You know that thing that happens when your muse kicks you in the ass during a really boring Army PowerPoint presentation?

No?

Well this is what that thing looks like.

Yellow

Chapter 1: New Directions, different outcomes.

Am I… free?

Is this really happening?

This paper in my hands cannot be real…

Has all of this bullshit finally paid off?

Quinn briefly noticed the tear stains quickly accumulating on the bottom of her high school diploma.

Finally, she had made it. Earning a full scholarship to NYU for her academics, room and board, plus a healthy bonus from cheerleading, and a chance to get out of Lima, Ohio forever simply reduced her to tears. No child to care for, no parents to kick her out, and no reputation to uphold was a powerful realization for the blonde. She could feel her cheeks slick with tears, the first tears she'd cried since pregnancy, and the first time she had ever shed some out of pure joy.

Visibly shaken by all her emotion, Quinn let her eyes stray from her diploma. She was met by the sight of her cookie cutter parents, something she vowed she would never let herself become. Getting as far from them as possible with no dependence on them what so ever was the only reason her high school charade had gone on so long.

"We are so proud of you, Honey." Judy Fabrey said with a fake smile. Behind the woman's eyes Quinn could see anger and resentment. Angry that her little girl was leaving her, in a world she despised but would never crawl out from. Gone were the days she could look into a glass full of whiskey and say she was doing it for her daughter, to keep them all a family. Now Judy knew she would be lucky if they even saw Quinn at holidays.

"Thanks, mom."

Quinn turned her attention to her father, looked him square in the eye and took a deep breath. Bringing herself to her full height she locked gazes with identical hazel spheres, the only thing she inherited from her father that had yet to be surgically altered on his dime.

"Aren't you going to congratulate me, Daddy?" she said with a soft cruelty she'd perfected through the years.

"Congratulations." He managed to get through tightly clenched teeth, a smile so fake it looked painful.

Quinn cocked her head to the side, observing their charade for what it was worth.

"You guys are absolutely pathetic."

"Quinn!" the small family heard Finn call from across the parking lot. He was quickly weaving his way through the groups of people, dodging little kids right before he could step on them and ducking past little old ladies with canes he could trip over.

"Great…" Quinn seethed under her breathe.

No time like the present I suppose…

"Hey…" he said awkwardly, running his hand threw his hair in that way he does that makes you imagine he's always wearing a wig.

"So a bunch of us are going to Breadstix later before Puck's party, would you like to go with me?" he asked, giving Quinn that "I'm a cute boy, love me!" smile that really only made him look related to Becky. (Not that Becky isn't beautiful; we all know she's a doll.)

"Sorry, but no, Finn. We aren't together anymore." The blonde said with a smile in her eyes.

"Um… what? I don't under-"

"Here, I'll break it down for you. I don't need my parents anymore, which my default means I don't need my reputation. Ergo there are a few incredible things to come out of this, one of them being I no longer need you. Not that I actually ever considered you more than just my beard anyways. So here's the hot and heavy, you're like a rubber glove. Now that I'm done with all this mess I get to take you off, through you away and show the world my hand."

Quinn climbed up on top of the silver Tahoe they were standing beside and cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Hey! McKinley High graduates! Everybody listen up!" Quinn yelled at the top of her lungs, smirking at the appalled look her parent adorned and how confused Finn still seemed to be. All eyes turned towards the HBIC's voice.

Glad I still have some power over these people… why not shoot that to hell too?

One pair of eyes caught hers, deep pools of mahogany she'd already fallen for almost 7 years prior. Quinn could register the small glimmer of fear mixed with the curiosity in those eyes. The ones she'd grown to love behind closed doors.

"Listen up! I have a couple of things I'd like to say. First, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Without your unwavering fear of me, I might have been a Lima loser forever. Second, I'm sorry for every slushy I've thrown, every insulating name I have spoken, and I'm sorry for every one of you that I victimized. I can't tell you how much it's haunted me over the last Six years. I know I'll never be able to make up for it, but please know I am beyond sorry."

The parking lot was dead silent, hundreds of eyes staring up at her waiting for the inevitable punch line. Quinn scanned the audience, noticing her parents had taken off just as she suspected they would.

Good thing I sent all my stuff to New York ahead of me…

"And lastly… I'm gay."

If she had thought it was quite before, it was of no comparison to the stillness surrounding her now. It was as if the open gapping mouths of her peers and their parents were black holes, sucking in every sound around them.

"Yeah, I'm a lesbian. A homosexual. And I'm still the prettiest girl any of you will ever see. Thanks for your time."

Quinn jumped off the truck, brushing down the skirt of her bright white sun dress. She walked over to where Britney and Santana stood, both adorning a bright smile. Quinn couldn't help but return it, loving how beautiful the two were together, no longer scared to be in love.

"HEY MCKINLEY!" Santana yelled. Quinn still couldn't believe something so tiny could be so loud.

"WE ARE ALL GAY, MOTHER FUCKERS! AND WE RULED YOU!"

The three of them all linked arms, laughing into the sunset. The weight lifted off their shoulders in a way that made them seem like they were flying. Without a glance back they left half of Lima behind, confused out of their minds. All but three individuals.

"I can't believe it…" Rachel stuttered.

"Oh come on, Honey. Those two have been sleeping together since 9th grade." Leroy, Rachel's very tall, very handsome African American father said. He shot a knowing look at his husband.

"Yes, but that Quinn girl, that was quite the surprise." Elijah said stiffly, smoothing down his daughters hair.

"Well, not really, love. I mean, I wasn't so nice in high school. The football team would have kicked me off if they would have known."

"Yes, I'm sure they would have." Eli humored his husband. Both men shared a loving smile before turning their attention to the small girl between them.

"Rachel…" Leroy asked cautiously.

"Yes, Daddy?" she said brightly, her gaze still following the three girls out into the distance.

"Are you okay? You look like your somewhere else…"

"No, Daddy. I'm right here." She smiled up at him.

"So… Julliard?" he asked his little girl. She smiled brightly and began explaining her plans at once.

"They want me to be there no later than three days time for the start of their summer stage production, so I figured I'd leave the day after tomorrow, then do a little sightseeing and then show up ready for whatever they need me for. I'll most likely only be watching or helping to build sets and getting coffee, but I am more than certain that my time to shine is on its way and in the foreseeable future. I am positive this experience will allow me to make acquaintance with the people there that can only make my moment in the spotlight shin brighter than any girl or freakishly girlish boy they have ever seen."

Rachel gave her best stage smile and took a deep breath. Her father's found themselves very pleased that their little girl had refused to change. Rachel had every reason to want to; being a social outcast in a town whose community theatre was run by the guy who owned the laundry mat was no easy feat.

Instead of conforming to what society deemed a young woman should be she kept her big dreams and even larger personality. It was safe to say her parents were extremely proud of her, and all she had overcome.

"Let's get some dinner at that vegan place across the street from Starbucks." Her daddy suggested with a smile.

"You mean the only vegan restaurant in town?" Rachel chuckled.

"That's only 'cause you're their only customer!" Elijah said playfully, sticking his tongue out at the brunette. "Then your daddy and I can drop you off at Noah's house for that party he's having."

They began walking hand-in-hand, Rachel in the middle of their Berry sandwich, towards their silver Ford Focus.

"You don't have to do that, I'm not entirely certain I want to embark on this particular ritual where young adult act like children and party all night to celebrate something almost every kid in Lima does."

"Rachel love," Leroy opened the back door for his daughter, shut it, and ducked his long frame into the pint sized car. After closing it and buckling himself up, he turned back to his pride and joy. "You should go, because it could be the last time you see your friends for a very long time. The last chance to hear Artie say something your uncle Germane would say, or Tina and Mike to get all "Asian" on someone. Or Britney to say something so dumb it's adorable and Santana to kick Finns butt for commenting on it. This could be the last time Noah says something sexually inappropriate to you! Or you and Mercedes get into a Diva war! You just have to go!"

Out of breath, Leroy could see his husband choking on a comment about Leroy's "Rachel rant", as they dubbed it the day she turned four.

"Fine…" Rachel conceded. She looked out the window as her daddy turned back into his seat, a million watt smile adorning his handsome dark features.


"Girl, I honestly didn't think you had it in you!" Santana laughed, now sure they were far enough from the public to have this conversation.

"Yeah, you totally showed that school how much you rock. I mean, look at us, all about sweet lady kisses and we are still loved and totally feared."

"Tots, Brit." Santana said with a smile. She leaning into her blonde and captured her in a lip-locking embrace.

"Ew, come on guys. Can't you wait to have sex till you're in private? Or at least alone?" Quinn stressed the last word.

"You are so coming to Pucks party tonight. He promised me there'd be ducks." Britney said with a bashful smile. Quinn knew if anyone could get her to do something, it was Britney Peirce.

"I don't think so, I have to leave tomorrow really early so I shouldn't-"

"Tubers, I'm driving you to the fucking airport. Suck it up, 'cause you're going tonight. I needs to get my drink on with my baby and your DDing us all home. Gots it?"

Quinn chuckled under her breath. She knew when to abandon ship.

"Fine, fine. Just help me avoid Finn. That's one problem I don't need to deal with, ever…" Quinn rolled her eyes and the sheer lack of feelings she had for her ex-beard.

"So now that you're totally out of the closet and everything, are you going to tell Rachel how you feel?" Britney asked bashfully.

Shocked that Britney knew about her hidden feelings Quinn choked on her own saliva.

"Brit!"

"Oh, shut up, Q. It's not like the entire world isn't going to figure out the reason you've been targeting her since the 7th grade. Right after she kissed your bloody lip to make it "feel better". Remember that? I gave you that fat lip. One of my proudest moments…" Santana went into her own little world.

"You were so hot in 7th grade Sani…" Britney said dreamily, fawning over Santana's shoulder.

"That's right B, and I was all yours even back then."

"Hey, let's bring this conversation back from nauseousville and to my current situation. Do you really think people are going to figure it out?" Quinn said, slightly freaked out.

"I think, that you should just tell her. Be like this." Britney turned to Santana. "You're Rachel and I'll be Q, okay?" Santana nodded in understanding.

"Rachie… I think you are really pretty, like the prettiest girl I've ever seen. And when you sing I always tear up because it's the only thing in this world that moves me. I want to take you out and show people how beautiful and smart and talented you are and get to call you mine the way Santana calls Britney hers. I love you, and I've been in love with you since you kiss my booboo when we were twelve. If you forgive me for all the mean things I've done to you, I will spend the rest of my life making up for them. I'll do anything for a chance to be your soul mate."

Quinn was flabbergasted. Santana let a few valiant tears fall, but quickly brushed them away.

"God damn it B, you're making me cry! I love how smart you are." Santana said lovingly pulling her girlfriend into a tight hug.

How does she know all this stuff about me? Am I really that transparent? Or is she just… super Britney? No… that can't be right. I need to work more on my poker face…

Quinn began walking away from the happy couple, knowing they would catch up to her soon enough. Left alone with her thoughts she reflected on everything that had happened. She had graduated high school, head cheerleader, salutatorian (second to one Rachel Berry), she broke up with Finn her "high school beard-heart", jumped out of the closet with rainbow streamers and a band of dildo juggling drag queens, and now she was contemplating how to tell Rachel Berry she'd been hers since they were twelve years old. Not bad for a day's work,

New York, New York was a big city; Quinn was no stranger to that fact. She did however apply to NYU with the hopes of accidentally running into Rachel a few years down the road, once all their baggage was cleaned out and they could start anew. Was this the romantic in Quinn? If you asked her a year ago she'd say it was the masochist. But now that the truth was out she could start to make amends. No longer having to live a lie, Quinn vowed to herself that if that day ever came, she would sweep Rachel Berry off her feet and shower her with everything she deserved. But for now, she had bigger, bader fish to fry.


"Okay Sweetheart, just remember, if you're gonna drink-"

"I'm not going to drink, Daddy."

"Stop being petulant and listen to your Father." Eli said a little too forcefully.

"If you plan on having a drink, you give us a call and we will come get you at the end of the party. No staying over Noah's, no one gets to give you a lift home. Nothing like that. If you have even a sip, you call us at the end of the night and we will bring you home with no problems. Okay?" Leroy smiled at his star, grabbing Eli's hand for support. Their little girl was growing up.

"Okay, and what do I do if I don't drink? Would you like me to walk home, Daddy?" she said stubbornly.

"No… you can call us for that too. Or you can sleep over Britney's house, I trust that girl with my life for some reason. But only if it's more than just you, her and Santana.

"Got it. Love you. Bye!" Rachel sang as she hoped out of the car.

Walking up the pathway to the Puckerman residence she tossed a look over her right shoulder and smiled at her Fathers. After ringing the doorbell, Rachel glanced down to make sure she looked okay. Opting to change from her graduation dress, she chose comfortable hip-hugging Levi's, a white tank top and white flats. She wanted to look relaxed; after all, she wasn't in high school anymore.

It wasn't long before someone answered the door.

Britney moaned into Santana's mouth once she felt the girl pull her in tightly. Their tongues danced mixing the flavors of cherry vodka and whiskey.

"God you make me so hot… I can't wait to take you home." The Latino purred into her lover's ear. Making out on Puck's mothers couch was okay, but the things they wanted to do to each other would have to wait till later.

"You guy's seriously need to get a room. Or I need better friends…" Quinn muttered under her breath.

She left to get another cherry coke with vodka for Britney and whiskey sour for Santana. As she put the finishing cherries on Britney's drink she felt a presence behind her.

"Well you aren't holding back I see. Hi, my name is Rachel Berry." She held out her hand to the blonde, not at all shocked when she hesitantly took it.

"I know… who you are…" Quinn said, confusion written all over her face.

"That's good, but I'm afraid I know absolutely nothing about you. How about you forget those drinks and I get you a soda? Maybe we could find somewhere less crowded to talk?" Rachel asked.

"Um, how about you stay right here, I'll go drop these drinks off to their rightful owners, and then I'll get you a soda." She said hesitantly, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips.

"That sounds like a pretty reasonable plan. I'll be waiting." The brunette said with a smile, stepping aside so Quinn could make her way back to the party's hottest couple.

Once she picked the drinks up she noticed a slight tremble, her nerves seemed to be getting the best of her. She smiled as she walked past the songbird and quickly put the drinks down on the coffee table beside her best friends.

Quinn subtly ran her hand through her shoulder length hair and sniffed herself, making sure she didn't reek of B.O.

She fixed her sundress so it showed a bit more cleavage then before and spun on her heels, back to the small beauty in the kitchen.

"So, um, Rachel Berry… right? How about that soda?"

Rachel giggled; what had first been a small joke made in an attempt to get to know the real Quinn was somehow turning into a flirting extravaganza.

"I'd prefer something, a bit easier on the eyes… honestly." Rachel said boldly, making Quinn blush.

"I've got just the thing."

Quinn went to work mixing her a drink: ice, ginger ale, cherry juice and a maraschino on top.

"It's a Shirley Temple. I use to drink them as a kid…" Quinn said with a small smile. "Back porch?"

"Hmm, I thought you'd never ask."

Quinn led the brunette out of the kitchen and opened the sliding glass door for her.

"Thank you." she said politely from behind her drink. Quinn followed her out and closed the door behind them, muffling the sound of the music to a dull background noise.

"So, what's your name?" Rachel asked, taking a seat on the edge of the small concrete patio.

"Lucy Quinn Fabrey. But go by Quinn these days." She responded, sitting next to the brunette, but not too close.

"Hmm, Quinn. That's a really pretty name. Tell me some things about yourself." Rachel probed.

"Um… what kind of things would you like to know?" Quinn asked nervously, she was sure Rachel could hear her heart pounding in her chest

"Everything." Rachel stated simply.

"Okay… well. I just graduated from McKinley High, I have a full ride to the university of my dreams, I love to sing, even though I'm a bit, um, sharp at times, I'm a bit of a neat freak, but not to the point of OCD, I love all types of animals but I can't stand bugs and,"

Oh god, this is it. I can feel the word vomit. No, don't do it! Control yourself!

"and, I've been in love with you since we were twelve and you kissed me because I had a cut on my lip."

Oh fuck! Oh shit! Oh fuck shit mother fucking shit!

"Hmm…." Rachel pondered. "Why don't you like bugs?"

Quinn let out the breath she had been holding.

Maybe I didn't actually say that out loud… or maybe she didn't hear me! Yeah! She didn't hear me! Yes, we got off scot free!

"I don't like things that buzz, or hover, or bite, or crawl, or crunch when you step on them, or squish when you step on them, or have more legs then necessary-"

"Okay, okay! I understand now!" Rachel chuckled at Quinn's rant.

"What do you want to know about me?" Rachel asked the blonde.

"I already know everything about you." Quinn said before she could sensor herself.

"Oh really? Lets test that theory! What's my favorite color?"

"Gold."

"Well that was an easy one. How about my favorite food?" Rachel prompted.

"Pomegranate, but you can't eat them because you're deathly allergic. Next."

"Dream car?"

"That's a trick question; you would never put so much thought towards something so insignificant. In your dreams someone else is driving you and that's all that matters." Quinn said with mocking ease.

"Okay, miss know-it-all. Who is my all-time movie-star crush?"

"Julie Andrews. I have never seen you look at a man or a boy the way you look at her in The Sound of Music. You've got it bad for her."

Rachel looked shocked from head to toe. Everything about her body language screamed intruder.

"I know everything about you Rachel Berry, and I love every bit of-"

"AHHH! What the? Mike!" Rachel was covered in beer, soaking in her hair and all down the front and back of her tank top, quickly making it see-through.

"What the fuck is your problem, guy?" Quinn yelled at the dancer, furry residing all over her face.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry Rachel! I didn't see you and I didn't see the ledge and they say dancers are graceful but it's really the exact opposite and I'm so sorry!" he was visibly shaking under the blonde's harsh stare.

"Do exactly as I say." Quinn managed through clenched teeth.

"Tell Santana we have to go now, and that I'm in the car waiting, and if I'm waiting any longer than two minutes I'm wrapping her precious Beemer around a telephone pole. Got it?"

Mike only nodded and took off inside the house. Quinn turned around to see Rachel with her arms wrapped protectively around her chest, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"Come on Rach, let's get you out of here." She said softly to the shocked brunette. Quinn wrapped an arm around her shoulder and took her around the back of the yard, out to where Santana's BMW was parked. She heard the "Tuttut" of the lock and knew her friends were right behind her.

"What happened to Manhands?" Santana asked.

"Do not call her that!" Quinn seethed in her direction. The look of death that fell upon her best friend would have scared a freshman enough to shit their pants.

"Roger that, Boss." She said, opening the door to the back. Quinn admired how Santana always let Britney get the front seat, even in her own car.

"Okay, Berry. What happened? You smell like piss water…"

"Mike Chang tripped and dumped a beer on me by accident." She muttered under her breath.

"Whoow! And you let him live, Q? Holy shit that mans lucky…"

"It was an accident." Rachel pleaded.

"Accident or not, if it was Brits I would have knocked him out cold. No one dumps beer on my baby and lives…"

"Sani, that's sweet and all, but I don't think Rachel is Q's yet. Q doesn't have the same rights to defend Rachel like you do me."

All four passengers spend the last five minutes to Britney's house in silence, all pondering what the young blonde had just said.


Rachel looked around the room, taking in her surroundings. She sat across the guest bed with Quinn. Both were clad in an oversized t-shirt and boxer shorts, with matching blushes and enough tension to kill a horse.

"Oh, fuck Brit! How do you make me feel like this still!" could be heard from the room beside them.

"Wanna play a game?" Rachel asked, trying to break the awkwardness.

"Um… sure."

"Okay, well it starts by making a statement, for instance, 'I eat animal bi-product' and then if you do you have to move one inch closer to your partner. If you don't you move one inch away.

"This sounds dangerous, Rachel." Quinn eyed her skeptically.

"No, it's not sexual. It's like, a way to find out things about each other we want to know."

"Okay, but maybe the bed isn't the best place for this game."

"Come on Quinn, don't be silly. It will be fine. So I'll go first."

"I sleep with a night-light."

Rachel moved an inch closer to Quinn and the blonde stayed in place.

"Um… I have a private vocal coach."

Neither girl moved, which greatly surprised Quinn.

"I regret my past mistakes." Rachel said quietly.

Rachel moved an inch forward, while Quinn moved half a foot.

"I tell my parents everything."

Rachel moved closer, Quinn stayed put. It was as if she couldn't move. She wouldn't do anything passed stare into Rachel's brown orbs and pray the girl was feeling what she was feeling.

"You're suppose to move an inch back, Quinn." Rachel said carefully. Quinn was staring at her in a way that made her think twice about this whole bed thing. If they kept getting closer, Rachel was unsure what events may unfold. The only plan she could come up with is to get Quinn to back up with her questions.

"I'm going to New York City for college."

To her surprise when Rachel moved her inch up she was met with a beautiful blushing blonde whose legs were only a hairs breath away from hers. One more and they would be touching. A few more and they would be on top of each other.

"My turn…" Quinn whispered breathlessly.

"I really want to kiss the girl in front of me, right now."

She moved her inch up, fully expecting Rachel to back out to the other side of the room. To her surprise Rachel moved an inch closer. Now the tops of their feet were flush as well as the fronts of their shins.

"Um, maybe we should get on our knees? That should give us some more room." Rachel stuttered.

Both girls blushed to the roots of their hair as they got up and on their knees, facing each other expectantly.

"I know who I am, and know what I want in life."

They both inched forward. They were now so close Quinn could feel the warmth radiating from Rachel.

"I'm going to be a star on Broadway." Quinn said. She watched Rachel inch forward just a bit. At the brunette exhaled their beasts grazed each others, nipples hardening instantly on contact.

Rachel pulled away quickly, she settled herself on the far side of the bed and muttered something about it being late and her being tired.

"Would you rather I sleep on the floor?" a dejected Quinn asked from her side of the bed.

"NO!" Rachel practically catapulted her way into Quinn's arms. "You should never sleep on the floor. You're too beautiful for that." Rachel said, noticing how good Quinn smelled. She burrowed herself further into the crook of the blonde's neck and breathed in her scent, letting it wash over her.

"Okay, no floor for Quinn." The blonde chuckled. Rachel sure wasn't tough to please.

"Lay down, love. I've got a big day tomorrow, and I need to sleep."

"Oh really? What are you doing tomorrow that's so important sleep takes precedence over me?" Rachel detached herself to give Quinn the best pouty lip she could muster. Quinn only chuckled.

"I fly out to NYC tomorrow. NYU's cheer camp starts in a few days." She ran her hand through the brunette's luscious locks and gave her a soft smile.

"You really are going to New York too? God, if you would have told me that earlier today I probably would have started crying, but now I feel myself growing a bit excited…" Rachel said with amazement. The forlorn look on Quinn's face at the mention of Rachel's fear of her did not go unnoticed.

"Oh, Quinn. I didn't mean it to sound so trivial." She cupped the blondes face in her hands and pressed their foreheads together.

"The past is the past. I look forward to getting to know the real Quinn Fabrey. So far, I really like what I see…" she said. Rachel brought her lips to the side of Quinn's mouth. The blonde let her eyes flutter shut at the feeling on Rachel's breath so close to her lips.

"Goodnight Quinn." She sang softly and kissed the side of her mouth, just missing her lips. Rachel turned around and scooted her body back until it was pressed softly against Quinn's. After what felt like hours the blonde finally relaxed and embraced the small body in front of her. She reveled in the softened of their legs touching. The way her breasts fell so perfectly in place against her back and how good the beauties still damp locks smelled. Never before had she felt so complete, and Rachel wasn't even hers.

Yet.