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Quinn Fabray was laying on her queen-sized bed, looking up at her ceiling through blurry vision, hands clasped over her mouth, as she reflected on the events of the past two days.

'Why did she have to do that? Why? Everything would've been fine if she had just…if she….damn!' she thought as she rolled over, burying her face in her pillow and beating her mattress with her fists as if the assault on the furniture would somehow turn back time. Curling up in the fetal position, clutching on the pillow, she finally succumbed to the exhaustion that had been creeping up on her for the past day-and-a-half. As she was falling asleep, her body having had enough and shut down for the night, a lone thought was on rotation in her head, the one question she had been asking herself all day…

'How did things get this bad?'

-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee—

September 27th, 2010

Rachel Berry saw her fathers pull up in their Explorer as she was walking out the front doors of McKinley High. Her lips broke out into a full smile, remembering the plans that the three had made for that night. They were going out for dinner to celebrate Rachel being named as one of the two people in charge of naming songs for Sectionals, Regionals, and Nationals, which they were going to this year, and not as spectators. At least, that was her opin-no, scratch that, that was just fact. Anything less was simply unacceptable for the future Tony Award Winner. The other person named to pick songs was Kurt Hummel, which she found that, oddly enough, she was ok with that. He had a good sense of what songs would work well.

"You know, I really can't wait until Sectionals. I think that with Kurt and I being in control of song selection, that we pretty much have this won already." Rachel said, her dads giving small mhm's and yup's every so often as she continued to inform them on how they were going to clean house in all three events this year, that this was THEIR year. She was also silently envisioning herself and Finn closing out Nationals with You're Still The One.

"That's excellent, sweetie. Now, when we get to dinner, your father and I have something to talk to you about, and wipe that frown off of your face, because it's something that you'll be interested in. It isn't a-,"

Rachel never got to hear exactly what it was that they wanted to tell her, because just as they were starting to head forward after getting their green light, a pickup truck blew the red light, completely blindsiding the Berry's Explorer at a good 70 miles per hour in a 40 mile an hour zone. The last images that she saw could best be described as what you would see if you looked to the side while you rolled down a hill in a tire. Then, everything went black.

-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee—

'I wonder if Puck ended up getting himself thrown in Juvie again,' Quinn thought to herself as she was walking down the hallway, on her way to an emergency Glee Club meeting. She was still a little confused about what exactly brought this about. As far as she knew, nothing had really happened with anyone in the past few days. People had actually seemed to get along for the first time in a very long time. She reached the room where the rest of the club was already situated. She scanned the room, and upon finding her best possible source for information, made a beeline for the unoccupied seat.

"So, Mercedes, what made Schue decide that he should call off his Spanish classes for the day, while making it so that we could get out of ours as well?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Quinn. We're still waiting on him and Rach to show up." She said, looking rather confused herself. Whenever William Schuester, the Glee Club teacher, had something to tell them, he would normally just wait until they had Glee Club later on that day. The only other time that he had ever pulled them all together was…

"Hey guys," Mr. Schue said softly, walking into the room, his hand rubbing against his forehead, looking at the ground as though he was searching for something to say. Finally, it seemed that he found how to go about addressing the issue. "I'm afraid I have some bad news…"

"Wait, Schue, aren't you gonna wait for Rachel? I think that she'd want to hear about a problem concerning Glee Club," Finn questioned, a confused look on his face as usual.

Grabbing a chair to steady himself, he sits down, placing his elbows on his knees, resting his chin in his palms, "Well, actually Finn, it concerns Rachel. Rachel's dads, and Rachel, were in an accident last night, and...she's in the hospital, has been out since they brought her there." The entire class was in shock, some with their hands over their mouths, some letting out small gasps.

Finn scoffed as if someone was playing a joke on them, "Come on Schue, you're pulling our legs here right? I mean, if anyone even came close to hitting Rachel while she was in a car, she would like, stick her head out the window and bellow at them 'Excuse me, future Broadway star here!', and totally scare them away."

This broke the tension for a brief second, earning a small chuckle from the rest of the group, before their teacher sighed and dropped another bomb on the group. "As much as I wish I was, I'm not joking Finn. Not only has she been unconscious for the past 12+ hours, but she was the lucky one of the bunch. Her dads…jesus christ… her dads died on the way to the hospital. Now, she somehow doesn't have anything broken, they're thinking that from everything that they've checked on her, that all she really sustained was a fair amount of abrasions and scratches."

The entire class looked devastated. It wasn't like any of them were really close to Rachel, but still, to lose both of your parents at once… "Are you serious? Her dads are dead?" Finn hadn't been so close to tears since he went to see Schue when he found out Quinn was pregnant, and they weren't even his parents. Just imagine how she's going to take it…

-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee—

Eyes' opening slowly, the first thing that Rachel saw was a small tube that was connected to a bag with water in it, strangely enough, like an IV. She followed the tube from the bag to see where it was headed, and as she did, she noticed that it was heading into…

"Where am I? Oh my god… am I in a hospital? I can't be in a hospital right now; I have to be at home working on my voice!" She tried getting up, but found that she was very sore. She looked herself over, and saw cuts along her arms, some on her stomach, none too deep, but still there. 'How did they get there, where are these from' she wondered to herself.

Just then, the door to her room opened. A man whom she was ninety percent sure was the doctor stepped into the room, "Rachel Berry? I take it you're finally awake, thank god. I really didn't want to have to resort to pouring cold water on your face, but I was very close to. Nothing like a good cup of water to the face to send you back into the realm of the liv…well, never mind that. You've been out for a good day-and-a-half. How are you feeling?"

"Well, I can't say that I won't have a bit of difficulty walking tomorrow, but, seeing as I plan on practicing for the duration of the day today, that shouldn't be too big of a problem. So, how exactly did I get these scratches?" She tilted her head looking at the man in front of her, waiting to hear what prank had been pulled on her this time, and how it had went horribly wrong.

"You don't remember? You were with your fathers…" The man figured that he would give her a chance to remember.

'Wait, yea, we were headed to Breadstix from McKinley, then we hit that intersection...oh, oh no…' The brunette lifted her head at lightning speed, suddenly remembering exactly what had happened, that they were blindsided. "I recall the accident, but between impact, maybe three or four seconds after that, until now, I have no recollection of what happened. How are my dads doing? When will they be able to head home, because I can probably look after myself for a few days, but if they aren't out by next week-"

The doctor interrupted her, needing to inform her of the reality of her situation. "Rachel, I don't really know how to put this, but your dads, they didn't make it. They were gone by the time they reached the hospital. As a matter of fact, the only reason you're in as surprisingly good of a condition as you're in right now is because you had your seatbelt on."

"Wait," Rachel exclaimed, "so you're saying my dads are….that they're…..dead?" She felt the tears rushing to be released, as she took shaky breaths, trying to keep composed.

All that he could muster, seeing the devastated girl was a nod and a brief 'sorry for your loss'. She sat in her hospital bed, sobbing uncontrollably; she couldn't believe that her dads wouldn't be around anymore. She thought that they would always be around for her, like they always told her. Now they were just gone. Then, oddly, after 5 minutes of crying, she calmed herself in an instant, took a few deep breaths, and rang the help button. She ordered the nurse who came in to go fetch the doctor who had been in her room just a few moments ago.

"You wanted to see me?" He questioned her, walking into the room slowly, slightly shocked at how quickly she had gathered herself.

"Yes, I did. This is what is going to happen, and if it doesn't happen this way, I will be nothing but problematic for you and your staff for the duration of my stay. I hate to make threats, but I need this to be followed through. Now, I am going to request a sedative that will put me out from right now, 11:20am, until approximately 7:30pm. At that time, I will be woken up, these tubes will be removed, I will use a phone, and be on my way. Before you argue that I shouldn't be on my feet right now, or that you will sedate me, to deal with the first point, I've performed on stage at school when I was sorer than I am right now. As for the second one, lets just say I would not want to be one of the people holding me down while you attempt to get the needle in. Do we have an understanding," the diva concluded, flashing the doctor the typical Berry smile.

Caught off-guard slightly by what he just heard, the doctor needed to think about it for a second, trying to replay what was just said to him. However, looking at the face of the young woman in front of him, everything about her said she was all business; there was no fabrication in what she had just laid out for him. Well, except for her eyes, but those didn't speak about that specific situation; no they were holding a different secret at that moment and time. He knew that she was, come hell or high water, leaving this hospital, with their consent or not. "Ok, I'll have someone bring that sedative in right now for you. I, of course, recommend that you stay here a day or two longer, but if you still want to leave at 7:30, then I won't stop you. You don't have any major injuries, so I have nothing to really keep you here for, even if I wanted to push it."

"Thank you," Rachel replied softly, waiting for her ticket to needed sleep to come.

-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee—

After calling Kurt, getting him to drive to the hospital, and pick her up, not to mention his constant string of little pick me up comments, trying to keep her in good spirits, she finally arrived home. She turned to give Kurt a hug, wincing slightly as she did so. "I really appreciate you giving me a ride home, thanks."

"You sure you're gonna be ok, Rach? You were just in a car accident not even two days ago," he asked, not really sure that this was one of her best decisions that she's made.

"Yea, I'm just a little sore, it's nothing too bad. I'll see you in school tomorrow," and with that she walked into her home to gather her things, enough for a good month, throw them into a tote, grab her iPod, her car keys, and finally, grabbed one picture of her fathers, looking at it for a good minute, before she felt herself start to tear up. She immediately stuffed those feelings back down inside her, put the picture in her purse, grabbed her tote, and car keys, and, struggling to keep a hold on the tote, managed to drag herself to her SUV in their driveway. Sure it might've taken her a good 5 minutes to walk a 30 second distance, but she was not staying in that house.

She drove to the only place that she could think of, locked the doors, grabbed her pocket book, pulling it in close just in case anyone tried anything with her SUV in the middle of the night, climbed into the back seat, and laid down, throwing a blanket that she kept in there just in case of emergencies on herself, letting herself drift off to sleep in the McKinley High parking lot.

-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee-Glee—Glee—Glee—Glee—

The next day, for Rachel, was filled with a lot of well wishes from random students that passed by her in the hallway. Everyone at least said something, even Karofsky, muttering a 'sorry bout your folks' before walking off. She was still visibly sore, but not as much as yesterday, now it only took her 2 minutes extra to get to where she needed to be. If she was late to a class, her teachers would give her a break, knowing why.

Throughout the day, she made her way to different members of the Glee Club, trying to find someone that would let her stay with them. Unfortunately, none were able to give her a yes. Some didn't have enough room; others knew their parents would say no regardless of the situation. Heading into the choir room, she surveyed the others, thinking if she had asked everyone, before her eyes fell on the only person she had yet to ask, and damn if it wasn't the last person she would choose to depend on. None other than the head bitch in charge, Quinn. So, Rachel went in, told Mr. Schue that she would more than likely not be doing much in Glee today, which he understood, and spent the whole time working up the nerve to pull Quinn aside. She didn't dare try to plan something to say, for once, because you never knew with the head Cheerio. She might look at you like you're slightly brain damaged for holding her up, or she might take the time to hear what you have to say. As the bell rang, Quinn got up quickly to head out, and Rachel, snapping out of her daze, got up and tried to keep up, but Quinn was off in a hurry to Cheerio's, and there was no way she was going to be late to Cheerio's. So Rachel decided to wait near her locker, knowing that they usually go back to grab what they need after practice is over.

About an hour and a half later, she sees the blonde making her way over, now in normal clothes.

Seeing the brunette sitting by the lockers, she heads over, curious as to what this is about. "What do you want, Berry?" Rachel might've just been in an accident, but Quinn wasn't going to just turn all soft on her overnight. She could, however, drop the other names.

"Hey," she said, looking at the blonde in front of her, her own hands wrapped around her chest, hugging herself "I was wondering, is there any way that you could, you know, check real quick with your parents if I could stay with you guys?" There, she did it, she put it all out there, and whatever was going to happen, was going to happen.

"Not gonna happen, Berry." With that, Quinn turned to walk away.

"Oh, ok, thank you anyway," she replied with a soft smile, putting her head down.

The head cheerio was almost out the front doors, when from behind her, she heard a small sniff, followed by another one when she went to continue walking out the doors. She turned around, and the sight in front of her was too much. Now, mind you, Fabrays don't get emotional, but this made it kinda hurt to swallow, and made it feel like she might tear up. Sitting with her back against the wall in the same spot that she was at, was Rachel, her knees brought in to her chest, arms wrapped around her knees.

Quinn silently walked over, seeing the girl who just looked so lost, so vulnerable, so defeated, curled up in front of her. When she was next to the brunette, she knelt down, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Rachel?"

Apparently, you don't need explosives to break open a floodgate; all you need is one hand, and one word.

Before Quinn knew what was happening, the smaller girl responded by hurling herself into the blonde's arms, sobbing uncontrollably, finally just letting it all out.

"Why, why did they have to go? They said they would always be here for me, that I would be able to count on them! They were all that I had, I had no one else besides them! It's not fair, dammit! Where am I gonna go, huh? Where!," she took a quick pause to look up into the eyes of the blonde who now held her in her arms, her speech still shaky, her eyes red and watery "I want them back, Quinn."

Any resolve that the usually calm, cool, and collected Cheerio had at that point was thrown out the window after hearing those five words, as she started to cry a bit too.

Rachel took this the wrong way, thinking Quinn might've felt bad for having to reject her a second time, and clung onto the blonde like a scared child clinging onto their mother. "Please don't leave me!"

Quinn just ran her hand through Rachel's hair, holding the broken girl, letting her get it all out. After a good five minutes, when the crying had ceased, Quinn simply stated,

"You can come home with me"

A/N: Depending on whether or not I get a co-author from Live Journal on this or not will determine how often it will be updated. Another thing that will bring about speedy updates is…REVIEWS. Seriously though, not just me, but probably 80% of people who write on this site, will put out a story, and it will get 2,000 hits, but 5 reviews. How long does a review usually take, 3 minutes tops? Support the authors please. The reviews, while it might seem like something that really isn't too big of a deal, can mean a great deal. Here's a little incentive for you to review: the first 4 reviewers, will be able to pick a song to be used at Sectionals, Regionals, or Nationals. If you want to pick a Nationals song, then it can't involve Finn, Quinn, or Rachel. Ooooh, what does that mean? (Also, every reviewer will be mentioned in the following chapter's A/N, unless it's a flame, which then you will be the recipient of a pie in the face. And I will do that for every chapter (mention reviewers), starting with Chapter 2)