A/N: I've been working on this for like a week now. I hope it's okay!

Lol, I just realized that maybe I should pay attention to how I label my chapters. I don't really know what shows on the e-mails you get notifying of a new chapter, but sometimes I'm so eager to start a new one that I just write it on an old chapter. So if you are expecting chapter 7 and get an e-mail saying that chapter 3 is up, for example, that's what happened. Lol I'll try to not do that anymore..

Also, It literally physically pains me to go back and read over something I published and see errors. Lol, like, I feel my entire body cringe. I HATE it. So know that if you see any stupid mistakes, I'm probably punishing myself and hating on it. Also, they're never intentional, like I caught 'beck' instead of 'back' at the end of last chapter -_- I fixed it now but it's too late. In any case, I do apologize. It's because I usually write late at night and sometimes my eyes are shutting heavy with sleep and I miss those stupid STUPID mistakes.

Anyway, rant over.

Enjoy:)

-TWiM

Chapter 33 - All Star (Smash Mouth)

We're on our way back home from the comedy club and so I say, because it's been on my mind, "I'm just glad rehearsals have eased a bit more now that you're back. It would've sucked if we were both in NY but couldn't spend time together between my rehearsals and your cheer camp."

"You're right. Cheer camp isn't that long every day - it's just stressful and tiring. I get moody because I'm constantly worn out - fair warning by the way. Please don't hate me and leave me if I get cranky." I know she's trying to warn me through humor but I've dealt with Quinn under stress before - she lashes out but she's all bark and no bite. It doesn't scare me at all but I go along with the joke.

I tell her, "I won't but hey."

"Yeah?"

"I'm still having rehearsals. They'll also be stressful sometimes, so you can't leave either." I narrow my eyes and try my best at looking menacing. She seems like she's going to burst out laughing at me.

"I won't," she promises and I can tell she intends to keep it. The air gets kind of serious around us for that moment, so I decide we need a little game. We're both competitive people so the first thing I think of is a race.

"Wanna race me to that coffee place in the corner?" I know that if I want to win, I also have to give Quinn the opportunity to be embarrassed which is why this street is perfect. There are enough people walking someplace to do just that. "Loser buys!"

I don't even give her a chance to argue it because if I allow her that window, she will argue. I just turn and take off. I'm hoping me running away will be enough of a reason for her to play with me. It's only when I'm halfway to the coffee place that I look behind me to check, and find out she's been standing on the same spot I left her behind. I raise my hands up in the air and call out to her, further embarrassing her, "Come on, Quinn! Give me a challenge, you slow poke!" I know this is the only way she'll run - by poking at her pride. By the way her mouth hangs open I know she gasped. Her hands go to her face, like always when she's embarrassed - good or bad - and I laugh. She has to remove her hands, because I can't do it from so far away but when she does get there, I push even more. "Come on! I ain't got all the time in the world."

Next thing I know, she's flying past me. I was hoping she'd run but not so fast that it'd freeze me to the spot. I try to catch up - eventually - but it doesn't help. She stops in front of the coffee place triumphantly while I'm loudly gasping for air, with my hands on my knees. Sure, I've had demanding rehearsals for my play, but they didn't prepare me for running against my crazy athletic of a girlfriend. She laughs at me and says, "I'm such a fast runner. Must be my many years and experience as a cheerleader-slash-athlete-slash-AWESOME!" We start walking toward each other, but I stop a few feet away from her still. I love doing this sometimes because I know she'll always come the rest of the way. She can't resist the need to be closer and to touch, and frankly, I love her more for it. She leaves almost no breathing room and starts making silly faces, "la la la la la. That's what you get for teasing!" I'm not expecting it when she pulls me and starts tickling me, "Who's a slow poke now? Who's a slow poke?"

I can't stop laughing but I can't get away from her either. Her hand has a firm grip on my upper arm and it is really sort of hot. "I am! I'm sorry!" I'm very happy and I don't see a reason to keep that to myself. I admire the way her eyes pour adoration over my face and it sends goosebumps down my spine. When we're calming down, I whisper, "I'm the loser. But I'll gladly lose everything to you."

Somehow, she manages to step even closer - not that I'm complaining. She envelops my waist with an arm and speaks slowly, her voice dripping in a husky honey tone, "what else have you lost to me?" She's looking at my lips and I'm trying not to melt to a heap at her feet because, damn it she's so sexy like this. I can see that she wants to kiss me, that she looks thirsty for my taste, and hell, I feel the same about her. My eyes focus on her pink lips; Desire shoots straight down between my legs with just the way she looks at me, captivating my very soul.

I continue to whisper in the same tone of voice as before and hope she can't tell how dry my throat got, "like any go-kart races, and races at the beach, and races in the middle of the street - anything."

"Ah. Well, I've lost something to you, too." I blink rapidly as her face comes closer, already feeling her lips on mine; her breath over my cheeks. She comes slowly, and it's so slow that it is physically killing me - the expectation, the need to feel. I've felt it so many times before but I can't help it that I'm obssessed with the feel of her tongue against mine and her lips pushing into mine. My gaze doesn't break away from her lips but I feel her eyes flickering to mine quickly.

I come closer, and take the bait, "Yeah? What?" I know what I want - a hit of my addiction. My chest pants, and her arms around me tighten.

She says, voice even lower, "a vital organ -" and it's all she says before I can help myself and kiss her. Or maybe she kisses me; I can't tell, but it doesn't matter. I moan and wrap my hands around her neck to keep her here. She bites my bottom lip slightly and sucks it. Fuck. She knows that sends me spinning. "My heart," she says, after we've been kissing for a while. My brain starts to register that we're around people, kissing in public, but my heart doesn't seem to care; not after she's said something like that. "You won my heart, duh, baby." We kiss again, and thank God we do because I want to feel her words. And I do - the words and the kiss hit me with such impact, I start to tear up without even noticing.

Truly I only do when we pull away a little to look each other in the eye and she let's out a small noise and dries the tear rolling down my cheek, "I love you," I tell her, "so much."

"I know, baby, and I love you."

I pull her in by the neck again and when we pull away this time, I suggest we go inside so I can buy her the coffee she won by beating me. She laughs and in my ear suggests we skip coffee for the night and go to bed instead.

"Babe, have you seen my red bra?" I ask Quinn as I walk into the kitchen; that's where she said she'd be. No one here. "Babe?" I try again. Silence. All the other girls are either out partying or in their rooms, getting much needed rest after the intense week training. Where is Quinn? I've been packing like crazy all night and she's not in her room or in the kitchen. This fucking house is too big for me to search for her and my head is killing me. Instead, I walk back to her room and shut the door. Maybe my bra went off with the laundry for the week.

I drop in bed and run my fingers through my hair.

The door opens quietly, but it creaks. She's home. I turn to my back and open my eyes just in time to see her hazel eyes smiling back at me, "done?" She asks and pecks me. Her hand is right by my head, keeping her above me. I don't know how many times I've had her like this, but her arms still look so sexy. I'm so happy for cheerleading.

"Almost. I can't find my red bra and I was hoping you knew where it went but... You weren't in the kitchen." I say suspiciously.

"Trust me - you will not need that bra." She laughs and kisses me again.

She hums and licks her lips. My headache is slowly fading away. I snake my left hand up and pull on her arm, efficiently making her drop all of her weight on top of me. She hits her head on my forehead with the fall and we both yelp at the same time then start laughing. "Is that your punishment for my not being in the kitchen?" She rubs the spot to assuage the pain.

I giggle and open my legs, and she takes the hint, settling between them. I wrap my legs around her back and wrap my arms around her shoulders, hugging her. "Maybe."

"What if I tell you I went out to pick up you anniversary gift?"

I gasp. I had not considered that possibility. "Really, and what did you get me?" Her ear is right by my mouth. I nibble on it.

"Can't tell, baby, you know that. You made that rule."

I groan, "fine. Will I like it?"

"You'll love it."

"I think you'll like yours, too."

Tomorrow is the official date of our sixth month anniversary, and I agreed in letting her take me camping. I've neer been big on the whole camping experience, but she seemed really excited, and it could be fun. I mean, an entire weekend with only her and nature? What's not to love, right?

Mosquitos. That's what not to like. Fucking mosquitoes. Everywhere. "Aren't you glad I love you? Otherwise you'd be spending our anniversary alone." I spray more repelent on my arms and legs (because I wore shorts!) and cuss some more because I swear this damn thing attracts more mosquitoes. I bet it's a strategy - put some sugar in there to attract the mosquitoes, so the customer will use more of their spray, leading them to buy more repelant.

Quinn, apparently, is not human though because all mosquitoes only seem to be on me. She looks unfazed by their presence. She looks around at the clearing we're supposed to be staying, and then drops our tent. "This seems like a good spot for our tent, dontcha think, Rach?" She completely ignores my huffing and looks around.

"Sure," I reply non-committedly.

She sighs and finally gives in, "why are you being so annoying?"

"I am not!" I pout and cross my arms.

She just looks at me and drops the bag that was occupying the other shoulder. "Yes, you are." She comes closer to me and places a hand on each one of my shoulders, "Will you please," she starts, staring deep into my eyes, "please, just - try to have a good time with me, huh?"

Oh damn, I have been kind of annoying about it all, haven't I? I didn't even give it a chance that it could possibly be good. I shake my head, ignoring the nagging thought at the back of my head saying this is camping, and smile up at her. "Okay. I'm sorry. Okay, let's do this!"

We (by we, I mean her, because after five minutes of trying to help she told me to just stop) set up the tent and then take our stuff in. Her back hurts, I think, because she keeps rubbing at it. I come up behind her and move her hands to massage it myself. She hums approvingly and just lets her entire body fall back into me; my arms wrap around her and my hands interlock in front of her stomach.

"What did you want to do first?" I ask.

"Well, duh, that's easy - the beach!"

We change into our swimsuits quickly in the cramped tent, stealing glances and grabs and laughing really loudly. Then, we run down toward the beach, scaring other campers with our squeals and loud laughter, I'm sure.

Quinn picks me up with one arm right as we make it into the water, and then we drop together. This reminds me of the day we all went to Fire Island with Britt and Santana and I miss them for that second. My thoughts are interrupted by Quinn splashing water at me and I try to splash her back but she holds my wrists and next thing I know, I'm underwater again.

"No - no fair!" I manage to grumble when I come up for air. "You're taller than me, you have an advantage."

"Oh, come on! I'm not that taller than you... Midge!" She plays and narrows her eyes.

"That's a nickname reserved only for Santana! She'll kill you if she finds out you used it," I try but she only laughs louder.

We end up on our backs, floating. But then I start freaking out that we might drift way too far from shore and already visualize my life as a castaway on an island with only a volleyball, so I stop and make Quinn stop too. By splashing some water on her.

She's starting to get that red tint more pronounced over her cheeks and across her nose from the sun, and I just love it. After we're done floating, I pick her up in my arms (for once, thank you, buoyancy!) and we kiss.

We race back toward our tent, and I win. I think Quinn lets me, but I don't bring it up and gloat anyway, like she expects me too. I know she probably thinks she gave it to me and I didn't know, but I do. The showers are not distant from where we're camping, so we do that next.

I try to sneak into the shower she's using but a family of four is also using the shower cabin and I'm not sure in which stall she got in. I laugh to myself thinking about how awkward that'd be, walking into one of their showers.

When I come out, she's already waiting for me, with damp blonde hair sticking to her face. She looks distracted by something on her shirt and I giggle, which alerts her to my presence. She turns her head up and smiles at me, "Ready?"

"Yes," I grab her hand and we walk to camp together.

"Are you tired?" I hadn't realized that yet but when she asks I yawn.

"No," I lie with a smile.

"You're funny, babe. Let's nap," she suggests. I don't want to nap. I didn't come all the way out here to nap. Plus it's too hot to stay in the tent napping in the middle of the day. Then she goes into the tent and comes out with a freaking hammock.

"Okay, how the hell did you get that in there without me noticing?" I point at the object, surprised but excited. It's definitely big enough for some cuddling.

"You were too worried about mosquitoes," she says. We laugh and set up the hammock on two trees with a view of the beach, behind our tent. "Go on, lay down."

I do as told and we giggle because the hammock keeps swinging when Quinn tries to get on too. She ends up all over me. Her elbows are poking into my sides and I try to move them off but end up making it worse, "ugh, you're so lucky I love you. Could you hurry up and get settled, please? Your bony elbows are hurting me."

"What? I do not have bony elbows!" She shrieks in my ear, and I can almost taste the way she smiles. It's delicious. Finally, she manages to lie back and I pull her into me. She curls up into my right side and I plant a kiss on her blonde mane.

Silence falls over us and we enjoy being with each other despite knowing we'll be back to our hectic lives on Monday. "Babe?" I say after a while.

She sounds like she's already falling asleep, "hmm?"

"Do you ever think about... Kids?" Woah. I didn't even know myself that I was going to ask her that, but now that it's out there, I want to know what she thinks. I mean, I know she wants four kids - two boys and two girls. I love kids too, but I want to have my career solid before going there. What I'm really asking her is if she wants kids with me and wait until I'm ready. So many is implied in my question.

I feel her tense a little before relaxing her shoulders and letting out a chuckle, "I was thinking about kids with you when my sister had baby Lea," she admits. I love how she understood what I asked even if I didn't use those words. That's so crazy because I had the same thought. "Too soon?"

"No. I, I - don't think so." I'm definitely relieved to hear that. I don't understand why talking, really talking, about this has to be so hard but I want to know so badly. Does she see a future that far ahead for us? "I thought the same, honestly."

"So... Why do you ask?"

"Because," I tighten my arms around her. "Because I want you to know that I see us together for a long time, and I already have baby name ideas and I think about how I'll propose and where we'll live and where we'll spend holidays - in Lima or Columbus."

She stays quiet after what I say and I worry I spoke too soon. Until she asks, "how you'll propose, huh?" And I know what I said was okay.

"Yes," I say with certainty. "I have to."

"I'll be waiting, then," she says with a playful tone then opens her eyes and really looks at me. "I love you, so hard."

"I love you, too. And," I finally realize what I was getting at with my kids question. "I don't think we're even close to being ready for children." I lean my head forward and kiss her nose softly, "but I was thinking about getting a puppy together, what do you think?" Before she answers, I explain, "I already spoke to Mike and he's cool with it staying at our place because you can't have animals in the house, but he'd be ours." I smile.

Quinn looks pretty elated too. I watch her face morph as she considers the idea and starts to get really excited, "really? Are you serious?"

"Well, yes. Because I'm assuming and hoping that by the end of next year - after you graduate - we'll move in together and you know, have our own place with our dog..."

She grabs me by the neck and kisses me with an enormous amount of force. I love the feeling of her tongue. She says, after the kiss, "You're so fucking amazing."

When I wake up, she's not there. I still wake up smiling though, because that might've been my favorite conversation with her, ever. It's already getting dark when I wake so I must've taken a long nap.

I try to sit up on the hammock and only succeed after a while. Then I hear her giggle and turn toward it. She's squatting in front of a fire she started, apparently. Go figure, you learn something new about your partner every day. I had no idea she knew how to freaking build a fire. "You slept like a rock for three hours."

"When did you wake up?" I ask.

"I never really slept - I was way too excited about the whole future talk." She gets up and stretches her legs and then arms above her head. "How did you sleep?"

"Amazing. I totally had a dream that we got a puppy and he was completely black so you named him Bandit."

She smiles, "I love that. We should get a black puppy and name him Bandit. Dream me is smart."

I get up and walk to her, wrapping my arms around her neck, "the real thing is kinda smart too."

"Kinda?" She asks and tilts her head to the right and raises an eyebrow.

"Well," I drawl. "Just kidding. You're one of the smartest people I know."

She laughs, "good." She quickly pecks my lips and says, "hold on. I got us something."

I'm a little confused but stand there and wait. She runs back up a small hill to where the rental car is parked and from where I am, I can only see her grabbing something from the trunk. She makes a quick phone call and then looks at me and waves, bouncing on her heels.

I watch as a random man in a uniform drives up to her and hands her a... What is that? A pizza box? She had pizza delivered? She pays him and then starts making her way back.

"What you got there?" I ask her, making my way halfway up the hill to meet her on her way down. "Is that my stereo? How did you manage to grab that without me ever knowing is beyond me."

"Good thing your stereo also runs on batteries." I grab the pizza from her so she has a free hand, and she says, "I'm very sneaky, if you hadn't noticed that yet, babe."

We make it back to our little fire and she sets the stereo on the floor of our tent, turning it on. A song starts to play and it takes a while but I start to get what she's doing. Then she grabs the two chairs we brought with us from the floor and sets them up, one in front of the other. I'm not tearing up, I'm not. She grabs my hands and makes me sit.

The song playing is If You're Wondering If I Want You To. I'm smiling because Quinn just managed to re-make our first date. With the music and the pizza and... "I know you've figured it out. Do you like it?" she asks, with certain insecurity showing. She bites on the inside of her mouth and then explains, "I kept that CD you made and that's what's playing. The romantic fire here," she points at it crackling and laughs quietly, "represents all the lights you put up that day, and well, I had this pizza delivered from the nearest joint."

"Are you kidding? I love it. But we both know what happened that day and it has to happen again." I lean forward and kiss her and the fireworks that were present that first date are still here, on our six-month anniversary date. "And I wasn't referring to our first kiss. Get up and dance with me." I take her by the hand and she comes willingly. Her eyes are sparkling and I know how lucky we both are for having found each other.

Just as we get up to dance, the song changes and All These Things starts to play. We laugh and start singing along. "Maybe it's her face, no make up at all as she tells me she's not beautiful. Maybe it's her hair, soft, golden and wind-blown," I ruffle my hands through her short hair and giggle, "as we drive through the streets of town. It could be all these things but I think it's her smile."

It's later that night and we're cuddled up in the hammock again. The fire is dying and the pizza is gone, but the stereo is still going because we put it on the loop setting and brought down the volume. "So I got you a gift," she says.

"You did?" I ask and move around to face her.

She smiles and raises an eyebrow, "of course I did. You know I did. I told you about it yesterday and you had been freaking out because I 'disappeared'."

"Well, then give it to me!" I demand with a faux stern look.

"Fine," she grumbles and pulls something out of her sweats' pocket. "I think you'll like it."

I open the box with caution, not to rip the paper - something she taught me, and when I open the long, rectangular box, my mouth drops in awe. It's a beautiful pearl necklace. It will go perfectly with the red dress I bought for the Spring Awakening Gala. "Thank you, babe! I do love it."

"It'll be good to wear it with the red dress for the gala," she says.

"You really are perfect," I sigh. "Now I feel like my gift-"

"Shut up and don't finish that because I know I'll love it even if you give me a dead squirrel right now."

I cringe but laugh at the same time, "Okay, I'm sorry. Well, here." I set the box down on my stomach carefully, and pull out a much smaller box and set it on top of the other box. It's square. She stares at it.

"What is it?" She asks. I know it looks much like an engagement box, but I did that on purpose. Because I wanted her to know that I'm serious about us, and after our conversation this afternoon, I hope she understands.

"Open it, silly." She grabs it and sits up on the hammock, making it swing wildly.

She opens it and when she sees the ring, she lets out a breathless, awed, "oh." She touches it reverently and then looks at me, "it's beautiful," She kisses me and then takes it out of the box to look at it closely. It's a narrow ring in silver sterling with diamonds, and it reads, 'I Love You,' in script on the outside. "It's from Tiffany's, isn't it?"

I nod, "I know that we're not getting married anytime soon," I start off camly and quietly. "Not because we don't love each other or because I don't think we're going to work. I think we will, that's why I have so much faith and I'm not scared of saying that." I smile a shaky smile and she reciprocates. I take the ring in my fingers and say, "I bought this... Well, this is going to sound cliche, but I don't want it to. It's like a promise ring. It's not one of those rings children get each other that say they'll wait for each other because, well, let's face it, we're like rabbits." We both laugh loudly, and I realize she's crying a little too. "But, baby, I had it engraved with three hearts on the inside," I explain and show it to her.

She whispers, "what do they mean?"

I smile, "well, they are the promise I'm making you of commitment, love, and honesty. That will be the hardest one for me, but I promise to always be honest, always tell you how I feel and not keep secrets. You taught me how to always be true to yourself and others and I love you so much for that."

She sobs loudly and then runs a hand over her nose, "look at you! You made me a sobbing slob!"

"Well, I still love you," I smile softly at her and she exhales forcefuly. "You look - you are beautiful, even when you cry."

"I love you," she pulls me in by the neck and kisses me roughly, expressing all the love she's feeling at the moment, and I am not far behind in reciprocating her kiss. Breathless and panting she asks, "will you?" She hands me the ring and I slide it on her right hand finger, and we kiss again.

"So when do we have amazing, steamy, hot camping sex?"

"Is now a good time?" She asks and we laugh. "Let's go inside."

The night of the gala comes by faster than I had thought it would. It's the last weekend of August and school started yesterday. School means no more cheer camp for Quinn and the kick-ass start of the year party they throw. I have never been before but I've heard it's great. This years' theme is I Love Rock N' Roll.

As I'm getting ready for the gala, pulling up my dress, Quinn gets here. She knocks on my door and pushes it open when I tell her to come in. She's in a beautiful long blue dress and white heels. Behind her, Bandit and Benji push their way in too. She tries to stop them with a stern voice but they don't listen so she has to bend over to pick them up and throw them out, only because I can't risk them chewing on the heels I'm wearing. She does kiss each one of their heads before doing so.

When we went up to the pet store to get the dog who would become our Bandit, I ended up not being able to leave his brother behind. Bandit and Benji are both Labrador Retrievers, and Bandit is black like we talked about, but his brother Benji is a chocolate color with beautiful light eyes. They're still pups so they like to chew on everything they set their sights on. We already love them so much though.

"Ready, Rachel?"

"Not quite. Will you clasp my necklace for me, please?" I hand her the necklace she gave me for our anniversary and I smile when I see the ring I gave her on her finger. She leaves fleeting kisses on my neck and exposed shoulders, and then clasps the necklace. "Thank you," I tell her and make eye contact through the mirror. She smiles and sits on my bed, picks up our blue pillow with stripes from the Fourth of July date (she always grabs this specific pillow), and crosses her legs.

"You have to be there in half an hour," she reminds me as if I didn't know. "And with traffic that means we should leave... Ten minutes ago."

I turn to look over my shoulder and give her a smoldering look for her savvy comment. "Babe, it's okay to be a few minutes late." She just smiles. I growl and pick up the red pumps I'm wearing and sit next to her to put them on. "I'm almost done anyway."

"And by almost done you mean, twenty more minutes right?" She giggles when I smack her thigh. Then she keeps my hand there with her own and turns my face with her hand carefully resting on my cheek. "You look beautiful, by the way."

Our eyes are dancing with each other, and I'm sure mine are overflowing with love. I get the goosebumps still when I find myself like this. Sometimes she makes me uncharacteristically shy. "Thank you," I kiss her lips. "You look pretty nice yourself." I kiss her again and get up. I check my makeup in the mirror one last time, and spray some more perfume. "I'm ready."

The event runs smoothly. I meet so many new people in the Musical Theatre business that at one point I'm just having Quinn stash their business cards into her clutch.

Mr. Willows is there with some twenty-year old looking girl, and April Rhodes shows up with Will Schuester and his fiancee, Emma Pillsbury. Jesse takes some guy I've never seen before and Kurt brings Blaine.

We take pictures as a group, with our other castmates, by the poster, solo, with our dates, with other random people we're supposed to know who they are but don't. So many pictures and flashes that Quinn starts complaining about a headache and she's not even in all of them.

But I love the entire thing. This is what I love, want, hope for in my life. I love the attention, I want the recognition, and I hope for the success some people here have, like April for example. She's starring in another show (this one actually on Broadway) produced by Mr. Willows at around the same time Spring Awakening will run, and so they're using that one to make publicity for ours.

I feel like a star. And the entire night, Quinn is holding my hand.

"This is it, Chip. This is everything we've worked for." Jesse tells me as he makes his way over to me from makeup. "It'll be great. You'll be amazing. I love you!"

There's less than ten minutes until the curtains go up for the first time in New York for our official premiere. The theatre is packed. I'm so excited, my entire body is humming. I look at Jesse and hug him, "I love you, too! We're going to rock this."

"Babe? Babe! Rachel!" I hear Quinn's voice and turn toward it, and see her running towards me with a bouquet of mixed flowers in hand. Some of the other actors in the play, and the choreographer and the director wave at her and smile. She stops right in front of Jesse and I. "Hi, Jesse. Break a leg!" She hugs him. He thanks her and goes off to find someone else.

"I'm so glad you're here," I take the flowers she offers and she kisses me.

"I'll be front row and center. San and Britt, the guys," (the guys being Mike and Sam and Blaine), "and Mercedes and Tina are all with us, too. Your dads are already crying."

"Have I ever told you how lucky I feel for the friends and family I have and for you?"

"Only like," she pretends to think, "a million times. But I like hearing it."

"Well, and I like saying it."

"I love you, baby. Break a leg, and show them how much you deserve Broadway."

I grin at her, "they won't know what hit them."

The curtain goes up, slower than I feel like it's ever been, but I enjoy watching it go. I take center stage and applause erupts, and I can't help but smile. I dip my head because I can't break character, and lift my raggedy dress. Then I start to sing, and I hear no sound other than the sound of my voice being accompanied by the band.

This is where I belong.

"Fucking genius! This play will get picked up so quickly!" Santana says loudly. After the show is over, the crowd that stays afterward to get autographs and pictures is gone, and the cast finished with our own rituals, we leave together to get food and here we are; We're having something to eat late at night at an IHOP.

I laugh, "thanks, San."

"Everything about it was perfect. All of you were amazing." Blaine compliments us with pride in his voice and then turns to Kurt. "You were beyond great." I know Kurt was amazing, he really was, but nobody's performance topped mine. I don't say anything though.

Quinn leans forward to whisper in my ear, since I'm faced away from her a little, "you were better." She lightly kisses the shell of my ear then turns to talk to my fathers about something that has to do with cheerleading.

I smile because she knows me so well, and then look over at this beautiful table of amazing people. Some of them I probably wouldn't have even gotten to know as well as I do now hadn't it been for Quinn. My gorgeous, amazing Quinn. I interlace our fingers together under the table and she squeezes my hand without ever even stopping her conversation with my fathers, but I see the shy smile that grows and the way her cheeks flush slightly.

After another hour at IHOP, we all finally say goodnight. My fathers have an early flight this morning (it's already almost four in the morning), and most of us have a morning class. Quinn is so tired, her eyes are sleepy and she looks really cute trying to pretend she's not. I tell my parents I'll be right down, and take her up to her bedroom, while they wait in the living room of her house.

"You're so tired," I say when we're inside her room. I turn the lights on and shut the door.

"You know I can't stay up late at night," she chuckles.

I come up behind her as she stands in front of her mirror, taking off her earrings, and unzip her dress. She thanks me, and I kiss between her shoulder blades, "thank you for being there tonight and for staying up late for me."

She lifts one leg, then another, and slides the dress toward her laundry basket. She turns to face me, in her underwear, and my eyes have to take her in. "You're welcome. You are worthy of the sacrifice," she winks and leans in to kiss me.

"Get some sleep," I tell her and trace my fingers down her stomach, feeling it flutter underneath my fingertips. "I love you, and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Text me when you get home," she tells me and grabs my hand.

I start walking away, holding on to her hand until the last possible minute, "of course."

She pulls me back in right before our hands let go and kisses me again, "love you."

The cheerleading Welcome Back Bash is at full swing when I show up. It's happening in the school's gym, and it is packed. It's open for the entire student body and it is one of the parties sponsored by the cheerleaders that other clubs also promote.

This year, Quinn managed to convince the coordinator for this party to stop all dancing and music for a little while to show the Keep Calm and Carry On video that we recorded last semester. It is a success. The entire crowd applauses and whistles at the end and I find Santana being hugged by a lot of people; even people I know for a fact she's never met before.

She walks up to me in her outfit - badass leather jeans and jacket, with a black bandana on her head, and black heels. She looks hot. "Hey, when did you get here?"

I immediately hug her, proud of her all over again, "hey! I got here a little before they showed the video. I'm so proud of you!"

She waves it off, "you've already told me that, Midge." Her makeup is flawless. She's for heavy mascara and red lipstick. "How was the show tonight?"

I grin, "absolutely wonderful. It only gets better and better. Mr. Willows came to me at the end and said that he's already hearing people talk about Broadway for us."

This time, she hugs me, "congrats! You deserve this!"

"Thanks, babe. Hey, have you seen my girlfriend anywhere around here tonight?"

Santana laughs, "man, am I that bad a company?"

I huff, "no, of course not! I just haven't seen her all d-"

"Oh, please. Spare me. I was kidding. Well, I think I last saw her with the guys. They're all by the stage."

"Thanks," I tell her. "By the way, I like what you're wearing. You look hot."

"Ah," she smiles slowly, as if she knows something I don't. "Your panties are going to drop when you see what Quinn's wearing then."

She leaves me there, trying to figure out what Quinn's wearing. I'm wearing a red with white polka dots vintage dress with white shoes. I like that the theme is just I Love Rock N' Roll because there are people dressed in outfits from the 50's all the way to the late 90's. I'm appreciating these outfits when I finally spot Mike. He is wearing a - wait, those are the T-Birds, from Grease. Mike, Sam, Blaine and... Who's that other... No way!

Quinn turns around just as I figure it out. Grease is one of my favorite musical films of all time, and she knows it, too. She's in black, tight jeans, rolled up to her ankles, and black high-top Converse. She's wearing a white t-shirt, tucked in, and has a leather jacket throw on. She smiles at me, and I swoon. Her hair is gelled up and combed back. I had no idea that her dressing like a guy could be so fucking hot, but here I am, drooling.

She walks - no, she struts over to me, and for the first time I realize she's chewing on gum. I laugh, "someone is really taking their role seriously."

"Hey, there, beautiful."

"Hi, stud."

"You look..." she struggles for words but eats me up with her eyes, "really good."

"You look really hot." The band starts to play Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love, and I love this song. I look at her, excited, and she knows what I want.

"You want to dance with me?"

I nod with vigor, "please." She takes my hand and leads me into the crowd. We dance to this song with energy, her spinning me and twirling me. Then, after a couple of more songs, they switch to a slower rock ballad.

I feel her behind me, and thread my fingers through her hair - I don't care if it messes up her hairdo. Her hand comes down my arm, and I get the goosebumps. My stomach tightens in on itself when she starts kissing the back of my neck, by moving my hair out of the way.

"Guess what?" She asks.

"What?"

She turns me around and I wrap my hands around her neck, "I got a letter today."

"Really?"

"Yes. It's for an internship. Apparently I did so well at John Hopkins' this summer that they sent my information to their partners and such here in New York. They want to interview with me." Her hair is completely messed up, but somehow the 'do still looks unbelieavably attractive on her.

I smile, completely happy for her, "you're serious?"

"Yeah," she says and raises an eyebrow, caressing my face.

"Babe!" I jump to hug her. "This will be amazing for you."

She tightens the hug, "I'm kind of excited." She whispers in my ear, like it's a secret and she's not allowed to be excited. "It's gonna be kind of hard with school and cheering but -"

"You can do it."

"With you by my side, I can."

"You're gonna be great." I jump off her, and give her a once-over.

She smirks at my glance and asks, "so you approve of this?"

"Hell yes. I'm trying really hard not to ask you to leave this party right now."

Laughing, she whispers in my ear, "and why not?"

And who can resist that?

"Rachel!" I hear yelling. I have no idea what it is or who it is. It seems like it's a lot of different people making excessive noise in my apartment. Bandit and Benji are barking their high-pitched bark behind my closed door. "Rachel! Wake up, dumbass." Well, that's Santana.

I open my eyes and turn to face the ceiling. I groan and check the time. It's not even eight yet.

"Rach? Chip!" Jesse.

Is everyone here? And why is everyone laughing too?

"Babe? Please, wake up and come out here." Light knocking and polite? That's Quinn. I sit up, and stretch.

"Come in," I say and I doubt she even hears me, but then the door opens quietly and she slips in with a ridiculously large grin.

"Everyone's out here. You should come say hello." She leans in and kisses my forehead, "Morning."

"It's not even eight," I whine.

"You don't even wanna know why we're all here?"

The door creaks and in come Bandit and Benji is right behind him. They jump on the bed and start jumping franctically, hitting each other and lightly biting and then Bandit jumps on me, making me fall back in bed, and Benji is all over Quinn. We start giggling. She manages to pull Bandit from off my face and I can breathe again.

We trade dogs and start petting them. "Okay, tell me why they're here so early."

"You have to come out here." She explains, "we have to show you something." She offers her right hand to me, because she's holding Benji with her left, and I take it. She pulls me up and I drag Bandit with me.

Holding hands, we make our way out into the living room.

"Okay, everyone. I'm up, and it's not like I don't love you all, but I'm not really interested in being up before eight on a Sunday morning."

"Shut up, Rach! And listen to this -" Kurt says, his voice getting higher in pitch as he bounces in place, as if trying to contain the excitement bottled up inside. He's holding Blaine's hand so hard I think it'll fall off. He looks to Mike, who's holding the newspaper. He seems to be the only one in here still in check of his emotions.

Santana is tearing up, but smiling. Blaine is drying his own tears. Jesse's smile is so large I'm afraid it'll get stuck like this. Quinn is trying to see more put together than she is. Britt's literally dancing of joy.

"'Broadway Bound: the stars of Spring Awakening,'" Mike starts to read and I finally grasp what's happening. Everything around me slows down as I close my eyes to hear what the words of this critic says. "'I watched the premiere of Spring Awakening on Thursday night, and have had to go back and watch it twice more to be able to feel like I could write a review worthy of it. In three days that it's been open, I have gone every day. It is simply outstanding. The off-Broadway play has been what the Musical Theatre scene in New York has been missing. From their lead actress, Rachel Berry, who plays the naive Wendla, to the amazing musical arrangements and lyrics, Spring Awakening did no wrong. Rachel Berry, still a sophomore in college, has shown up as a taken lady, but who is definitely going to make the audience's hearts fall for her. Beautiful, young, and incredibly talented, Berry plays alongside her costar Jesse James from her latest college play, Cyrano de Bergerac. Jesse does a brilliant job as Melchior, a highly intelligent but rebellious teenager who is in love with Wendla. Not only are they perfect, but others deserved shoutouts for their performance, like,' blah blah blah," Mike skips over some people and then continues, "'and Kurt Hummel for his beautiful performance as Ernst. For someone who replaced the actor originally intended for the part, Mr. Hummel has me wondering if anyone else other than him could have ever played Ernst. With a touching story which appeals to all, backed up by great rock songs, I predict the stars of Spring Awakening will soon be joining other amazing musicals on the Broadway stage. This musical has all the right ingredients and the quality to become a classic, must-see, will-never-be-forgotten musical; the musical of our generation!"

As soon as he's done, I open my eyes and all of my friends share a group hug. I'm sobbing uncontrollably, because yes, this is everything we've worked for and have expected. "You fucking did it, babe. And I'm so damn proud of you." I hear Santana tell me. She's gripping me hard, "I wish I could see everyone from high school now, as your name starts to be worshipped on Broadway."

I'm passed from her to Jesse, "Congratulations, Chip. You and I are going to be famous together. I couldn't have asked for a better leading lady."

He pushes me into Kurt, who presses his cheek into mine and whispers, "thank you so much, Rachel Berry."

I finally land in Quinn's arms, "You are going to become who you've always wanted to be and more, I just know it. This is just the beginning for you."

I can't even begin to fathom how much better it could be.

"And here with us, tonight, we have the gorgeous Rachel Berry, who started her career as Wendla Bergmann, in Spring Awakening." The talk show host, John Hilton calls me out.

I walk into the stage and the first person I look for is sitting at the very front - Quinn, with a smile on her face.

I hug Hilton and we exhange air kisses, and he politely offers me to sit down.

I do and cross my legs and wave at the audience, still clapping for me.

"So, Rachel, how are you?"

Smiling, I tell him the truth, "I'm very good, actually. Really great."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes, definitely."

"How are you feeling about starting a new project, apart from the thing that made you who you are?"

I shift in my seat as I think over his question, "well, to me-"

"You're watching that again?" Quinn asks me from the door of our apartment. I turn on the couch, and look at her in her work clothes and holding her briefcase.

She smiles and purses her lips and lifts an eyebrow for having caught me watching myself on television again. I turn it off and jump over the back of the couch towards her. "Hi!"

"Hi!" She replies. Two seconds later, Bandit and Benji, now four years old and huge, throw themselves at her. She pets them and then looks at me again. "I caught you."

I nod, "you did. But you know how much I love going on TV shows."

"Yes, I know." Bandit and Benji lay at her feet. She wraps her arms around my waist. "We missed you." I look at her with pure, unadultered wonder when she says 'we.' It still catches me off guard sometimes.

"How was work?" I ask, and rub her belly, which is not showing yet, but I can't wait till it is. Our baby will be the most loved baby ever. He or she is the first of four, and I'm so ready for it now.

"Really good but I don't want to talk about work right now."

"No?" I ask, with a mischievous look.

"No." She tells me with assertiveness.

"What do you want then?"

"Make love to my wife."

A/N: I think I'll say goodbye to this story here for now.

I'm thinking about a sequel but I'm not sure about it yet. Thank you for sticking around to read all that happened in Rachel's and Quinn's lives and for all the love and support you've shared with me.

Stick around and read Isn't She Lovely, too.

Love,

-TWiM