thousand watt smile.

Quinn Fabray hadn't had the easiest of times in high school. Okay, that was a gross understatement. Her first two years of high school had been great; she had been head Cheerio, and she was dating Finn.

Finn Hudson. The sweet, goofy, tall boy she had practically fallen in love with the first time she set eyes on him during orientation. Contrary to what people thought, Quinn did really love him. She didn't date him because it was the done thing, because the head cheerleader always dated the quarterback (though she supposed, that did become an element of their relationship), she had dated him because she loved him.

And one silly, stupid mistake with Puckerman, of all people, turned her life into the mess it was for so long. She could have waited, and lost her virginity to Finn. Gentle, kind Finn, who would make sure that everything was right, and they were protected.

But no. She had to decide to loose it to Puck, on a whim, a little tipsy on one too many wine coolers. Maybe sleeping with the resident bad boy was her rebelling against the perfection her life was supposed to be, but whatever the stupid, stupid reason, she did it, and ended up pregnant.

Who gets pregnant the first time they ever have sex? God, she should just be held up in front of every single health education class in west Ohio as a shining example of why you should use a condom.

Or maybe, they should just play Mean Girls in health classes a lot more- or employ a teacher like the PE coach who was giving the class a talk on sex. If her health teacher had told them not to have sex, because they will get pregnant and die (or get pregnant and have your whole life ruined), Quinn would have kept her legs firmly closed and Puck far, far away.

As if getting pregnant, and loosing her spot on the Cheerios, her status in school, her friends, her boyfriend, wasn't enough, she gave up the beautiful little girl that she gave birth to (for all the right reasons, of course) but that didn't mean it hurt any less.

Still, she moved on, or at least she tried. She tried to regain some sense of normality to her life, and rejoined the Cheerio's, and got her title of head cheerleader back (with a little bit of manipulation on her part.)

Then Sam came along. The ever sweet, ever lovely Sam with a smile bigger than any she'd seen before. Sam Evans, who loved her more than anything and she, to put it simply, treated him like crap.

She cheated on him with Finn. Perhaps she should have expected it, because her heart still belonged to the dark haired quarterback, despite how hard she tried to convince herself that she loved the blonde boy who had given her a promise ring and swore he would marry her someday.

Of course, she lost Finn again, but she should have expected that too. Nothing good Quinn's life lasted any more, and even if it did, she would find a way to mess it up. Just like she messed up the first half of her senior year.

In what could only be described as a breakdown, she changed her image, she started hanging out with a group of girls called the Skanks (who quite frankly terrified her), and quit glee. And even when she was supposedly 'normal' again, she tried to get Beth back, and Shelby fired.

No, Quinn had not had a great few years. That's why, when the Irish exchange student walked into glee with Finn, and beamed at them all with a thousand watt smile, Quinn told herself not to be interested in him.

If if anything happened, she told herself, it would all fall apart in a matter of days. Nothing, nothing was worth fighting for any more, because nothing ever lasted. Quinn had resigned herself to a life of failed relationships and dead end jobs, because that's what she was destined for.

But she couldn't help it. That accent of his, it made her weak at the knees, and she couldn't stop her heart from fluttering when he sang, or he flashed her one of his brilliantly optimistic smiles.

Despite her promise not to fall for this boy, she couldn't help but wrap her string of tinsel around him when all of the other glee club members were paired up with their respective boyfriends- or in Mercedes' case, her ex.

And as the weeks passed, she couldn't help but spend more and more time with him, listening to his odd stories about life in Ireland, his bright outlook on everything warming her up. She hardly knew Rory, but his company made her feel better than she had in years, since she made the biggest mistake of her life and let Puck in her pants.

Sam, being as perceptive as he was, picked up on Quinn's attraction for his new best friend, and when Valentines Day rolled around, Sam was Rory's 'sponsor' (whatever that was supposed to mean) and managed to set her and Rory up on a date.

She supposed he had too much time on his hands nowadays, seeing as he had wooed Mercedes and they were happily dating again. He needed something to focus his energy on, now he didn't have to try and win her over in between every class.

And Quinn, she was glad of the fact that Sam did have too much time on his hands, or whatever the real reason was, because the hours she spent in Breadstix with Rory that night were the best she had lived through in months.

He was funny, and interesting, and even if he was a boring person, everything he said in that accent of his had her captivated. Their relationship just blossomed from that date, and their first kiss on the front porch of Quinn's house.

Rory, he was a gentleman. He held doors open for her, and happily told her every morning that she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever met. He treated her far better than anyone had ever treated her, and Rory, he made Quinn feel special.

No one had made her feel special in a long time. For the past two years, it was always either she was someone's second choice, or she was someone's mistake. Rory, he actually wanted to be with her. He liked to spend time with her, and he listened.

And screw the age difference. Quinn didn't care that he was only fifteen, and a sophomore, because he acted far better than any of the guys in her year. Anyway, he would be sixteen in September (ignoring the fact she would be nineteen in June).

Her senior prom, it was actually fun. She went with Rory, who was oddly excited to wear a suit, and gave her the most beautiful corsage in the world, and spent the whole evening dancing with her, and making her smile.

Rory didn't get in a fight over an ex-girlfriend he clearly loved more than he would ever love Quinn, he was fixated by her all night.

The five months Quinn dated Rory, were the best she'd had since her sophomore year, before everything had gone wrong. When graduation came, and she was finally free of McKinley, Rory had sadly told her he would be leaving the following week.

In her daze of happiness, Quinn had forgotten that Rory was an exchange student, and he would be going home to Ireland once the final semester of school had ended. And just like always, the only good thing in Quinns life started to slip away.

But Rory, he picked up on this, and spent an entire night reassuring her he wasn't leaving her by choice. He wasn't leaving her for another girl, he wasn't choosing someone over her. And just like that, she felt better.

Rory had that ability, to make everything seem okay even when it wasn't.

So, she went with him to the airport, to see him off on his flight home. Quinn, she had cried, but had saved most of the tears for when Rory had disappeared past security. She didn't want to lessen the excitement he felt at finally going home.

But even the tears didn't last long, and she was looking to the future soon enough. You see, Finn might have been her first love, but Rory was the boy who had saved her, and for that, she would always be grateful.

/

Author's Note; So, I've come to the conclusion that I basically ship Rory/everyone, so here's my first go at a Rory/Quinn fic. I'd love to hear what you think, because I've never written for Quinn before, and yeah. Reviews are just really welcome!