She makes it to Britt's and Santana's way too fast to be deemed safe. A prayer escapes her lips as soon as she's parked outside of the apartment building; she's thankful Beth's safe, she's thankful she's safe and away from Russell.
Only then does she realize that surprisingly (or unsurprisingly, when she really thinks about it), Rachel is already there. Leaning on the hood of her car, with arms crossed, and downcast eyes, Rachel's shoe-covered toes make a semi-circle on the dirt of the ground.
It's not her intention to call attention to herself, but the brunnette looks up when she slams her door shut. Rachel immediately relaxes - her arms drop and she stops biting on her lower lip. "Oh. Thank god you're okay-" she says as she slowly crosses the street to approach Quinn. "I wasn't sure what the proper protocol was here and I just knew I had to call Santana. You just sounded so... Terrified on the phone and I had to see it for myself that you got here safe. I don't know, I hope I'm not intruding or overstepping-" She notices that Quinn managed to open the back door and sit on the seat, but she didn't do anything else.
With a steadying breath, Rachel takes out her phone from her back pocket and calls Britt. Quinn is just sitting with her head thrown back and eyes closed, trying to not start crying and freaking out again. One arm is stretched and touching Beth's arm, to make sure she's here.
As soon as Britt picks up, Rachel says, "She's here. Will you come down and take Little B up to your apartment?"
Not even three seconds later, the apartment door is being opened, and Britt's racing downstairs. Conquering two steps at a time, she manages to get to the car in ten seconds - tops. She's barefoot; Rachel appreciates her sense of urgency.
Stopping by the left side of the car, where Quinn's sitting, Britt lands a kiss on her cheek. Quinn inhales deeply at the feeling, shutting her eyes harder. Britt whispers something to her, and she nods, slowly letting go of her grip on Beth. Britt gives Rachel a half smile - rather sad, and Rachel notices that Britt does not match sad - and then runs to the other side. She opens the door and unbuckles Beth, craddling her and cooing her as she takes her back inside the house.
Rachel is lost. She really doesn't know what to do or say, but her instinct tells her that Quinn needs a hug; she needs someone to just be there right now. So she walks to the side where Beth was and shuts that door. Then she walks back and sits at the very edge of the seat Quinn's occupying. She wiggles a little, and waits - to avaliate Quinn's reaction.
Quinn opens one eye. Cautiously. She wants to glare because Rachel's not supposed to be here; she's definitely not supposed to be seeing her like this - all broken and wasted; she's not supposed to be making her want to laugh.
Rachel does it again, and then smiles - a closed-lip smile; testing the waters. Quinn gives in with a sigh (and possibly a giggle or two), rolls her eyes, and scoots over so she's trapped between Rachel and the carseat. This time, Rachel doesn't hesitate. She wraps her left arm around Quinn's shoulders and pulls her into her. The blonde instantly melts in her arms and holds tight to Rachel's waist.
"You're okay," Rachel reassures her. She doesn't even know why she feels the need to tell her but she does.
Rachel kisses the top of Quinn's head and Quinn exhales, so thankful that Rachel is here. Sure, Britt or Santana could do this, too, but Rachel just has this thing about her that Quinn can't quite explain. This woman, practically a stranger, knows just what she needs at all times, it seems.
She heaves a sigh and Rachel hugs her tighter. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Uh," Quinn tries to speak but her voice sounds all nasty because she has been crying. "I, well -"
