Author's Note: This story begins immediately after the prom episode so there are potential spoilers for anything up to that point. I will be adding in flashbacks here and there from previous episodes, all of which will be noted in italics. For the flashbacks, I tried to get the dialog as close as possible to the show but I've filled in some of the mannerisms that were viewed on screen but not apparent in the dialog. I also added a few touches of my own to the flashbacks to make them relevant to the story I'm telling. For now, this story is told in Quinn's POV. Don't worry about the Quinn/Finn start. This story will end up being Faberry through and through! Anyway, this author's note is getting too long so let's get on with the story!

Disclaimer: This really should go without saying but alas, I am not fortunate enough to own Glee or any of the characters involved. No copyright infringement is intended.

_-**-_-**-_
Chapter 1
_-**-_-**-_

Prom was an utter disaster. Not only had her date been thrown out for fighting, about Rachel Berry, of all people, but she had also lost out on the title of prom queen. It was inconceivable. Quinn had been positive the title would be hers as long as she had Finn on her arm. Sure, maybe the boy wasn't playing with a full deck, but could be sweet with that dopey half smile of his and he was at the top of the popularity chart. It should have been an easy win but nothing went as she had planned. The only thing she could take comfort in was that this was just their junior prom. She still had another year and another shot at getting that crown.

After the party, Quinn didn't stick around to socialize with the rest of the glee club members. She was distraught over the evening's events and was in no mood to deal with other people's crap on top of her own. She saw Santana blubbering earlier to Brittany and so did not want to even touch that with a ten foot pole.

She was met with a cool breeze when she pushed open the red double doors, making her escape. The slight chill caused her to wrap her shawl tighter around her shoulders. Quinn stopped for a moment and glanced up at the night sky. The previously viewable stars were now hidden behind clouds, threatening to open up and release their contents at any moment. Perfect. Even the weather outside seemed to have taken a turn for the worse.

Bringing her eyes back down to earth, the blonde looked across the parking lot and, to her dismay, saw Finn sitting in his pickup truck. What the hell is he still doing here? She groaned when she remembered that he had driven her here. Great. That meant that he was also her ride home since there was no way she was walking the five miles to her house in her brand new heels. Finn looked defeated, leaning forward against the steering wheel with his arms draped over it and his chin resting atop. However, he perked up at the sight of Quinn making her way across the parking lot and quickly hopped out of the truck.

"Quinn, I'm –" he began, but she raised her hand to signal for him to stop and he immediately snapped his mouth shut. She was pissed as hell and didn't want to have to listen to his lame ass excuses or apologies at the moment.

She walked around to the passenger side of the truck and climbed in. He scrambled to follow her direction and hopped in behind the steering wheel. "Drive me home," she demanded. He hesitated for a second before she gave him an icy stare and added, "Now." He swallowed hard and turned away from her to start the ignition. Quinn inwardly smirked at the scared look on his face. He didn't have the balls to argue with her when she whipped out the HBIC attitude.

It was an awkwardly silent ride back to the Fabray residence and she was glad that Finn was at least smart enough to not try and talk to her again. It began to rain outside; the pelting of the raindrops on the metal body of the truck were the only sounds in the cab. Quinn pensively watched the raindrops join together and trickled down her window. If only the evening had gone as smoothly as the water flowing down the glass.

Luckily it was a short drive and a few minutes later, Finn pulled his truck into the Fabray's driveway. He made a move to turn off the ignition, probably hoping to have a conversation, or at least beg for her forgiveness, but Quinn was up and out the door before he could even begin. She slammed the pickup door shut and rushed up to the porch, trying to avoid getting soaked by the rain. After fumbling with her keys on the doorstep for a minute, she heard the truck back down the driveway and slipped inside the house as quietly as possible. Hopefully her mother wasn't waiting up for her. The last thing she wanted was the third degree about her evening. She could already picture the look of disappointment on her mother's face when she told her about losing out on her shot at prom queen.

Glancing around the dark house, it seemed the coast was clear. Letting out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding, Quinn slipped off her heels and softly padded up the stairs to her bedroom. As soon as the door latched behind her, the tears began to fall. She knew she was being overly dramatic and sure, maybe she shouldn't have been so nasty to Finn but she had wanted this so badly. Months of planning had gone to waste.

Quinn unzipped her dress and stepped out of it. She immediately put it on a hanger and stowed it away in her closet, tossing her heels in as well. Just looking at that dress made her feel even worse. She threw on a Cheerios tank and shorts and made her way into the bathroom to clean off her makeup. Quinn let out a bitter laugh when she viewed her reflection in the mirror. She really was the definition of a "hot mess" right now. Her eyes were puffy and tears has caused mascara to run down her cheeks, yet her hair still managed to somehow be perfectly coiffed. She pulled out the pins holding her hair up, allowing it to fall down haphazardly around her face to match the rest of her appearance.

After cleaning her face and brushing her teeth, Quinn wandered back into her bedroom and unceremoniously flopped down on her bed. She mindlessly rifled through the magazines lying atop the comforter. Finding nothing of interest to read, she gave them an annoying shove off the bed, leaned back onto her pillows with a sigh and stretched out on her back. The clock on the nightstand next to her read 11:05pm but she was nowhere near tired enough to fall asleep, even after her tearful breakdown. She needed a distraction or at least something to numb her senses enough to force her to sleep.

Jumping up off the bed, she quietly opened her door and crept downstairs into the kitchen. Her mother always had some kind of alcohol in the house and Quinn decided that was exactly what she needed right now. She was met with success when she came across a bottle of Merlot on the otherwise empty wine rack. She doubted her mother would even notice it was missing; she would probably think she drank it herself. Bottle and wine glass in hand, she made her way back up to the bedroom. This time she locked the door behind her. The blonde had every intention of finishing that bottle and definitely did not want her mother coming in the next morning and seeing the bottle or glass. Recalling the night's events to her would be bad enough without a lecture on teenage drinking on top of it. She poured herself a glass of wine and grabbed the TV remote off her nightstand. Flipping it on, she started surfing channels until everything became a blur.

One bottle of wine and two hours later, Quinn was on the verge of passing out. Her limited experience with alcohol caused her to be somewhat of a lightweight. Both the bottle and glass were discarded on the floor next to bed. Her limbs felt heavy and her mind cloudy. The alcohol coursing through her body felt good. She fumbled around for the remote and successfully managed to hit the power button on the third try. Now cloaked in darkness, she rolled onto her back and stared up toward the ceiling for a few moments and closed her eyes. Right as sleep was about to take her, something flashed in her mind. On the edge of consciousness, the last image in Quinn's mind was that of Rachel Berry.

"You can't tell me what to do anymore, ok?" snapped Rachel. "If I want to date Jesse, or anyone else for that matter, it stopped being your business when you broke up with me."

"I still care about you," Finn pleaded.

Rachel sighed and tightened her grip on the books she was holding against her chest. "Look, all I ask it that whoever I choose, that you be as supportive of me as I have of you and Quinn even though I'm dying every day inside about it." She turned away and walked toward her locker, straining to keep tears from welling up in her eyes.

Finn followed her with his shoulders slumped forward. "You know, I don't even want to go to this stupid prom anymore," he grumbled. "Quinn's got me handing out pens with our names on them... where's the dignity? And I hate renting those tuxes. And the corsage... I know I'm gonna pick the wrong one and then Quinn is gonna be all pissed off –"

Before he could finish, Rachel interrupted him. "Hey, just... just get her something simple. A wrist corsage. Girls like Quinn, you don't want to do anything that's going to distract from their face, so ask for a gardenia with a light green ribbon around it to match her eyes. Ok?" She gave him a small, sad smile before she closed her locker door and walked away. Finn watched her leave, looking a little stunned that Rachel gave him advice on what to get Quinn. After a minute, he walked off as well.

Throughout the whole exchange, neither Finn nor Rachel noticed Quinn leaning against the cream colored lockers across the hall, taking in every word they said. The blonde was annoyed with Finn about his comments on prom and especially for even talking to Rachel in the first place. Rachel had stolen Finn out from under her once and she'd be damned if she let it happen again. But the comment about the corsage? What the hell was that about?

The bell for the next period brought Quinn out of her thoughts. She'd have to think about it later. Right now she needed to get to English class.

Sunlight crept through the window, illuminating the golden locks splayed across the pillow. Quinn was wrapped up in her comforter except for one bare foot sticking out and hanging over the side the bed. Stirring awake, she brought up an arm to trying and shield her face from the sunlight. She rolled over to look at the clock but her movement was halted by a dull throbbing pain in her head. Wincing, she lightly massaged her temples to try and help ease the pain a bit. What was going on? Quinn wiped the sleep from her eyes and slowly sat up. Finally taking a look at the clock on the nightstand, she saw it read 10:27am. The blonde then lowered her eyes to the floor and saw the discarded wine bottle and glass next to the bed. Ugh. Now she remembered. Prom. Finn. Wine. Rachel.

With a heavy sigh she got up from the bed and started her morning routine. First item on the list was to grab a couple aspirin from the medicine cabinet in her bathroom. Her hangover was a raging bitch and she knew she wouldn't be able to face her mother's disappointment without a little help. In fact, she was surprised her mother hadn't knocked on her door yet. Maybe she figured Quinn would need some extra sleep after a late night and decided to let her rest. After downing two aspirin and several glasses of water, the blonde turned on the shower, stripped her clothes off and hopped in. The hot water running over her body was soothing. Her muscles were knotted with tension from last night's event at the school and subsequent self-induced drunken stupor. It seemed like hours had passed before she finally turned of the water and grabbed the towel hanging over the shower door. Quinn dried off and wrapped the towel around her body before heading back into the bedroom to dress. She grabbed a pair of sweats and a Cheerios t-shirt from the dresser and put them on. With a quick comb of her hair, she surveyed her self in the mirror. She looked like hell but at this point she didn't really give a shit. After last night she just wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option so she put on her best face and steeled herself to head downstairs and face her mother.

Author's Note (again): I've got a rough plan for this story mapped out but I'll be posting as I write it so I can't promise daily updates. This is only my second multi-chapter fic and my first for Glee. I apologize in advance for the short chapters. Try as I might, I can't seem to get them more than 2,000 words (not including the lengthy author's notes, lol). Please take a few minutes to review. I'd like to know what you think about the pace, wording, characterization, etc. Constructive criticism is much appreciated! :)