Disclaimer: I don't own Glee nor do I own the Vampire Diaries.
Author's note: The timeline for this story is roughly at the start of Season Two of Vampire Diaries, so Caroline isn't a vampire yet and Tyler isn't a werewolf. Quinn Fabray x Tyler Lockwood. Please read and review! Hope you enjoy ;)
They say that God never closes one door without opening a window, and Quinn Fabray was choosing to look at her life like that. Last year, she had made the mistake of getting drunk off of wine coolers and letting herself be seduced by Noah Puckerman, who, pardon her French, had indirectly turned her life to shit. She had learned that trust me was most certainly not an effective method of contraception and she had learned the value of true friends. She had made some true friends in the last year with the Glee club. Mercedes had taken her in when she needed a place to stay, and they had been amazing to her. None of them had judged her, and they had all been there for the birthing.
Her mother had also gone through some personal tragedy in the last year, finding that her husband was cheating on her. Quinn knew what cheating could do to a relationship first hand – after all, that was how she had lost Finn. But she didn't know how it felt to be the one who was cheated on. Regardless, she couldn't imagine that it was very fun, and even if living outside of her parents' home had given her more liberty, Quinn decided to do the honourable thing and move back in with her mother when she offered. After all, she did love the woman, and she knew that her mother wouldn't have wanted to kick her out. If it had been up to Judy Fabray, Quinn would have kept the baby and they would have raised it together, without a father. But it had been Quinn's decision and she had decided to give up Beth, letting Shelby Corcoran adopt her.
The summer had been a rough one. She had been there with her mother through every step of the divorce proceedings and made it very clear that she didn't want anything to do with her father. Many summer nights had been spent curled up in her mother's arms, crying over their respective woes. Quinn missed Beth terribly, even if she knew that she had done the right thing, and her mother was still hurt over Russell's indiscretion. They had watched sappy movies together and eaten so much ice cream that sometimes it felt like she was pregnant again. They had really bonded, and it had been on one of those nights, well past bedtime, that the idea had slipped from Quinn's lips, a mere passing thought.
"We should get out of here," Quinn mumbled, more to herself than anything else. They were watching Thelma and Louise, one of Quinn's favourite movies, and just the thought of breaking free, of going somewhere with absolutely no purpose at all sounded enticing. Even if she was no longer pregnant (though the few stretch marks she had when she looked in the mirror – not noticeable to anyone else really, but definitely noticeable to Quinn), she was still that girl in town. Everyone still whispered when she walked around the park or the supermarket, or when she went to Sunday service with her mother. She wasn't looking forward to starting school, and the likelihood of her being on the Cheerios again was next to nothing. There was nothing here but bad memories and impending heartbreak for Quinn.
"We should," her mother replied, after a moment of reflection.
"What?" Quinn asked, turning to her mother. She wasn't entirely conscious of the fact that she'd verbalized her thought, so she was slightly thrown off guard.
"We should get out of here, Quinnie, you're right," Judy nodded. "We're both in need of fresh starts, and I think that sounds like a wonderful idea."
Quinn arched an eyebrow, trying to suss out if her mother was being serious. Her mother looked pretty serious, but still, Quinn couldn't help but ask. "Seriously?"
"Yes. This town is suffocating. Getting away would give me a chance to get over your father, and it would give you a chance to start fresh and make new friends, people who don't know about your past," Judy reasoned, shrugging her shoulders.
Quinn bit her lip, breaking out into a small smile. "Are we really moving?"
"We're really moving," Judy nodded, and both Fabray girls gave a little excited squee and shared a hug. That night, the movie was long forgotten. Instead, Quinn and Judy spent some time discussing where they'd like to live, the type of town, and spent a few hours on Google. It was purely by chance that they stumbled upon the town of Mystic Falls, and just the name had drawn them in. It was a small town, similar to Lima, which they both agreed they wanted – Quinn could get out for college and Judy would still enjoy living in a place where she knew everyone. Listings in Mystic Falls weren't that great, but they managed to find an old cottage-style home in a wealthy part of town. The next day, Judy put the house on the market, an within a week they were packed up and on their way.
Mystic Falls was quiet and loud all at once. The town seemed to be very dramatic, but at the same time, it was peaceful. The papers were constantly filled with news about people dying or going missing, but every town had its quirks. In Lima, she was the pregnant girl, here people died. She wasn't going to judge. Once they had arrived, Judy had been quick to weasel out who to get close to, and it was through a town event that Judy had met Mrs. Lockwood and Quinn had met Caroline Forbes.
Caroline was a bubbly girl, and she reminded Quinn of Brittany in some ways, except that Caroline's stupidity mostly resulted from her foot-in-mouth syndrome. She was seeing a boy called Matt who seemed very nice, and Caroline had spent nearly a month showing her around town now, and had offered to pick her up for the first day of school. Quinn had already figured out from the little bit she had spoken to other people that Caroline was popular, and so being friends with her was important if Quinn wanted to be known around town. Status was like currency. When you were popular, you could do what you wanted. Quinn didn't want to be a toxic asset, so she was determined to make this friendship with Caroline work. Not that she saw it being a problem. Caroline had this tendency of talking so much that all Quinn had to do was nod every now and then and she was going to get along just fine.
"So, there's going to be a party tonight because it's the first day of school and everything. I was thinking that we could go shopping and get new outfits so that we both look super cute," Caroline rambled, looking over at Quinn as she pulled up to a stop.
"I don't know if I want to go..." Quinn mumbled, fixing her headband on top of her head.
"What do you mean you don't know if you're going to go? Quinn, you have to go. It's the first party of the year. Everyone goes to the first party of the year!" Caroline protested.
"Okay, fine. I'll come. But there is no way you are getting me to try on any of those scarf things again, Caroline. I don't do scarves," Quinn sighed, figuring that if everyone was going, like Caroline seemed to think, she had better make an appearance at the very least.
"Everyone's going to love you. You'll fit right in!" Caroline beamed, squeeing happily as she pulled up to the parking lot.
"I hope so," Quinn replied, taking a shaky breath. First day of school. She could do this. All eyes would be on her, as the new girl.
"Oh stop worrying," Caroline chuckled, rolling her eyes as she parked in her spot, getting out quickly to grab their bags from the trunk. Quinn smiled politely as Caroline linked arms with her and pretty much dragged her along. Caroline seemed to have a permanent bounce in her step that Quinn wasn't quite used to yet. It wasn't a bad thing just... different.
Quinn waved to a few people that she had briefly met already, earning the customary head shake hello from them as they approached Caroline's friends. "Hey ladies," Matt smiled.
"Hey Matt," Quinn replied as Caroline leaned over to kiss Matt's cheek, smiling at some of the other people with them.
"Everyone, this is Quinn. She just moved to town over the summer so be nice. Quinn, you remember Bonnie and Elena of course, and this is Stefan and-"
"And I'm Tyler." The voice came from behind her, at the same time as an arm wrapped around her shoulder.
Don't roll your eyes, Quinn. Do not roll your eyes. "Pleasure," was all Quinn replied, shrugging the arm off of her shoulders as she looked to the side and oh, he's cute.
"And who're you?" Tyler asked, arching an eyebrow at her, not making any attempt to conceal the fact that he was checking her out.
"This is Quinn, Tyler. You would know that if you actually bothered to show up to our pre-first day rendez-vous on time. Really, Lockwood, you'd think by now you'd know how to set an alarm clock!" Caroline interjected, not making any effort to hide her snippiness. Quinn looked at Elena who gave her a small shrug. Apparently Quinn wasn't the only on who was lost.
"Wait, Lockwood," Quinn said suddenly, furrowing her brows. "My mom is friends with your mom. I've been over to your house like at least ten times since I got here."
"Yeah, I don't spend much time at my house," Tyler replied, filling in the blanks. "My mom was right though. The new lady's girl is hot."
"Ugh, you're disgusting," Caroline mumbled from behind her. "Let's go, Quinn. Your locker is next to mine and as per tradition, I always decorate the inside of my locker before first period on the first day of classes. You can help me."
"Yeah, sure," Quinn replied, not that she had much of a choice, since Caroline was dragging her along. Looking back over her shoulder as she heard Tyler whistling, Quinn rolled her eyes as Tyler gave her a gesture of approval as he watched her hips swing. Apparently every town has to have a Noah Puckerman. Fantastic.