lap, her head tilted down as she stroked the soft fur and her brown hair covered her face. Quinn cleared her throat softly.

"Hi."

The woman looked up and they both gasped. It was the angel from the airport and Quinn was almost sure God had sent her as an early Christmas present. The brunette smiled at Quinn, soft brown eyes connecting with hazel and the world around them began to blur again as they focused only on each other. There was something in that gaze that pulled the artist in and she couldn't look away, didn't want to look away. The shorter girl stood up with Jinx still in her arms and stepped closer to Quinn.

"Hi," she greeted quietly. "Are they yours?"

Quinn grinned sheepishly and bent down to grab Luck's leash. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I don't know what came over them. They don't usually just ambush people."

"It's okay, I don't mind. They're very friendly," the girl replied, placing a kiss on top of Jinx head making Quinn smile. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the brunette shifted the cat in her arms so she could hold out her hand. "I'm Rachel. Rachel Berry."

"Quinn Fabray."

They shook hands and even through the fabric of their gloves, Quinn could feel a spark flow from her fingertips and through her veins, warming every part of her body. She guessed that Rachel felt it too, because she smiled at their clasped hands before bringing her hand back to cradle Jinx more comfortably.

"Do you make it a habit of bringing your cat out on walks?"

Quinn raised an eyebrow playfully. "Do you make it a habit of singing in a deserted park at midnight in freezing weather?"

"Always," Rachel replied with a smirk.

Quinn chuckled and reached over to scratch Jinx behind her ears. "She doesn't like being left out. She's a bit of a diva."

"Oh, we have something in common then," she replied and nuzzled the cat with her nose. She giggled when Jinx licked her face and Quinn filed that sound away as one of the best in the world. "What are their names?"

"Her name is Jinx and this here," she tugged gently on the leash, making Luck walk over to her and brush against her legs, "is Luck."

Rachel smiled at her. "Jinx and Luck? That's pretty dorky."

"Well, my sister's a big dork so I guess it fits."

"But Jinx is yours?"

Quinn blinked. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

Rachel just smiled, glancing down at Jinx, before raising her eyes to connect with Quinn's. "She has your eyes."

They stared at each other, letting a comfortable silence fall over them. There was no doubt for Quinn now; she really, really liked this girl, but at least now she knew her name. She wanted to touch her, hold hands with her…wake up with her. She has never felt like this for anyone and she couldn't control it, but it was comfortable and exciting. The dark brown eyes held a power over her that was so strong, she'd cut off her finger if it would make Rachel smile and she wasn't prepared for that so she needed to look away unless she wanted to do something that would probably scare the brunette off or maybe get her arrested for molestation.

"Were you heading somewhere? I don't want to keep you away from any prior engagement." Rachel asked quietly. Quinn shrugged, looking around the park.

"Not really. I couldn't sleep. And I've never really been to this park before so I figured I could look around."

Rachel hummed and ran her eyes over the blonde's features; the hazel eyes, the delicate bone structure…the soft skin. She blushed and averted her eyes, biting her lip nervously.

"I happen to know some rather serene locations in this park. I would be happy to show you. If you, uh, don't mind the company, of course." Her voice dropped off to a shy whisper. She looked up to gage Quinn's reaction and was relieved and more than a little pleased to see a small smile on the perfect lips.

"I would love your company," Quinn whispered, internally chastising herself for the implications in her words, but instantly wanted to pat herself on the back when Rachel just beamed and hooked their arms together, Jinx still nestled against her chest. She led Quinn to a trail that ran along the frozen pond and they slowly began their walk to the other side of the body of water, their path softly lit by lamps. Quinn tried to ignore the romantic setting she suddenly found herself in with the one girl she couldn't get seem to get out of her mind (seriously, what were the odds?). However, the fact that they walked pressed against each other because Rachel was still holding Jinx and her arm was making it the only thing she could think about.

"So, Quinn Fabray."

"Yes, Rachel Berry?"

The brunette smiled and tightened her hold on the squirming cat and, in the process, pulled her closer to the blonde. "What brings you to the small and, if I may be blunt, quite terrible town of Lima?"

"Terrible, huh?"

"Well, let's just say if my memories weren't created and basically established on the very soil that we walk upon, I don't believe that I would come here to enjoy what is said to be the most jolly holiday of the year where it would seem that instead of carolers, the only people who come to my house that aren't relatives are conservative bible thumpers who use this month as an excuse to try and covert those that do not meet the standard set by their church or their own flawed beliefs, claiming it to be part of God's Christmas wish or something. I don't really know. I just offer them cookies or perhaps a Christmas carol or two. That usually makes them leave quicker," Rachel finished with a smile, but blushed at Quinn's very amused smile and arched eyebrow. "Sorry. I tend to go off on tangents and use more words than is necessary to convey simple feelings and opinions."

But Quinn just chuckled. "It's fine. My sister has the same tendency. I'm used to it. Besides," she bit her lip nervously and averted her eyes before whispering, "I think it's cute."

Rachel blushed harder at the complement and leaned her head on Quinn's shoulder. "You think your sister's rambling ways are cute?"

"You think you're funny, don't you?" Quinn narrowed her eyes playfully, shrugging Rachel's head off of her shoulder when she was answered with a giggle.

"Oh yes. While other people may disagree, I happen to believe that I'm a pretty hilarious individual. I've also been told I have quite the ego," Rachel replied with a sly grin. "So you think I'm cute?"

Quinn laughed. "Only when you're being nice to me."

"I'll keep that in mind," Rachel whispered, taking a moment to quell her urge to jump for joy at the blonde's confession. "So, why Lima?"

"This, unfortunately, happens to be my hometown as well," the blonde answered, looking around at their surrounding as Rachel led her towards the lining of thick trees.

"Really?"

Quinn nodded. "I moved to California after elementary school and came back for my last two years of high school."

"And now you're in New York?"

"At Tisch, yes." She slowed down her pace when she noticed Rachel heading straight for the trees. "Uh, Rachel? Where are we going?"

The brunette smiled. "I will have you know that I'm a huge fan of surprises, so you'll have to forgive me while I indulge myself. You'll just have to wait and see."

"I hope you're serious about the 'seeing' part of your surprise," Quinn said cautiously as she stopped just outside of the darkness of the trees where the beginning of a small trail could be seen. Rachel giggled and pulled the blonde closer to her.

"You can trust me."

Quinn looked over at Rachel's beaming face and sighed. She couldn't resist it. "Okay. Lead the way.'

"Great! It's what I do best," Rachel quipped with a chuckle and began to drag a still slightly hesitant Quinn through the darkness.

The blonde stayed glued to the shorter girl, because with her sight obscured it felt like her balance was completely off. The trail beneath them felt as if it had been trodden on many times so it was relatively smooth, but that didn't keep Quinn from almost tripping over her own feet. After a few minutes, Quinn began to get nervous.

"How do you know where you're going?" she asked, squinting her eyes to try and see where they were going; the overhanging trees blocked out the moonlight, their only source of light.

"Pure muscle reflex and memory."

Quinn was about to reply when she saw a small, glowing orange dot between the trees in front of her. When Rachel finally led her out of the darkness, she was met with a fairly large stretch of land covered in untouched snow that tapered off out of sight. At the far edge was a lamp post like the ones that lined the pond and a small bench with the stars shining brightly above them. The simplicity of it all just made it that much more beautiful.

"I wish the sun was out," Rachel whispered beside her, "And when it's spring, the flowers bloom giving this place a lot more color than is present."

"It's beautiful," Quinn breathed out.

Rachel beamed and began to pull her towards the bench. "Come on, this is the best part."

Quinn walked with Rachel, feeling almost guilty about stepping on the smooth powdered snow. As they got closer to the bench, Quinn could see where the field tapered off to: a real winter wonderland with rows upon rows of houses that were lit by street lamps and Christmas lights and from their position at the top of the steep hill, they could see absolutely everything.

"Wow," Quinn said quietly, "I never knew Lima could be so beautiful."

Rachel hummed in agreement, "Maybe one day we could come here when it's light out."

Quinn smiled and looked over at Rachel to find her staring back, shyly. "I would love that."

Rachel smiled and turned her head back towards the town to hide the blush that was creeping up on her cheeks. She laid her head on Quinn's shoulder as they soaked in the beauty. After a few moments, Quinn's gaze shifted to the brunette that was using her shoulder as a headrest. It was weirdly amazing how comfortable this all was. The desire she had for Rachel just seemed to grow with each passing second and the need to know more about her was overwhelming.

"Do you go to school in New York as well?"

She felt Rachel nod her head against her shoulder. "I attend Julliard as a musical theatre major."

"That's very impressive."

"I know," Quinn looked down to see Rachel smirking playfully. The blonde rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile. Rachel giggled and tightened her hold on Quinn's arm. "It's been a dream of mine since I was a little girl to get into Julliard and out of Lima. So once I graduated from McKinley I- "

"Wait," Quinn held up the hand that was holding Luck's leash. "You went to McKinley?"

"Yes, for four years."

"I went there, too. Junior and senior year."

Rachel's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?" Quinn nodded with a smile. "What year did you graduate?"

"2012."

Rachel frowned and turned to face Quinn, retracting her arm so that she could turn Quinn's body to face her. Quinn was confused as she watched Rachel's eyes scan her face furiously, like she was trying to memorize it. The singer brought her hand back to cradle Jinx as she began to slip from her grip, but she didn't take her eyes off of Quinn.

"Rachel?"

The brunette's eyes snapped to hers and she shook her head. "That's really, very odd."

"What is?"

"That we graduated the same year."

Quinn straightened at the confession. That was very odd; to go to the same school as someone for two years, graduate with them, and not even remember their face. Especially when that someone was Rachel and it seemed that her brain couldn't get enough of that gorgeous face. How could she not have noticed her?

"That's…impossible," she whispered, her eyes now tracing Rachel to try an spark a memory of seeing her walk down the hall or sitting in class, just something.

Rachel frowned and turned back towards the view. "I guess it's not. I wasn't very popular, in the slightest. I didn't have very many friends, it you could call them that. I highly doubt I was remembered by many people in our senior class as someone other than a nameless face who was extremely talkative, annoying, a walking slushy target and had great ambitions and talents and two dads. My home was at the bottom of the social ladder and only there. I shouldn't have been surprised."

Quinn's heart broke at Rachel's solemn confession. "Rach-"

"It's okay, Quinn. I'm used to it."

The blonde just shook her head and stepped closer to Rachel, touching her cheek lightly so she would face her. She frowned at the tears that settled in the beautiful brown eyes, and wiped away the one that escaped with her gloved thumb. She wrapped her arms around the shorted girl's neck and pulled her into a hug, careful not to squish Jinx between them. She felt Rachel immediately melt into the embrace, snaking one arm around her waist and burrowing her face into the pale neck. Quinn twisted her head so her mouth was next to her ear.

"It's impossible," she whispered softly, "I would've remembered you."

She felt Rachel stiffen for a second, but then she was smiling. "Why would you want to remember me?"

"Because you're beautiful."

Rachel pulled back to look at Quinn's face, but the blonde kept her arms loosely around her neck. She was very serious. The short brunette blushed when she smiled at her and she ducked her head. "So are you. Absolutely stunning."

Quinn smirked. "But you don't remember me either."

"That may be true," Rachel whispered and lifted her head to stare into the hazel eyes, "But I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since I saw you at the airport in New York."

Quinn gasped softly and couldn't keep the silly grin off of her face. She caressed Rachel's cheek with her hand and her eyes drifted down to the most delicious looking lips she's ever seen. She licked her lips and glanced up to the darkening brown eyes, searching for any sign that Rachel didn't want this. She felt the small fingers grip her hip tightly, and when she saw Rachel glance quickly at her lips and back to her eyes, she began to close the distance between them. And she cheered internally when Rachel met her half way.

The second their lips touched, a passion awoke like never before. Quinn tangled her hand into the brown locks, pulling Rachel closer, addicted to the feel of the other girl. She wasn't sure who moaned first, but it cut through the silence of the wonderland around them. Rachel's grip tightened on Quinn's hip and would have pulled their bodies flush together if it wasn't for the animal that had taken up residence in her arms. But once she felt Quinn's tongue swipe slyly across her bottom lip, she almost wanted to drop Jinx right then and there. Instead she opened her mouth, meeting Quinn's tongue with her own.

The battle of tongues and exchange of moans continued until neither girl could breathe. When they pulled apart it was barely a centimeter as they rested their foreheads together, their lips brushing together as they took deep breaths. Quinn opened her eyes and stared at the beauty before her. Rachel had her eyes closed, her eyebrows scrunched up in deep concentration. She swiped away a tear that seeped from behind the closed lids with her thumb, coaxing Rachel to open her eyes. Once the brown orbs met hers, she placed a small, chaste kiss on the swollen lips in front of her.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a whisper, afraid that anything louder would break this wonderful spell they were under.

Rachel nodded, dazed. "It's just a little…overwhelming."

Quinn knew exactly what she meant. That one kiss was like satisfying a long, forgotten craving. She was addicted and, unlike the kisses before, this one felt perfect. The very definition of right. And when Rachel smiled back at her shyly, she couldn't believe her good fortune. But as she leaned back in for another kiss, Jinx reached out and pushed her face away with her paw.

"Hey!" Rachel chastised, though she couldn't help but giggle. She brought the hand that was resting on Quinn's hip up to cradle the squirming cat. "That wasn't very nice, cutie."

Quinn grinned as she watched Jinx snuggle into Rachel's neck. "Here. Switch me."

Rachel placed one last kiss on the cat's head before handing her over and taking Luck's leash, scratching behind the excited husky's ears. Quinn hugged Jinx to her chest and gently knocked their heads together.

"Pain in my ass," she whispered lovingly. Jinx licked her face. Quinn smiled and looked over to see Rachel watching her. She blushed and cleared her throat. "I should probably take these two home."

She watched as Rachel's face dropped slightly before she turned her attention to Luck as he nudged her legs. "O-okay."

"If you want," Rachel looked up and Quinn gave her a shy smile, "you could walk with me back to my house to drop them off. I live just down the street. I could give you a ride home."

Rachel beamed and jumped forward to give Quinn a quick kiss, nodding her head enthusiastically. "I think that is a superb suggestion."

Quinn stared at Rachel's lips for a second longer before smiling and offering an arm. "Lead the way?"

"I'd love to."

The walk back to the street was filled with idle chatter and simple questions to get to know each other. Quinn learned about Rachel's two dads, the glee club at McKinley that she vaguely remembered Abigail telling her about, her dreams of Broadway, and her life in New York where she was surprised to hear that she was temporarily living with Kurt.

"You live with Kurt?" Rachel nodded, "Kurt Hummel?"

"That's my lovely roommate, yes. Are you friends with him?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, since high school. I even see him in New York sometimes. I can't believe he never told me he lived with you."

"Oh, believe me," Rachel chuckled darkly, "He will regret not informing me of your friendship."

In return, Rachel learned more about Quinn's sisters, her mother, her love of art, that she was the girl's soccer captain at McKinley, and even her close, long friendship with Santana.

"That's actually quite frightening."

Quinn smiled and placed a kiss on top of her head. "She's calmed down a lot now that she's hopelessly in love with Brittney."

"Well, thank God for that. Just hearing her name still gives me the urge to glance over my shoulder for a slushy."

Quinn frowned at Rachel, making a mental note to put the Latina through hell the next time she sees her. "You know she lives in New York?"

"I know. I've run into her and always at such odd times."

"Is she still a bitch to you?"

Rachel shrugged. "It's not bad. Old habits just die hard I guess."

Quinn huffed. She couldn't explain this primal need to protect the girl next to her. Actually, she couldn't explain many things concerning the girl next to her, but if Santana so much as looks at her funny, she's going to take her snow boots and shove them so far up her ass, she'd give a new meaning to 'kicked in the gut'. But instead, she pulled Rachel closer to her as they left the park and began the short walk to Quinn's house.

"Do you live by here?" Quinn asked, looking down at Rachel to see her observing the passing houses, decked out in Christmas decorations.

"Just back the other away," she pointed behind them to the block of houses on the other side of the park.

"That's so close."

"I know. It's a miracle we haven't run into each other before."

Quinn nodded because it definitely was a miracle. How much more meaning would her life have had, had she met Rachel back in high school? The artist didn't even want to think about it, because what use would it be to make up some amazing fantasy and the time had already passed?

They crossed the street and Rachel gawked at the large house in front of her. Quinn grabbed her hand and pulled her to the front door, letting her go long enough to get her key in the lock before grabbing her hand again and pulling her into the dark house, closing the door gently behind them. She turned on the small lamp on the table by the door, let Jinx jump from her arms and grabbed Luck's leash when he tried to run up the stairs.

"Back," Quinn whispered and Luck whined but obeyed. She smiled and bent down to take off his collar, "Quietly please."

Luck stared at her for a couple of seconds then turned around and walked softly up the stairs, Jinx following behind him. She shook her head and wondered how the hell Abigail trained that dog. Quinn turned around to find Rachel still by the door staring at the picture hanging on the wall, tracing her gloved fingers over the glass. She sneaked up behind her and snaked her arms around the petite woman's waist. Rachel immediately leaned into the embrace and smiled softly, but didn't look away from the picture.

"I love this."

Quinn raised her eyes to the picture before them and grinned. It was one of her and her sisters; Nora and Quinn sat next to each other on the couch with very similar amused grins, looking up at Abigail who stood behind them with her arms around their shoulders pulling them together, her chin propped on top of their heads and beaming directly at the camera. Even if she couldn't, for the life of her, remember when the picture was taken, it was one of her favorites. "I do too."

"Are these your sisters?" Quinn nodded.

"That's Nora," the artist pointed to the oldest Fabray who, if it wasn't for the darker blonde hair, slightly more mature features, and eyes which were greener than the hazel of Quinn's, could pass for her twin.

"Who resides in California," Rachel smiled, proud of herself for remembering that detail of their conversation on their walk over here and Quinn gave her a congratulatory kiss on the cheek.

"Mhm and this," Quinn moved her finger to the beaming blonde who, despite her shorter hair and sapphire eyes, was actually mistaken as her twin quite often, "is Abigail."

"And who's this?" the diva asked, tracing her fingers over the image of Quinn.

The girl in question smirked and turned her head to place a tender kiss on Rachel's neck before grabbing her hand and lacing their fingers together.

"Oh, you don't remember her?" she whispered in the shorter girl's ear.

Rachel shook her head and turned around in Quinn's hold, looping her arms around the blonde's neck, reveling in the feeling of their bodies pressed together without anything between them. "Remind me."

Quinn placed a feather light kiss on her lips.

"Maybe a little more," Rachel grinned and the blonde kissed her again with barely any more pressure than before. She pouted, "Well then, I guess she wasn't that memorable after all."

The artist chuckled and raised her hand to Rachel's cheek, guiding her into a passionate kiss. Rachel moaned and arched into Quinn's hold, tightening the hold around her neck as her legs buckled. Quinn pulled back with a satisfied smirk when she saw that Rachel still had her eyes closed and a content smile on her face. "How about now?"

"Oh yes," Rachel replied breathlessly, nodding her head.

Quinn chuckled, placed one last kiss on her lips, then grabbed her hand and pulled her to the stairs, "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"I have to get my car keys from my bedroom."

When they reached the top of the large staircase, ("You have a very beautiful home, Quinn"), the blonde wasn't surprised to see Luck lying in front of Abigail's door, quietly scratching at the wood. He usually continued that until he either fell asleep or one of the girls awoke and worked up enough energy to get out of bed and let him in. Quinn gave a quiet laugh and led Rachel to her room across the hall. She opened the door and let the other girl walk in before her and when she flicked on the light, Rachel let out a soft gasp.

"Oh my God, Quinn," Rachel whispered as she looked around at all the art work on and leaning against the walls. She walked over and kneeled down by a large, gorgeous painting that looked off over a lawn with two people, covered in shadow by the overhanging trees, sitting together in the middle of the green and yellow grass and were facing a lagoon that lead to the ocean. But most of the canvas was taken up by the vibrant blue sky and beautiful puffs and swirls of white and gray clouds. She stared at the picture for a moment; it was breathtaking and she had a fleeting feeling she knew exactly where this place was, but couldn't quite place it. There were other works of art behind the canvas and she reached out as if to look through them, but hesitated and looked to Quinn for permission. Quinn gave her an encouraging nod and Rachel beamed at her before sifting through the variety of pieces. "Did you do all of these?"

Quinn nodded with a slightly embarrassed smile. She grabbed her car keys from her dresser, pet Jinx on the head and walked over to Rachel. She stopped behind her, watching over her shoulder as she went through her own works of art and noticed that a few of them she could hardly remember making, but her signature was there in the bottom right corner as it always was. She sat down behind Rachel and rested her chin on her shoulder and smiled when the adorable brunette would gasp in awe or lightly run her fingers over the face of the canvas. When Rachel was finished looking through the art, she neatly placed it all back in its previous position and leaned back into Quinn's body, looking around at the rest of the paintings and drawings that covered the walls in the blonde's rather large room.

"You're an extremely talented individual, Quinn," she whispered, grabbing one of the girl's hands and wrapping it around her waist and lacing their fingers together.

"I know," Quinn smirked.

"So arrogant."

The artist chuckled and nipped playfully at Rachel's neck, soothing it over with her tongue and trailing butterfly kisses up to her jaw and to her cheek. She got to the corner of Rachel's smile when the brunette turned her head to capture her lips with her own. Quinn reached up and ran her fingers through the dark tresses, pulling the other girl closer.

"I don't know what it is," she said between kisses, "but I can't stop kissing you."

Rachel pulled away with a mischievous grin, "It's the lips. I've been told they're quite kissable."

"Oh God, yes."

Rachel laughed and tried to scoot away from Quinn as she tried to kiss any surface of her face that she could reach. The blonde grabbed her hips and pulled her back into her body, leaning forward so Rachel fell back to the floor trapped under her. Rachel squealed when Quinn attached her lips to her pulse point and moaned at the light bite to her skin. Quinn smirked in accomplishment and pulled back to see Rachel staring back at her, eyes dark and wanting. She lifted a hand and tucked a stray strand brown hair behind her ear, caressing her cheek lovingly.

"So gorgeous," she whispered. Rachel blushed, but continued to stare at the girl above her, tracing her features with her eyes. Hesitantly she raised her hand to a scar above Quinn's left eye that she couldn't see earlier because of the hair that falls naturally into the blonde's face and the dim light. She saw Quinn wince slightly at the pressure and with an apologetic smile she only let her fingers lightly ghost over the rise of skin.

"What happened?"

Quinn's eyebrows furrowed and she raised her hand to her eye, grabbing Rachel's hand in the process. Her finger tentatively traced over the scar ran along her eye socket. It was surprisingly long, about half the length of her middle finger and was mostly hidden by her eyebrow, but she could feel it. And it felt like it was deep.

"I don't remember."

Rachel frowned and moved their hands to the scar once more before leaning up on her elbow and placing a gentle kiss on the paler, raised skin. She pulled back and smiled at Quinn, who looked very touched by the simple gesture. She gave a small, shy smile back and leaned forward to kiss her again, brushing their noses together causing Rachel to giggle. They kissed lazily for only a few seconds before a muffled thump and the sound of childish laughter interrupted them. Rachel twisted around as best as she could with Quinn situated on top of her and looked at the door surprised. Quinn rolled her eyes and leaned her forehead on Rachel's shoulder, exasperated with the continuous interruptions.

"What was that?" Rachel whispered, turning back to the blonde with a raised eyebrow. Quinn shook her head and placed one last kiss on the girl's lips before standing up and holding out a hand.

"You can never be too sure in this house," she said, helping Rachel off of the floor, "Come on."

They crept towards the door and Quinn opened it and turned off her bedroom light. Lying on the floor in the middle of her doorway was Abigail rubbing her forehead and smiling at Luck who was next to her. At the sound of the door opening, the cheerleader turned her head to look with still slightly red eyes, beaming at the sight of her sister.

"Quinn!" she squealed, turning on to her stomach and pushing herself up on her elbows and rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Hello to you!"

Quinn chuckled. "What happened?"

Abigail pushed herself up into a sitting position and groaned, grabbing her head again. "I hit my head with the door, but Luck was here to cheer me up." She explained with a smile, patting Luck on the head. The dog licked her hand then stood up and walked into Abigail's darkened room.

Quinn shook her head and stepped into the hallway, holding Rachel's hand and pulling her with her. Abigail turned around from watching Luck walk away and when her eyes fell on Rachel, she gasped loudly. The two girls looked at her expectantly, but for a moment, the cheerleader just stared. Slowly, a brilliant smile crept onto Abigail's face and she stood up unsteadily and stepped towards the two.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had company," she said quickly, nearly bouncing with excitement, "in your bedroom."

A small blush made its appearance on both girls' cheeks before Quinn cleared her throat. "Right, yeah, this is Rachel. I met her at the park down the street. I was just about to give her a ride home. Rachel, this is my younger sister Abigail."

"Salutations," Abby held out her hand and shook Rachel's excitedly. So excitedly, in fact, that she didn't stop and it was only when Quinn reached out and separated them that Rachel got her hand back, but it seemed that she found that all quite amusing which was a relief.

"Salutations, Abigail," said Rachel with a giggle. Her hand bumped into Quinn's on its way back to her side and, like magnets, their fingers interlaced. Abigail stared intently at their hands and let out a sigh of content.

"The light now shines as brightly as ever," she whispered and Quinn and Rachel gave her a questioning look. Before she could open her mouth to give what would probably be one long nonsensical explanation, a tired voice called from the pitch black room behind her.

"Abigail? What are you doing? Come back to bed."

Rachel arched an intrigued eyebrow and Quinn smirked. The cheerleader turned toward the voice and giggled before skipping happily into her room.

"Baby! Come – ow, it's dark in here – come here, get up. Up!"

"Stop jumping on the bed," The voice groaned. "Abby, it's late. Go back to sleep. "

"No no no, it's not sleep time – oh god, you're like dead weight – it's a time for a celebration. For good times. So come on!"

Abigail half lead, half dragged a semi-awake Amy into the dimly lit hallway. The dark haired girl paused in the doorway when she saw Rachel. Her tired green eyes darted quickly from the brunette, to Quinn, to their linked hands and then back to Rachel before a small smile appeared on her face.

"Hello, Rachel."

"Hello, Amy," Rachel greeted surprised, but with a bright smile, "It's great to see you again." Quinn looked between them.

"You guys know each other?"

Rachel nodded. "We were good friends in high school."

Amy smiled in agreement and closed her eyes, leaning back into Abigail who had wrapped her arms around her waist. "Small world, isn't it?"

Quinn and Rachel glanced at each other; it certainly was a small world, but they were still separated by the sheer amount of people taking up the space. To Quinn, it felt like so much fucking wasted time and it must've shown in her eyes because Rachel leaned up on her toes and kissed her on the cheek, instantly easing her frustrations like it was the most natural thing in the world. And if it weren't for those other people in the hallway she'd do what felt most natural to her and return the kiss, passionately, but she'd settle for getting lost in those bottomless eyes.

"Look at them," Abigail whispered to Amy who opened her eyes tiredly. "They're so perfect together."

Amy sighed. She made sure to speak quietly as to not disturb Rachel and Quinn's silent conversation. "Unfortunately, they're not together."

"Well, let's see, yeah?" The cheerleader placed a quick kiss on her girlfriend's cheek before lifting her head and breaking the other two out of their staring contest. "So, are you guys dating?"

"Oh my – Abigail!" Amy chastised, turning her head to glare at the oblivious cheerleader. "Learn some tact."

Abigail waved her off. "Tact is a waste of time."

Both Rachel and Quinn were red with embarrassment. Quinn brought a hand to her forehead and shook her head while Rachel cleared her throat and attempted to answer without her voice cracking.

"No. No, we're not dating," Rachel said quietly, completely aware that their connected hands say otherwise, but she'd be damned if she were to let go now.

"Do you want to be?" Abigail asked innocently with a large grin, ignoring Amy's elbow that jabbed her sharply in the ribs. Quinn, her cheeks burning, narrowed her eyes at her sister.

"Abigail -"

"Because you guys can, it'll work, though I'm sure you figured that out already -"

"- I'm going to kill you."

" – after whatever it was you guys were doing in Quinn's bedroom."

Quinn palmed her face, while Rachel hid hers slightly against the blonde's arm. Amy did a double take at the thoroughly embarrassed couple, raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to comment before shaking her head and turning around to push Abigail back into her room. She threw an apologetic glance at the two girls.

"I am so sorry about her," the raven-haired girl apologized, mostly to Rachel, as she struggled to move her girlfriend who seemed to be rooted to the spot and enjoying the humiliation. "The filter from her brain to her mouth is temporarily broken, though it's not that great when it's fully functioning anyways."

"It's fine," Rachel said, her cheeks still tinted pink, but she smiled nonetheless. Abigail beamed happily at her.

"Amy! Babe, she said it was fine! Allow me to plant the seeds! This is the most opportune growing time!"

Amy shook her head, finally managing to at least get Abigail into her room, "Permission denied, sorry. We've celebrated, you embarrassed the hell out of Rachel and Quinn, now it's time for sleep. Besides, I'm sure they're more than capable of planting their own seeds. "

Abigail pouted. "You're no fun."

"I guess I'll have to work on that while your mom is out of town," Amy smirked

"Oh," Abigail wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, "you naughty girl."

Amy laughed and turned around to wave at the two girls still standing close together in the hallway. "Goodnight, girls." Abigail peeked around her girlfriend to beam one more time at Quinn and Rachel, who immediately steeled themselves for another tactless barrage of questions.

"Fate and destiny walk hand in hand," she said cryptically and only giggled at the questioning stares. "Goodnight!"

Amy shut the door with an eye roll and another apologetic smile. For a second, they stood there silently, letting the humiliation pass. Rachel chuckled and looked at Quinn who still had her hand to her head and was staring at the door with an expression akin to shock and embarrassment.

"Is that normal behavior for her?"

"Today has been a special day for her," Quinn answered with a sheepish grin as she began to lead Rachel to the front door, "I hope she didn't make you too uncomfortable."

Rachel smiled and shook her head, "As embarrassing as that was, I found it all really adorable and quite amusing. Besides," she bit her lip shyly and diverted her eyes in favor of looking at the picture that lined the stairwell, "it's not like that was something I hadn't thought about before."

"Really?" Quinn asked surprised and sort of hopeful as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Rachel nodded. "So w-what do you think about – about this?"

The brunette looked into the hazel eyes and leaned up to give her a short but powerful kiss. She stayed close, their foreheads connected, their noses brushing against each other.

"I think this is something special."

Quinn smiled and wrapped her arms around Rachel's waist and pulling her flush against her body.

"Me too."

The car ride was quick, and filled with scarce chatter, shy, lingering glances and connected hands. Quinn cursed her gloves because she's been aching to touch Rachel's skin since the airport just to see if it's as soft as it looks. When she pulled up in front of Rachel's house, she found she couldn't let her leave. It was painful to even think about watching the diva walk away, even if it was just for the night or that she was just down the street or that she just fucking met her. The brunette made her feel something that she's missed and needed and it would kill her to give it up now. So, to lengthen the time they had together, she captured Rachel's lips in a passionate, languid kiss that kept them busy for minutes neither girl cared to keep count for.

This was the most comfortable Quinn had ever felt, and it was with a woman she just met no more than two hours ago. It was like they had been doing this for years, it was so natural. She knew she should be worried; she was never a believer of love at first sight, but this must be what it felt like. She was like a junkie who had found free smack on the sidewalk. A puzzle whose last piece was finally found after hours upon hours of searching for it. A homeless person who just found out she won the lottery. There was a connection between her and Rachel that was so powerful, so intense and so unique, she'd be the dumbest bitch alive if she let it pass her by.

When they finally pulled away, they were breathing hard and Quinn's windows were foggy, but they were all smiles. Rachel bit her lip and glanced at her house before looking back to Quinn shyly.

"Would you like to come inside?"

Quinn beamed and kissed her one last time.

"I would love to."

A/N: Hate to leave it there, but it's necessary. You will not be finding out what happens next until much later, but because I feel bad I will tell you that they DO NOT have sex when they go inside...you dirty birdies. I hope you enjoyed this. I hope you all stick around till the end. I hope I get to the end. Thank you.