A/N: This was inspired by the song 'All Fall Down' by the OneRepublic. I had to write something... so here it is.

Interpret it how you'd like. But I know how I see it.

Takes place in 'Ballad' and immediately ignores the canon storyline.

Just a one shot, but it's all I have.

Hope you like Rachel and Quinn friendships. XD

Oh, and this is from 'Rite Rose Publishing' ;)

xoxoxoxox

Quinn's POV

"You have thirty minutes to pack." Says the man I once called 'Daddy'. I have a feeling I won't be calling him anything like that for a long time. "I'll set the timer on the microwave."

I spend a full five minutes standing stock still in the living room. I can't move, I can't breathe, and the tears keep flowing down my face. I flinch when rough skin brushes against my arm, and Finn pulls his hand back from me, looking a little hurt. I blink the tears from my eyes, trying to ignore the sting as I wipe at my cheeks.

"Do you want help packing?" Finn asks quietly, and I shake my head.

"I think it's best if you leave, Finn." My throat is hoarse, and I hate it. But he nods.

"I'll wait outside."

"No, just go. I have a car. I'll see you later."

"Are you sure?" He frowns, and I nod. He hesitates, but bows his head, heading for my door.

I check my watch. Twenty-three minutes to pack.

I grab a rucksack, packing as many clothes as I can into it. I try and think of things which are stretchy, things which might fit in a month or so. Maybe even longer. I bite my lip, and race downstairs, going through my mom's folders as fast as I can, looking for what I need...

"What are you doing?" My mom's voice cuts through the tense air, and I look at her for a moment before turning my attention to the task at hand.

"Looking for my drivers license, my social security number. Important things." I mutter, and take a handful of papers out. "Why do you care?" Why would she care that I need these things, because I'm going to need a job. The doctor's bills are ridiculous.

"I... I don't." My mother whispers, more to herself than me, and I roll my eyes.

"Then don't ask."

I head back upstairs, throwing everything I can into the rucksack. There's a white teddy bear sitting at the foot of my bed, and I smile, picking him up and holding him close to my chest. He goes in the bag.

It's almost time. My fingers trail up to play with the cross around my neck, and I take one last look around my bedroom. The plain, boring walls, with that one picture of Jesus hanging above my bed. He looks down at me- in disappointment, I think.

A loud, ear-ringing buzz seems to split through the house, tearing through the air, and I close my eyes. I don't remember the microwave being that loud... that harsh. That final.

The cold metal is still between my fingers, and I give it a tug. There's a clink as the chain breaks against the back of my neck, and I let go of the necklace that once meant so much to me. It hits the floor with a quiet thud, soon drowned out by my father's yelling.

"You hear that buzzer? If you don't leave right now I swear I'm coming up there-"

I grab my bag, placing it on one shoulder, and jogging down the stairs. I glance towards my parents, and neither of them seem to recognise my presence. My mother ignores me completely, watching the floor like it holds her total interest. My father watches me, his eyes blazing. He doesn't see me, Quinn Fabray, his daughter. He sees an intruder.

I try to keep my chin a little raised as I walk out of the door, pulling it shut as quickly as I can. As soon as I'm outside the coolness hits my face, and I look up towards the sky as it adds its own tears to the ones pouring down my cheeks.

The sound is one I welcome... the pitter patter of the rain as it bounces off the things around me, the pavement, the house, the window pane, my face, my clothes, my rucksack. It soothes me, like a heartbeat, and I let my feet do the walking, towards a place I've been going to a lot lately. I'll come back for my car another day, if my father hasn't had it towed or something ridiculous.

I sit on the swing, watching the rest of the park, the darkness giving it a calming feeling that I love. I imagine children playing here, on a bright sunny day, when it's not raining, and it brings more tears to my eyes. Not that you could notice. The rain already has me soaked from head to toe.

"Quinn?"

The softness of the voice behind me is the thing that makes me jump, and I twist in the swing, squinting through the rain to see who's there. The figure moves closer, and the face becomes clear, even if she is a little soggy around the edges. Though, of course, she's underneath an umbrella. Now why didn't I think to pack one of those?

"Rachel... what are you doing here?" I frown at her, and she looks down at her feet for a moment before looking up at me again.

"I come here to think sometimes. It soothes me, I suppose." Rachel shrugs, and takes about half a step forward. I don't think she's sure. "You?"

"I... yeah. I think here too. Sometimes."

I turn back around, letting my legs lift off of the floor to gently push the swing forwards.

"Without a coat?"

"You don't have a coat." I almost snap, still facing forwards.

"But I have an umbrella." Rachel states matter of factly. "You'll freeze."

"It may be wet, but it's warm." My feet touch the ground and I give another push.

Suddenly the movement of the swing stops, abruptly, and I turn my head to see Rachel's hand is holding the chain tightly, her knuckles tinged with white.

"Room on there for two?" Her voice is so quiet it's hard to hear it over the constant drumming of the rain. I can't think of words, a little stunned from how close she is to reply. I move to one side, and she quickly sits beside me. "These are quite large swings." She notes, covering the both of us with her umbrella.

"Yeah, they are." The words sound stupid coming out of my mouth, but for some reason they're all I have. I look up at the umbrella above my head. I notice it inching closer to me, covering more of me and less of Rachel. "I don't think that will make much difference, you know. I'm soaked through."

"I think it will."

"Seriously, Berry, it doesn't matter-"

"It matters to me!" Rachel's tone changes, to stern, decisive. "Please, Quinn. If you're going to sit out here, let me do this."

"Berry..." I swallow, clearing my throat as I roll my tongue over the next, foreign word to my mouth. "Rachel... it shouldn't matter to you."

"Well, it does." Her chins lifts a little, and I almost smile. If only I wasn't so confused.

"But why? I'm a total bitch to you."

Rachel shrugs. "It doesn't mean I hate you."

"You're in love with my boyfriend." I say the words bluntly, and instead of the hurt reaction I expect she faces me, eyebrow raised.
"Whatever I feel, I still don't hate you."

"And your 'romantic ulterior motives'?" I raise the eyebrow back at her, in a challenge.

"Can be put to the side. Ignored, if they have to. Trust me."

"Why should I trust you?" I lean forward, out of the limits of her shelter, and face the stars, barely able to see them with the mix of tears and rain blurring my vision.

"I don't lie." I see the shrug of her shoulders, and I close my eyes, loving the beat of the water against my face. "You told your parents, huh?" She asks, and I snap my head in her direction. "The rucksack says a lot."

"I didn't." I sigh, leaning back into the safety of the umbrella. "Finn sang to them."

"He... sang to them? About the baby?"

I crinkle my nose, shrugging in a weak, half-hearted defence for him. "He's not too bright."

"I think I'm starting to see that." Rachel almost drawls, before turning her serious eyes back to me. "So... do you have anywhere to go?"

A beat, as I take in a shaky breath.

"Finn would take me in." I almost croak the words out, and her eyes flash with... something.

"Do you want to go to Finn's?"

Wordlessly, I shake my head, new, hot tears filling my eyes. I hope she won't notice, that they'll mix with the water from the sky, but her hand is on my cheek in a moment, the softness surprising me.

Her thumb strokes beneath my eye, and I feel my head lean a little into her touch before I can help myself. After a moment I catch my breath, and lift my head back up. She's too close, and so I lean away a little.

"I love the rain." I whisper, and she doesn't react. For a moment I think she hasn't heard me, but then she shrugs.

"You know, it's probably raining at my house too." Her eyes fix onto mine, and I feel her stare. "Call Finn. Stay at mine."

"Oh, I... Rachel, I can't."

"If you don't want to-" She starts, and I interrupt, placing my hand on her arm in my haste to stop her words.

"I want to. At least I think I do." I know my brow is deeply creased as I try and figure this out. "Your dads?"

"I'll talk to them." Is her reply. I nod, taking out my phone, and dialling Finn's mobile.

"Hello? Quinn?"

"Hey, Finn." I say, my voice quiet. I hear him take in a deep breath, about to panic. "I'm fine, I promise. I'm just phoning to tell you I'm staying with a..." I glance to Rachel, then back to the floor. "A friend."

"Oh... okay. That's cool. I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Bye, Finn." I shut the phone before he has a chance to say anything else, and sigh. My head lolls to the side, and I find it against Rachel's shoulder. We sit like this for a while, in silence. Then I notice a sound, an unmistakeable sound.

"Step out the door and it feels like rain,

That's the sound, that's the sound on your window pane..."

Singing. Rachel's singing. I breathe out, and when I inhale it's like breathing the cleanest air I've had in a long time. Like it's pure.

"Take to the streets but you can't ignore,

That's the sound, that's the sound you're waiting for..."

I close my eyes, loving the difference in her voice here, now. It's raw, filled with something strong enough to power her voice, even though she sings so quietly that I doubt it carries a meter away from us.

"If ever your world starts crashing down,

Whenever your world starts crashing down..."

I feel Rachel's arm move to around my neck, still holding the umbrella above our heads, but pulling me closer into her as we watch the rain pour into the night.

"Whenever your world starts crashing down,

That's where you'll find me.

God love your soul and your aching bones,

Take a breath, take a step, meet me down below.

Everyone's the same, our fingers to our toes,

We can't just get it right, but we're on the road..."

"Come on." I blink my eyes open lazily, and look up to see Rachel smiling down at me. "Before you fall asleep." She lifts my head, one of her arms hooking behind my back to support me as we walk away from the park, my bag on my shoulder. "Let's go home."