Summary: Stranger than your sympathy, and all those thoughts you stole from me.

Spoilers: Season 2 Ep1.

Characters: Rachel Berry, Quinn Fabray, Glee Club.

Pairing: None

Rachel stood in front of the mirror, ignoring the Cheerio's standing behind her. She knew that they were laughing at her, could vaguely make out her name in their hushed tones. But she knew that this was a little more than she could handle right now. Blocking out everything but her own voice, she started to calm herself down, trying to forget the way Sunshine's performance had been received by everyone else.

But every time she managed to convince herself it didn't matter, they came right to the front of her mind. The acceptance, the acknowledgement that she had craved written all over their faces, but not for her. Oh no, nothing Rachel did could ever be enough, even if it was for them. But Sunshine had them hooked from the moment she took stage. It wasn't fair.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the whispers behind her stop abruptly. She didn't even notice that another person was in the room with her till a tissue was thrust in her hand.

"Your makeup's running, and it's making you look even worse than you usually do," said Quinn, holding the tissue out and wondering what the hell she'd been thinking, coming here after Rachel Berry of all people.

"Quinn, I do not have the energy for your sarcasm. Please leave."

"No! Man- Berry, listen. I- I didn't mean for it to sound like that. Seriously."

"Of course you didn't. But you probably couldn't think of a better insult," said Rachel , not looking up at Quinn and not taking the proffered tissue, even though she knew she needed it. For all she knew, Quinn might have sprinkled something on the tissue that would make her face turn black or something similar. Why else would Quinn Fabray offer her anything?

"Berry, wipe your face, blow your nose, and then we'll talk," said Quinn."Take it. I swear it's just a tissue." Quinn waited till Rachel had gingerly pinched the tissue between her fingers before moving a little further away. She watched the other girl tentatively wipe a small part of her hand and waiting for a few moments to confirm that Quinn was telling the truth.

After Rachel had wiped away all traces of her tears, she went and sat next to Quinn. They looked almost the same as they had on the day Rachel had told Finn about the baby, only this time Rachel was the one who was upset, and Quinn was back in her Cheerio's uniform. That itself made a lot of difference.

They sat like that for a minute or two as Quinn thought of what to say. She was pretty sure that Berry wasn't going to be all nice right now, so it was up to her to get the conversation going. But with what?

She did know why she was here, sort of, but explaining it to the girl next to her might be a little difficult. Quinn's animosity towards Rachel wasn't some big secret, but the reason was. She didn't know why everyone thought she disliked Berry because the midget had stolen her boyfriend. Were they stupid enough not to notice the fact that it had started way before that? Started when Quinn had gotten to know of Rachel's MySpace page, and her involvement with every activity she managed to shove her big nose in. Not to mention her grades, which always seemed to be perfect.

Fact of the matter was that when she saw Rachel, Quinn was reminded far too much of someone she didn't really like; herself. She was very aware of the fact that she and Rachel were far too similar, and it was only Rachel's bad luck that kept her at the bottom of the social ladder. Quinn knew that there was a very real possibility that Rachel could provide some stiff competition for her if given the chance, which was why she had always made sure to keep Rachel squashed as flat as possible, as often as possible.

But today; today had been different. When she saw the look on Rachel's face, she recognized it immediately because she'd felt it on her own face so many times; when Brittany managed to get the steps right before her, when Santana made a pass at Finn, whenever she felt a threat to her position, which was exactly what Rachel was feeling.

Glee was the only thing the brunette really had, and the only reason she had it was because no one else in the school could rival her singing. But with Sunshine coming in, all that would change. She seemed to fit way better with the group than Rachel had ever done, and Quinn knew that Rachel was afraid of the possibility that Glee would become another place where no one even bothered to act as if she was welcome. And knowing the rest of New Directions, that probably was what would happen. As soon as there was another person who could handle the solos, Rachel would be sent right to the back.

Quinn had no idea why that made her feel bad, but it did. Maybe it was because she knew how bad being in such a position felt, or maybe it was because she knew it really wasn't fair. They had never even given Rachel a chance, choosing to write her off just like the rest of the school wrote them off. If they had tried to welcome her just once, Rachel might have shown a different side of herself. But they didn't and the ruder they got, the more abrasive she became.

If she was constantly in a place where she knew that her so-called friends wouldn't hesitate to bully her just as much as anyone else if she didn't have a voice, who could blame her for trying to eliminate the competition. Quinn actually thought that sending Sunshine to a crack house was the smartest thing Berry had ever done. The midget was growing a backbone.

"Okay, firstly, this conversation will not leave this room. Clear?"

"Quinn, we haven't had any conversation yet."

"Berry, you tell anyone else that I'm sitting her, wasting my time trying to help you, and I'll have you deported."

"You help me? Like that'll ever happen," said Rachel, not seeing the bewildered expression on Quinn's face. The blonde hadn't really thought that Rachel would chose this time to get smart.

"Um... Let's start over, yeah? You tried to get that slime ball to not gossip about me last year, and you tried to include me in Glee, even though you knew I would never have done that for you. What you said to me, about Coach Sylvester and acceptance and stuff, it ended up helping me, y'know?"said Quinn, looking away from Rachel."But I do not want to be in your debt. So I'm gonna help you know, and then I can freely torture you without feeling guilty."

"A rather odd reason, but continue."

"I know what's gonna happen when Sunshine joins Glee, which she will. And while I'd love to see your ego being chopped into little pieces, I'd rather not have those idiots do it. So here's the thing; I'll help you get rid of her, for good, and then we no longer know each other."

"Quinn! I am not sending her back-"

"Not the crack house. Jesus, Berry, give me some credit. I'm not going to copy you. No. I happen to know the guy who replaced Shelby as the Director of Vocal Adrenaline, and I also happen to know that he'd do anything for a new female lead, since Andrea's gone to college. Absolutely anything."

"No. No way. I cannot send Sunshine over to Vocal Adrenaline. I would never be able to live with myself if I knowingly gave our arch nemesis such a powerful weapon. The guilt would consu-"

"Shut up! You don't have to call him."

"I'm not letting you either. That's just betrayal, Quinn. It would be like we stabbed Mr. Shue and the rest of Glee Club. Could you live with their blood on your hands?"

"Rachel, in case you didn't get the memo, I'm trying to help you. And while that little thing you said was a bit gross, I'm telling you that all of them would get together and stab you gladly once they have Sunshine to sing for them. But anyways, point is that I'm not going to call him either."

"You're not?"

"Nope. Coach Sylvester is."

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Also, un-betaed. Point out errors:)