In the Upper East Side, everybody had to make their way up the desperate social ladder in high school. Well, they were all wrong. It was a time where it was definitely emphasized, that social hierarchy was one of the most important things in order to survive. People under that ladder would kill, or other times deal with it in a very different manner and approach. Making lists showing that hierarchy lived amongst them, and those on top, weren't going to be the easiest people to live with. Authority would tell them that it's the character that would define the person and not the social status.

But that's where they're wrong, and they knew how wrong they really were.

They wouldn't tell those broken souls how tough life really was, and in the end, it was going to bite them in the ass. Luckily, Quinn Fabray grew up knowing and practically being thrown in social situations wherein proper decorum and attitude was practiced. Her parents were elite socialites that raised her to follow in their footsteps.

Oh, how ironic how she turned out to be.

Quinn was a photo journalist, something her parents would disapprove of because of lack of sense of livelihood, and they'd think that it's something Quinn could do 'just to pass the time'. But Quinn would prove them wrong, and show them how fulfilling the career would be, she loved every single second of it, from interviews to taking photos, editing and all other sorts of investigative journalism and its rewarding activities.

Why Quinn went to New York wasn't because she thought The New York Daily was the best fucking paper around, or because she loved the idea of celebrities and important people getting to read her pieces, well it would nice for those lovely things to happen, but it wasn't the main reason she chose to be based here.

New York City is where she decided to woo Rachel Berry, her former rival, who seemingly has shared a mutual connection with her during their graduation at Lima, Ohio. The diva had confessed her undying love, but never gave Quinn a chance to speak, as they say in the movies, it all happened so fast. The brunette had kissed her and left her facing the hall alone, speechless, trying to register what had happened.

Quinn Fabray was never so lost, but of course, she wouldn't let anyone know how lost she was.

/

Dan Humphrey on the other hand was a man of power, engaged to fashion designer, daughter and heir to Eleanor Waldorf Designs, Eleanor Waldorf-Rose's daughter herself, Blair Cornelia Waldorf. Whoever would have thought that these two would eventually couple up, nobody knew, and Serena van der Woodsen swore she'd never love again, because her best friend, no matter how close she was to her, had been engaged to her step-brother, also known as the only man who saw her for who she really was.

It was perfect really, Daniel Randolph Humphrey, the successful author of 'Living Under the Ladder', a book about how social hierarchy has destroyed people's humanity, and how money and gifts were the way to people's hearts instead of love and romance. His reviews were generally mixed, hated by the Upper East Side, which is how he planned it, and loved by those undermined by the cruel society. How Blair fit in the situation was easy, she was his muse, and every time he'd write something fantastic about it, it would be around her, and that's when he knew he was getting into a mess he would never be able to fix once broken. So he made sure he'd never have to reach a point where all the fragments are in pieces.

Now when the two had announced their unlikely pairing up, Serena and Chuck took two tall glasses of red wine from the butler who conveniently (or not, knowing Blair…) passed by them holding a tray of six, he then proceeded to the happy couple who gave their first toast with the remaining pair of glasses. Lily and Rufus had kind of expected it, but their expressions of discomfort meant that they weren't really sure, Eric had known all along and simply clasped his hands in enjoyment, and Jenny could have slit Blair's throat, but we're lucky Nate's with her, an arm around her waist and a kiss to her forehead made everything better for her.

Two years ago that had happened, and six months ago they were engaged, Dan Humphrey was on top of the world.

/

Rachel Berry lived in New York, New York and she adored everything about the state, from the great statue, the tallest building, the grand square and basically the people around her. She had met thousands and thousands of people just because she was on broadway, and her transition from a high school teenager who could only reach the dream in dreams to an in-demand on-stage actress was definitely progress.

She had worked hard, and she knows she got what she'd deserved.

One night after a performance of Les Mis, she received an anonymous white rose on her dressing room table. She smiled at the flower, knowing no one at all who would send her something so romantic, and although she was elated at the sight, she couldn't remove the feeling of guilt or expectation that it was from someone from her past.

It wasn't, because it was from a suitor who sent her roses after every night's performance, and Chuck Bass always got what he wanted.

/

Now as for Charles, being the third most powerful ruler of the empire in history, the first being Bart, and the second, Jack, he was the primal god in the eyes of businessmen in their world of black and white. He never had the appreciation for the arts, but ever since Blair took him to the first official screening of West Side Story, and meeting rising on-stage actress, he couldn't stop seeing plays with her.

Yet, another reason for Blair to break it off with him, she'd honestly thought he'd changed, and indeed he did, but it was for the worst. Chuck became obsessed, seeing every show Rachel starred in, going to every press conference and signing, even offering her own record label because he couldn't stop listening to it, he wanted her like Indiana Jones wanted the rarest artifact in the world.

But to Charles, she was even more than that.

/

December 12, 2016

Quinn had bought the latest Playbill magazine off the stand and she saw Rachel on the cover, not that she was surprised or anything, but it's what her headline read, 'Broadway Actress Rachel Berry, Engaged?' which enraged Quinn, and made her remember things only Puck would be able to reiterate. It was bad, and she needed a drink… or two.

"There was a man in the picture." She told the other person on the line "Charles Bass, it says." She added.

"Oh yeah, I know him. Just go ahead, there's a place called 'The Empire', I'll put it on you GPS." The man said.

"Thanks Nate." Quinn said, and hooked on her GPS to make her way to the empire.

/

Loud music, dancing girls, throng of people, bodies mashing together in old fashioned adrenaline rushes, dark atmospheres, the occasional shouting ladies, the more occasional moping ladies by the bar, and the guy who comes to save them.

"You seem intoxicated." A man in a blue suit approached a blonde who was busy playing with her dirty martini in the bar, "Why don't we kick it up a notch," the man cockily slid his hand on her thigh and she kicked him away with her leg, yet she was too intoxicated to aim, the martini fell from her hand to his head, and she just laughed.

The man grew angry, and it was obvious that his temper took control of him in certain situations. He lunged to grab Quinn, but before he was able to move, he'd been kicked from behind by a certain Dan Humphrey.

"I see someone hasn't been taught any manners." He said slyly, raising his left hand from his pocket and waving two fingers at security to dump the man outside the bar, he smiled to himself, praising a heroic deed and eyed the blonde he'd just saved. She was wearing a red dress, for a formal occasion, he presumed, but she was alone, and being Dan Humphrey, he wanted to make sure she was okay. "You okay there, miss?"

"You're Dan Humphrey." She smiled at him, and he smiled back, because no one has ever noticed him, quite like her before.

"Quinn Fabray, the New York Daily. May I buy you a drink?"