Disclaimer: No matter how many times I've pleaded... I own nothing. Not Labyrinth, not glee, not Sarah, not Rachel, not Quinn, and -sigh- not Jareth. all rights go to respective owners.
Quinn Fabray hated Sarah Williams with an intense passion. It wasn't because the girl was beautiful. It wasn't because she wasn't afraid to be herself. And it wasn't because she dressed weird or always had her nose in a book. No it wasn't due to any of that. Quinn hated Sarah because Sarah was Rachel Berry's best friend. That wasn't okay. Either Rachel would be Quinn's friend, or no one's.
Once upon a time, a chunky young girl joined a ballet class. Her name was Lucy. She had no friends and everyone made fun of her. Except for one tiny little girl. With her long dark hair and big brown eyes, Rachel Berry had stolen Lucy Fabray's heart the moment she had introduced herself. Little Rachel had befriended Lucy, encouraging her when she was scared, picking her up when others pushed her down. But when Lucy became skinny and pretty, she found out no one else thought Rachel was good enough to be her friend. By the time Lucy – now Quinn – had realized she didn't care what everyone thought, it was too late. Rachel refused to have anything to do with the new Lucy.
Quinn made a rule. No one was allowed to be Rachel's friend. Not unless Rachel accepted Quinn's own invitation of friendship. And everyone had obeyed the rule. Until Sarah Williams moved to town at the end of 10th grade.
At the beginning of 11th grade, Quinn was furious to find out that Rachel had a friend. A best friend. Someone who made her laugh and told her jokes and stories. Someone who replaced the memory of Lucy.
"Speak of the devil and she shall appear," Quinn mumbled to herself as two familiar brunettes rounded the corner.
Arms linked and smiles bright on their faces, Rachel and Sarah practically skipped down the hall, not even glancing at the blonde Cheerio glaring at them.
"Oh my goodness!" Rachel laughed. "What does Hoggle have to say about that?"
"He thinks I'm crazy," Sarah admitted, a small giggle followed. "And maybe I am. But I think he deserves a second chance at courting me."
"Properly this time," Rachel quickly added.
As their conversation faded away, Quinn's glare turned wistful. What she wouldn't give to be the one talking with Rachel, or even Sarah. Because she was obviously special, since Rachel seemed to like her so much. Quinn so badly wanted to know what they were talking about. She wanted so badly to be there laughing with them. And she wanted to stop this silly nonsense of making Rachel and Sarah outcasts just because Rachel had rejected her. But her pride wouldn't let her.
"Jareth and Sarah," Rachel said, trying out the two names together. "Would your couple name be Jarah? Sareth? Which do you like? They both sound kind of weird..."
"Better then Finchel!" Sarah shot back. A light blush spread across her cheeks, pinking her nose and ears too. "Besides, I agreed to get to know him. Not marry him."
"Dating is getting to know someone," Rachel said in a singsong voice. "And I resent that. I thought Finchel was a very cute name. Of course, not as cute as Puckleberry or Faberry, but I mustn't complain. Finn was a good-"
"Don't you dare say Finn was a good boyfriend!" Sarah said fiercely. "He was an awful boyfriend and you know it! He always made you cry and question your values. And he got in the way of your dreams." Then her emerald green eyes narrowed. "Faberry?"
Rachel's eyes widened. Had she said that out loud? "Faberry?" she repeated in a hopefully innocent tone.
"Yes, you said Faberry..." Sarah gasped. "That's Fabray and Berry combine isn't it? It is! You've gone and made yourself a couple name with the biggest bitch in school."
"Actually the biggest bitch is Lauren Zizes," Rachel joked. "Quinn is the head bitch, but she is not the biggest. She's actually rather small-"
"You like her!" Sarah accused with a playful smile.
"I do not!" Rachel said indignantly. "I made us a name when we were 10. Then 4 years later she chose popularity over me and then turned the school against me when I couldn't forgive her for what she had done! What part of that story makes you think I like her?"
"I'm sorry." Sarah stopped and grabbed Rachel's chin, gently making the smaller girl look at her. "It was a thoughtless joke. She put you through hell. I know. But don't let her ruin anything else for you. You're stronger than that."
"She has no power over me," Rachel whispered with a tiny smile.
"Damn straight!" Sarah laughed. "Now come, I believe you need a chat with Ludo."
Rachel allowed herself to be dragged off to the girl's bathroom, where via mirror they could talk to Sarah's underground friends. As she listened to Sarah chatter, her mind drifted to Quinn. For reasons she couldn't explain, Rachel still loved Quinn. And it killed her inside everyday.
The cafeteria was full of laughter and mindless chatter. Forks clanked against metal trays and chairs scraped across linoleum, making it hard to concentrate.
"What's a Goblin King?" Brittany asked Santana as they waited in the lunch line.
Santana cocked her head to the side. "A what?" she asked loudly.
"The Goblin King. I want to know who he is," Brittany repeated.
"Never heard of him, Britts." Santana gave a shrug and reached for an apple juice. "Where'd you hear the name?"
"Sarah Williams was talking to Rachel about it in the girl's bathroom this morning. And get this San! They were talking to a-"
"Just ignore them, B. They're losers and make shit up all the time. They live in a fantasy world. You, sweetheart, belong in the real world with the rest of us normal people."
Brittany grinned at the affectionate term Santana had used. She instantly forgot all about the rusty orange creature that had appeared in the mirror and talked to Rachel and Sarah. "I'm your sweetheart?"
"Not mine," Santana corrected hastily. "You're… you're Brittany. I- Just drop it." Santana's face twisted into a scowl and she pushed away, quickly leaving the line without buying anything.
With a sigh, Brittany picked up the discarded tray and paid for both her meal and Santana's. She didn't know why Santana had gotten so angry, but she knew it would be worse if her friend went without lunch. The girl got cranky when she didn't eat.
Sarah sat by herself in the cafeteria. She absently ate her apple and tried to read her book, but her mind kept going back to this morning. Rachel had looked like a deer caught in the headlights when Sarah had joked that she liked Quinn. She had been so defensive… and sad.
An amused smile spread on her lips. Hoggle had once said that Quinn reminded him of Jareth. And now that Sarah thought about it, Quinn and Rachel's relationship was similar to Jareth and hers. With the whole arrogant and demanding attitude and their weird ways of expressing their love, Jareth and Quinn were almost the same person. And Sarah and Rachel were like two peas in a pod, practically the same in every way. Except Sarah couldn't sing to save her life and she didn't talk as much as Rachel.
Except, what Quinn had done was worse than what Jareth had done. So Sarah didn't blame Rachel for being unable to forgive the blonde. But Sarah wished her best friend would at least try, so Rachel could move on with her life and learn to be truly happy again.
Humming to herself, Rachel sorted out her sheet music and arranged it neatly on top of the piano. The choir room was always empty during lunch, even though the glee club met directly afterwards. Rachel could never understand how a club focused on singing and dancing couldn't be bothered with using their lunch time to practice. She herself had almost signed up to join, until she found out that Quinn was the Lead Female and Captain.
Sarah had begged Rachel to join, but to no avail. Rachel refused to be a part of anything with Quinn. Because in Rachel's eyes? Quinn had taken away Lucy.
Quinn stood outside in the hall, listening to Rachel sing, a soft piano tune accompanying her strong voice. Rachel was singing a song Quinn had never heard of. Was it original?
There's such a sad love
Deep in your eyes.
A kind of pale jewel
Open and closed
Within your eyes.
I'll place the sky
Within your eyes.
There's such a fooled heart
Beatin' so fast
In search of new dreams.
A love that will last
Within your heart.
I'll place the moon
Within your heart.
As the pain sweeps through,
Makes no sense for you.
Every thrill is gone.
Wasn't too much fun at all,
But I'll be there for you-ou-ou
As the world falls down.
Falling.
Falling down.
Falling in love.
Releasing a breath she didn't know she had been holding, Quinn had to get rid of the urge to go to Rachel. The song was just so beautiful. And it had an almost other worldly sound. Which made no sense at all, but Quinn could think of no different way to describe it.
An unbidden image of two young girls playing in the park swirled in Quinn's mind and brought a lump to her throat.
"I miss you," Quinn whispered to the door, her hazel eyes drinking in the sight of Rachel singing and smiling. "And I miss who I was with you."