Title: This House Is Not A Home
Author: ChiaraAgron
Pairing: Rachel and Quinn
Rating: T/M
Disclaimers: I don't own Glee or their characters… if I did, there would be a lot of changes. The only things I own are the mistakes, sorry about that.
Introduction: AU. Stoneson House is a place for orphans who have turned 18. Rachel Berry has now been transferred to Stoneson House in Ohio and also to McKinley High School. Her past still hurts her, but will she find safety in Stoneson? There's one girl who seems to want to help, but seems a little distant. Meet one Quinn Fabray; Stoneson's only orphan who has been there her whole life.

A/N Another idea I had and wanted to write about. Hope you enjoy. Reviews would be really appreciated so I know what people think about the story! xoxox


Dragging her two battered duffel bags up the path, Rachel looked up at the larger than average house. It was similar to all the others down the lonely street, except for the big, rusty sign that read,

Stoneson House
"You're never alone at Stoneson"

Rachel shook her head at the ridiculous of the sign. If you read it literally, then yes, of course you weren't alone, you're stuck in a house full of other abandoned children and you'll probably never be alone. Or you could read it in the way it was intended and assume that they want you to feel safe there and that you'll never be alone as they are always there to help. If her past experiences of homes were anything to go by, Rachel highly doubted that they would follow through with their motto.

Straightening her shoulders, she dragged her feet up the uneven path and finally got to the front door step. The welcome mat had Stoneson's logo on it; a fence wrapped around a group of kids, who were all holding hands. Rachel assumed it was a metaphor for the children being protected, that they were safe now. Once again, Rachel just rolled her eyes; the mat was way too cliché.

As she placed down her bags to ring the doorbell, a waft of smoke entered her nostrils and she swallowed thickly to rid of the disgusting aroma. She slowly turned her head to the side and was met with a tall, slightly built guy, with thick black eyeliner around bright blue eyes and a black mohawk that was way too high to be safe.

"Hey," he nodded his head once, taking another long drag from his cigarette.

Rachel tried not to judge a person from their looks, but when you've had the background and experiences that she's had, it's hard not to be cautious of people from what they look like.

"You go here?" Rachel replied, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Sure do," he nodded and chucked his cigarette onto the floor, before stamping it out with his biker boot.

Smoothing out his leather jacket, he walked a little closer to Rachel, who only stepped back in return.

"Guessing you're the newbie," he said, noting how nervous she seemed.

The boy stepped back a little, understanding that this girl obviously wanted her space. He eyed the worn out duffel bags and the girl's ripped coat and slightly worn-at-the-knees skinny jeans and knew straight away that she hadn't had it easy. But what he also noted was how beautiful she was, even with the small bags under her… wow; under those amazingly deep brown eyes. The girl's long brunette hair fell graciously over her sagging shoulders and her full lips were pursed thoughtfully. He cleared his throat and held his hand out politely.

"Eddie," he smiled, showing his teeth, which Rachel noted were incredibly white compared to his black eyes.

She hesitated only a second before extending her own hand and shaking it confidently. Should she use her real name for this home? She's been to about 5 homes in her short life and each time she's used a different name. Not because she was in danger and having to keep below the radar, but because that way if she wasn't Rachel, she wouldn't have to bring her past with her. She was 18 now though and she finally realised, as Eddie was looking at her expectantly, that now was not a time to run away… again.

"Rachel, my name's Rachel," she smiled sweetly.

"Well Rachel, welcome to hell," he smirked, eyeing the building in front of them.

Rachel visibly winced and shrunk into herself, as she wrapped her petite arms around her body. Eddie watched her and knew that he was going to have to be easy on this one for a while. Usually he would tease and joke around with the newbies, it was sort of tradition, but there was something about Rachel that made him feel something different. She was so vulnerable, yet polite and well mannered, that it made Eddie just want to protect her.

"I was only joking Rachel, it's not too bad," he smiled, trying to ease the girl's blatant tension.

Rachel relaxed a little and willed herself to just trust this boy, at least for today. He seemed like he genuinely wanted to help her and as she didn't know anyone here, she thought it would be useful to have at least one person on her side.

"You don't speak much," she said out loud, but then immediately realised how rude that probably sounded.

She had met many people throughout her life, which had come from so many different backgrounds, had different experiences, different families and most of all; they all had been through things that weren't exactly pleasant. She should have known better than to say that out loud, he could have been an abandoned orphan from a really horrible family for all she knew and maybe that was why he didn't speak much.

She shook her head, but Eddie only laughed.

"I'm just a guy of few words really," he shrugged.

Rachel looked up into his eyes and smiled. Yeah, she thinks she could get used to him.

"Could you help me with my bags? It would be of great help," she asked politely, picking one of her duffel's up.

"Sure thing," Eddie replied, grabbing the other and swinging it forcefully over his shoulder.

"I'm glad I have my valuables in this bag then," Rachel laughed lightly.

"My bad," Eddie bit his lip.

"No worries. Where do I go when I get in? They are expecting me," Rachel asked, while ringing the doorbell twice.

"They'll buzz you in, then I'll take you to the office and they'll give you your room key. You're then free until dinner, which is always served at six," Eddie rambled out, before coughing lightly.

Rachel just smiled at him, before pushing the big red door open and was greeted with a surprisingly pleasant, small lobby, with a couch on one side and an office door on the other.

"Home sweet home," the brunette mumbled under her breath.

~O~X~O~X~O~X~O~

Justin, the house's manager, greeted Rachel pleasantly and gave the girl her room key. He explained that three years ago, they didn't have room keys, but since new legislations were put in place, it's safer to have locks. Rachel did wonder what happened to make the home have to have locks on all bedroom doors now, but she let it slide; it made sense really, who wouldn't want a lock on their bedroom door?

Justin told Eddie to show Rachel to her room, 4B, and then leave the girl to let her unpack.

Rachel thought Justin seemed nice enough, he was middle aged with short, light brown hair and glasses. A medium build, so Rachel could tell he wasn't lazy but did enjoy his food. The man's voice seemed quite loud though, like he was used to having to shout. Rachel could take a good guess as to why; you don't have a massive house full of teenagers without there being arguments.

"Thank you Justin," Rachel smiled, before grabbing her bag again and heading for the door.

Just before she got out into the lobby, Justin spoke up again.

"And Rachel? This door is always open," he said, before getting distracted again by the telephone ringing obnoxiously through the room.

Rachel nodded back, before walking out with Eddie.

"How many times have I heard that," she laughed while rolling her eyes, following the boy up the stairs which was just off from the lobby.

"Yeah, this place is okay, but sometimes they say things but don't back them up with the actions," he shrugged in understanding.

He stopped on the fourth step and turned back around, looking even taller to Rachel as she was still on the first step.

"Oh, the dining room is that one there," he pointed to the door just down from the office, "and that one is the kitchen," he lent and pointed round the corner to the door next to the dining room.

"Thank you, I'll try and remember that," she laughed, as they started up the stairs again.

Getting to the top, Rachel looked down the hallway, which seemed to go on forever. It was simply a long hallway with doors off on each side and one room which didn't have a door. She noted that this house definitely didn't look this big from the outside.

"Okay, your room, 4B, is the third from the end on the right," Eddie smiled, before starting to walk down the hallway.

Rachel was taking in everything that she could. It wasn't the most well kept place, with wallpaper peeling off in places and the blue carpet was nearly worn away, but in terms of cleanliness, it smelt like autumn and dust was non-existent, so that was a good start.

"Right, this one here is the girl's shower room and opposite is the boy's shower room," Eddie said, pointing as he went.

"Girl's toilets, boy's toilets," he pointed to the next two doors on each side.

Rachel was nodding along, but really she knew she would have to take another walk down the hall later and accustom herself to it.

"These are just people's rooms, you'll meet them at dinner," Eddie said, as he walked a little faster, not really needing to tell her everyone's rooms.

"How many live here?" Rachel asked, as they must have passed about ten rooms already, excluding the showers and toilets.

"There was eleven, but now there's twelve," he smiled at her and slowed down a little, as they came in front of the room without a door.

"Well, at least I make it an even number, I do like an even number, makes it feel better," she smiled at him, but ducked her head when she realised how goofy that must have sounded.

Eddie laughed at her and just patted her shoulder.

"You're a breath of fresh air in this place, thanks for coming along," he grinned, before placing the bag he was holding onto the floor.

Rachel just beamed, as she hadn't had someone say something nice to her like that in a long time.

"This room?" she asked, nodding her head in the direction of the room they were in front of.

"The common room if you will," Eddie said, looking at the four couches, the TV, Xbox and the pool table off to the side.

"I've never had a common room in any of my other homes," Rachel said, looking surprised.

"It's alright, except not many people really actually come here," Eddie shrugged, "I suppose they just prefer their own rooms."

Rachel felt sad about that, she thought it would have been cool to hang out with everyone here, but then she realised that she didn't actually know anyone else bar Eddie, so maybe they wouldn't be very nice. She shrugged her shoulders; she would have to wait until dinner to see how her fellow housemates would react to her, then she could determine if she would be spending time in the common room.

They walked down past two more rooms, until Eddie stopped at the dark blue door, with '4B' scratched into the wood near the top. Rachel eyed it a little and just turned to Eddie with a questioning look on her face.

"Oh, they couldn't afford door plaques, so just got Quinn to scratch in the room numbers," Eddie explained, taking Rachel's key from her hand to open the door.

"Quinn? Who's that?" Rachel asked, thinking it was a little unfair to make someone scratch each room number on every single door.

Eddie looked at Rachel once he had opened the door and thought about whether he should tell the brunette about people yet, or let the girl see for herself. He went with the more fun idea.

"You'll meet her soon," Eddie smiled, pushing the door in with his foot.

Rachel didn't ask any more questions for two reasons; she was tired and just wanted to unpack and Eddie probably wouldn't give her an answer anyway.

As the boy moved into the room and put Rachel's bag onto the single bed in the left hand corner, Rachel observed her surroundings. A single bed with a red duvet and pillow, grey carpet and white walls, two shelves above the bed, with a desk opposite the bed, a single wardrobe and drawers next to the desk and a bin at the foot of the bed, with a chair next to that. She nodded to herself; yes, exactly like every other room she has been in, neutral and devoid of life.

Slinging her other bag onto the bed, she took a seat in the spinning chair at the foot of her bed and spun around, letting her head fall back and her eyes drift closed; just for a second. Eddie, who was perched on the edge of the desk just watched. Rachel then blew out a big puff of air and walked over to stand near the boy, between the bed and desk. There was a window just to the right of her bed and she lent onto the window sill. The view wasn't exactly amazing, but it was a view nonetheless; in her last home her window looked out onto the brick wall of the neighbouring house. At least here she could see the colour green, trees and grass filled the back garden of the house next door and green could only mean one thing to Rachel; life. If the leaves were green, they were alive, if they started to turn brown, they were dying and Rachel absolutely hated when the leaves started to turn brown; she wouldn't look at them.

"You've got a better view than mine," Eddie spoke up as he squeezed next to Rachel to look out of the window.

"What have you got?" she asked, looking at a tree that was bent at an odd angle.

"Next door neighbours bedroom window right opposite me," Eddie said.

Rachel laughed; this had to be leading somewhere.

"He's a man of about fifty who doesn't seem to understand the idea of closing his curtains," he sighed and continued, "or wearing clothes," he deadpanned.

Rachel had to hold back her laughter even more; poor Eddie.

"Sucks to be you," she shook her head.

"One day he decided to do a fitness video, while naked," Eddie stuck his tongue out and feigned a gag, "I've been scarred ever since."

"I truly feel for you Eddie," Rachel patted his shoulder as she walked over to her bed.

While Rachel was unzipping her first bag, Eddie moved over to the door and chucked her door key onto the bed.

"I'll leave you now. Dinner is at six, you want me to come get you?" Eddie asked, playing with the handle of the door.

"Yes please Eddie, I would really appreciate that," she smiled at him, while removing the little clothing she actually had out of the bag.

"No problem, see you in about half an hour," he smiled once, before turning and leaving, letting the room fall into complete silence.

Rachel immediately stopped what she was doing and just stood there, not really doing much. Her head tilted back and she looked at the ceiling light. Now, she would do what she always did when she went to a new home; she cried.

She cried because she was now somewhere else she had to call home, but would never truly feel like home to her. She cried because of the hurt she felt from being yet another newbie. She cried because she missed having a family. She cried because she now had to get accustomed to a new school as well. She cried because she felt so lonely. She then cried some more because she just realised she had left her favourite teddy at her old home; 115 miles away.

Letting the tears she had become used to fall down her immaculate cheeks, she sniffed and squeezed her eyes shut once more before wiping her eyes furiously and getting back to work. Crying had become such a routine for her each time she moved homes that now it was 'wipe the tears away and move on'.

She moved her clothes from the bed into the top drawer and hung up the five shirts she owned. Then she took out her toiletries and placed them on her desk, before taking out her alarm clock and putting it on the window sill, which was in reach if she were lying on the bed. She took out a couple more necessities before she came along the last thing in her bag.

She stroked her fingers over the glass, kissed the frame once, before putting it onto the empty shelf above her bed. It looked so forlorn among the mass of empty shelf, but Rachel laughed emotionlessly at the irony, as that was exactly what she felt like; completely lonely among a mass of nothingness.

The picture frame looked out over the room; her and her two fathers when she was six, two years before her life decided to tip it over and stir everything into a pile of shit.

Sighing in relief of having to do the soul destroying act of unpacking yet again, Rachel sat on her bed and looked around. If she was planning on staying here longer than the other homes, which she was as not many homes took refuge to 18 and over's, she would have to get some posters or something to give this room a little bit of Berry Bling.

Slipping her door key into her pocket, she decided that she might as well look around the hallway a bit better; she couldn't remember where Eddie said the girl's toilets were and she was freaking bursting for a pee.

Walking out of her room, she locked it securely behind her, not that any thief would get anything worth taking, but she felt she should lock it anyway. She stroked her delicate fingers over the 4B and wondered why this Quinn girl was the one to be picked to do all the scratching; it hardly seemed fair.

Turning around, she could see two people walking up the hallway towards her. One was small, slim and had a bandana wrapped around his head and he was chatting animatedly to the taller girl next to him. She was taking one step to every two of his and she had long brown hair, with thick black glasses on her nose. She was nodding every now and again, before they both turned off into the common room, not even seeing Rachel standing all the way down the end of the hallway.

"Guessing those are two of my housemates," she said to herself, before taking off to find the toilets.

There wasn't anything on the walls, apart from scratches and 'no smoking' signs and the fire exit sign over the door down the very end that lead to the stairs. Rachel never understood why they didn't make homes more, well, homely. Some neutral pictures of the beach or a nice sunset would do, just something to give it more life, something to look at when you're walking down the hallway.

As she came across the common room, she took a deep breath and slightly looked in as she made her way passed. The one thing she had learned from her many times of being the newbie was to let people come to you, not the other way around. So, as Rachel just peered in, she saw the girl look up from the couch. Rachel looked at her and was about to look away, but the tall girl gave her a small smile and a nod, so Rachel took it as her cue to do the same. Sighing in relief as she got passed the door, she knew that the girl was at least welcoming, so maybe this place wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.

Finally, she found the door with a stick-woman scratched into it, and she looked on the other side of the hall and there was a door with a stick-man scratched into it. Quinn, Rachel thought.

Lightly pushing the girl's toilet door open, Rachel rolled her eyes when she was met with the same layout in every home she had been to. Five toilet stalls down one wall and wash basins and towels on the other. She wasn't ungrateful for it, as she had a home and that was better than some people got, but Rachel had a very high standard of hygiene, so when it came to sharing toilets and showers with other girls she didn't know, she really had to bite her lip and just get on with it.

She could see that one stall had its door closed, so just assumed that someone was already in here. Not wanting to have the awkward encounter when she was going into a stall, when the other person was just coming out, she quickly jumped into a stall and closed the door behind her.

Finishing off her business, the brunette heard the flush go from down the stalls and the person's stall door opening and banging as it closed itself. Immediately, the knowledge that someone was outside the stalls made Rachel feel incredibly uneasy. She was about to flush her own toilet, but didn't like the silence that was enveloping the atmosphere. Experiences had happened in her past that made simple everyday things extremely hard to carry out; like going to the toilet stalls, while knowing someone was outside them. She had to get a grip; she couldn't let her past ruin her future. So, with a white-knuckled grip on the toilet flush, she pulled it and turned around to unlock her stall door. As her shaking fingers pulled the latch up, she immediately felt lightheaded and her mind rushed back to events she tried to forget.

Thank god, she was absolutely bursting for that pee. Rachel turned around and flushed the toilet before unlocking her stall door and walking out into the space between the wash basins and the stalls.

As soon as she got out, she wished she hadn't even come into the toilets in the first place. Standing in front of the toilet door was Emily and Sasha, two people that had been trying to make Rachel's life a living hell since the day she came to this home.

"Hey braceface," Emily sniggered.

Rachel self-consciously closed her lips over the pink metal wire overlapping her white teeth.

"They're being taken off in two weeks, you won't be able to call me that anymore," Rachel said, trying to sound confident, but that was hard for a ten year old who was being faced with two fourteen year olds.

"Trust me, we'll think of new names," Sasha sneered and moved closer to the shivering young brunette.

"What do you want?" Rachel asked, turning her small hands into little fists.

"Well, Sasha here was just thinking she needs to have a hair wash soon, weren't you Sash?" Emily asked, while playing with the chewing gum in her mouth.

"Yeah I was, and I think virgin Berry here might want one too," Sasha smiled sinisterly, while swaying towards Rachel, who seemed to be stuck to the ground.

"Good idea, how about we give her one right here," Emily grinned, evilness in her eyes, as she too, joined Sasha right in front of Rachel.

"I'm okay thank you, I'm just going to leave now," Rachel said, knowing that it wasn't going to end in her favour, but she might as well try.

Making a run for the door, Emily stood in her path and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Now now puke breath, not so fast, you haven't had your wash yet," Emily whispered right into her ear, before licking the small brunette's ear lobe and pulling away laughing in her face.

Rachel felt like she would pass out, as the uncomfortable goose bumps ran down her body. She was so innocent, no one had touched her body before; she was only ten! So, when Emily had used her smoke covered tongue to lick Rachel's petite ear, the girl just wanted to cry.

Emily forcefully pushed her back into Sasha, who lifted her from behind and chucked her into a stall, Emily then closed the gap behind them, completely sealing them in the crapped, smelly stall.

She was trapped; completely trapped. She could try and squeeze under the small gap between the floor and stall wall, but she would be too slow.

Closing her eyes completely shut, she just waited for what she knew was about to happen.

Sasha was now bent over her and gripping the brunette's silky, clean hair at the back of her head.

"Bath time bitch," Emily sneered, as Sasha did her part.

The sheer pain of the water hitting her face, with the need to take a breath, but not wanting to drown, all added up to one of the most unpleasant and terrifying experiences of her life.

Sasha would constantly pull the flush as soon as the water died down, only giving Rachel a couple of seconds to take in some much needed oxygen.

'When are they going to stop? Or is this how I am going to die?' Rachel thought to her tiny mind, as the water continuously hit her face, soaked her hair and destroyed her self-worth.

After what seemed like an hour, Sasha and Emily got bored. Sasha dropped Rachel's limp head on the toilet bowl and kicked the small brunette in the back side as they laughed their way out into the hallway.

Rachel gripped the bowl to try and pull herself to her feet, but she had no energy, she had no confidence and lastly, she had no strength. She was tired; tired of fighting people to leave her alone, tired of constantly having to look over her shoulder before going anywhere.

Every day since that event took place, Rachel had never been able to have water covering her face. If she took a shower, it was quick and she never let the water run down her face, from the fear of never coming out of the water again.

As her mind calmed down and stopped torturing her, Rachel took a deep breath. She had grown up since then, she was stronger physically and emotionally. Plus, she couldn't let the event with Emily and Sasha stop her from becoming close to people in this home.

Pulling her stall door open, she put a small smile onto her face and walked straight to the wash basin and gave her hands a thorough wash.

Only then did she realised she wasn't alone at the wash basins. Just to the right of her, a slightly shorter girl than herself was stood powdering her nose. Rachel took a good look at her and thought that the petite girl was very pretty, with long, dark blonde hair, skinny jeans and an AC/DC top. But there was something about the small girl that Rachel felt like she knew.

The blonde girl could obviously feel Rachel staring at her, so she turned her head slowly and smiled at the brunette.

"Hi," the blonde said, while putting her makeup away.

Rachel fell out of her gaze when a voice spoke up and she realised she had been staring at the girl for far too long to be considered normal.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to stare," Rachel mumbled, drying her hands off on some paper towels.

"I don't mind," the smaller girl smiled slightly, packing her makeup bag into her rucksack.

"I'm Rachel by the way, the new girl," Rachel smiled back, rolling her eyes when she mentioned she was the newbie.

"Ah, we were told someone would be coming today, nice to meet you," the smaller girl moved forward and stretched her hand out in Rachel's direction.

"Ella," the blonde grinned and waited for Rachel to accept the handshake.

The brunette was going to shake it but immediately felt like she was having déjà vu. Ella's bright blue eyes were strikingly familiar and the girl's warm smile reminded her of someone and she just couldn't place who.

Ella could see Rachel inwardly debating something in her head and the blonde knew that Rachel had obviously already met the other one, so she just helped the brunette out.

"Eddie," Ella nodded.

"Sorry?" Rachel asked, having still not placed Ella's familiarity to a person.

"You've obviously met Eddie, he's my brother," the blonde smiled, with her hand still in midair.

"Yes! I have met Eddie. I knew you looked familiar," Rachel sighed, smiling that the mystery was now solved, "oh, I'm Rachel."

They both shook hands and Ella lent sideways onto her hip as Rachel chucked her paper towels into the bin.

"So, how long have you been here?" Rachel asked casually.

"Two years now, Eddie and I came in when we were 18 and 14," Ella shrugged.

Rachel's eyebrows furrowed, she wasn't making out the calculations very well.

"Wait, you came here when you were 14 and he was 18?" Rachel asked again.

"Yeah," Ella looked back just as confused.

"If that was two years ago, you can only be 16, how come you're in this home? This is not me being rude, so please accuse me if it comes across that way, I just thought this was a home for 18 and over's," Rachel explained herself.

Ella smiled slightly as this girl's way of speaking; she liked it.

"Technically it is, but since about 18 years ago, that rule kind of went out of the window. They now still say it's for 18 and older, but if someone comes to them who are younger but in desperate need of a home, they still let them in. So yeah, that's why I'm 16 and here," Ella smiled.

"Oh, that's nice of them, I didn't realise that," Rachel smiled back.

She was genuinely enjoying Ella's company, just as she did with Eddie. She liked these siblings and was so thankful that she now knew two people before dinner.

"Just out of interest, what's your last name?" Rachel asked curiously, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Roberts, Ella Roberts," the small blonde smiled back.

Rachel just grinned back and replied with her own; she trusted Ella.

"I'm Rachel Berry," she said, not that Ella had asked.

"Ooh, that's different, I like that," Ella nodded in approval.

"Thank you, I've never had that reaction to my surname before," Rachel laughed.

"Well, you know, Roberts it's kind of boring, like Smith, or Jones, but Berry is just so fresh and out there, you know?" Ella started to animate with her hands and ramble; Rachel could completely relate.

"I suppose so, I just never looked at it like that," she grinned at Ella.

The blonde cleared her throat and looked towards the toilet door.

"Well, I'm just going to go and dump my bag in my room, then head down to dinner, you want to join me?" Ella asked, walking towards the door and opening it.

"Umm, yes okay," Rachel smiled, "oh wait, Eddie said he would come get me from my room before dinner."

"That's no problem, we'll go past mine then go to yours," Ella nodded as she went out into the hallway, holding the door open for Rachel.

As they started walking back down the hallway, Rachel spoke up again.

"Which room number is yours?" she asked, as Ella was walking in front of her.

"2A, two down from you on the other side of the hallway," she smiled over her shoulder.

Rachel was working things through in her head.

"Oh, I get it now! It goes like, 1A on one side then 1B on the other, and then as you move up the hallway it would go 2A, 2B, then 3A and 3B and so on. I like it, it's very organised, I like organised things. My old homes just had doors placed randomly, not even in a hallway sometimes, and you didn't have numbers so just had to remember where your room was. I can't tell you how many times I went into the wrong room. I walked in on many different situations, some I still try and erase out of my memory," Rachel rambled on, animating with her hands and not really looking at anything in particular.

Ella had started to giggle at the beginning, when Rachel had just realised the order of the rooms, but now, as the brunette had finished her story, Ella was in full blown laughter.

"What's so funny?" Rachel asked, immediately feeling self-conscious.

"Nothing bad, it's just I love how you talk so much. It's really good to just hear someone chatting; it's refreshing in this place," Ella grinned over her shoulder as they stopped in front of 2A.

"Anyway, I'll just chuck my bag on my bed," Ella smiled, as she unlocked her door and walked in.

Rachel didn't want to just assume that she would be allowed in, but she was nosey as hell and wanted to see what Ella's room would look like, seeing as the girl had been here for two years.

As she poked her head through the door, she smiled when she saw colour and posters.

"You can come in Rachel, I won't bite," Ella smiled, "maybe."

Rachel laughed with the girl, and politely stepped into the room, taking in all the little posters and newspaper clippings.

"I like your room," Rachel smiled.

There were posters of different bands, a few pictures of people, who Rachel assumed were her friends and drawings that Ella had drawn. The brunette could tell Ella liked her rock and roll, as she had many Aerosmith posters and AC/DC and as Rachel squinted to just above her bed, she saw a small Justin Bieber poster. Guilty pleasures. Rachel chose not to mention the Bieber poster and looked at the drawings instead.

"Did you do these? They're amazing," Rachel said in awe, as she ran her fingers over the pencil sketch of a dog who was chewing a slipper.

"Yeah, just a hobby of mine," Ella smiled.

"Fantastic hobby," Rachel nodded, before she ran her fingers over another drawing.

The brunette had always had to touch things for as long as she could remember. To really be able to feel something, to experience it, her fingers would automatically want to touch. It was considered fine, until one day, someone in her old home came in with a tattoo on their leg and she had wanted to touch it since it had been done. Not in a creepy way, but in a way that she needed to really feel it to be able to connect with it. So one day, as she was sat on the couch, said tattoo person came in and sat next to her. Taking her moment, she outstretched her hand, stroked firmly down the person's leg and smiled, as she felt the small bumps under the skin, where the tattoo was. Let's just say, the other person never looked at her again; they were scared away. Rachel hadn't minded, she had felt the tattoo and she didn't really like the person anyway.

"Thank you," Ella replied, "you want to head to your room now?"

"There's nothing exciting there, but Eddie will be along any minute now anyway," Rachel smiled, heading for the door.

Ella followed closely behind and they managed to get to Rachel's room, just as Eddie was walking up behind them.

The two girls turned around and smiled delightfully in the boy's direction.

"Rachel," he nodded his head in greeting, "sis."

Ella smiled at her brother as they shared a quick hug.

"So you've met Rachel as well?" Ella asked him, as she tucked all her hair over one shoulder.

"Sure have," Eddie smiled, grinning in Rachel's direction.

"You were my first official Stoneson friend, Eddie. What an honour," Rachel laughed jokingly.

"Oh man, I'm second," Ella pouted out, but laughed along as well.

As they were all chatting about what they thought might be on the menu tonight, Rachel bit her lip as she spoke up.

"Am I going to be a massive pain when I tell the cook that I'm vegetarian?" Rachel asked, getting slightly worried.

Ella shook her head, as Eddie shrugged.

"No, shouldn't be a problem if you say it nicely. We have two other veggies here anyway and they get good food," Ella smiled.

Rachel immediately brightened up when she heard that she wasn't the only vegetarian; she could discuss her animal rights speeches with other people! In all her other homes, she had been the only vegetarian. There was one guy once who said he was a vegetarian and Rachel had been happy, until she caught him munching on bacon late one night. He was no longer her friend; one thing worse than people that eat meat are vegetarian traitors.

"Oh that's cool then," Rachel smiled, rubbing her hands down her jeans.

As Ella was just about to say if they should start heading down for dinner, the door just two away from Rachel's on the other side of the hallway, 6A, started to open. Ella and Eddie just ignored it, as it was just another kid coming down for dinner, but Rachel turned around, as this was another person she had to judge if they were going to be nice to her.

As the short haired blonde stepped out into the hallway, she turned around and locked her door. Rachel noted that the girl had amazing fashion sense, with a beautiful knee length skirt and top, with a long cardigan to go with it. The blonde's hair was choppy and just above the shoulder and she had to be a good 2-3 inches taller than Rachel was.

As said blonde turned around, she stopped momentarily as she was startled to see people crowded in the hallway; she must have been away in her own little world. The blonde just bowed her head slightly as she went to walk past the group.

Rachel hadn't taken her eyes off the girl and as the blonde walked smoothly past the small trio, striking hazel eyes raised from the floor to pierce into observant chocolate ones. The corners of the blonde's lips turned up a fraction in greeting, before she carried on with her journey, looking over her shoulder for a split second before carrying on down the hallway.

Rachel thought immediately that those had been incredibly deep eyes. She shook her head and stopped watching after the girl and turned her attention back to Ella and Eddie, who were staring at her like she was crazy.

"Okay and she's back in the room," Ella laughed, nudging Rachel's arm a little.

"Sorry, I just… who was that?" Rachel asked, interest lacing her words.

"That would be Quinn," Eddie said, raising his eyebrow.

"Door scratcher," Rachel mumbled quietly to herself.

"Anyway, dinner? I'm starving," Ella rubbed her stomach to emphasise her point.

"Yeah… yeah, let's go," Rachel smiled, still trying to get her mind back into reality.

What was it about that Quinn girl that got to Rachel so much? Maybe it was the fact that no one had ever looked so deeply at Rachel and she wasn't sure if she was nervous under the gaze or excited to find out more about the girl. For now, she would just take a back seat and get to know everyone.

As Ella and Eddie took the lead, Rachel took one last look over her shoulder and whispered under her breath.

"6A."