Hello everyone. I've this in mind for a while and was finally able to get some of it out. I am continuing my other story, but I just wanted to write something else for a change. Flashbacks are in italics.

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Glee.

The Secrets that We Keep

"I only get to visit a few times a year and I still get stuck with doing the grocery shopping." Richard Berry complained aloud to himself, "Oh well, it's like there is anything else to do while Dads are a work."

Richard hummed to himself as he pushed his cart slowly down the frozen food aisle at the local Kroger. He finally had a few weeks off between projects so he took full advantage and came home to Lima to visit his parents. He had just finished a run on Broadway playing Tony in West Side Story and a break away from the city was exactly what he needed.

"Lots of frozen veggies?" Richard mumbled, "What the heck kind of list is this? It's hard to believe grown men compiled a list like this. And don't they know fresh vegetables would be better?"

Richard looked up just in time to stop his basket just before he ran it into the woman who currently had her head in the freezer, clearly having to dig for what she was looking for. The blonde pulled out two bags of black eyed peas and stepped back to let the freezer door close.

"Quinn?" Richard asked in disbelief.

The blonde turned toward the voice, her hazel eyes widened comically before she became stoic again, "Berry."

"Wow," Richard breathed out, "You look…," beautiful as ever, "how are you?"

"I'm good. There's no need to ask how you are. I saw the Tony Awards. Congratulations." Quinn told him with a small smile, "No surprise you won, it's no secret here how well you've done for yourself."

Richard's cheeks blushed slightly. "Thank you, Quinn. That means a lot coming from you."

Quinn just smiled a little in response.

"So what are you doing now? How was Yale? I haven't heard anything about how you've been since I left for New York. I'm sure you've done amazing things. Tell me everything, spare no detail." Richard told her excitedly.

Quinn swallowed thickly, "I didn't-"

Quinn was interrupted by a soft voice and a tug on her coat, "Momma."

Quinn's eyes closed briefly before she directed her gaze to the little girl at her side, "You know not to interrupt adults when they're talking, baby."

"I sworry Mommy." The little girl replied shyly.

"It's alright." Quinn told her as she rubbed her hand through the little girl's hair, "What'd you need baby?"

Richard's eyes fell to the little brunette at Quinn's side and he felt like someone hard hit him right in his stomach. He stared at the little girl who had slightly tanned skin and Quinn's beautiful eyes that were partly shielded by dirty blonde locks.

"Just one, okay sweetie?" Quinn told the little girl.

"'tay Mommy." The little girl said before she deposited a box of pop tarts in the shopping kart before trotting back down the aisle to put back the other box she had clutched in her small hands.

Quinn watched her until she was headed back in her direction before she turned back to her old classmate with a sigh.

"I didn't actually get to see much of Yale." Quinn told Richard who looked at her with sad eyes.

"She's beautiful Quinn." Richard told her honestly as he eyes fell to the child who was looking at him from behind Quinn's leg.

"Are you da man from da T.V?" The little girl asked him.

Richard looked at her with a sly smile before looking to Quinn, "Like I said. We saw you on the Tonys."

Richard crouched down so he was at the little girl's height before he addressed her, "Yes, that was me. My name is Richard Berry. What's yours?"

The little girl came out from around Quinn's leg and leaned back against her mother while she spoke to the man in front of her, "Melody Fabray. Like in a song."

"Like the melody of a song?" Richard asked, earning an enthusiastic nod in return, "Do you like to sing?"

Melody nodded more franticly, "A whole wot."

Richard smiled, "Me too. I would love to hear you sing sometime. I bet you have a very nice voice. Did you know that your Mom and I use to sing in our high school Glee club together?"

"Yep, Mom said you were a welly good singer then too. And annoying." Melody told him as she took a step toward him.

Richard smirked up at Quinn before turning his attention back to the girl, "Well your Mom is a very smart lady, and I hope she told you that she had an elegant voice then that was like no other. I'm sure you know that though because I'm sure you've heard her sing a time or two, huh? If you ever need vocal lessons I would be more than happy help. You're a star in the making, I just know it."

"Weally Mr. Berry? That would be so cool!" Melody told him, her eyes lighting up, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Sure thing Kiddo." Richard told her with a beaming Richard Berry smile.

"Richard." Quinn whispered softly, "Don't make promises to her you can't keep."

"What? I'm in Lima for a few weeks because I have nothing going on in New York at the moment. I'm always ready and willing to help a young ingénue." Richard told her honestly.

"Alright! See Mom? Thank you Mr. Bewry." Melody said before she launched her tiny body into his arms.

Richard had caught her just in time and braced himself with one of his hands so he wasn't knocked over by the force of her impact. Richard placed his hand on her small back as she squeezed her little arms around his neck.

"You're welcome kiddo." Richard told her as he looked up from his crouched position at Quinn who was looking the other way.

Richard sighed internally; he should have known Quinn wouldn't want him to hug her child. She could barely stand him as it was.

Richard stood up when Melody released him from her hug. He shuffled from foot to foot before working up the nerve to ask Quinn if they would like to have lunch with him later. He just really wanted to catch up with Quinn. She had obviously been really busy over the past five years.

"So Quinn, I was wondering if you ladies wou-" Richard asked before he was cut off my a familiar voice.

"Ready to go Baby Momma?" Puck asked as he walked up to Quinn's side holding a six pack of beer.

He placed the beer in the cart before he noticed Richard standing in front of them, "What's up, Dick?"

"Puck, watch your language!" Quinn scolded.

"What? It's his name." Puck told her, pointing toward Richard.

"Not in front of Mel it's not." Quinn chastised.

"Oh, right. Sorry Q." Puck replied before looked back at Richard, "So how ya been man? What brings you to town? Quinn made us watch the Tonys. Nice job Jewbro, ya made us proud. And who was your date? Is that what chicks look like NYC cuz daayum bro."

This certainly wasn't anywhere near the first time in his life that Richard wanted to punch Noah Puckerman in the face. He got the feeling on many occasions actually, but he almost always was able to resist the urge.

"I'm in town visiting my dads. Thank you Noah, and Lilian is just a friend." Richard said as he smiled tightly at his old friend.

"Friend, right." Puck replied with a wink. "How long are you in town? We should grab a beer while you're here. Guys night out. I'll invite Finn too."

There was nothing on the planet that sounded worse to him right now than spending any amount of time with either of his old classmates. He was fairly certain that falling blindly into a swarm of starving sharks while covered in blood was more appealing than hanging out with Finn Hudson and the man who didn't just impregnate the love of his life once, but twice now apparently.

He could see Quinn trying to stifle a laugh by biting her bottom lip and grinning slightly, her eyes shining with laughter.

Richard grinned too, "Sure Puck." At least this way maybe he would get to see Quinn again soon.

"Awesome Jewbro. What's your number? I'll talk to Finn and see when we can all get together and we'll call you."

Richard gave Puck his number and bumped Puck's offered fist before turning to say goodbye to Quinn.

"It was really good seeing you Quinn." Richard told her shyly, "I hope it won't be five more years until the next time."

"You'll see her if you make it over to the house while you're here. No need to get all sentimental Berry." Puck told him as he put his arm around Quinn's shoulder.

"Right." Richard told him before he turned his gaze toward the little brunette who had been watching silently the whole time. "And you little star, it was wonderful to meet you as well."

"It was nice to meet you too, Mr. Bewry." Melody told him before she took her mother's hand. "Don't forget about our singing wessons."

"I won't, I promise." Richard told her with a smile. "You all have a nice day."

"Later." Puck said before he took the cart from Quinn and started toward the register.

Quinn smiled at him softly before she spoke, "Goodbye Richard."

"Goodbye Quinn." Richard replied, an old familiar ache growing in his chest.

"Come on baby." Quinn said as she led Melody toward the front of the store who turned and waved at him with a wide smile.

When Richard returned to his house he put away the groceries he had bought before he trudged up the stairs to his room. He sighed and made his way over to his bed to lie down. He let his mind wander and he thought about how often that he had lay just like this and thought of the most beautiful hazel eyes he had ever seen. Quinn had been a fixture in his life since he was seven years old and he was willing to bet his Tony Award that there wasn't a day that had gone by that he hadn't thought of the girl in some capacity.

He closed his eyes and let himself go back to when he had first met Quinn Fabray and he smiled to himself.

It was the first day of the third grade and his Daddy Leroy had been the one to drop him off at school that morning.

"Bye Daddy." Richard told his Leroy as he gave him a goodbye hug.

"See ya later, son, have a good day. Your Dad is picking you up okay?" Leroy told him as he patted his head.

"Okay, love you." Richard said before he turned to find an empty place to sit.

He walked over to a boy who had his Game Boy out pecking away at the buttons and pulled the chair but the other boy pulled it away from Richard with his food. "I don't think so fag. You ain't sitting by me."

Richard frowned before looking for another seat. He spotted a dark headed girl alone at a table so he made his way over to her.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Richard asked her softly.

The girl looked up from her drawing and Richard was met with the most gorgeous shade of hazel he had ever seen looking at him from behind thick framed glasses. She girl seemed surprised that he was even talking to her, but she smiled anyways and nodded her head.

"Sure." She replied.

"My name is Richard. What's yours?" Richard asked her.

"Lucy." The girl told him in a soft as she continued her drawing.

Richard watched her as she concentrated hard on what she was doing. He let he eyes fall to the paper she was drawing on and smiled when he saw she was drawing the night sky. There were stars sprinkled around the paper and a moon with 'Lucy' drawn out in perfect cursive across the top of the paper.

"That's a really cool drawing Lucy. I really like the stars. Stars are a metaphor for me, for the star I'm going to be when I'm all grown up." Richard explained to her as he smiled.

Lucy giggled and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose with her finger before she responded, "You're funny Richard."

Richard blushed slightly, "Lucy, can we be friends?"

"Yes," Lucy replied, "I've never really had a friend before."

"Me either." Richard told her with a bright smile, "But there's a first time for everything, right?"

"Yeah." Lucy replied, "Do you want to draw with me? I have some color pencils in my backpack."

"Sure!" Richard said excitedly as he scooted his seat closer to his new friend. "I'm not any good at drawing like you are, but it looks like fun."

"I could show how to draw a star if you want, since you like them so much." Lucy told him casually.

Richard beamed, "I think you're the bestest friend ever, Lucy! I would love for you to show me."

"Okay!" Lucy replied happily, "Watch closely, you do it like this."

Richard nodded before he watched her intently.

"Like that, see?" Lucy said as she finished drawing the star and smiled at him, "Super easy."

All he could do was smile in return.

The next day at recess Richard and Lucy were playing near the monkey bars when a group of boys ran by them and pushed Lucy down.

"Watch it Lucy Caboosey!" Noah Puckerman said as he pushed her. "Your fat butt is taking up to much of the play ground."

"Shut up Noah!" Richard said as he crouched down beside his friend to check on her.

As soon as he saw that Lucy was crying and that she had scrapped her knee when she fell he patted her back and stood up and faced Noah.

"Say you're sorry Noah." Richard demanded, "That wasn't very nice."

"I ain't tellin Caboosey anything." Noah said before he took a step toward Richard, "And you ain't gonna do anything about it."

Noah laughed and turned to look at the other boys that were behind him and they were laughing to. Richard looked over at his friend that was still sitting on the and he watched her as she wiped tears off of her cheek.

"Aww come on. Don't be a crybaby too Caboosey. It's not our fault you're f-ahhhh"

Before Noah could even finish his sentence Richard had taken a step forward and for the first time in his life punched someone right in the face.

"I told you to shut up, Noah." Richard seethed.

"I'm telling your Dad when I see him at Temple. You're gonna be in so much trouble Richard." Noah said, nearly in tears as he wiped the blood off his lip.

Richard ignored him and the other boys as he turned and crouched down beside Lucy who was looking at him in disbelief. Richard inspected her scrapped knee before he reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a white handkerchief and started to wipe off the dirt and what little blood was on Lucy's knee.

"When I get hurt like this my Dads put this clear stuff on it that burns, but then they blow on it and it feels better after a few seconds. Then they give me a kiss on my forehead and ruffle my hair and tell me I'm a tough guy, but we don't have any of the stuff that burns to put on your cut so I this is going to have to do for now until you get home." Richard told her as he surveyed his handiwork.

"And since you're not a guy I won't call you a tough guy and since I can't really try to make you feel better that way so I hope this will be okay." Richard told her before he pressed his lips lightly against her cheek before pulling away and smiling brightly.

"Do you feel better already, Lucy?" He asked hopefully.

Lucy sniffled away the last of her tears and nodded her head. "Thank you Richard. I'm really glad you're my friend."

"Me too Lucy." Richard told her before he stood up and offered her his hand, "Come on, let's go swing a little before recess is over."

Richard smiled sadly to himself as he opened his eyes. He sighed and rolled over on his side to get more comfortable on his bed. That was when it had started for him. More than half his life time ago he met Quinn Fabray, well Lucy Fabray. Lucy someone got lost in translation somewhere between them being friend and Quinn parting the halls of William McKinley like Red Sea in her flawless cheerleading uniform. Lucy was his best friend and Quinn was an untouchable goddess who nearly always ignored his existence. He understood why and he couldn't hold it against her. He was everything that was uncool about high school and Quinn was everything in his life that was perfect.

He wasn't sure of the exact moment in his life that he fell in love with her, but everything after that was like a blur of secrets, lies, and a lot of unrequited love. What Richard didn't know was that wasn't even the half of it.

TBC

Thanks for reading. Review if you wish.

Let me know if you guys want me to continue this or not. I'm not sure if you guys will like it or not. : /

- G