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Name: All That's Left to Do is Run

Pairing: Quinn/Rachel

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Quinn has a bun in the oven.

Summary: Quinn's life is taking unexpected turns.

Author's Note: This is a companion piece from

Quinn's POV to Love Story. You don't really need toread that before this, but it's probably helpful, and ithas alternative moments. The title's still from LoveStory by Taylor Swift. And it's still like inhaling cottoncandy.

Quinn Fabray is not interested in learning anymoreabout Brittany and Santana's strange, insanerelationship. She's been staying at Brittany's for justunder a month now, after Finn threw her out (morenicely than her parents, but still throwing her out), andshe's witnessed more than enough of their strangedance around each other.

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It's not like she hasn't noticed over the years how thetwo act around each other - there had been that onesleepover last year that she had witnessed areasonably deep kiss and then her brain just wouldn'tlet go, to this day. For whatever goddamn reason, it'sbeen seared into her head. And so every time theytouch each other while Quinn's right there makes thisstrange tight feeling take hold of Quinn and she

doesn't like it.

So, when Rachel Berry offers her a place to stay after their third help session, a soft and understandingsmile playing across her face, Quinn pretty much

jumps at the chance.

//

A strange family tradition of the Berrys is FamilyGame Night (and it's literally written in capital letters,on their large dry erase board calendar, but it's nowbeing crowded by things like, Quinn's check-up, andevery time she sees the board she has a small burst

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of heat and tears filling her eyes).

They hold votes as to what game they play everyFriday night, and tonight it is the game of Monopoly.Rachel is uncharacteristically sucking, denyingpurchase of several properties, and her fathers lookso absolutely confused when she turns downBoardwalk that Quinn fears they might faint. ButRachel just nods to Quinn that it's her turn, and Quinn

leans over to grab the dice and looks down at her properties for just a moment and realizes that she hasPark Place, and for a moment she's frozen.

Because, while she knows Rachel cares about her

(hence the allowing Quinn to stay in her home), shedidn't really expect Rachel to be like this, letting her get properties in Monopoly. It's such a break fromcharacter, a complete and absolute break, and it's soheartwarming that Quinn has another burst of heatand she feels tears gather again. But she looks up atRachel, who's looking at her with another soft smileon her face, the same one she only gives to Quinn,and she smiles back and rolls her dice blindly, her eyes on Rachel's.

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She buys Boardwalk.

After Rachel's fathers sleepily head upstairs,declaring the game another lost hope, saying thatRachel was hard enough to beat, but Quinn just madeit impossible, complaining amongst themselves aboutwhatever happened to sweet teenage girls who didn'tcut your throat over the utility properties.

Rachel doesn't say a word, just picks up the box andplaces it in the Berrys' board game closet, and startswalking up the stairs, and Quinn follows like she hasfor the past few weeks.

But she doesn't make a left in the main hallway to theguest room she's staying in, she hangs a right intoRachel's room, without a word. Rachel doesn't lookat all freaked out, just turns to face Quinn just insideher doorway.

"Thank you," Quinn says, her eyes locking ontoRachel's and she knows she isn't talking about justBoardwalk, and she hopes Rachel gets it, because

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Quinn means it. She doesn't know why she somehowthinks that Rachel Berry is suddenly a good friend, agreat one, but she didn't also think that she would

sleep with her boyfriend's best friend and get knockedup, so she's just going with this, and somehow, it isn'tso bad.

Rachel smiles again, but this time it's wider and whiter and Quinn feels like her chest tightens up and it takes

her a second to realize she stopped breathing. Butshe forgets just as quickly when Rachel speaks.

"You're welcome."

//

Quinn is stretched out on the long end of the Berrys'L-shaped couch, her head on a pillow on Rachel'sdoctor dad's lap. He's Michael, and the Rachel'sother dad is Aaron, and he's a teacher at one of Lima's elementary schools, but he's asleep upstairs,claiming exhaustion due to an art project gone wildwith his second graders.

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Quinn and Michael are watching an old tape, a dancerecital tape from a long time ago, and it takes Quinn afull ten minutes before she realizes that the girl sherecognizes other than Rachel, the girl in the back of the line because of how gangly she was compared tothe other girls, is her.

"How old were we?" she asks, tilting her head up atMichael, and he smiles down at her, happy she'sfinally figured out that she's in this video too.

"Four. I remember you explaining to Rachel after apractice that the reason you didn't try harder wasbecause you didn't like it," he says, and when Quinnfeels his hand on her head, brushing through her hair,she realizes her father hadn't done something like thatin so long, and it kind of stings, but then she realizesthat this man is doing it now and she feels yet another burst of heartwarming affection.

"I didn't like it. Dance just distracted me from piano,and I hated it," she finally says, then glances down at

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her sweats, an old Cheerio set from freshmansummer camp. "I started liking it more though, after awhile. I liked cheerleading," she mutters, tugging at

the bright red pants before placing her hands on her baby bump, now exceedingly obvious. "I guess Iscrewed that up too."

Michael sighs, then reaches forward to grip one of her hands and leans over her, a look in his eyes that

Quinn can't quite place.

"You didn't screw anything up, Quinn. What'shappened to you...is a blessing. This baby is your second chance. I mean...you've changed, so much.

And for the better, in my opinion," he says, and Quinnfeels her heartbeat right in her ears. She knowsexactly what he's referring back to, and can't evenstop the tears from reaching her eyes again. One of the many horrible wrongs of being pregnant is theconstant tears.

She sits up quickly, wiping at her eyes and turningtowards Michael, who's only looking at her, not at allaccusing, just simply looking at her.

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"I was a horrible person," she says, dropping his gaze

to look at the leather couch, watching her teardropshit it. She feels him shift on the couch and lightly pullher face up to look at him.

"But you aren't, anymore," he says, and she can'teven speak, so she just crashes into him, pulling him

as tight as possible, because she wants to believe somuch that he's telling the truth, and because she can'timagine a better place to be in that moment.

//

On her birthday, Quinn wakes up to the sound of Rachel ordering what sounds like a whole crew of men around, clearly and concisely. It's a Saturdayand she's pretty sure it's disgustingly early, and shecan't fall back asleep, so she just gets up with agroan, rubbing her baby bump absentmindedly, andwanders down the stairs to find a team of seven menmoving a baby grand piano into the Berryssoundproofed extra room that Rachel uses to sing inand Aaron uses to play his assorted drums in.

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Rachel notices her quickly, bounding up to her withsuch enthusiasm that Quinn's early morning mix of sleepiness and anger is broken with her smile.Because she knows, just knows, that this is hers, thatthat beautiful Baldwin being carried in is hers, and sheknows that this girl, Rachel Berry, her best friend,made sure she got it for her birthday.

And so she doesn't think she needs to explain whyshe pulls Rachel in for a hug, and Rachel doesn'tquestion it when tears soak into her hair, just grips atQuinn's back tightly and whispers into Quinn's ear."Happy Birthday."

This time, when Quinn pulls back with tears runningdown her face and she looks at Rachel's own tearyface, she doesn't mistake the tightness in her chestfor anything like a pregnancy thing or just a randommedical event, just brushes her hand across Rachel'sface and smiles weakly, wiping away random tears.

Because she's pretty sure she's never seen anything

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more beautiful.

//

The next month is a strange one for Quinn, becauseshe's pretty sure that's she's fallen in love with her best friend, hard and unforgiving. She finds herself

fixated on things she's noted before, but never reallylet herself think about. It's like she's been pushing itfurther and further back in her head, for so much time,but it's finally gotten out and is just running loose.

She isn't really afraid of being gay. She isn't evensuper sure she is gay, like officially. She knows thatshe is very much gay for Rachel Berry, and that prettymuch terrifies her. Because Rachel is very much aheterosexual, because Quinn has witnessed some of Rachel and that jerkface Adam's goodnight kisses,and she knows that this is something not within reach.

Even so, she wakes up some nights gasping for air,the baby kicking wildly, because she's just had whatcould've been the hottest, most lewd dream in history.

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She can remember every detail, scarily enough, andevery morning, Rachel comes downstairs dressed ina skirt that barely covers her ass when she bends

over, and Quinn doesn't honestly remember ever using so many curse words in inner monologues aswhen she sees Puck or Finn or any of the boys (andthat one time, Santana) staring at Rachel's very long,very tan, very delicious legs.

But sometimes, Rachel looks at her and Quinn cansort of see something in Rachel's eyes, but it's goneso quickly that Quinn sometimes wonders if it wasever there. And when they touch - and they touch alot, more than Quinn suspects a normal best straightfriends should touch - sometimes, Rachel lets thetouch linger.

Quinn honestly does not know what the hell is wrongwith her, and she's not even sure if it's wronganymore, because she looks at Rachel sometimesand feels so right.

//

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Two weeks after Haley is born, Rachel comes intoQuinn's room in the middle of the night and lays down

next to her. Quinn almost doesn't wake up untilRachel slips an arm over her and grasps her hand,pressing her face into the space between Quinn'sshoulder blades, just breathing. This moment, whilenot unwelcome, is still just a little too far outside thealready-too-far outside-the-bounds bounds in their strange friendship, and so Quinn feels the need tospeak.

"What is it?" she asks, her hand gripping at Rachel's.

Rachel takes another breath, then mumbles that shecouldn't sleep.

Quinn realizes five minutes later that Rachel hasalready fallen asleep, her breathing against Quinn'sback at an even pace and her arm across Quinnhaving grown tighter, and even though Quinn hadn'tgotten to ask the question brewing in her head (Andyou think you can sleep better with me?), she smilescontentedly, enjoying the sound of breathing from thetwo girls she loves most: Rachel at her back, and

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Haley across the room in her bassinet, thankfully notscreaming for a later than midnight snack.

//

It is the night before the glee club must leave for nationals, and Brittany has supplied her house for the

party, and Puck has supplied the alcohol.

It's pretty entertaining, if Quinn were to be honest,exactly how little all the people in the club can't handletheir liquor. She had coerced Brittany into locking all

the rooms in the house that weren't bathrooms, in amomentary recollection of the last time she had a fewdrinks, and then she had made it her job to watchRachel wherever she went, making sure she didn'tdrink too much and didn't make out with anyone.

Her eyes are locked on Rachel and Puck's grinding inthe middle of the makeshift dancefloor, watchingRachel's skirt ride up where Puck's leg is pressed.She doesn't notice Finn collapse into the seat next toher, and doesn't register the arm sliding around her

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until it's pulling her into the side of Finn's body.

She isn't afraid, and she's certainly not interested, soshe doesn't do anything to get out of the embrace,

just leans against him. Even though she had never really loved Finn and never really felt any sort of attraction (a lack of feeling now thoroughly explainedby the feeling she gets when she watches Rachel runon her elliptical with boy shorts and a sports bra on),

she had always felt pretty safe with him. He was asweet guy, he was just...a guy.

"She likes you too," he says into her ear, and for amoment, Quinn is pretty sure the whole mini-party

stops and stares accusingly at her. Because she'spretty sure Finn just implied three things with onestatement: that many people have noticed Quinn'slust-filled lengthy glances, that Rachel shares some of these feelings, and that Quinn should make some sortof action on these matching feelings.

She pulls herself closer to Finn in an attempt to hideher bright red face, shaking her head.

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"I don't know what you're talking about," she muttersand Finn just laughs at her.

"Sure you don't," he says, pushing her up out of her seat and propelling her towards Rachel, who's nowalmost climbing on Puck. "Go get her," he says, andQuinn finds herself following instructions, grabbingRachel's hand and pulling her away from an affronted

Puck.

Rachel, for her part, just lets Quinn drag her into thereasonably quiet and decidedly empty kitchen.

"Hi," Rachel says, her voice somewhat sleepy, butQuinn can tell she's not all that drunk, maybe justbuzzed.

"Hey," Quinn answers, her hand still gripping Rachel'sand her other pushing back an errant hair.

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"I was just dancing, I don't like him," Rachel says,looking like a chastised child, and tugging at Quinn'shand in hers. Quinn's hand pauses in Rachel's hair,

but she smiles down at the slightly smaller girl.

"I know. You like Adam," she says, dropping her hand. But Rachel frowns and reaches for it again,placing it once again on her head.

"That felt good," she mutters, and Quinn smiles again,threading her fingers through Rachel's long, shiny,smooth hair. Rachel closes her eyes, murmuring her contentment, then grips Quinn's other hand tighter."And Adam and I broke up," she says, leaning forward

into Quinn's shoulder.

Quinn pauses again, letting Rachel lean against her,then pulls back after a moment.

"What?" she asks softly, searching Rachel's eyes.Rachel, for her part, looks unconcerned.

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"He was kind of a stupidhead. Or something...smarter," she shrugs. "And I don't like

him anymore," she says, looking up at Quinn with thatstrange expression playing across her face beforeshe leans up and presses a kiss to her lips.

Quinn is so surprised that she doesn't move at all untilRachel starts pulling back, loosening her grip on

Quinn's hand, muttering that they should forget aboutit, and then Quinn yanks Rachel back up against her and presses her into the kitchen counter, kissing her hard.

Quinn doesn't mistake Rachel's small whimper, andshe enjoys Rachel's tongue sweeping over her bottomlip until she catches the taste of a wine cooler there.

"You're drunk," Quinn mutters, pushing away fromRachel lightly, then forcing her way out of Rachel'sarms, leaving the room before Rachel can even getout her protest.

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//

Two days later, and they're performing Somebody toLove in front of an audience so large that Mr. Schuelooked like he was going to faint when Ms. Pillsburyhad told him. She can't see a face in the audience,but she can hear the breathlessness of the crowd andthe energy pulsing through her, through all of them.She knows her daughter is out there in the audience,

probably wrapped in Aaron or Michael's arms, andshe knows that her best friends are up here on thisstage with her, and she can hear Rachel sing her heart right next to her.

"Somebody find me, somebody to love," and Quinnfeels Rachel's hand come up in a break of choreography to grip hers and she feels like shedoesn't have to look anymore, because thatsomebody's right there.

//

"I promise not to make out with any cheerleaders if

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you promise not to make out with any theater nerds,"Quinn says, gripping Rachel's hands in hers in themiddle of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, and

Rachel just laughs and pulls Quinn closer to her,wrapping her arms around the girl.

Rachel's flying out to New York for a Julliard-sponsored theater camp in the city, and Quinn'sstaying behind in Lima to re-join the Cheerios, a

decision she feels is good, despite Coach Sylvester'sminor insanity.

"Deal," she mutters, before leaning up to press a lightkiss to Quinn's lips. No one seems to care, really,

and Rachel's dads just smile, like they're perfectlyhappy that their daughter is dating a teenage momwho used to torture said daughter.

Haley's in a little outward-facing baby carrier, her legsswinging around while she leans forward to her momand Rachel, and Rachel lets go of Quinn save onehand and kisses Haley on the top of her head. Quinnonce again has a burst of affection that brings tears toher eyes. She knows now that she's just a soft-hearted wimp, really, so she doesn't think much of it,

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just grips Rachel's hand tighter.

Rachel leans up to kiss both her dads cheeks and thefive of them have a group hug, Haley squealing inhappiness in the middle.

"Bye," Rachel mutters, stepping forward to kiss Quinn

once more, and this one lasts longer, maybe too longfor a public place in the middle of Ohio.

"Bye," Quinn returns, breathing deep because shefeels like she might cry.

"I love you," Rachel whispers, her eyes clouding upout of nowhere, and it's the first time either of themhave said it, even though Quinn is starting to feel likeit's been a fact for a long time now.

"Right back at you," Quinn whispers back, peckingRachel again, and pushing her back playfully. "You'regoing to be late."

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Rachel just smiles, and squeezes Quinn's hand onelast time before she's walking towards security, andQuinn is so very much in love that it's almostridiculous.

//

The day Quinn quits the Cheerios and burns her uniform (despite Sue's demand to have it returned),Rachel's dads take her out to dinner after her pianolesson is over. Rachel holds her hand through the

entire thing, smiling gratefully at her even though sheknew of Quinn's tactics of throwing Cheerios off theteam. Haley laughs as they all watch Aaron attemptthe airplane to get her to eat, and Quinn doesn'tnotice the group of people across the room until theyall freeze when Rachel turns to press a kiss toQuinn's cheek, pulling her hand up and kissing it too.

Quinn freezes immediately, her eyes sliding over her parents, sister, aunt, uncle, and cousin. They all havedifferent expressions on their faces, but before she

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can dissect them, Rachel looks over in the directionQuinn is staring and turns back to face her after sheplaces the familiar bone structure on most of their

faces. She's wide-eyed, and immediately starts todrop Quinn's hand, but Quinn just holds tight andreturns the gesture of kissing their clasped hands,staring into Rachel's eyes.

Rachel smiles slowly, leaning forward to set her

forehead against Quinn's.

"I love you," Quinn whispers, before she presses akiss to Rachel's lips.

//

Nationals is held in the same place the end of their junior year, and Quinn is sitting on the same stage,this time with a bronze medal hanging around her neck. It's not unexpected when Rachel sits next toher, but it is unexpected when she notices Haleywrapped in her arms.

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"She's asleep," Rachel whispers, looking down at the

girl. Quinn knows that Haley probably sees Rachel atan equal if not greater status as Quinn, and the ideaisn't at all horrible. In fact, it's amazing.

Quinn's soft-heartedness comes through when shelooks down at her daughter and sees the bronze

medal around her neck, and it takes just abouteverything she has in her not to burst into tears of complete joy because a year ago? She thought her life was pretty screwed up. She had a month-olddaughter and she was in love with her best friend andshe was functioning on little to no sleep most of thetime. But now, she couldn't think of anything more

perfect.

//

Senior year goes by fast, and a lot of things continueto fall into place. Quinn gets into Columbia on pre-med, a major Michael is ridiculously happy about, andRachel gets into Julliard, an accomplishmenteveryone expected. When they move to the city,

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followed by Rachel's dads moving into a nicetownhouse in Queens, Quinn realizes that this life isnot at all what she expected, not at all what anyone

expected from her, but she doesn't care.

//

Puck takes Quinn and Haley out on the town oneweek he flies in, while Rachel is at her off-off-broadway show that they've seen about eight timesalready (it's still amazing, but it gets old), and he endsup dragging Quinn inside a Kay Jewelers in Chelsea,and she has a minor heart attack when she realizeshis intentions upon bringing her in.

It's not that she doesn't want to spend the rest of her life with Rachel, it's more that the idea of proposing isabsolutely terrifying because she knows Rachel, sheknows exactly what she'd want out of one, and sheknows exactly how much a full Central Park carriageride costs, and she also knows that the little moneyshe has is being funneled into school and into Haley'sstarting pre-school.

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But she's immediately drawn over to a simple band,with one singular square-cut diamond on a silver

band, and the price doesn't seem all that bad whenshe hands over her credit card for a down payment.She doesn't even realize she's got an engagementring in her hand until she walks out.

"Oh my God," she says, immediately stopping. Haley

laughs at her from up on her dad's shoulders, and her smile looks almost identical to Puck's a few feet down."OH MY GOD."

"So how are you going to propose?" he asks, his

trademark smirk that she used to find rather sexy onhis face. The only thing preventing her from kickinghim in his stupid balls is the fact that their daughter issitting happily up on his shoulders.

"I should've killed you a long time ago, Puckerman,"she mutters, dragging him down the street towardsher apartment.

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//

Quinn is in the process of having a panic attack whenRachel walks through the door to find Haley standingalone in the middle of their entryway. Puck's in thekitchen, hiding as he promised he would, and she's intheir bedroom, peeking through a tiny crack in thedoor.

Rachel stops immediately, crouching down to Haleyand dropping her purse.

"Hey baby, where are your Mommy and Daddy?" sheasks, her hands running over Haley's bright blondhair.

Haley takes a discernible deep breath that is so veryRachel that Quinn has a hard time not bursting intolaughter, and then pulls her hands out from behindher back and shoves the box in Rachel's face.

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"Momma, will you marry Mommy?" Haley asks, clear as day, and Quinn literally falls backwards onto thefloor in shock, because Haley really delivered that so

perfectly that Rachel is staring at her in shock, takingthe black box out of Haley's small hands, completelyspeechless. It's Quinn's cue, and Haley looks back tothe doorway where she is and gives a bright smile.

Quinn steps out and Rachel just stares at her, her

hand tightening around the box and rising up to meetQuinn.

"I can't imagine what kind of person I would've endedup being if it weren't for you, Rachel. And I don't want

to ever know who I am without you. I want to spendmy life with you, and I want to make it official. So...asour daughter said, will you marry me?"

Rachel doesn't even say anything, just throws her arms around Quinn and pulls her as close aspossible, and she feels Haley's arms wrap aroundtheir legs and smiles down at her.

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"I love you so much," Rachel whispers, pulling back just enough to look Quinn in the eye. Quinn smilesand feels the now all to familiar feeling of sentimental

teariness rushing through her.

"I love you too," she mutters, then kisses her.

the end.

Name: So Close Your Eyes


Rating: pg-13

Spoilers: Eventually I can stop saying Quinn'spregnant, right?

Summary: Rachel finds herself building a future shenever expected.

Author's Note: Okay, guys. This is Rachel's POV of Love Story and All That's Left to Do is Run, which arefrom Mr. Schue and Quinn's POVs respectively. Iapparently can't do anything but write excessive fluff,but that appears to be working, so I'll go with it.

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Rachel Berry comes home the day of the glee club'striumphant win at sectionals with a dejected look thatneither of her fathers can ignore. She's always beenone to bask in the afterglow of a performance,especially one that garnered some kind of prize. But

Rachel just looks sad, her eyes never once leavingthe rainy outside world beyond her car window.Michael finally turns down the South Pacificsoundtrack and asks her what's wrong.

"Quinn Fabray," she murmurs automatically. Rachel'shonesty had been ingrained into her from her birth,and it was a trait Michael and Aaron were proud of except when it became a question of what too muchinformation actually is. She had a habit of being sohonest that it became painful at points, but they bothknew that once a person could get past that thicklayer, they would find an amazing girl.

Rachel knows all these things because her fathershave always been honest in return, albeit possibly

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more nicely, and sometimes she runs over thosesmall pep talks when stupid things are happening toher: when a hockey player is throwing iced drinks,

when everyone in glee can't stand to look at her. Shealmost doesn't say that Quinn is what's bothering her,she comes so close to saying that she's worried abouttheir chances at regionals with the supreme talent of Vocal Adrenaline awaiting them there. But it's out of her mouth before she can stop it, and she clamps her mouth shut when she realizes she's said it.

"Why?" her dad (Michael) asks, and she can see hisbarely-visible due to the darkness eye roll. Shealmost wants to return it, because it is ridiculous.Quinn Fabray can't seem to stay out of her thoughtsfor longer than a three hours anymore, and Rachel

isn't even sure why she feels like she needs to helpher, but she does, and she's not sure why on earthQuinn would ever take her help, and even if shewould, Rachel has no idea what kind of help to give.

So Rachel just shakes her head, then sets it againstthe cool glass of the car window, and isuncharacteristically silent the entire drive home,tracing occasional rain drops down the glass.

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//

Quinn is looking at her like she's gone insane. Andshe quite possibly has, because she's somehow justblurted out the statement, "Why don't you move inwith me?"

This statement, at least, makes sense in the contextof the conversation, because Quinn has spent the lastfive minutes complaining about how living withBrittany is cramping her style (Quinn's exact phrase,and Rachel knows Quinn enough to see that thisgiven reason isn't exactly it, and she also registers

that Quinn is so out of the loop that she doesn'trealize that this phrase is not exactly in style), andhow Santana is constantly there, and Rachel is justpatiently waiting for her to finish her monologue sothey can get back to the song and then she'sspeaking.

"Why don't you move in with me?"

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And we arrive back to the present moment, withQuinn looking utterly confused and Rachel feelingflabbergasted at her lack of control over her inner

voice not interacting with the outside world.

It's not that Rachel doesn't mean the sentiment,because she does. She's gotten to know Quinn muchbetter in the month it's been since the mess that wasthe week of sectionals, with the baby drama erupting

and no one speaking to Quinn or Puck - she evenconsiders Quinn to be a good friend, albeit ahormonal, occasionally cruel one who has a streak of stubbornness in her about as long as Rachel's (asevidenced by their half-an-hour long debate over themerits of The Little Mermaid vs. The Lion King), butshe's a good person in the sense that she's trying to

make up for the things she's done wrong, slowly andcautiously, but she's trying, and Rachel can respectthat, even if she is completely wrong on the point thatThe Lion King is better than The Little Mermaid.

It's more the fact that Rachel hasn't actually activelythought out this plan, ever before, and it's nowsuddenly an offer. Rachel is not one to leap beforeshe looks, and she's completely astounded that she'sdone it for Quinn Fabray of all people, the girl whoseemed bent on destroying her just a month and a

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half ago.

But Quinn's face is shifting into something resemblinggratefulness, a soft and small file settling on her features, and the lights hitting the stage are lightingher blond hair up to the effect that she's almostglowing, and she says yes.

//

"Rachel, honey, Quinn Fabray is the girl you claimhas been out to ruin your high school experience for

years now, and you've all-of-a-sudden decided thatshe can stay in your house?" her daddy (Aaron) isasking, rubbing his temples while his husband pacesaround the island in their kitchen. Quinn is over atBrittany's packing her things, and Rachel is having todefend her rapidly-made decision to invite Quinn intotheir household.

"Daddy, I never stated that, you inferred it. Quinn'slife is in a delicate place right now, and she needs aloving household that we can provide!" she says

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brightly, turning to look at her dad crosses behind her.

"Yes, Rachel, we understand that, but why on earthdo you want to do this?" her dad asks, turning her around fully and holding her at arms-length, searchingher eyes. He's surprised when his daughter drops her gaze to the floor before bouncing back up to theceiling.

"I just...want to help her. Is there anything wrong withthat? She's...different. She's trying. She's my friend,and I want to be a good friend to her. Idon't...understand why. But I want to make sure thatshe's okay, and I want her to be okay where I know

she'll be safe. And the only place I can think of ishere."

The kitchen is silent for a moment, until her daddygets up off his stool and crosses around the islandand wraps his daughter in a hug. Rachel sinks into it,her head landing on his chest with a small thump, andshe knows she's shaking, but she feels like she'swaiting on a jury deciding life or death. She feels hischest rumble when he speaks.

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rather surprised to stumble on the sight.

It's an upper-level version of the song, and she cansee that Quinn is playing it without sheet music, andshe can see in the mirror across from the keyboardthat she actually has her eyes closed, and is justswaying with the music. It's the look on her face thatstops Rachel from raising attention to her presence,because it's the same look Rachel sees on her own

face in her MySpace videos - one of pure joy in lettingthe music take over. Quinn's a rather good singer,and a great dancer, but she's amazing at this, andRachel wonders why its never been mentionedbefore.

When Quinn starts singing along with the song, at aslowed down pace that almost makes the song soundsad, Rachel has to remind herself to breathe,because there's something about talent that's alwaystaken Rachel's breath away. She steps back from thedoor a few feet, then starts forward again, makingloud noises, and Rachel almost cries a little when themusic stops and Quinn's suddenly in the doorway, her backpack slung over her shoulder.

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Quinn doesn't say a word though, when Rachel wrapsher arms around Quinn and sinks her head ontoQuinn's shoulder and turns it in so she can smell

Quinn's perfume. Her arms just come around Rachelwithout hesitation, and pull her in a tight, warmembrace that makes Rachel feel safe and protected,and the feeling is so disconcerting and so out-of-the-blue that Rachel's breath catches once more, but thistime it's different.

She presses her head further into the space betweenQuinn's neck and shoulder and breathes deeper,though, and she tries to forget.

And for one of the few times in her life, Rachel fails.

//

"GET THAT MOHAWK-ED ASSHOLE IN HERE SO ICAN TEAR HIS BALLS OFF WITH MY BAREHANDS!"

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Rachel actually blushes this time, glancing around atthe nurses and doctors surrounding Quinn, who's

become so deeply threatening that it's a wonder theyhaven't all left Rachel to deliver the baby herself.They all just look amused, like this is only a minor outburst, even compared to Quinn's last one ("I'MGOING TO KNOCK HIS DAMN TEETH OUT WITH AGODDAMN CROWBAR!" to be exact), and continueon speaking to each other in calm tones, occasionallyencouraging Quinn to do something.

It was a long-ago determined decision that Rachel bethe one in the delivery room with Quinn, decidedultimately by the fact that Puck would either throw upor faint, and Quinn had insisted in the first place that it

be Rachel. Rachel, of course, was rather flabbergasted by Quinn's strong assertion, and shetried not to think too much of it, really, but she couldn'thelp it. Because honest to God, Quinn was breakingat least four bones in her hand right now, but Rachel'sabsolutely sure she's never loved the girl more.

It's still a mystery, really, or Rachel at least liked topretend it was to herself. She knew, of course, thatshe rather admired Quinn's strength and tenacity, andshe also liked the girl's softer, more vulnerable side

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that had become more and more prominent over thecourse of her stay at the Berrys. Rachel also admiredthe symptoms of pregnancy to an almost alarming

degree, most noticeably development of breast milkreserve, and these facts and many others amountedup to the strange affection Rachel had for Quinn. Itwasn't all that surprising that she could be attracted toa girl - she had always found girls to be attractive,although to varying degrees, and she had also foundseveral boys attractive, too, most recently her ex-boyfriend Adam. The break-up had not exactly been

announced yet, but Rachel had realized rather earlyon in that relationship that it was stopped before itstarted.

Because she definitely, for sure was completely head

over heels for Quinn Fabray, and the feeling wasterrifying. Quinn was very much straight, asevidenced by the baby she was currently attemptingto push out of her, but Rachel couldn't exactly helpher feelings. So she found herself in this exact sort of position - the best friend, always at the girl's side eventhough she'll never notice.

"HOLY FUCK, I'M GOING TO KICK HIS SCRAWNYASS THE MINUTE I GET OUT OF THESEGODDAMN STIRRUPS!"

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Then Quinn is just straight screaming, and Rachelsomehow hears the pop in her right index finger before she hears the screaming of a baby filling theroom. Quinn collapses back onto the bed, her handstill wrapped around Rachel's in a tight grip, and thestinging pain Rachel feels is numbed by the sight of Quinn locking her eyes on hers, smiling tiredly.

"That was amazing," Rachel whispers, quiet enoughso that only she and Quinn can hear, and Quinn justtugs at her hand until Rachel's leaning over her alittle.

"Thank you, Rachel," Quinn whispers, then sits up alittle to kiss Rachel's cheek sweetly, before leaningback and closing her eyes to rest them.

"You're welcome," Rachel mouths, not wanting todeny Quinn just a small moment of rest in the midst of this chaos, not pulling her hand out of Quinn's untilshe holds the girl who will be named Haley Fabray inher arms.

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//

Rachel has the same nightmare for an entire week,every night, and it always ends the same way. Quinnand Haley drive off into the cold, driving rain, andleave Rachel standing there, alone and wet.

And every night, for that entire week, she slips intoQuinn's room and slides behind her in bed and setsher arm across Quinn, confirming to herself by thesound of Haley breathing across the room (or

occasionally squealing) and Quinn's solid, warmpresence that they're very much still there, both in her reach and just outside of it at the same time.

On the last day of the week, she wakes up to findQuinn's head on her shoulder, her entire body curledalong Rachel's side, and Rachel knows that sheneeds to do something.

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//

The plane ride back from nationals is a quiet affair.The entire club is wiped out, and Rachel doesn't mindso much that she can't sleep with the noise of theplane when Quinn grasps her hand in hers and rubsat the bend in her index finger, before bringing it toher lips and kissing it, looking at Rachel sweetly theentire time.

"How did we get here?" Rachel finds herself asking,not sure if she wants to break the spell hanging over them, but still needing to know. "I mean...how did youknow?" she rephrases, gripping Quinn's hand to keep

her in place. Quinn herself doesn't seem all thatconcerned about getting away from Rachel, though,

just looks at her contemplatively.

"You're beautiful," is the first thing that comes out of Quinn's mouth, and it's surprising for some reason."You're beautiful on the inside and on the outside.You were my friend when no one else was, and youtook care of me when I treated you like dirt for years.You also look really good in those skirts, too, but youalso...gave me a home when I didn't have one. I don't

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know how I couldn't like you."

By the end of the mini-speech, Rachel has tears inher eyes, ones that match Quinn's and she leansforward to rest her forehead against Quinn's smiling ather before pressing closer to kiss her.

//

Their junior year officially begins with Rachelaccidentally making Quinn get dressed twice, in thesame outfit. Now that she can properly appreciate the

Cheerios uniform on her now-girlfriend, it's a miracleshe even lets Quinn out the door without jumping her.Again.

It's going to be a good year, Rachel's pretty sure.

//

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"I'm so sorry," Quinn mutters, running her handthrough Rachel's dripping hair and trying to get the

clumps of ice out. Rachel herself is merely reveling inthe feeling of her girlfriend's hands roaming throughher hair. "I don't know what's happening."

"It isn't your fault. It's not like I've never experienced aslushy shower before," Rachel says, her eyes closing.

"You don't deserve this," Quinn says, but it soundslike a sob, so Rachel opens her eyes to see Quinn'seyes tilted toward the ground, reddening quickly.

"It's okay, Quinn," Rachel reassures, turning aroundto wrap Quinn in her arms, but she can feel the girltremble anyway.

"You don't deserve this," Quinn repeats, her voicecracking, but she holds tight to Rachel.

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The next day, Chelsea Hamlin is thrown off theCheerio squad for the offense of eating a bag of jellybeans, a blatant violation of Sue Sylvester's Guide to

Domination. She also finds some compromisingpictures of herself super-glued to multiple lockersaround school, and while Rachel wants to feel bad for the girl, she can't help but find Quinn's relativelyobvious protectiveness both endearing and hot.

//

Senior year starts in almost the exact same fashionas junior year, except, Quinn is the one having troubleletting Rachel out the door and no Cheerio uniforms

are involved.

//

Rachel is the one who asks Quinn to senior prom,looking rather nervous even though they are verymuch in a relationship. It feels like a big step,somehow, and she takes the entire ceremony of asking very seriously, even writing a script for it.

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Quinn barely even lets her start her speech beforeshe's interrupting with an eye roll and a, "Of course I'llgo with you, baby."

Which is good enough for Rachel, because it leavesthem more time to celebrate.

But on the night of the prom, when she and Quinn arein a dark corner of the biggest hall in Lima, pressedtightly against each other and Rachel's looking up intoQuinn's eyes as something wildly cliche plays in the

background, and Quinn's singing along softly, justloud enough for Rachel to hear, Rachel feels like thisit, all she'll ever have, all she'll ever want forever - andthat's perfectly fine with her.

//

They win first place their senior year at nationals, andthey throw a dance party in the girl's room. Rachel

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notices Quinn step out onto the balcony, and Rachelfollows immediately, not at all questioning herself because it's so much her second nature. Quinn

smiles over at her when she leans up against therailing next to her, but looks out on the city under them quietly.

"Move in with me."

Quinn's head snaps up from her gazing to meetRachel's - and this time, when she suggests it, it's nota question, and it's thoroughly planned. They've hadtheir acceptance letters to Julliard and Columbia for afew weeks now, but neither has had the strength to

suggest this step. Because it's ultimately a hugemove, a cementing move in their relationship.They've been living in the same house for years now,but the idea of living together alone with the girlRachel practically calls her own child to take care of between them feels so much like a pipe dream thatRachel's almost afraid that it's impossible. But sheknows exactly how she feels about this girl, and abouther daughter, and about the idea of spending the restof her life with her.

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"What is it, honey?" Rachel asks, one of her handssettling on Haley's head when she sets it on Rachel'sother shoulder.

"I had a bad dream," Haley mutters, and Rachel canhear the slight teary tone, so she presses a kiss to thetop of her head, rubbing her back.

"About what?" she asks quietly, and she almost thinksHaley has fallen asleep until the girl's muffled voicecomes quietly to her.

"Mommy and I lost you in the store," she says, her voice tight and croaky.

For a moment, Rachel isn't sure what to say, just rubsHaley's back until her breathing evens out.

"I won't ever leave you, baby," Rachel whispers, notsure if Haley's still awake or not.

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"I know. But it was scary anyway," the girl whispers,

pressing her head tighter against Rachel's shoulder."I love you momma," she whispers even quieter.

"I love you too, Haley."

Rachel listens as Haley finally drops off into sleep,then kisses her head once more, before turning topress a kiss to Quinn's head too, before drifting off tosleep herself with a smile on her face.

the end.

Name: You'll Never Have to Be Alone


Rating: pg-13

Summary: There are sides to every story.

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Author's Note: So, I'm almost completely sure I justwrote in a way for this to continue on to the future, butI kind of like this as an ending. Y/N? Anyway, you

know the drill: part of my variations on a theme,companion piece to Love Story, All That's Left to Do isRun, and So Close Your Eyes. I am running out of Taylor Swift lyrics. And, due to popular demand,Haley gets a boosted part towards the end.

Puck has a wild bout of concern about his babymomma's whereabouts when he realizes that Finnhas kicked her out of his house. He asks Brittany and

Santana, and they both merely shrug, Brittany sayingthat Quinn had moved out of her house a few weeksago.

This only fuels the concern.

A lot of people don't exactly realize that Puck hasactual feelings, not really. A lot of people just thinkhe's an idiot jock who just wants tail (which is partly

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true, but not entirely, okay?). But he kind of reallydoes like Quinn, he likes her because she's a lot likehim. Or, he's pretty sure she is, because sometimes

she's so...not obvious. Like, the night they had gottenit on? He couldn't tell if he was talking to the girl he'dknown since they were five or a complete stranger.

"God, I hate her!" Quinn is stage-whispering, whichseems unnecessary as they're the only people in his

house. She's attempting to pull the wrapper off thefourth wine cooler he had given her, and she had justrecently pulled off the sweater she was wearing toreveal a white tank top under which her could see abright red bra. So forgive him for not listening soclosely.

"Who?" he asks, his eyes barely flicking back up tohers before dropping back down. She doesn't seemto notice or care, just continues flouncing around hisroom waving around her hands.

"That girl! Rachel Berry, such a...whore. Slut. Heh,that's fun to say! She's totally a slut. I mean...shewears those skirts. And they're like...up to here!" shethen raises her hand to about her hip, which seems

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like an exaggeration to Puck, and he decides not topoint out that Quinn herself is wearing a skirt that is

just four inches below the indicated point, even if it is

her Cheerios uniform. "I mean, sluts totally have legslike that. Have you seen her legs?" Quinn is asking,suddenly right up in Puck's face, and he's nowdistracted by the thought of Quinn's legs, so he justsays no.

"Why not? I mean, they're good. Like, long, for sucha small midget body. Tan, like...not me. My legs arereally pale," she mutters leaning down and looking ather legs, providing Puck with a lovely look at her ass,further distracting him from this already one-sideddiscussion.

"I mean, too, and her...I mean, she's kinda nice-looking, like in a weird way. And she's a really goodsinger, too! I mean, that's not even fair, right?Unpossible and infair. I mean, no, no, impossible andunfair. Whatever. These taste good," Quinn says,picking up another wine cooler. "Anyway, like, her hair is really shiny. And the legs...and she singspretty. And! And, she, like, like...is totally a slut. Doyou think she's hot?" she asks Puck, suddenly wide-eyed, like she doesn't want Puck to say Rachel is. Sohe doesn't.

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"Not as hot as you," he smirks, and she sort of smilesback, then frowns like an unpleasant thought isassaulting her.

"She is hot," she mutters, gulping the wine cooler down quickly, then standing up and crossing over

Puck's room to Puck himself, where he's sitting on hisbed. "I wanna forget her."

"So forget her," Puck says, looking up at her, reachingfor her hand as a show of support that normally would

be thoroughly rebuked. He can't help himself though.

"I can't," she whispers, right before she leans downand kisses him soundly, pushing him backwards ontothe bed and he forgets about the entire conversationuntil morning when all that's left of her is the emptywine coolers and her perfume on his pillows.

So, he follows her out of glee one day, but she

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doesn't go straight to her car and to wherever it isshe's staying, she turns the opposite direction andheads to what turns out to be the auditorium. Trying

not to be too obvious, he sneaks in through the lightbox and watches from up there as she sits down onthe edge of the stage, seemingly waiting for something.

When Rachel Berry walks onto the stage and hands

Quinn a stapled packet of what looks like sheet musicto Puck, he isn't sure what to think. Two girls he'smade out with are talking to each other?

(He then slips into a minor fantasy about all three of

them making out together, and he gets distractedenough by this to wander out of the auditoriumknowing that his girl's in good hands, because for allthe horrible annoying qualities there are aboutRachel, he knows she cares a lot about even thepeople who treat her like trash, even him, and thatshe could take better care of Quinn than just aboutanyone, maybe even him.)

//

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Santana is alarmed to say the least when Quinn

mentions some 'hilarious' story about Family MovieNight at the Berrys, and mentions it as if she'ssomehow a part of it, because she is somehow a partof it, because she's moved in with the Berrys.

When Santana mentions that Quinn's archnemesis

Man Hands lives there (because obviously, Quinn hadsomehow not noticed or something, right?), Quinngets this look in her eye, like she wants to pick up her fork on her lunch tray and stab it into Santana's

jugular, but the look passes and Quinn just shakesher head.

The next day, Quinn is already at their lunch table,sitting next to a beaver-like Rachel Berry. Santanahas an extreme urge to abandon the sinking ship thatis this lunch table and just head for higher ground atthe Cheerio table at the head of the cafeteria, butBrittany is tugging at her arm, and it's not like Santanacan say no to Brittany, so she just goes with it.

When Santana sits down, her face a pained one,

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Rachel is suddenly talking to her about a newinitiative to get more featured members in glee, onethat she will be spearheading, and how she thinks

Santana could certainly handle any kind of musicshe'd like, although Rachel would like to recommendthe show In the Heights, and at Santana's blank look,Rachel explains the plot of In the Heights in minutedetail.

"That sounds fun," Brittany says, next to Santana, andSantana immediately turns on her and glares for encouraging the girl, but Brittany doesn't care and issmiling at Quinn in an odd way, and Santana looks toQuinn who is not looking towards either Brittany or Santana but at Rachel, with a look that is decidedlynot very Quinn-like.

"She's looking at her like the way you look at me,"Brittany whispers to Santana, and Santana knowsthat Brittany doesn't exactly realize the deeper levelsof such a statement, as Santana has never actuallysaid anything about her crazy, insane, strangefeelings involved in her relationship with Brittany, butthis is also not a comforting statement.

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When she gets home though, she listens to the entireIn the Heights soundtrack, and decides to try to be alittle nicer to Man Hands, because if Quinn feels the

same way about Rachel as Santana feels aboutBrittany, even if she doesn't really know yet, then itwould probably be safer for Santana to not callRachel anything but her given name.

//

Finn doesn't exactly realize why Rachel is crying onhim, but she is, and he's trying to be nice about it.Crying girls kind of freak him out a lot, and Rachellooks sort of like a puppy that's just been kicked when

she cries, so he has a harder time with her thanothers. Well, Quinn also sort of looked like awounded animal when she cried, too, so that's nottrue, really. But none of that is really the point, at themoment, anyway.

Rachel had showed up at his door, crying, and thankgod his mom hadn't been home, or else he'd probablyhave to explain that another girl in his life was not atall pregnant (unless she was, and then he'd probablyhave to kick some other guy's ass too), but he didn't

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really get the vibe from Rachel that she really likedany guy, not the guy she was dating, Adam or whatever, not him (which, yeah, kinda bothered him,

but it's not like he was hung up or anything), not evenPuck (which was a good thing in Finn's book). Butright now she was crying, words like love and like andheart being wailed into his chest.

He's confused for a good ten minutes, at least, while

she cries, until he thinks he hears the name 'Quinn'thrown in her mix of discernable words. And he startsto think about this, kinda, and his thoughts veer off ina sort of strange direction.

Because, hey, didn't he just last week noticesomething about the way Rachel was looking atQuinn? Like, it looked just like the way Puck lookedat Quinn, kind of longing-y and maybe a littleterritorial, but he had just assumed it was someremnant of protectiveness that came from being closeto Quinn (that wounded animal thing really kind of made you want to like throw your jacket over a puddleif it meant not getting her shoes wet). And, he hadbeen watching Harry Potter with his kid cousinyesterday, and Ron and Hermione fought like all thetime even though it was really obvious to Finn thatthey liked each other. And Rachel and Quinn had

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always been kinda at each other's throats, like theywere on the verge of murder, but he had always sortof thought that was because of him. Not as like a

bragging thing, really, but kind of obvious.

But maybe Rachel did like Quinn? Like in a...non-friendsy way. They had been friends for a couple of months now, and Finn knew Rachel had let Quinnmove in with her, and he knew that Rachel had a

protective streak on Quinn a mile-wide, due to a sidecomment he had made under his breath that hadcause Rachel to turn on him so quickly that he wasrather afraid she was going to slap him, again.

So, it kinda made sense. But Rachel had totallymade out with him, or at least kissed him, and haddefinitely had some thing with Puck, too.But...sometimes when Finn's looking at Rachel,Rachel's looking at Quinn and he remembers how heused to look at Quinn, like he was sort of like struckstupid, because as much as he didn't like Quinn allthat much right now, she was sort of gorgeous, andthe look is so much the same that it kind of freaksFinn out. He kind of has a split second thought thathe's turning girls gay, or maybe Puck is, becausethey've pretty much gone through the same girls. Buthe refocuses on the task at hand.

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"Rachel."

The girl crumpled against his chest pauses, kind of like she's just realized he's there.

"Do you like...Quinn?" He asks before he can stophimself, and then she's crying some more and he kindof thinks this is her way of answering.

'Yes.'

//

Emma does not expect Quinn Fabray in her officedoorway crying silently, one hand on her baby bumpand the other gripping white on the doorframe. Sheimmediately gets Quinn to sit down, closing the door and handing over some tissues gingerly, mentally

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remembering to throw the box away after this sessionis over.

Quinn looks across the desk at her, rubbing at her eyes, before she speaks, croaky.

"How did you know you were in love with Mr.

Schue?"

This question nearly makes Emma choke on air, of course, and sends her into a nervous fit of laughter,trying to give off the message of, 'this is a ludicrous

question, how could you insinuate such a thing aboutme?' But Quinn just surveys her, and Emma realizesthat it's no use lying to the girl, not when she looks sosad.

"Well, I guess it was when I realized that I wasperfectly willing to live his life without me, even if itmeant I wouldn't have him," Emma says,congratulating herself in her head, because thatsounded pretty smart, until Quinn bursts into a newround of tears, and then she revokes the

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congratulations in her head.

"Quinn, what's wrong?" Emma asks, trying to distractthe girl so she'll stop looking like Emma's just kickedher dog or something. Quinn stares down at thecarpet for a little bit, before looking over the desk,leveling her gaze. Emma realizes that the girl'sactually going to be straightforward, somethingEmma's pretty sure Quinn's never done with Emma,

or that many other people, really.

"I think I'm in love with Rachel."

This also makes Emma choke on air, but this time it'sreal laughter, and she shuts it down as quickly aspossible. Quinn doesn't look annoyed or angry, justsort of laughs too, shaking her head.

"It's so messed up," she mutters, looking behindEmma at the pamphlets. Emma rather wishes shehad one for Quinn right now, but she knows there isn'tone called, 'I Could Be Gay for My Best Friend, Help!'or anything at all in the same vein.

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They sit in silence for a good five minutes until Emmahas to ask her burning question.

"How long do you think you've felt this way?" Emmaasks, and Quinn just looks at her, as if this question isdeeply offensive.

"For a while. Longer than I've been admitting it tomyself, I guess," she mutters, brushing her hair behind her ear. "She bought me a piano," she says,as if this explains everything.

(It doesn't really, and Emma's rather confused, butshe doesn't want Quinn to start crying again, so shedoesn't launch further inquiry)

"What should I do?" Quinn asks, and Emma canbarely wrap her head around this 'Quinn Fabrayloving Rachel Berry' thing, so she just says somethinggeneric.

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"Tell her. Honesty is always the best policy." Quinn just looks at her some more, and Emma feels a littleguilty, because the girl's looking at her like she knowsEmma just wrote that one in, and Emma knows thatthis situation is probably a little more complicated thanthat.

All of a sudden, there's a loud knocking on the glassbehind Quinn, and Emma looks up to see RachelBerry herself, looking confused at Quinn's presence inthe guidance office, but cheery all the same. Thesmile on her face fades though, when Quinn turnsaround to look at her, obviously spotting the red eyes

and the tear tracks and she's somehow very quicklyinside Emma's office, at Quinn's side, looking quiteaccusingly at Emma herself.

"What's wrong?" Rachel asks, kneeling down besideQuinn, brushing the girl's hair out of her face.

Quinn just shakes her head and leans to the sideagainst Rachel, her head falling right underneathRachel's chin and starts crying once more, and if thelook on Rachel's face is any indication, Quinn has no

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reason to keep her feelings hidden, because they'remost certainly returned.

//

Aaron Berry is not at all surprised to find Quinn inRachel's room one day after he comes home from

work. It's been a good two weeks since Haley's beenborn, and the girls have somehow become evencloser, as evidenced by the fact that he had hadfound his daughter fast asleep in Quinn's bed thismorning, her forehead pressed into Quinn's upper arm. He had even taken a picture, something neither of the girls really needed to know about, but it was

sweet and he was a gay man who couldn't helphimself.

Aaron can sort of see what's going on with the twogirls. In fact, he's pretty sure a lot of people can seethe stuff going on with the two, except maybethemselves. They seemed to be so deeplyentrenched in denial towards the other one's feelingsthat it became hopeless to try and point them out tothe other. But it's so obvious to anyone with eyes,and its obvious right now.

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Quinn has fallen asleep on Rachel's lap somehow,probably tired from waking up in the middle of thenight to take care of Haley or something, and Rachel'srunning her fingers through the girl's hair, lookingdown at her with a look that Aaron can't even begin todescribe. The moment seems so private that Aaronimmediately backs away, heading downstairs with asmile on his face.

//

Kurt, as a gay, has always held the belief that hisgaydar was pretty strong. And he is getting seriousvibes from Quinn Fabray, scarily enough. It's a weekbefore the new school year starts, and the glee club isholding a party at Rachel (and Quinn's) house,because the Berrys have a pool.

Quinn herself looks like she's in spectacular shape,and he's pretty sure it's because she's rejoined theCheerios over the summer, even though he quit along time ago. She has crazy abs, and if Kurt weren't

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gay, he'd probably be drooling (but since he is, hiseyes keep getting drawn back to Puck's abs on theopposite end of the pool), but the girl doesn't seem to

notice any of the boys' attention as she practicallystalks around the pool, stopping where Rachel isentrenched in a conversation with Santana andBrittany (as if such a conversation even happeningwas remotely logical anyway), before sitting down onthe edge and whispering something into Rachel's ear that makes the girl in question turn a deep shade of red. Santana and Brittany don't seem all that

surprised by this turn of events, because Santanarolls her eyes and Brittany smiles.

Kurt can't see Quinn's eyes, because she's stolenPuck's aviators in an attempt to block out the blinding

sun or possibly to just make the boys drool more. Butas mentioned, she doesn't seem all that interested inany of the boys here, as she's currently focusedintently on Rachel, and she jumps in the water with asmall splash.

But Kurt can see Rachel's eyes, and her face, andshe seems a little...stunned at something Quinn'ssaying, or maybe at how Quinn herself looks. Kurtcould always kind of see Rachel turning out to be gay,but Quinn never seemed like a possibility at all.

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But Quinn is suddenly very much in Rachel'spersonal, personal space, the two of them pressed upagainst each other, and Quinn leans down to whisper in Rachel's ear, but from his vantage point, Kurt canactually see that she says something and then licksRachel's ear, and Kurt needs to look away now, andnever look back.

So he returns to looking at Puck's abs, trying to ignoreit when Rachel and Quinn go inside for a good twentyminutes 'looking for a CD.'

//

Sue Sylvester is a federally-certified genius. But evensomeone with as low an intelligence as the moronspopulating this entire region can see that QuinnFabray is disgustingly happy.

For a girl who spent most of last year looking like a

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wounded gazelle in the facial features and like apregnant hippo in shape, it seemed wrong for her tobe so...gleeful.

Sue is also a former state-paid spy, and she puts her skills to good use one fine chilly day, following the girlthrough the parking lot.

She is hiding behind a simply hideous Jetta when shespots Rachel Berry, that little coffee stain on Sue'slife, heading straight toward her head cheerleader.Once upon a time, Quinn would've done somethingsinister to the girl, perhaps a tarring and feathering, or a threat towards her certainly questionable gender.

But, her formerly mighty Quinn Fabray smiles evenwider than she has been all day, and pulls Rachel toher, and kisses her, and even from this distance, Suecan hear Quinn whisper, "I love you."

"This is a travesty!" Sue whispers to herself, shakingher head and feeling as if she has been fooled, andwronged.

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To clarify: Sue has no hard feelings towards gays.She has known some gays in her life, and while theyhave been decidedly socially maladjusted, with all of

their strange plaid infatuations and high-pitchedvoices, and she has never had a problem withignoring them as members of society, unless theywere important ones. Like Michael Phelps.

But her head cheerleader, Quinn Fabray, is having a

torrid love affair with Rachel Berry, and this cannotstand.

"This cannot stand," she says to herself once more,before turning and stealthily army crawling back

towards the school building, hatching a plan to testthe loyalty of her top cheerleader, despite the fact thatshe already knows the outcome. It would be rather fun to see those horrible breeding experiments gonewrong get knocked down a few pegs or twelve.

//

As a show of support to Quinn, Mr. Schue takes the

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club out to dinner the day Mr. Fabray busts into theauditorium. Artie can sort of see the irrationality of this proposition, because it seems like the entire club

is bursting at the seams with this new gossip, and itdoesn't seem like either Quinn or Rachel are up toanswering what are probably going to be rather pryingquestions.

But once they all sit down in the restaurant, he noticeshow Rachel's hand never leaves Quinn's and howSantana and Puck combine their intimidating forces to

scare people away from bothering the two of them.Artie can see out of the corner of his eye that Racheland Quinn are whispering back and forth aboutsomething, and Quinn is nodding along with Rachelabout it before Rachel gets everyone's attention,hitting her glass with her knife.

The entire table falls silent, looking at her eagerly.But she looks over to Quinn, deferring the attention,and Quinn nods once at Rachel before speaking.

"I know...that we're supposed to be a team. And that,in the past, my habit of keeping secrets...has notexactly turned out well," she says, looking across thetable at Finn, who smiles back wanly. "But I don'twant to keep this a secret, not anymore," she says,raising the hand that's clasped in Rachel's up andsmiling at the brunette sitting next to her.

"So, uh...Rachel and I are together. And we have

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been since nationals. And I hope that...everyone canaccept that," her eyes flit all along the table, pickingpeople out at random. For a moment, everyone's

silent, until Artie decides to speak for them.

"Of course we can," he says softly, and Quinn's eyeslock on him and she smiles brightly, right before achorus of 'yeah's follow him in agreement and Rachelpresses a kiss to her cheek and smiles just as brightlyas Quinn.

//

Michael Berry is unbearably proud when Quinn gets

her acceptance letter to Columbia on pre-med. Soproud, in fact, that he takes her out to dinner just thetwo of them.

He'd always rather liked the girl, especially now thatshe had stopped throwing slushies and such. And heknows now that she's a part of his family, really, asecond daughter he had never really intended tohave. Of course, he was pretty sure his seconddaughter was sleeping with his actual daughter, andhe felt it was time someone teased her mercilessly

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about it. His husband was far too soft-hearted for it,and Rachel would absolutely slap him if he brought itup in her presence, so he saw this as a golden

opportunity.

"So, are you being safe?" he asks, hiding his smilebehind a grim mask, and Quinn's eyes widen to thesize of teacups, and she literally begins choking onthe drink she just took. This pretty much confirms the

truth about their relationship, and Quinn seems torealize this too, coughing harder.

Michael pats Quinn on the back, lightly, holding in hislaughter.

"I hope you wash your hands," he continues, andQuinn is now turning what is quickly becoming purple,her hands turning white on the table as she grips it,her eyes going anywhere but Michael's.

He finds this all rather humorous.

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"And other things," he soldiers on, and this time Quinnliterally looks at him like he's utterly lost his mind, but

it's the fact that she looks at him straight on that tellshim that there isn't anything else to be washed. Hecocks his head at her, and Quinn stares at him.

"Well, then, how about we go shopping after this?" hesays, and at this point Quinn buries her head in her

hands, and Michael laughs.

//

Haley Fabray meets Haley Fabray six years too late,in her opinion. It's kind of a huge surprise when sheopens up her mail and sees the invitation to thewedding sitting there in her mailbox, and when sheturns around and hands it to Sam, her wife sort of justlooks at her.

She debated for weeks about coming to this wedding.Because, she knows that Quinn obviously wants her to be there, and that Rachel had at least been

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coerced into accepting that, but it's not like she hadspoken to Quinn since she was seventeen and Quinnwas fourteen, and she hadn't seen Rachel since she

had been that one freshman constantly gettingslushied. She was pretty sure, in fact, that Quinn hadbeen behind a good amount of those. But then shehad gotten kicked out by her parents because of her abomination of nature status, and had moved here toNew York, and met Sam, and she hadn't been back toLima.

She kind of remembers when Quinn was four or so,bringing Rachel Berry to dinner once, but that seemslike so long ago that it could just be a weirdimagination. She knew of Rachel Berry now, becausethey were both working on the Broadway circuit at the

moment, but she hadn't really gotten around tomeeting the twenty-two year old wunderkind everyonekeeps talking about.

She wonders for a good amount of time how Quinneven got her address and why the first time she'scontacting Haley since she was fourteen is for her wedding to a girl, something Haley distinctlyremembers Quinn not having an attraction to at anypoint, but apparently a lot has changed. It had beenalmost ten years, though, and even though Quinn and

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Haley had always been close, it was still strange.

But she goes anyways, and Sam goes with her because the invitation says plus one. She goes prettymuch unnoticed in the ceremony, but in the reception,Sam ends up talking to this girl named Santana aboutlawyer type things that Haley has a hard timeunderstanding because she's a writer/producer/futuredirector, and she makes Sam do all those agent-y,

contract-y things for her. And Haley sort of hangsback until a little girl wanders up to her, probably fiveor six or so, and Haley sort of looks down at her for asecond before looking at her more closely, becausethe girl looks a lot like Quinn.

"Hi," the girl smiles up at her, and Haley bends downto eye-level so she can feel normal about having aconversation with a small child.

"Hello," Haley replies. "Uh, where are your parents?"she asks, hoping the girl will point at one of therandom guests to prove that her cousin did not in factget pregnant at sixteen or so, but she doesn't.

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"My daddy was supposed to be watching me, but hewas talking to Uncle Finn, so I came over here. You

looked alone," the girl says, basically ruling out thepossibility of Quinn's pregnancy, because she Quinndoesn't have a brother named Finn and neither doesRachel, she's pretty sure, plus, Haley's currently atQuinn's gay wedding, so not so much on the having adaddy thing.

"What's your name?" the girl asks, ignoring Haley'ssilent thought process.

"What? Oh, um, Haley. Haley Fabray," Haley says,

and the girl regards her for a second with what lookslike disbelief, like she recognizes the name, beforereaching for Haley's hand and tugging at it.

Haley just goes along with it, not wanting to be thecause of a child's temper tantrum or something, andshe doesn't realize where she's being pulled untilshe's standing right in front of her cousin and her newwife.

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"Mommy, mommy, mommy, this lady's name is HaleyFabray!" the little girl is almost shouting, bouncing up

and down in her dress, and for a moment Haley has asmall heart attack, because the girl definitely justcalled Quinn mommy.

"My name is Haley Fabray!" the girl says excitedly,pointing to herself, and this time, Haley definitely feels

her vision go black for a second, because she's prettysure the kid just implied that her cousin named her child after her. Haley the Older looks up from the girlto Quinn, who's sort of fish-mouthing at her, and thento Rachel, who's smiling down at the girl.

"What?" Haley finally asks, looking between the threegirls in front of her very confusedly.

"I'm glad you came, Hale," Quinn finally says,reaching forward for Haley's hand across mini-Haley'shead. "I guess we have a lot to talk about?" she half-asks, smiling.

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"Um, yeah, I think so," Haley mutters, looking in acircle between mini-Haley, Quinn, and Rachel, wholooks increasingly amused by the situation playing

out. "Can we start with the marrying a girl thing?" sheasks, and Rachel actually laughs this time.

"Well, I got pregnant by my boyfriend's best friend, gotkicked out, moved in with Rachel, started likingRachel, started loving Rachel, moved here, and now

we're married," Quinn says, and Haley just sort of stares at her.

Rachel is now beaming at Quinn and they're beamingat each other, and despite the fact that Haley's life

has just now taken a strange turn, it's pretty goddamnadorable.

//

Haley Fabray the Younger is pretty sure her parentsare disgusting. She's fourteen, for God's sake, andthey can't keep their hands off each other, and it'sdisturbing. Aren't parents supposed to be

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like...celibate after a certain age?

(Haley doesn't need to think about the fact that her parents literally just turned thirty, because that cannotpossibly bode well for this hoping for celibacy thing.)

Because, really? She's spending the night at her

second cousin's house, relegated here because her parents can't keep their hands off each other andneeded a date night, which always inevitably turnsinto a date weekend, and occasionally turns into datevacation week. When she was ten, once, it actuallyturned into a month.

She doesn't even want to think about what they dowhen she's actually in the apartment, because thosethoughts always go deeply, deeply wrong.

And okay, yeah, it's kinda nice that her parents are soin love. It's been eight years since the gay marriagelaw in New York was passed, and there are still thosemorons who seem to think it's ruining America or whatever, and it's kinda nice to shove it in people's

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faces like, 'Ha, my parents can't keep their hands off each other and love each other and love me, andyours can barely stay in the same room anymore!'

(Which is kind of mean, sure, but morons annoy her alot)

Really, though, disgusting. She's seen photo albumsat her granddads' townhouse up north of the city filledwith her moms kissing and touching and holdinghands starting from like, forever ago, almost as old asHaley, really. Actually, Haley as a baby bumpfeatures heavily for a while, until she pretty muchtakes over as an actual baby. But seriously, you

would think being with someone for fifteen years, youwould kinda get the urge to like, stop.

But, nooooo, not at all possible for her parents.

Sometimes, when she brings prospective guys over,they get thoroughly caught up in the idea that her parents are two 'hot' (as one guy had described them,to which Haley had almost kicked him in the balls right

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there, really hard, because ew) moms. Admittedly,her moms are attractive, if the amount of fan lettersdeclaring love and adoration her momma gets is any

measure.

(And yeah, she still calls them momma and mommy,even though she's fourteen. Whatever.)

So now she's stuck at her namesake's apartmentaround the block from where she accidentally left her laptop, unable to go and get it, because only Godknows what she'd witness if she even got in the door.It would probably require lots of therapy.

But Haley the Elder's phone is ringing right now,interrupting Haley the Younger's favorite movie,Wicked (at home, Haley has a signed copy of theoriginal cast album, or her momma does, really), andHaley can sort of hear what sounds like squealing onthe other line before Haley the Elder's actuallysquealing, handing the phone to Haley and jumpingup and down around her living room like she's notthirty-three and old.

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"Hello?" Haley mutters into the phone, completelyhaving lost faith in the adult half of the human race.

"Haley, honey, we have something to tell you," her mommy's voice is answering, and she sounds soexcited, and she can hear her momma almost pantingin the background and she doesn't really need to thinkabout that, so she just focuses on the statement.

"What?" Haley asks, sincerely hoping its somethingcool, like tickets to the premiere of a movie or something, because her momma's got pull like thatnow.

"You know how we've talked about having another kid?"

Haley has a small moment of 'How on earth did theyget pregnant without a guy?' which thankfully shedoesn't ask out loud, because, duh, her mommy's adoctor, she knows by now that there has to be a guysomewhere involved in this equation. And then

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something like excitement sets in.

"Yeah," she says, trying to sound nonchalant, but itreally sounds like she's a squealing dolphin, she'spretty sure.

"Baby," her momma is suddenly talking, "I'm

pregnant."

(And yeah, okay, she might have screamed. Butreally though, they should just...not touch anymore,okay?)

the end.

Name: Happy Birthday


Rating: PG-13

Summary: Rachel's gone missing on Quinn's birthday.

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On this Saturday morning, though, Rachel is not

curled up next to her, brushing back hair from Quinn'sface and smiling down at her, and she's not in thenext room over singing to Haley. In fact, she's noteven in the house. Michael and Aaron both look asconfused as Quinn feels when she asks whereRachel went.

"She said she was getting something," Michael says,sliding over a cup of coffee to Quinn as she collapsesonto her stool at the island in the middle of the Berrykitchen.

"We assumed it was for you, for your birthday," Aaronadds, sitting next to Quinn with a jar of baby food,popping it open and looking at Haley sitting innocentlyin her high-chair, probably forming a battle plan.Feeding her daughter sometimes required a full-onteam of people. Just last week, during a dinner party,it had taken Finn, Puck, and Mike to get her to finishoff a jar. Whether that was due to their childcareineptitude or her willfulness, Quinn wasn't sure, but allthe same, it was amusing and required a largeamount of paper towels to clean up afterward.

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Quinn shakes her head, groaning, as she takes a sip

of coffee and waving over at Haley, who giggles andkicks her feet as Aaron starts making the putteringnoises of an airplane.

"I told her not to get me anything," she mutters.

"Well, it's not as though our daughter is known for her listening skills," Aaron interjects, right before a well-placed flail on Haley's part knocks the spoon out of his hand. He sighs, before turning to Quinn, silentlyasking, 'you wanna give this a try?' She knows he's

not really upset because of the smile tugging at hislips, but she takes it from him anyway and tradesspots with him. Michael pours her more coffee.

"Okay, baby, open up," she says, smiling at her daughter, who giggles once more and opens her mouth. She manages to get the bite to stay withinHaley's mouth and looks triumphantly over at Aaronwho just sighs dramatically, feigning defeat. She getsdrawn back to Haley when she starts making a noisethat sounds a lot like 'momma.'

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In fact, they all stare at her with amazement, until she just starts kicking again, making happy noises at thethree people staring at her.

"Does that count as a first word?" Michael finally asks,pouring himself a coffee and sitting at the stool across

from Quinn.

"I think they have to say it clearly," Aaron says,watching as Quinn gets another bite of food in Haley'smouth. Quinn nods in agreement, before she voices

what everyone's thinking.

"Where is Rachel?"

And so it begins.

//

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They go to the park around the corner, Aaron fiddlingwith his cell, occasionally calling Rachel, but shenever picks up. Haley's happily swinging along whileAaron berates Michael with terrifying statements like,'What if she's been kidnapped and sold into childlabor? What if she's been kidnapped, killed, andbeing sold for parts?' to which Michael says thatthey've watched way too many horror movies lately,

when Quinn's phone rings.

She pulls it out of her sweatshirt's kangaroo pocket,nearly drops it at first, but then slides it open beforeshe remembers to check caller ID. Santana doesn't

wait for her to say anything.

"Q, your girlfriend has roped me into this, so just shutup and listen before I become overwhelmed by thesunshines and rainbows involved in what I'm about totell you, okay?" Quinn knows she's not supposed toanswer, so she just lets Santana talk. "Berry issending you and your merry band of gays and your drooling offspring on a scavenger hunt to find her,even though it is your birthday. She says there's areward waiting at the end. I did not ask, she did not

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tell, I don't want to know if you three can combineenough brainpower to find your little Smurf, so don'ttell me. Your first clue is at Finn's. The end."

//

All three of them are standing outside the Hudsons'

door, waiting anxiously, Haley making gurgling noiseswhen Finn throws open the door and smiles excitedly.

"Hey Quinn, Mr. Berry and...Mr. Berry. Hey baby," hesays, easily lifting Haley out of Quinn's arms and

raising her above his head before turning to go insidehis house. They follow him in, and he grabs apackage from his coffee table, and hands it to Quinn.

"You guys are going to have so much fun today, Ipromise, little Drizzle." Quinn looks up from theunwrapping of the box to glare at Finn, who hasenough sense to look sheepish, while Michael andAaron giggle. "It's a great name, Quinn, I don't knowwhy you have such a subjection to it," he mutters,smiling down at the baby, who gurgles in return.

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"Objection," she mutters, right before she pops thebox open to find a bright blue onesie. She pulls it outof the box, holding it up to the light, and reads what'swritten on the front: Where else can you find eyes likemine?

"Okay," Quinn hears Michael say, and she turns tolook at him.

"I don't get it," Aaron mutters, pulling the onesie out of Quinn's hands, turning it over a few times as if a clue

will just fall out of it. "Cute saying though."

"You do have pretty eyes, don't you, baby Haley,"Finn remarks, and Haley laughs a little, before shestarts trying to talk again. All of them pause their different thought processes. It still sounds like'momma,' but it still isn't defined yet.

"She did that earlier," Michael says, and Finn looks

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even happier than he did when he was hopped up onvitamin-D, or that one time Puck had given him PopRocks mixed with Bacardi. With that thought, the clue

slides into place. She leans over the coffee table andgrabs Haley, who makes a noise of discontent atbeing pulled from Finn's arms, amusingly copied byFinn himself.

Turning the girl around, she looks at her eyes, and

smiles, while one of Haley's hands grabs at a strandof hair hanging in front of her mom's eyes.

"I know where we're going," she says, and Haleygives a tug.

//

"You guys want some dip?" Puck asks immediatelyafter opening his front door, right before he catchessight of Haley in Michael's arms. Haley recognizesher dad and starts squealing, and Puck hoists her intohis arms, before he pulls a bag out from behind himand hands it over to Quinn.

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and taking their daughter back from Puck, who smirksat her. Haley interjects, one hand landing on Quinn'sshoulder and she starts vocalizing once more. They

all stare at her before she dissolves back into normalbaby noises.

"Damn our kid is cute," Puck says, nudging at Quinn,breaking the spell. "Now go get your hot girlfriend."

//

This clue is not helping Quinn to focus. Brittany

seems unconcerned with the fact that she just handedQuinn a bra, and Rachel's dads are just laughing atthe expression on Quinn's face. She recognizes thebra, of course she does, she very, very much does.Haley, makes a grab for it, but Quinn just scoots awayfrom her daughter, running her hand over the teethmarks on both of those straps. On one of them, it'swritten in Sharpie: remember me?

Which is of course something Rachel would say justto be coy, because of course Quinn remembers. She

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just...would rather not remember in front of the lovelymen who raised her girlfriend and are currently lettingQuinn live with said girlfriend, because she can feel

her eyes glazing over repeatedly.

She sighs, and half-wishes Rachel had just kidnappedQuinn and taken her to somewhere so they could,maybe, not wear anything for a few hours.

"We're going to the mall," she mutters, and tries tohand the bra back to Brittany, who shakes her headand says that it's Quinn's anyway.

//

The Victoria's Secret Lady hands her a pink bag after checking Quinn against a photo in her hand.

It's filled with candy hearts, and after sifting throughthem and eating a fair amount at the food court, shefinds a letter.

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Quinn,

I hope you've liked this so far, but now's the time for the rules to change. Dad and Daddy will take Haleyhome, the rest is up to you. You have a few moreclues, of course, but I'll be waiting :)

Go to where you fell in love.

love you,

Rachel

//

She drops Michael and Aaron off with Haley back athome before following them in and hanging a quickleft into the room where her piano is. Taped to the

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seat is a note saying: Go to where you proved it.

Quinn kisses Haley goodbye, and she comesthisclose to saying 'momma' once more, but it justdisappears.

//

Quinn steps into the school hesitantly, almost terrifiedthat a police officer is about to come at her and arresther for trespassing. But the door is unlocked and itseems like every door she opens is unlocked, really.

She finally steps into the music room hesitantly,smiling wider when she spots Rachel sitting on thefloor, strumming a song on one of the guitars.

"Hey baby," Quinn says quietly, and Rachel looks upwith a smile on her face, setting the guitar on theground beside her carefully before bounding over toQuinn.

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"You got here," Rachel says, stating the obvious.Quinn just nods, and she slides her hands aroundRachel's waist while her girlfriend's hands do the

same.

"Happy birthday," Rachel whispers, right before sheleans up to kiss Quinn, who returns the kiss withfervor, pressing Rachel back and back and back untilshe's up against the piano.

"Baby, we've got a while," Rachel mutters, even asQuinn tugs her shirt over her head. Quinn ignoresthis and sucks right at Rachel's pulse point.

"Okay, never mind," Rachel says, right before Quinncaptures her lips once more.

//

"I can't believe you had to use a bra as a clue," Quinnmutters, her head on Rachel's stomach, stretched out

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happily on the floor with the blanket Rachel hadprovided for a picnic underneath her. Rachel's hand

just sifts through Quinn's hair, laughing a little.

"I can't believe you pulled it off with your teeth in themiddle of the store," Rachel returns, and Quinn smilesa little at the memory now that Rachel's dads aren'tsitting right next to her. That would be veryuncomfortable at the moment, considering the two

girls' current state of dress.

"It was in the dressing room," Quinn says, laughing upat her girlfriend. Rachel just shrugs, mutteringsomething about payback being fair.

"We should probably go home," Rachel says after awhile, pulling Quinn up to face her.

"Probably," Quinn says, a devilish smile and a darklook that Rachel could recognize anywhere comingover her face, right before Rachel once more forgetsher entire thought process.

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//

They finally get home two hours later, Rachel notwearing a bra due to a well placed bite snapping oneof the straps. Quinn looks utterly smug, and ishappily surprised to find Michael and Aaron sitting atthe kitchen island that they had started their day at,

lighting candles on a cake. They sing happy birthday,and right at the end of it, she feels Rachel's hand slideinto hers, and Quinn has a vague urge to cry. Shedoesn't though, just laughs when the flame won't goout on the last candle and grips Rachel's hand.Michael mentions that there's a present upstairswaiting for her, and Quinn almost has a heart attack,

because she doesn't need to remember thatconversation and subsequent shopping trip at all.

They eat their cake in relative silence, just enjoyingeach other's company. Rachel finishes first andeventually starts playing with Haley, sitting her on her lap and letting Haley grip her hands and giggle.

"Momma!"

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Immediately, everyone at the table freezes. Michaeland Aaron look at each other quickly, before Aaronbursts into tears, while Quinn looks at her daughter wondrously, because the girl is not looking at Quinn.She's looking at Rachel, who's looking back at Haleywith an awestruck look. The girl repeats it a fewtimes, swinging Rachel's fingers around a few timesand laughing before Rachel regains enough of her

higher brain power to smile down at the girl and kissher forehead, before she turns her gaze to Quinn withamazement on her face.

"I love you," Quinn says, and Rachel looks unbearablyhappy, and Quinn is deciding that this birthday isturning out even better than her piano birthday, or last

year's birthday when Michael and Aaron went out of town and Haley stayed the weekend at Puck's.

"I love you, too," Rachel whispers, and that seals thisbirthday as the best she will ever have in her entire

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