Every Night Has Its Dawn

by vmars15

Reupload of Every Rose Has Its Thorn: It's the new school year and Quinn is back to being Queen Bee and Puck is back to being a jerk. She's with Mike Chang and he's with basically every girl. Will they ever be together? This is a massive chapter story!

1. Back to the Start

A.N. After getting some love on this story it somehow managed to disappear. I was going to reply to reviews and all I saw was: This story cannot be found. I was pissed off but luckily i still had it saved on my computer so i can reupload it. I believe it was because I stupidly used the word jackass in the summary when all summaries are supposed to be K-rated so it is my fault but my lesson has been learned. And this also gives me a chance to say a more accurate answer for when Ch. 2 will be up. I would guess possibly Friday to Saturday. I have about 3500 words done so far and i'm expecting it to be at least 10000. So I still have a ways to go but it's coming along. hopefully I'll be able to finish it sooner than I expect :)

The students at McKinley High parted like gazelles at a watering hole as a lion appeared. They moved to the opposite sides of the hallway as they saw their Queen Bee make her way down the long hallway of the school to the main foyer where she could exit the building out to the parking lot. Her car, which had recently been returned to her, was waiting for her. Before the summer, this girl had been invisible. She had made the mistake of getting pregnant and had become a social leper after taking a tumble down the social ladder. However, the summer had come and went, and once school had started up again, the Queen had her body, her confidence, her title of Head Cheerio, and her show no mercy attitude restored to her. She was once again the Head Bitch In Charge (HBIC) and somehow everyone seemed to have forgotten that only months before she was as unpopular as any other member of the Glee Club.

Before the summer people rarely gossiped about the Queen Bee. It wasn't worth anyone's breath. Sure, rude names and giggles were shared amongst students, but there wasn't much gossip being shared that wasn't just an excuse to insult her. However the news had made its way around that after giving birth she gave her daughter up to the coach of a neighbouring school's glee club and the HBIC was now dating the father of her child. That had been a talking point for the students. The original father of the baby had changed about four months into the pregnancy into his best friend. Anyways, they had been together during the summer and there were witnesses that swore they had seen them at the movies and at Olive Garden holding hands, but once school had started it was obvious that they were no longer together. They didn't talk to each other, walk with each other, or acknowledge the other's existence. The Queen flirted with other boys, particularly one of the other members of the Glee Club and the football team Mike Chang, and the father of her baby was making his way through all of the impressionable and insecure freshman girls.

He had gone back to his old ways of throwing the losers of the school into the dumpster and throwing frozen drinks in the faces of classmates he didn't care for. While she had been pregnant he had seemed to have calmed down and become nicer, but as soon as school started it was like nothing had changed. He was a bully striking fear into everyone.

They were back to where they had started. They had gone through tremendous growth but somehow it had all been washed away. People suspected a messy break up had something to do with it but they never heard a word of it. Neither of the two talked about the other, nor did any of their friends know what had happened. People simply knew that they weren't together and they had reclaimed they had reclaimed their roles of the bitchy cheerleader and the man-whore bully.

The Queen Bee made her way out of the school had headed to the parking lot. On the way to her car she would have to pass the dumpsters. She knew who might be there throwing in lowly freshmen but she had been careful since school had started to walk past him without a second glance. She had been acting like he was invisible, just like everyone else to her had when she was pregnant.

She was about to pass the dumpsters when she heard her name being called out. She turned around and saw Mike Chang running to catch up to her. Over the summer it was obvious that he had spent time lifting weights as he wasn't as gangly as he had been before. His dancing however had remained remarkable and highly impressive.

She smiled and waited for him to reach her. Once he did he asked, "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today? Last weekend at the party was really fun."

He was referring to a night in which they had both gone to Britney's house party and danced by her pool like no one was watching and then retreated to the hot tub where a steamy make out session had occurred. She wasn't sure if she had been ready for that, especially in front of a large group of people, but in order to fully regain her popularity and status she knew that she had to come across like she was perfectly fine with things. In any case, Mike was harmless and a nice guy.

She considered the proposition and bit her lip. "I'm headed home right now Mike."

He sighed. "Come on Quinn. We could just hang out at your house. We're friends, aren't we?"

Her name sounded strange coming out of his mouth, or maybe it seemed strange coming out of anyone's mouth. She didn't feel like she was the same person she had been a year ago, but she didn't feel the same like she did when she was pregnant. In any situation everyone had called her by the same name. Quinn. Three very different people. One name. Quinn.

She realized that she wasn't in a position to turn down invitations to hang out from cute football players while she was trying to maintain her position at the top of the popularity pyramid and not falling down as she had done before so she relented and nodded. "Well then let's go. My car is parked over there." She motioned to the front of the parking lot.

Mike smiled and followed her towards the lot. Quinn had been caught up and had forgotten where she was about to pass. She was so caught up that she found herself turning the corner and facing him. She was staring him straight in the eye and she hadn't even meant to. He was by the garbage with two of his Neanderthal friends with a tall, skinny freshmen with a face full of acne in their arm, about to throw him in the trash.

She wanted to turn away and stop staring but it was like he was hypnotizing her with just his eyes. She knew how stupid she must have looked, standing in the middle of the pathway staring at her ex-boyfriend, but she couldn't help it. She was thankful when Mike had broke her out of the trance by saying, "That's my little brother's friend. He comes over all the time to our house. I should stop it, shouldn't I?"

Quinn turned her gaze to Mike. "What? Umm…. Oh! Yeah, if you want." She wanted to expand but she had learned quickly while making her rise to the top for the second time that making her sentences short left less opportunities for her to ruin things.

Mike nodded and stepped out towards the three bullies and his brother's friend. "Hey Puck lay off of Gregg. He's my brother's friend and just a ninth grader minding his own business. Find someone else to torture." He addressed Quinn's ex because it was obvious that he was the ringleader in this child's play.

Puck looked at Mike intently, quickly took a glance at Quinn behind him, knowing that it was now clear that they had been together and asked, "What, are you two together now?"

Mike shook his head quickly. Quinn thought it was a bit too quick, almost like he was scared of what Puck would think. "We're just friends hanging out. Now, can you call those guys off of Gregg?"

Puck turned to his cronies, flicked his hands, and like that they dropped the lanky ninth grader and let him run off home, thankful that he had been saved from public humiliation. It should have been the end of everything.

But it wasn't. Puck turned around and smirked at Mike. "Just hanging out? Like the two of you were just hanging out in Britney's hot tub on Saturday?"

Quinn wanted to yell at him and tell him off. Mike seemed to know this as he turned his head around and mouthed I got this to her. He looked at Puck in the eye without any fear. "Dude, come on. Relax. She's not your property. We're friends. Get over it."

Mike turned around and started walking away. Quinn followed, but she heard Puck yell out, "Man I got some advice for you. Wear a glove before you get the love. Se isn't worth nine months of torture."

She had it. She might have wanted to play things cool with Puck but she also knew that people wouldn't respect her if she let someone talk about her like crap without getting an earful from her. That's why she turned back around and exploded. "Shut up Puckerman! Leave me alone! Leave Mike alone! Do everyone a favour and just go away! No one wants you! No one would ever want you. You're worthless. You're going to be here years from now throwing losers in dumpsters. You're nothing but a Lima Loser!"

Before he could come back with any insults Quinn stormed off and Mike followed suit. When he reached her car he smiled. "That was awesome. No offence, but I've been waiting for someone to tell him off for a while."

Quinn shrugged and they both got into her car. She started driving and thoughts started poring into her head.

She turned to Mike. "Have you been like, bragging about what happened on the weekend?"

Mike shook his head. "No. Listen Quinn I like you but I wouldn't go around telling everyone about that. I don't want to ruin whatever kind of chance I have."

She gave him a sly smile and batted her eyelashes as she had been known to do ever so well. "Well your chances are looking pretty good if you want me to be honest."

Mike's face lit up like the Las Vegas strip. The car ride turned into light conversation about Glee Club, football, and Cheerio's. There was much talk about how much Quinn could not stand Coach Sylvester and though this time last year she idolized and looked up to the woman, she could finally see how fake and cruel she really was. Of course as fast as Quinn had divulged this information she made Mike swear to never tell a soul so her position as head cheerleader would not be in danger if anyone found out she had been trashing her renowned coach.

Quinn pulled into the empty driveway at her house. Her mother was out shopping for clothes to wear at one of her divorce proceedings that would make Mr. Fabray wish he had never cheated on her. Her father was of course gone, staying at a rental house until the divorce was over. Quinn hadn't spoken to him even when she moved back into her house. She was still bitter and furious over the way he had handled her pregnancy. She was still a tad bitter towards her mother but she was at least being more warm and welcoming her back into the home she'd grown up in so she pretended to be over the whole situation.

Quinn led the way into the house and closed the door behind Mike. "Do you want to hang out in the kitchen or…" She trailed off.

Mike questioned her. "Or what? Play Scrabble? Watch TV? Show me your new cheerleading routine?"

Quinn giggled and shook her head. She tried to move back into full on flirting mode. She knew that in order to be at the top of the pyramid she needed a boyfriend. A poplar boyfriend at that. Mike was nice, and funny. He hadn't ignored her when she was pregnant and everyone in the school liked him. He was also cute and hadn't been with many girls so Quinn knew he wasn't a player. He would be a good guy to use to become as popular as she had once been. She was close to the top of the pyramid and she thought she could reach the peak with Mike on her arm. So she batted her eyelashes and said softly, "I was thinking more like if you wanted to hang out in my room?"

Mike nodded and Quinn took his hand as she led the way to her room. She knew they would have a lot of privacy as her mother wasn't going to arrive home for at least an hour and a half. Quinn opened the door to her bedroom and closed it behind them as she went to sit on her bed. Mike followed suit. He leaned in to kiss her but Quinn put her hand on his chest to stop him. He stood still but he didn't pull away.

"I'm not a stupid hook-up or an easy slut, and if you think that then you can leave."

Mike looked Quinn in the eyes and she could hear the sincerity in his voice as he told her, "I like you Quinn… a lot. I think you're the hottest girl in the whole school. You're good at singing, and dancing, and you're smart. That's hot. You're perfect."

Quinn smiled. She loved compliments, especially as she hadn't been getting much as of a few months ago. She took her hand off of Mike's chest and allowed him to kiss her. She allowed him to wrap his hands around her waist and lower her so that she was laying on her bed, head on her pillows and next to her stuffed lamb, as he layed on top of her, planting kisses on her lips.

He was nice, but Mike Chang was also a teenage boy so that it didn't surprise Quinn when she felt his tongue against her bottom lip, asking her to open her mouth, or when she felt his hands trail above her waist to her chest (above her clothes though as she was wearing her Cheerio's uniform which was hard to manoeuvre under). She let him. First, she didn't want to ruin he chances of having Mike as a boyfriend which it seemed was going to be a pretty safe bet. Also, it honestly felt good. Quinn hadn't been touched like that since the summer and she didn't notice that she had missed it until Mike reminded her.

To be completely honest, though Quinn liked Mike and wanted to be his girlfriend, she didn't now why that in the middle of making out with him and having him fondle her, she had visions of Noah Puckerman brought to her mind. She cursed herself. She thought she had gotten over that punk. She had tried so hard to forget about him and move on with her life but there she was, making out with another guy and she was being painfully reminded of all the ways Puck had touched her or kissed her previously.

Quinn tried to shake herself out of it. She was here with Mike. All that she had shared with Puck was gone. Besides, they weren't good for each other. They had proved that to each other more times than either could count. Still, she had loved him and it would be hard to move on right away. That's another thing Mike was good for. He could provide a distraction for her. Someone that could make her forget about her broken heart which she was trying shield form the world. She knew she could never be the bitch she once was, but she was trying to be bitchy enough. So Mike could help heal her, if she could ever learn how to pay attention to their make out sessions without mindlessly thinking about Puck.

Quinn put one hand on Mike's arm, feeling the newly formed muscles he had worked on during the summer, and took her other arm and slid it under his Henley shirt. This was helping. Puck started to exit her mind and she was left with just thoughts of Mike Chang, one of the nicest boys in her grade. Too nice for an Ice Queen, but if he was interested she wasn't going to convince him otherwise.

She felt him kissing her neck and his one hand clutching her upper thigh. This made her feel better, and it made life seem easier. Doing this didn't make her think about all the hardships she had faced or that she was currently facing, but she still thought it was going too fast. She knew she was the one that had given him the wrong idea sp she had to set him straight.

Quinn turned her head sideways away from Mike and sat up. He got the message and sat up, getting off from on top of her. He took a deep breath and gave her a relaxed smile. "We're going too fast."

Quinn was thankful that he got it and she wouldn't have to explain it. She simply nodded and laid against her headboard. She looked up at the ceiling. "It has to go slower or we're done." He voice held authority.

Mike layed down opposite Quinn so that his feet were resting next to her head and vice versa. He didn't look at the ceiling however, but at Quinn. "When exactly did we even start?"

"Don't be an asshole," She warned as she tilted her head up to look Mike in the eyes, "You know that I'm not the type to randomly make out in hot tubs. We've started something but if you expect it to go too far too quickly then ou might as well leave right now. I don't need you."

Mike held his hand up above his head, playfully professing his innocence. "I don't expect it to go anywhere like that Quinn. Where is your mind these days? Down in the gutter?"

Quinn smiled and jokingly threw her stuffed lamb at Mike's face. Instead of the soft plush hitting him however, its bead eye hit him in his eye and he put his hand over it as he held back any screams or tears so that he could still remain manly.

"Are you trying to kill me Quinn?" He asked as he continued to clutch his eye. The surrounding area was becoming red.

She slid over to his side of the bed and helped him off. "Take my hand and follow me to the kitchen. We'll put ice on it."

Hand in hand (so that he wouldn't trip and fall) they made their way downstairs to the kitchen. She sat him down in a chair as she went to the freezer and got out two ice cubes. She wrapped them in a cloth and walked back over to Mike. She moved his hand away from his swollen eye and put the cloth over it.

"That's freezing!" He whined.

Quinn sighed. "Don't be a Nancy-boy Mike. It'll get rid of the swelling and the redness."

"I'm not a wuss." He pouted as he said this and the two started laughing.

Quinn enjoyed how easy it was to be with Mike. It was simple. She could be carefree. He had seen her at her lowest and she didn't feel the need to be the Head Bitch In Charge when she was with him. She felt like she could be herself, or at least as much as herself as she wanted to show. She did want to portray some sort of an image as someone not to be messed with in front of him. She carefully made sure she wasn't ptting too much pressure on his eye as she kept the cloth over it. She brushed a strand hair out of his face with her other hand.

Mike smiled. "You'd make a good girlfriend."

Quinn nodded. "I am a pretty good girlfriend."

"You could be my girlfriend – if you wanted I mean."

Quinn giggled. "Well what an offer that is Mike Chang."

He smiled at her and took the hand she wasn't using and held it. "I meant that I would like you to be my girlfriend. That's what I should have said."

Quinn nodded and continued to smile and hold the cloth over his eye without replying. She wanted him to sweat it out a bit. She counted down in her head. Five. Four. Three. Two. One…

Exactly at that moment he cried, "Ah come on Quinn! Don't be like that. Answer."

She continued to tease him as she twirled a strand of his hair. "You didn't ask a question."

He sighed, but relented. "Fine. Will you, Quinn Fabray, be my girlfriend?"

She put her finger on her chin and pretended to be in deep thought as she processed his proposal. In reality she knew her answer from the get go. She had decided her had needed a popular boyfriend and it hadn't taken long for her to have seduced one into asking her to be his girlfriend. She had missed being able to manipulate and charm boys. It didn't work so well when one had swollen feet, a huge belly, and morning sickness.

She nodded. "Yes. I'd like that."

Mike took the cloth from Quinn's hand and set it down on the table. He leane in and kissed her. Not fast and intense like it had been upstairs. This time it was short and sweet.

Quinn gave Mike a peck on the lips in return and stood up to put the ice cubes and the cloth in the sink. She turned around and Mike was staring at her.

"What?"

He smiled and waved his hand. "Nothing. I was just thinking… this time last year we didn't even talk, and now we're dating. It's just weird."

"We talked," She pointed out, "Not much but we hung out with the same people so we talked occasionally. Plus, I was with Finn."

Mike nodded. "The golden couple."

She pretended to stick a finger down her throat and gagged. "Ugh, just another reason people expected me to be perfect."

Mike stood up from his chair and walked over to Quinn. He slid his arms around her waist and leaned in so their faces were right in front of each other. He whispered, "You don't have to be perfect around me." He then planted another kiss on her lips. This one was gentle and closed-mouth as well, but was cut short when the couple heard someone clear their throat. The parted and Mike turned around. Quinn blushed as she saw her mother standing in the kitchen doorway, holding two large bags from Macy's and obviously also uncomfortable with seeing her daughter kissing a boy she had never met.

Quinn quickly tried to remedy the situation She had always been quick on her feet which was a good thing in situations like these. "Mom, I thought you were still going to be out for a while. This is Mike, my boyfriend. Mike, this is my mom." The word boyfriend felt so weird coming out of her mouth regarding Mike. She figured it just had to be because it was so new. Also, she knew telling her mother that they were dating would get her mind off of what she had just seen.

"I left earlier for the mall than I originally planned," Mrs. Fabray explained, "But Quinnie – you didn't tell me you had a boyfriend."

"It's a recent development."

She looked up at Mike and he smiled at her. He looked back at her mom and gulped. He had always had a fear of meeting parents.

"Well it's almost four o' clock Quinn and you still have homework and you have to choreograph that new routine for Cherrio's."

Mike took the hint. "Maybe I should just go. It was nice meeting you Mrs. Fabray. I'll text you Quinn."

He started walking to the doorway but when he reached Mrs. Fabray she held a hand out to stop him. He stood in front of her.

"Mike, before you started dating my daughter she wasn't in a state of being pregnant. I would really appreciate if you could keep it that way."

"Mom!" Quinn cried, utterly humiliated. She hed a hand over her head as she tried not to let Mike see her blushing like a tomato.

Mike nervously laughed and then cleared his throat. "Uh, don't worry about that Mrs. Fabray. I'll make sure that's not an issue."

Mrs. Fabray nodded and then turned to the side so that Mike could pass through. As soon as Quinn heard the door close and she knew for sure that her boyfriend had left she was ready to start in on the attack.

"Mom I'm trying really hard to make everyone forget that I was pregnant and a social zero last year so it would be splendid if you didn't have to bring it up to my new boyfriend. I mean o you not understand how freaked out he probably is now? He'll probably break up with me by tomorrow! I'll be a laughing stock. Dumped after a day of going out. I'll be humiliated."

Mrs. Fabray sighed as she put her shopping bags down and went to the fridge to take out the ingredients she would need for the supper. "Sweetie you need to relax. You're an amazing person and this Mike character is probably thrilled to be going out with you. I just needed to make sure that history wouldn't repeat itself."

Quinn sat down on a stool by the island counter. She crossed her arms and laid her head on them. "It won't mom. I'm done with being stupid. That was so last year. This year I just want to focus on being popular, Glee club, Cheerio's, and good grades."

"And what about having a boyfriend?" Her mom asked as she started chopping up the onions.

Quinn rolled her eyes as if it was obvious. "That goes with being popular mom. No one is ever at the top of the social pyramid being single."

Mrs. Fabray crinkled her nose as she always did when she deciding if or if not to say something. In this case she chose the former as she asked, "What happened to this summer? All that time you were with Noah, and all those nights he spent here… I thought the two of you were item."

Quinn stood up ready to leave. She didn't want to think about this summer, the days she spent with Puck, and she especially didn't want to think about the nights with him. She simply walked to the end of the kitchen and before exiting muttered, "That's over. You wouldn't understand. Mike's popular, and he's a good guy. I need him."

With that Quinn continued walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her room where she laid on her bed and allowed herself to think about the summer she had shared with Puck. It was after they had given up their baby, and after he had told her that he loved her. Immediately Quinn regretted letting herself draw back on these memories as she felt tears falling down he face and she couldn't get them to stop. She shook and sobbed letting out all the pain she had built up for weeks. Quinn told herself that after this cry she would be better. She would never think about Beth or Puck again and she would focus on being popular once again and having Mike as a boyfriend. It was for the best. She needed to be back to where she once was. She was so close that she could taste it. Being a bitch was much easier and it stopped from people pushing her while she walked down the hallway or ignore her as she walked into class. She would finish crying and that would be the end of it. It was a new year and it was time for the past to stay in the past.

After a dinner filled with Mrs. Fabray describing all of the amazing clothes she made to show how stupid her soon to be ex-husband was to have cheated on her, Quinn walked up to her room to finish her English homework. With only a sentence to write before she was done, he cell phone started buzzing. It was Mercedes.

Quinn answered on the second ring. "Hey girl. What's going on?"

"Not much. I just got back from Kurt's house. He was helping me decide on what to wear tomorrow. You know, since it is our first Glee Club practice of the year. I'm wearing this fly hot pink t-shirt with some skinny jeans."

Quinn had tried to forget about Glee Club reuniting the next day. She didn't want to see Finn and Rachel being nauseating as a couple. She didn't want to fend off Santana and Britney, who were now trying to be her friends again. Most of all, she didn't want to see Puck.

"Quinn? Are you still there?"

Quinn shook herself out of it and redirected her attention back to Mercedes. "I'm still here. I just zoned out. What were you saying?"

Mercedes sighed. She was used to Quinn being in a completely opposite place than the real world nowadays. "I asked what you're going to wear."

Quinn laughed thinking it was a joke. When Mercedes didn't answer back she realized it had been a serious question. "Uhm… my Cheerio's outfit. You know Coach Sylvester makes us wear them all the time."

Mercedes pretended to gag. "Why did you have to return to those Barbie girl clones Quinn? You're not like them."

Quinn examined her nails and thought it was time to go in to her salon for a new manicure. She didn't want to go through this conversation again with her friend. They'd been over her decision to rejoin the cheerleading team for what seemed like a million times. "I used to be one of them and I kind of still am Mercedes. I like cheerleading. Plus, Kurt's on the team and you never give him a hard time for being on it."

"Kurt doesn't change who he is to fit in with them or to appease that Godzilla of a coach. He wears what he wants and hangs out with who he wants. He also eats what he wants. I hope you don't go back to killing yourself over a cookie." Mercedes' voice had genuine worry in it.

Quinn exhaled. "I have it under control Mercedes… but thank you. For looking out for me I mean. But you seriously don't have to worry about things. I'm still me… well a mix of me and the Head Bitch In Charge Quinn. I say it's a fair compromise."

Mercedes laughed. "As long as you don't try getting all sassy with me. You know I can't stand for any crap being thrown my way."

Quinn giggled. "Oh I know."

There was a silence and then Mercedes tone quickly turned back into a serious one. "Kurt said he saw something interesting today."

Quinn stopped filing her nails and focused all of her attention of her friend on the other line. "What was that?" She asked confused at what Mercedes was talking about.

"Well when we were walking to his car to go over to his house he said that he saw you pulling out of your parking spot in your car with Mike in the passenger seat."

Quinn rolled her eyes. Her friend was usually direct when she wanted to know something. She didn't know why she was beating around the bush this time. "He came over to my house. We were discussing what he should wear to Glee Rehearsal tomorrow."

"Ha Ha. Very funny Quinn. But seriously, what's going on? You told me what happened at the party with him, and you two have been flirting nonstop. What's the story?"

"We're dating." See? Nice and direct. Quinn liked it better that way. Mind games and running around to get to an answer were too annoying for her taste.

However, that still wasn't good enough for Mercedes. "Dating like what kind of dating? Casual I'll buy you some hot wings at Applebee's dating or we're boyfriend and girlfriend dating?"

Quinn put her English binder into her schoolbag and sighed. "The second one. He asked me today after I hit him accidentley in the eye with a stuffed animal."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Quinn looked to see if she had accidentally disconnected the call. She hadn't. "Mercedes, what's wrong? What are you thinking?"

"Quinn, we're friends so I'm going to lay it straight with you. Don't you think this is all going way too fast? You just had a baby with someone else only a few months ago, spent most of your summer with him without telling me anything, and now you want to start dating another boy? I just think you should slow it down."

Quinn was getting extremely agitated. Mercedes simply didn't understand how much she wanted – no needed – to be popular. She didn't understand the dynamics of the high school social order. Sometimes Quinn got the impression that her fiend would rather the both of them simply be unpopular and spend their days trying to get recognized by people without ever succeeding. It was easy for Mercedes to do that, but it was much harder for Quinn. When she realized she wanted to be top dog again she new that she didn't want to lose her newly acquired friendship with Mercedes or with Kurt. It was simple to stay friends with Kurt since he was on Cheerio's, but it was a different story with Mercedes. She was a diva and ruffled feathers. When she was a Cheerio people had forgiven her for being outspoken, but it wasn't able to be excused anymore since she had quit. Quinn was sacrificing to stay friends with her. She wished Mercedes could see things from her point of view.

"Mercedes, when was the last time you've ever been in a relationship? How could you possibly know whether I'm taking things too fast or not?" Quinn could hear the bitchiness in her tone and she cursed herself. That tone was reserved for other people, but not Mercedes. Not one of the only people who had been good to her when she was invisible, and had stood by her side.

Mercedes was silent on the other line, obviously hurt by Quinn's comment. Quinn attempted damage control. "I'm sorry Mercedes. That was out of line. I shouldn't have said that."

"No… you said exactly what you felt. I know I'm not as popular as you Quinn and that I haven't had as much experience with boys as you, but that doesn't mean that I can't have an opinion. You might want to stop with that snobby attitude if you want to have any friends left. Especially if you want to stay friends with me. I have enough people being rude as hell to me. I don't need a friend to do it as well."

Quinn knew that Mercedes was angry. She was talking fast and increasingly getting louder: two of her tell-tale signs. Quinn didn't want to push things any further so she tried to calm things down a bit.

"You're right. I'm sorry. But Mike is a good guy Mercedes and I want him to be my boyfriend. Can't you understand?"

Quinn heard a sigh on the other end and knew that her friend had relented. "Fine… but if I see that the boy is giving you a hard time in any way then I am giving him a piece of my mind… and I'll have to give you a piece too, for not listening to me of course."

"Perfectly reasonable."

Shortly after Quinn got off of the phone and went to bed. Before she was about to go to sleep she heard her cell phone vibrating. She picked it up and saw that she had a text message. It was from Mike and it read: Matt doesn't believe I got the hottest girl in school to be my girlfriend. Maybe you should slip me the tongue tomorrow in front of him to prove it.

Quinn couldn't help but smile and let out a giggle. She quickly wrote back saying: I think you're delusional from lack of sleep. Goodnight Mike. She read it over but thought it sounded too cold or too formal to send her new boyfriend, so she decided to add 3 to the end of the message.

She put down her phone and closed her eyes to go back to sleep when she heard another buzzing coming from her phone. She looked at the message, again from Mike, which this time said: Okay, how about you just put your hand in my back pocket?

Quinn rolled her eyes. There was one thing she knew and that was that teenage boys were all the same. She fumbled around on the keyboard on her cell phone and sent Mike a new message. Definitely delusional. Go to sleep and we can discuss some light kissing in the morning.

Within seconds Mike had responded. Open mouthed?

Quinn shook her head. She had to give him credit, he was definitely persistent. Goodnight Mike. Sweet Dreams. She wrote, and then she turned her phone off so she could actually go to sleep without interruptions.

Quinn woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. She had a feeling that things would be going the way she wanted them to from now on. When she returned to school she had faced competition from Santana as the Queen Bee, but Santana didn't have a boyfriend, which Quinn now did. Santana also wasn't captain of the Cheerio's which Quinn was. Not everyone had been informed of the news but Quinn made a mental note to tip Jacob Ben Israel off to the information so the blogosphere would know by the end of the day. She would be top dog. She would have her life back.

After going through her morning routine Quinn drove to school and made her way inside, keeping her head up and walking with the confidence that she knew a Queen Bee to have. She saw Mike and Matt talking in front of their lockers. Quinn walked over to them, put her arm through Mike's and stood on her tip-toes to kiss him on the cheek. He smiled at her, and looked over to Matt and motioned for him to give them some privacy. Mike and Matt were such good friends that they had come to the point where they didn't even need to talk to each other to know what the other was thinking.

"I see Mike wasn't lying about the two of you so… I'll just get out of your hair. See you in math Mike. See you in Glee Club Quinn."

Quinn waved at Matt as he walked off and then felt Mike put his arm around her as they started to walk in the opposite direction. Quinn put her arm around Mike's waist and continued to walk with him.

"My mom thinks you're cute."

Mike grinned at his girlfriend's comment. "Really? I got the feeling that she didn't like me too much."

Quinn shook her head. "She's crazy psychotic that history is going to repeat itself and thus she hates all guys so don't take that personally. At dinner she said that you were cute though, and she asked if you were in Glee Club. She remembers you from Regionals. She thinks you're a good dancer."

Mike looked down at his feet and Quinn giggled. "Why can't we ever talk about your dancing? You're really good."

Mike shook his head. "I have Asian parents. They always told me it was a waste of time and I should spend more time studying. I was so afraid to dance outside of my room because I thought they were just going to yell at me and tell me to hit the books."

"Well you're good at it Mike and if you keep the humble and embarrassed act up much longer people are just going to stop giving you compliments."

Mike looked down at her and grinned. "You mean you're not going to put up with my self-conscience bull shit?"

Quinn shook her head. "I don't have the patience or the willpower to subject myself to that."

Mike dropped his arm and instead grabbed Quinn's hand so they could hold hands down the hall. His hands were warm, and soft. She heard a buzzing and realized it was his cellphone as he too it out of his pocket and read a text message.

"Who is it?" Quinn asked.

"Matt," Mike answered, "Dude says he's trapped upstairs with Santana. You know how she's a little… overwhelming? He needs me to save him. Man… I was going to impress you with my chivalry by walking you to class. Rain check?"

Quinn nodded and released her rasp from their hands so that her boyfriend could save his best friend from the Queen of Mean. She secretly wondered if Santana had heard about Mike being her new boyfriend and was now trying to seduce Matt in order to balance things out. She wouldn't put it past her ex best-friend and now frenemy.

Quinn continued walking in the direction of her homeroom class when she was blind sighted with seeing Puck making out with one of the new Cheerio's. It wasn't ad if she hadn't been hearing stories all the time of Puck hooking up with girls left, right, and centre, but she had been lucky enough and smart enough by making sure to avoid his path so that she had never actually witnessed any of it. Today however, she wasn't so lucky. There he was, shoving his tongue down some redhead's throat. His hands were reaching down lower and lower on the girl's body. Quinn was disgusted. This was at school. She thought that he still had some decency left, but she was obviously wrong.

The bell rang and the halls became crowded with people quickly trying to make their way to their homeroom class. The freshman broke apart from Puck and flirtatiously waved goodbye to him as she walked off. Puck grinned smugly and turned around to walk to class. Quinn snapped out of it and realized she couldn't have him realizing that she had been staring so she put her head up and walked right past him, not looking back. He didn't look at her either, but Quinn pretended she hadn't been paying attention to that and walked into class and sat down.

She made it through all of her classes where she was attentive and paid attention. Last year with all the baby drama her grades had slipped, but Quinn was determined to make up for them this year. It was after all the start to the new year. She sat with Mike and Matt at lunch and laughed at how the best friends would make fun of each other. They were fun to be around and she was laughing constantly. Matt had to leave with fifteen minutes to spare though as Quinn spotted Santana headed their way. Matt ran off to find a hiding spot as Mike and Quinn laughed at the situation. Santana was hot as hell, but she definitely could be very overpowering and had a tendency to scare guys off.

Before she knew it, it was the end of the day and Quinn found herself walking to Glee practice. She walked in the rehearsal room and sat beside Mike who had gotten there early. The only other people in the room were Artie and Tina who were talking about their date on Friday. Quinn sat in the chair beside Mike.

"Did you ever find out if Matt escaped from Santana?" She asked.

Mike laughed. "He texted me saying that he stayed in the boy's washroom for twenty-five minutes to avoid her. He kept asking people to go outside and see if she was still there and she apparently was just waiting outside for him the whole time. I mean, I knew they had a thing for a little bit last year but she was the one who had ended things. I thought she moved on."

Quinn's mind instantly thought that maybe she had been right. Maybe Santana was trying to get back together with Matt so that she was on even ground with Quinn. She knew how much Santana liked being the most poplar girl in school.

"I don't think anyone ever knows what's going through Santana's mind… but Id stay away from her if I were Matt. She is kind of intense."

Mike muttered how much of an understatement that was at the same time that the rest of the Glee Club started to pile in. Kurt and Mercedes walked in gossiping over the newest scandal. Brittany and Santana walked in holding pinkies. Next, Finn and Rachel came into the room holding hands. Mr. Schuster came in with a stack of sheet music in his hands. Matt walked in and sat as far away from Santana as possible. There was only one other person left to join them. He was late, as always. He contributed to the whole bad-boy image.

Rachel stood up from her seat and faced the rest of the Glee Club. "Fellow students, I know that Noah hasn't joined us yet but frankly the chances of him showing within the next few minutes aren't the greatest so as the representative of Glee Club I would just like to welcome everyone back from their hopefully enjoyable summers. i hope you all had a great time, but I also hope that you know that now it's time to get down to business. I've been mapping out potential songs and choreography to use in future numbers. As we all know, our loss at Regionals was unfortunate and unjust, but it was also a kick in the pants so that we can become bigger and better than ever! Now, the songs I have picked out are harder, and the dance routines will require more practice, but I was teaching Finn one of the numbers over the summer and he seemed to be getting the hang of it. If he can, then it's safe to say that anyone and everyone will master these numbers."

Rachel would have continued on for days and days talking as evident by how fast and enthusiastic she was being, but luckily Mr. Schue stood up from his seat by the piano and interjected.

"Rachel, I'm glad that you're excited about this year but it's only the first day. Maybe we could discuss one of your numbers after we've had time to settle in. Today I wanted to just discuss the journey we've been through and have time to reconnect."

Artie looked puzzled. "Well- why do you have those stacks of sheet music if today we're just 'reconnecting'?" He used air quotes as he said the word, and motioned to the stack of papers on top of the piano.

Rachel smiled and quickly went back into her speech, "I can explain that. I really am fully committed to this club and throughout the summer I've been printing off sheet music, highlighting which members should sing which parts and in which keys. I showed them to Mr. Schuester this morning and although he seemed less than excited about them even considering all of the time and work it took me to complete them… he promised that he would bring them to rehearsal today and at least consider passing them out."

Mercedes frowned. "Is it possible that she's become even more annoying since last year?"

Kurt nodded. "I saw her once in the summer. At the mall. She practically jumped me while asking if i was doing daily vocal exercises or mapping out dance routines. The cashier at the Fro-Yo stand thought she escaped from a mental institution."

Rachel was about to defend herself but at that moment Noah Puckerman walked into the room, wearing his letterman jacket, and muttering, "Sorr, I got caught up." to Mr. Schuester. He sat down on the only available seat left, in front of Mike and Quinn. Quinn tried not to notice the smirk he gave when he saw that they were sitting beside each other. she wondered if he had heard the news about them dating, but immediately told herself to forget about the boy who had recently grown back his mohawk and was sitting in front of her.

Mr. Schue motioned for Rachel to sit down as well and she complied. "Now that you're all hear I think we should all go around the room and say hear about what each person did this summer. It's been a long while I'm sure since some of you have seen each other. Does anyone want to start us off?"

Quinn knew that she would be the last person who would want to talk about what she had done in the summer. She had spent almost all of her time with Puck and it was clear now that it had been a mistake. She quickly tried to think of something else to tell the group so that she wouldn't have to think any more of the boy who had hurt her so much.

Rachel rose her hand, eager as always. She stood up (which wasn't necessary), again turned to face the group and said, "Well, as i'm sure you all know by now, me and Finn are an item so much of my time was spent with him, but I also went to a six week day camp for teenagers who trying to become future broadway stars. There were amazing teachers and vocal coaches. My talent, though it really didn't need too much, has managed to become greater than ever. The other kids were mediocre - at best - compared to me, and seemed to form a jealousy filled grudge against me because of the intense compliments I was being paid."

Quinn rolled her eyes. It wasn't a surprise that Rachel would turn something so simple into a chance to gloat about herself. Quinn couldn't handle her and was surprised that Finn could stand her enough to actually be her boyfriend.

Mr. Schue motioned for Finn to go next. "I played a lot of football, practicing for the new season. i'm hoping that we might actually win more than one game this year. I played some video games. And yeah, me and Rachel hung out a lot."

Kurt was up. "My grandmother in England invited me to stay with her for two weeks. The shopping is extraordinary in London. Also, if you look to my right you can see that Mercedes has ditched the weave for a more natural, but sexy sassy short bob, and that my friends is courtesy of moi. I've also been recruited to the football team once again in hopes that they can beat their winning record of 1 game so I unfortunately had to waste perfect shopping or facial opportunities on practices."

Mercedes laughed and then said, "Well yes I have upgraded my sexbomb status with my new haircut, but I also got a job at Burger King so I spent a lot of the time working. Other than that i was hanging out with my Bff Kurt and my girl Quinn."

Quinn smiled and remembered all the times she would get phone calls and hear Mercedes complain about her job and hating having to be nice to extremely rude customers.

"I spent a lot of time at the aquarium," Britney said as she appeared in a daze, "One night I got lost after closing hours. I had to sleep beside the dolphin exhibit since gay animals seem the least threatening."

Santana rolled her eyes at her best friend, but smiled. "I was busy being popular. Hanging out at the beach, going to parties, and spending time with a few guys. Me and Matt hung out a lot."

Matt shook his head fast. "We hung out once."

Santana sighed. "And you loved it Matty."

Quinn giggled. Matt had told her at lunch how Santana had started calling him Matty and how much he absolutely despised it. She realized he hadn't been lying.

Artie stopped what seemed to be in the mist of becoming a confrontation and announced, "I was playing a lot of guitar. I'm pretty much a guitar god now. Tina and I hung out a lot as well."

Tina nodded. "He tried to teach me guitar. It didn't work out too well but I can play a few chords. My parents and I also went on vacation to Florida for a couple weeks. My mom thought she saw Kristen Stewart at a Burger King and was about to give her a piece of her mind until she realized it was a cardboard cutout. "

Matt was next to talk about his summer holiday. "I went to the pool a lot with Mike. We were scoping out some girls- I mean I was, he's much too much of a gentleman to try and hookup with random girls. I also played video games, went to parties, trained for football and worked at Pizza Hut."

"And hung out with me." Santana reminded him.

"Once."

Quinn looked at Mike and smiled. "You didn't tell me about all of these pool hookups." She teased.

Mike laughed nervously. "Would it help if I told you I have no game with the ladies and only managed to get to first base with one girl?"

Quinn smiled. "It does actually. But we weren't together so don't worry about it."

It was now Mike's turn. "Yeah I hung out at the pool, went to some parties, I also worked at Pizza Hut. Nothing too cool. I did win a dance contest they were having at the beach one day. I won a cooler."

Quinn giggled and then realized it was her turn. She gulped. She knew that everyone had least an inclination of what she had been doing in the summer but she wasn't about to bring it all up. Especially since things were over. Instead she said, "I worked out… a lot. And then I convinced Coach Sylvester to put me back on Cheerio's. Now I'm captain again. Things are back to normal."

She sighed after she was done, relieved but then she realized Puck was the last one to discuss his summer plans. She prayed that he wouldn't be a huge jerk and reveal all the intimate details of their summer. Her heart was beating fast and she felt terribly uncomfortable.

"This summer… well," Puck made it a point to look behind at Quinn, "I pretty much wasted all of my time."

Quinn was glad that he hadn't said anything to embarrass or humiliate her, but she was surprised at how hurt she was at his comment. She didn't know why she was so hurt, but she knew that she felt bad and that her stomach was in knots. She put her game face on though and acted like she hadn't even heard his comment. He wasn't going to bring her down.

Mr. Schuester clapped his hands together, sensing the awkwardness and said, "Well now that that's out of the way, I want to welcome you all back to Glee Club. It's going to be a wild ride this year. Last year we were good, but not good enough. This year we're going to have to make sure that we're better than we've ever been. It'll be tough but I have faith in every single one of you. But we don't just have to get better, we also have to get bigger. That's why there will be open auditions starting next week to find some new members for the club."

Obviously Mr. Schue had thought that the club would have been over the moon at this proclamation, but he received the opposite reaction. The members of the club groaned, or even booed at his statement. "What's wrong with adding new members?" He asked.

"We're a good group with just the 12 of us," Tina explained, "The whole dynamic of the group will be thrown off if we add new members."

Kurt nodded his head in agreement. "Even though I was less than thrilled when some of the members of this group joined… we're almost like a family now. Plus, everyone sans Finn and Rachel are already fighting for solos. I'm sure everyone isn't jumping out of their seats about having more competition to actually sing more than a harmony."

Mercedes nodded and folded her arms over her chest. "With more people it's a guarantee that all you'll be giving me is some huge note to wail on at the end of the song. This is idea is terrible Mr. Schue."

Mr. Schuester shook his head and put his hands up to explain. "Guys, I know that you all aren't pleased with how many songs you get to sing but the simple truth is that we need new members. We need 12 members to perform at competitions. What if at regionals Quinn's water had broke just 15 minutes earlier? Her and Puck would have had to leave, we'd be down to 10 members, and we'd be disqualified. Now an event that extreme probably won't happen again, but what if one of you got sick right before we had to perform? Or what if one of you fell and broke your leg? We need new members not only to sound better and be more dynamic, but also has a sort of insurance policy."

Quinn frowned and was upset that Mr. Schuester felt the need to bring up her humiliating pregnancy from last year. How was she ever going to move past it and have people forget about the incident if people kept bringing it back up?

The group seemed more relaxed after hearing the reasoning behind the decision. it did make sense, and the last thing anyone of them wanted was to be disqualified from the competitions.

"See, it isn't so ridiculous to suggest now," Mr. Schue said, "I'll be busy with auditions next week so I was thinking I could just give you an assignment to keep you all busy and reconnect you with Glee club until I'm finished with everything."

Santana laughed. "How long do you really think that's going to take?"

Mr. Schue shrugged his shoulders innocently. "I don't know. I was thinking two or three days."

Santana smirked. "Really? Haven't you gotten it by now that no one wants to join Glee Club? It's a guarantee that joining this club will result in a nosedive of your popularity. You'll be lucky if one loser decides to risk his excuse for a reputation and try out."

Britney nodded in agreement to support her friend. "Yeah, I wouldn't have joined Glee if Quinn hadn't told me to."

Quinn smiled and remembered the time when she had complete control over everyone and anyone. Those were the days. She comforted herself and told herself that she would soon be in that position very shortly.

"Guys, what's going on? I thought you all liked being in this club?"

Finn quickly replied to his teacher, "We do. We all do Mr. Schue but that's because we're in it. In the beginning there were only 5 people that were brave enough to actually join the club."

Mr Schuester sighed. "Listen, we've won Sectionals and we did amazing at Regionals. I'm sure there's enough buzz going on that people are starting to warm up to the idea. In any case I'm giving you an assignment to get things back and running. It's a simple task. Just choose a song that reflects you or your life at this moment and everyone will be singing it in front of the Club. Next Friday we'll see. Until then make sure you practice and wish me luck recruiting some new members. Apparently I'll need it."

The Glee club then went into vocal exercise to warm up their voices from their break over the summer. It was standard practicing and was over shortly. There was still a half an hour left of practice and after four minutes of nonstop whining Mr. Schue relented and let Rachel pass out the sheet music to one (and one only) of the songs that she had been organizing for weeks. After much consideration she picked 'Circus' by Britney Spears because as she said, "It's the simplest song singing wise that's an option and it's obvious that some people aren't ready for more complicated numbers."

Quinn could have sworn that Rachel looked at her when she said that and frankly it pissed her off. Sure, Rachel was a good singer, but she had zero social awareness and was the most annoying person anyone could possibly meet. Quinn made it a mental note that once she was on better terms with Finn to ask him how he could possibly date her. It wasn't like he hated her anymore, but he had made it clear that though he was over the whole situation, he wasn't ready to be best friends - at least not yet. Quinn was willing to respect his wishes, but she hoped that soon things would be a lot better between the two of them.

It only took the club twenty minutes until they were done with the number. Rachel was being very nit-picky and wanted everything completely perfect on the first try. She got extremely frustrated very easily and could not take criticism regarding her leadership tactics.

However, Quinn could say one good thing that she noticed had changed about Rachel. She had seemed to understand the concept of sharing. The song was not just a duet between her and Finn with the rest of the club coming in during the chorus. Finn, Rachel, Mercedes, Artie, Tina, and Quinn all got solos. She claimed that this was the type of song for girls to sing the majority of and that she simply chose Artie and Finn because their voices suited the song best - but in no means was she trying to say they sounded like girls. Quinn was initially happy to have a part in the song, even if this was a number made up by Rachel that would most likely be trashed by the days end. However she was annoyed that Rachel had said, "And Quinn, you get a part too! I made sure of it." She sensed pity in her rival's voice. It seemed more of a 'I'm sorry you had to be pregnant for all of last year and lose all of your popularity and then in the end you gave your baby away so here's a part in the song to make up for it all' sort of thing rather than a 'You're a really good singer and your voice would sound amazing on this part'.

The part she got to sing was in the second chorus. "There's only two types of guys out there. Ones that can hang with me and ones that are scared." After that Tina came in to sing "So baby, i hope that you came prepared. I run a tight ship so beware." It was a small part, just two lines, but only half of the club had actual parts so she was happy with what she had.

At least she was for a while, but every time she sang her part Rachel stopped them and told Quinn to start over. After the fourth time of making Quinn stop Rachel also told her, "Quinn you have to really pay attention when singing! You're starting to sound way too sharp!"

That was all Quinn could take. She hated being bossed around and insulted, and she especially hated it when Rachel was the one behind it all. She also knew that she couldn't let everyone see her being made fun of and belittled by one of the least popular girls in the whole school. She lashed out. "Listen Alexis Arquette, unless you want a smackdown you should really back the hell off me! You're not our coach so stop being pathetic by playing make believe and learn your place!"

She was rocking her bitch face and bitch tone as she said it. Even her stance, with one hand on her hip, provoked the image of power. Rachel was at a loss for words. The club was silent for a moment until Mr. Schuester stood up and said, "I think that's enough for one day guys. It's getting a little heated so why don't we call it a day and you can all go home and get started on your assignments?"

Rachel looked at Mr. Schue like a sad puppy dog. "But we didn't even make it to choreography!"

"I know Rachel but it's getting late. We'll save it for another day. Tell you what, we'll even do a couple Britney numbers."

Rachel sighed but complied and sat back down and started packing her bag. The rest of the club did the same. As Quinn put her tote bag on her shoulder Mike turned to her and asked, "Dave Karofsky's having a party tomorrow night. Want to go?"

Quinn shook her head. "I hate Karofsky."

"I hate him too. Everyone does but he's got a huge house with a pool, and he promised a ton of alcohol and that no one has to even pitch in. It'll be fun. Please?"

Quinn noticed that Puck was hanging back, and she just knew that he was listening in to her conversation with Mike. After what he said about wasting his time with her, she felt that he deserved to at least be aware that she had moved on. "So would this be like our first official outing as a couple?"

Mike smiled. "It would appear that way."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "And you really want to go… don't you?"

"I mean the guy is a douche but it's going to be an awesome party. I don't want to go if you don't want to though. We could go out for dinner or something instead but… this is going to be a lot more fun."

"Fine," Quinn replied, "You're lucky I'm a really good girlfriend and I'm willing to go to the hugest douche on the planet's party."

She made sure to stress the word girlfriend as she knew Puck was still listening in. She doubted that the revelation would hurt him in any way, he wasn't the type to get worked up about these sorts of things, but she hoped that it would sting at least a bit. Maybe he had hooked up with girls before she had hooked up with a guy, but she was the first one to start a new relationship. That meant much more.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a lucky guy, but let's get out of here." Mike took her hand and they walked out of the choir room. Quinn looked back and saw that Puck was watching them walk out while holding hands. She quickly turned her head back around, not wanting him to think that she was purposefully trying to see his reaction.

Mike walked her out to her car. "Do you want a ride home?" She asked.

He shook his head. "I got the car today so I drove it here. Thanks though."

She nodded and told him, "You're picking me up tomorrow at 7:30. Don't be late, but don't be early either because I need time to get ready." She made sure to be forceful and let him know that it wasn't a request, but a command. Quinn didn't always treat her men like dogs, but she knew that she had to order them around sometimes so that her hold on them would remain intact. Her older sister had actually taught her that trick.

Mike wasn't offended and just nodded in agreement. "That's fine, but… you know yesterday in your text message you did mention some light kissing."

Quinn laughed. "Have you been waiting all day to mention that?"

"Maybe… but I've been brought up to keep my promises so I just assumed that you were raised the same."

Quinn smiled and stood on her tip toes to give her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek. "Good enough?" She asked.

Mike shook his head and leaned down to kiss her on the mouth. Quinn counted to 5 Mississippi in her head and then broke away from the kiss. "Pick me up on time, and there'll be more of that tomorrow."

With that, Quinn opened the door to her car and got into the driver's seat. She waved at Mike as she drove off. When she got home her mother was in the living room, drinking a glass of wine. She turned to Quinn and asked, "Did he break up with you?"

Quinn shook her head. "No he didn't."

"I told you. You have to listen to your mother more Quinnie."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "I didn't seriously think he was going to dump me mom. I mean, I'm Quinn Fabray. I'm kind of a big deal."

The next school day came and went without a lot of commotion. Quinn had Cheerio's practice after school and was thankful that after the weekly weigh-in it was announced that she had lost a pound. The choreography for the new routine was top notch and Coach Sylvester had even complimented her flip. She had noticed Santana giving her a dirty look after the compliment, which obviously meant she was jealous. Jealousy equaled popularity in McKinley. Things were looking up.

After getting ready, and deciding to wear a pair of skinny jeans and a black tank top (not the usual look for Quinn but she knew she looked hot in it and she wanted to remind everyone of the fact) Mike showed up at exactly 7:30. Quinn wondered if he might have shown up at 7:25 and just waited in his car until 7:30 to ensure that he was on time but she wasn't going to press the subject. In any case she now knew that Mike would listen to her.

She called to her mom that she was leaving and then got into the passenger seat of Mike's car. She giggled. "I kind of thought you were going to pick me up in a mini van. I saw you driving one to a party last year. I was actually scared for both our sakes."

Mike shook his head. "I had to drive my mom's car then because mine was in the shop. But don't worry, I wouldn't dare make a girl as smokin as you show up to a party in a loser cruiser."

"That's a wise decision Mike Chang. Is Matt coming to this party?"

Matt turned the corner and kept his eyes on the road as he said, "Yeah. He asked Britney if her and Santana were coming and when she said that they were having a sleepover at her house instead Matt decided that he was coming. What's with those two? They're best friends but then they're really close. Like really close, and then Santana is all over Matt and Britney's all over every guy and even a lot of girls."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "They're best friends with benefits. I know it's not the usual boy girl couple but that's what they are. At least, that's what I was seeing when we used to be friends. Now we're more like frenemies so I don't hang out with them as much."

Mike nodded and then asked, "Do you know what song you're doing for the Glee Club assignment?"

Quinn shook her head. "I haven't even thought about it. I've been busy with Cheerio's today and plus, we still have a week. Why, did you already pick out a song?"

Mike shook his head. "I know I want to do something where I can show off my dancing, but I don't know what song."

Mike parked on the streetcorner across the road from Dave's house. No one was out on the lawn being stupidly drunk yet, but it was early. Everyone was inside at the moment, or out by the pool and hot tub area. Mike and Quinn made their way inside the house holding hands. Quinn saw that all eyes were on them. People started whispering to each other. This was it, if anyone didn't know about them yet they would after tonight. Quinn knew that they were for sure going to be McKinley High's new It Couple.

Quinn only had one bottle of Mike's Hard Lemonaide. She knew what could happen when she had too much to drink so she held off. Mike had one beer. He was about to have another but Quinn stopped him. "You're driving me home tonight."

Mike put the beer bottle back down. "You mean I can't get even a little wasted?"

Quinn shook her head. "I'm not getting into a car accident because you wanted to be an idiot."

Mike sighed but then his face brightened up, like he had an idea. "How about you drive me home and then drive back to your house. Tomorrow you can bring my car back to my house and we can just hang out. Then I'll drop you back off and everything works just fine."

Quinn sighed but finally agreed. Mike put his hand up asking for a high five. Quinn left him hanging. "Next time we're getting a taxi."

Mike nodded his head in agreement and quickly grabbed another beer bottle. As he drank it, the couple moved from the kitchen into the living room where more people were. Quinn saw that Finn was there, and he brought Rachel, who stuck out like a sore thumb. Mike led Quinn to the couch and motioned for her to sit on his lap. Quinn did so and wrapped an arm around his neck.

Matt came over to the pair. "Britney said they weren't coming! But then apparently she told Santana that I asked and she took it as I wanted her to come! I just escaped from her. She was hanging on me like an octopus!"

Mike laughed. "Sorry dude, I can't help you tonight. I'm busy with my girl." He put his arm around Quinn's waist.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Are you seriously going to become our Yoko Ono?"

Quinn shook her head. "I wouldn't be able to split you two apart if I tried. But, it is kind of entertaining to watch you try and escape from Santana."

"Why don't you just go for it? She's hot and obviously willing to give it up without you having to do the whole boyfriend thing."

Matt laughed. "Yeah and then I can be just like Puck. He can't date any girl without having Santana try and get in a scrap with them. Believe me, I don't want her messing with every other girl I try to hook up with."

Mike shrugged his shoulders. "Well I guess you're on your own then. And i'd start running if I were you. She's coming this way."

Matt immediately started speed walking out to the backyard. Quinn giggled and turned to face Mike. "You're cute." She whispered.

"You're hot." He replied. He then leaned in and kissed her. He grabbed a handful of her hair and kept his other hand firmly on her waist. She could feel him smiling as he kissed her. Quinn knew that everyone was staring at the two of them. She didn't blame them, they were a hot couple. Maybe they hadn't been the golden couple that her and Finn had been, but they were at least an It Couple. Quinn was perfectly satisfied. Plus, Mike was fun, and could crack her up. He was more than just a popularity boost.

Quinn felt buzzing in Mike's pocket from his cell phone. He ignored it the first time and continued to kiss her. He ignored it the second time. Finally, after the third time he sighed and pulled away from Quinn. He took his cell phone out of his pocket and looked at the text message. He slammed his fist in the couch.

"I told him I couldn't save him tonight but now he's complaining about being trapped in a corner with Santana basically trying to rape him."

Quinn put her hand on the side of Mike's face. "Help him. I'll be here when you get back."

Mike shook his head. "You can go. Enjoy the party. I'll text you when I'm done saving the moron. But… one more kiss for the road?"

Quinn nodded and pulled his head in closer to hers and kissed him passionately on the mouth. When they broke apart Mike smiled and said, "I'll be back soon."

Quinn stood up from Mike's lap and watched him walk off to go find Matt. She started walking to find someone else to hang out with until Mike was finished. There was no one she wanted to talk to on the first level. The party was full of a lot of Karofsky's friends and they, like him, were arrogant assholes. She was about to settle for watching a beer pong game but then saw Alice Johnson walking upstairs. Quinn realized it wasn't off limits like at some parties, or at least Karofsky wasn't enforcing the rule, and walked upstairs to see who was there. She walked to the end of the hallway and tried to deflect off some Cheerio's who were way too peppy for her liking. As she told one of them that kissing ass was not going to get her to the top of the pyramid she felt someone grab her arm and pull her into a dark bedroom. Her heart started racing and she started punching air, searching for whoever had grabbed her.

"Relax," She heard and the lights were flicked on. Quinn saw that it was Puck. He locked the bedroom door.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" She screamed.

Puck looked her in the eyes. She could see that he was angry. "You're with Mike now?"

Quinn guessed that he had witnessed their show downstairs. "What does it matter to you?"

"It's only been three weeks since things ended."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and in between that time you've slept with more girls than I have fingers and toes. Back off Puck."

Puck sat down on the bed. "You slept with him yet?"

Quinn stayed standing in the exact same place, right beside the door with her arms crossed over her chest. "That is so not any of your business but no we haven't. We just became official a couple of days ago."

He nodded his head. Quinn sighed. "You didn't want to be with me Puck."

She hated that he was doing this to her. she hated how he always was reminding her of the time they had been together. She was trying so desperately to move on. Quinn couldn't understand how he could be so over her one second, and then the next throw her mixed signals. He confused her way too much. That's why she liked being with Mike. with him there was no confusion. Everything was just so simple.

"I didn't… I don't. I just didn't think that you'd be hooking up with my friend. It's not like I care about you or anything but… it's low Quinn. It's a bitch move."

Quinn laughed. "I'm not doing this to mess with you Puck. Don't flatter yourself. I like Mike and I'm his girlfriend. It's time for you to accept it and move on with your life."

Puck's voice immediately turned defensive and it was filled with anger. "Don't get bitchy with me Quinn! I am over it! This summer was a complete waste of time and I'm glad it's over. I was just surprised that you had turned into a skank and decided to date my friend. Is being an ex's friend some sort of prerequisite for you?"

Quinn wanted to slap him but she kept her composure. She instead muttered a "Fuck you," and unlocked the door to the bedroom. She ran down the stairs and did her best to hold back her tears. As she made it to the bottom of the staircase she saw Rachel and Finn.

Rachel smiled. "Quinn I hope we can put that moment at Glee Club yesterday in the past. It's a fresh start and I don't want to have any enemies in the club this year."

Quinn frowned. "Rachel, I know social situations are hard for you but listen carefully because I'm going to lay one on you right now. We're not friends. We will never be friends. I don't want to be your friend. You disgust me more than Ke$ha who refuses to shower. Leave me alone!"

Quinn stormed off as she heard Finn assure Rachel that she didn't look like she didn't shower. Quinn wanted to find Mike. She looked at her cell phone but she hadn't received any new text messages. How long did it take to go rescue Matt? She was becoming very agitated quickly.

She just wanted to hang out with him and have him kiss her so she could forget about everything else. She didn't care if she had to practically dry hump with him in front of everyone on the couch, she just wanted to forget about what Puck had just said and to feel wanted. It was obvious that he didn't want her, and she was fine with that, but she wanted to feel like someone liked her and wanted to be with her. She knew Mike did, but she had to feel it immediately. It was hurting too much to be alone at the moment.

Quinn looked through the crowds of people but couldn't find him. She didn't see Matt either. She was so tempted to drink away her sorrows but she knew that she had to be responsible for driving herself and Mike home so she refrained. Her cell phone buzzed and Quinn took it out of her pocket to see if what the text message said. It wasn't Mike as she expected, but Puck.

Puck: Come back upstairs. We need to talk.

Quinn rolled her eyes. This was the way things had always been. He acted like a huge jackass and immediately thought that she would be able to forgive him. He didn't realize that his actions and his words had consequences. That's why Quinn quickly wrote Not a chance and put her phone back into her front pocket. She started heading out towards the backyard when she was stopped by Britney.

"Your boyfriend is being totally lame."

Quinn rolled her eyes at the ditzy way the girl always talked. "What's he doing?'

Britney pointed out to the doors leading out to the backyard. "He's totally wasted and making Santana lose her chance with Matt. I tried to make out with him so he would go away but he didn't go for it."

Quinn was happy inside that even if Mike was as drunk as Britney said he still refused to make out with her. Especially since she knew that the two had some sort of relationship shortly last year. She brushed past Britney and made her way out to the pool. She saw Mike, stumbling like an idiot near Matt while Santana looked on at the two, obviously annoyed. Quinn walked up to them.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Quinn asked Matt, pointing at Mike who was struggling to stand up straight.

Matt's face brightened up. He exaggeratedly said, "Oh thank goodness you found us Quinn! He's drunk out of his mind and since you're our designated driver we couldn't leave till you found us! Now that you have... I guess we should get going!"

Quinn was confused but nodded her head. She mouthed the word 'Sorry' out to Santana, received an obligatory eye roll, and walked off with Matt and Mike. Mike had one arm around Matt and one around Quinn so that they could hold him steady as they walked out to his car. Matt decided to sit in the backseat with Mike so that he wouldn't do anything stupid and Quinn took the keys from Mike so she could drive.

"You're pretty... like an an angel kind of pretty." Mike slurred out as he leaned forward form his seat and stroked Quinn's hair. She batted his hand away so she could forces on driving.

"What the hell did he have to drink? He was practically sober when he left me."

Matt nervously laughed. "Well... he tried to get Santana away from me but she wasn't getting the message. She just yelled at him to give us privacy. So he got drunk so that she couldn't blame him for being an idiot and then whenever you came outside we would be able to call you over and say we needed our designated driver to drive us home. He thought it was pretty smart."

Quinn got her bitch face on. "Have you ever thought that maybe you could just grow some balls and tell Santana that you weren't interested and that she should just back off?"

Mike laughed and pointed at Matt. "Grow some balls dude!"

"Shut up," Matt told him and turned his attention back to Quinn, "Yeah I've thought about that but& she's kind of scary, don't you think?"

"No one scares me. Especially not a girl who cries if her tanning time is cut off by rain or Coach Sylvester."

Matt sighed. "Well what would I even say so that she wouldn't hold some pointless grudge?"

Quinn looked in the mirror and saw that Mike was passed out on the side of his car. He was drooling. Quinn made a mental reminder to never be around him if he was going to be this sloppy again. She then shrugged her shoulders in response to Matt's question. "How am I supposed to know? I just say things outright without worrying what the other person thinks. But& you could just tell her that she's too intense for you. Think of a better word for intense though& something like she needs a guy that could give her a lot of attention and you're just not the guy to do it. It might not work but make sure it's clear that you're rejecting her gently. She'll get the message and back away. She wouldn't want other people realizing that she's making a fool of herself."

Matt smiled. "You're really good at advice Quinn."

She shook her head. "I got pregnant when I was sixteen Matt with my boyfriend's best friend. I'm kind of the poster child for what not to do."

Matt slumped back into his seta and didn't press the subject. The rest of the car ride was silent. Quinn dropped Mike off at his house first and Matt helped her get him inside through the back door so his parents would be less likely to see him in his extremely drunken state. Matt walked Mike up to his room to throw him on his bed while Quinn waited at the back door. He came back down so Quinn could drive him home but she held a hand up to stop him.

"He's such an idiot. He's really drunk. One of us has to stay with him in case he ends up throwing up and chokes on his own vomit or something like that one guy in that hippy band. My mom will kill me if I don't come home so I vote that you do it."

Matt sighed and whispered, "He snores though!"

Quinn looked at Matt and gave him her death glare. "He got majorly drunk to help you escape from Santana! He's your best friend and he just did you a favour. Man up Rutherford and stay with him. You're acting like a real wuss right now."

Matt relented and Quinn left to drive Mike's car back to her house. She parked it on the side of the street and walked into her house and up to her bedroom. After washing her face and brushing her teeth she collapsed on her bed and looked at the time. It was 1:00. The party would be ending in another hour or two. Quinn drifted off to sleep as she thought about her new life now and how it wasn't like it had been a year ago but was also nice, pleasant and simple.

Author's Note: (PLEASE READ! =D )

If you have read through this thank you so much! I have worked so long and hard on this chapter so I very much appreciate those who have read it all.

I am a huge Puck/Quinn story and rest assured that this story is ultimately about them but this first massive chapter had to lay all of the groundwork down. I know there wasn't too much interaction between them but this chapter was to set the whole story up. The next chapter will be jampacked with lots of Quick goodness including at least one (but most like two or three) flashbacks of the summer they spent together!

This story will also have Mike/Quinn as is pretty obvious so you will have to expect that, but Puck and Quinn will always be my favourite couple so it's pretty safe to say where this story will end up!

Now I would like to request some feedback. The next chapter will probably be long as well. Most likely around the same length of this chapter. Would you prefer me to upload it as one big chapter or as two or three smaller chapters? Either or is fine with me.

Also any review that you can give, doesn't matter if it's one word, one sentence, one paragraph, etc. it would mean so much to me! Writers live for feedback afterall! SO please, if you have the time please leave a review!

I've just been back form a long writing break where I came down with writer's block. :P I'm all better now and anxious to write! I hope you all enjoy this story!

So once again I would extremely appreciate any reviews that you could spare! :)

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