'Don't Need to Pretend' by Billy Talent

Finn let go of Quinn's hand and looked at her defiantly, blocking her path. She frowned slightly and looked down at the floor, sensing a calm before the storm in his mood.

"You don't love me."

She shook her head, confirming his statement. He sighed and put his hands on her shoulders. "Quinn, you don't need to fool anyone. You're only trying to fool yourself." He cringed and set his eyes to their feet. "I know how you feel about her. I see the way you look at her."

Quinn blushed rapidly, shocked that her feelings were so easily read by the goofball before her. She shuddered, realizing that the rest of the Glee club had probably noticed by now too, the way she looked at Rachel during rehearsal and the way she tried to sit as close to the brunette as possible.

"Just go tell her…" Finn said, letting her go and giving her a weak, teary smile. She spotted Rachel across the hall and caught Finn saying something that sounded like 'Don't pretend anymore' before she darted off towards the diva.

-
'The Navy Song' by Billy Talent

"I can't believe you're doing this, Quinn," Rachel murmured to her girlfriend, clutching her hand tightly and kissing the knuckles. "I can't believe it…"

"I'll be back soon, I promise! It's just a little expedition and then-"

"But what if you die!" the diva screamed, shaking her head in exasperation and moving closer to Quinn, burying her face into the blonde's chest. "I can't lose you!"

"My country needs me, Rachel!" Quinn protested weakly, stroking the brunette's hair. "I'll be fine, really." She lifted Rachel's chin with her fingers and smiled at her. "I love you. I really do. And I'll be back before you know it."

Rachel didn't smile, just leaned forward into a kiss. "I'll miss you so much…"

"So will I." Quinn grabbed the luggage she had at her feet and propped them into the army van waiting at their driveway. She waved to Rachel and smiled reassuringly.

All she had to remind her of the brunette now was a black and white photo in her pocket.

She hoped she'd live to see her again.

-
'Pins and Needles' by Billy Talent

Rachel looked on at the couple walking before her, hand in hand, down the hall to the choir room. People always thought that she was staring at Finn and pining after him.

They couldn't be more wrong.

She never loved Finn. OK, at a point she thought she did. But she never truly loved him. She had always been jealous of him for having the most beautiful creature she had ever seen.

Quinn Fabray.

Rachel leaned against her locker as soon as she arrived at it and sighed, staring at the books in her hand. She had to accept it. Quinn would never be hers.

She had never felt so alone.

-
'Who's That Chick' by David Guetta

Quinn stared at the red-clad girl in the middle of the gym, dancing alone but attracting quite a few watchers. A few boys went up to her and tired to dance but they always tired out. She just kept going on.

Quinn turned to look at Puck, who was staring at the same spectacle. "Who is that?" she asked him, emphasizing the 'is'.

"I dunno but it looks like…" he never finished his sentence, his jaw dropped before he could. Quinn looked back at the girl and felt her mouth open in a wide, gaping hole.

"Since when did Berry become so hot?"

Quinn didn't have an answer, but she did have a motive. And as soon as she reached Berry on the dance floor and pressed her lips to hers, she felt accomplished.

Rachel was finally kissing her back.

-
'Dearly Departed' by 2AM Club

Rachel sniffed into her tissue for the umpteenth time that day and felt a pair of arms envelope her. She looked up at Puck, who smiled weakly down at her.

"Yeah…I know," he told her. She buried her face into his chest and continued to cry. He rubbed her back with one of his hands, feeling almost like he could break her with a flick of his wrist. Kurt approached and put a hand on her shoulder.

"We're so sorry, Rachel."

She nodded and looked up at the rest of her old friends. But the only one she truly cared about had died tragically and quickly in a car accident two hours ago.

"We all miss her, you know," Santana told her, never meeting her gaze.

"But I was the only one who really loved her," Rachel retorted, putting he tissue back to her eyes.

-
'Never Too Late' by Three Days Grace

Quinn stared around the auditorium and then at her hands. She felt so out of place in this place, so different. Brittany and Santana had found their place in Glee club, and yet she couldn't seem to do that.

Unnoticed by her, Rachel sat in one of the chairs in the second row, staring at her as she tried to adjust to the bright lights and wooden floor.

"Quinn, you should just try to relax. You'll be fine. You're a born performer!" Rachel encouraged her, startling the blonde out of her reverie.

"I don't belong here, Rachel."

Rachel shook her head, a smile lighting up her face. "It's going to be fine. I'll help you fit in, if you want. Besides," she grinned cockily at her and rose from her seat, then moved towards the stage, up the stairs and next to the ex-Cheerio. "Besides, belonging doesn't need to be so hard. You're trying too hard." She leaned in and planted a kiss onto the girl's cheek.

"It's never too late to try and belong."

-
'Rockstar' by N.E.R.D.

The blonde snorted at the attitude the Rachel had constantly. She always thought she was the best, the only one. She thought she was some sort of friggin rock star.

She had news for her.

She was the rock star now!

She looked at herself in the mirror, pink hair settling around her head comfortably.

She was always more rock star material than Berry was, anyways.

-
'A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More 'Touch Me'' by Fall Out Boy

"You don't like me," Rachel stated as Quinn got up to leave. Quinn froze in place and turned around to look at the deflated girl. She looked sad, broken, and it actually sent a twinge into the blonde's heart.

"You couldn't be more wrong, Rachel." Rachel looked up at Quinn, who smiled.

"I don't blame you for being the way you are, you know. But you can't tell me to stop hating your attitude."

Rachel blushed and Quinn's smile fell. "I do like you. I just wish you had realized sooner. Somewhere around the third or fourth chance I got from you."

And with that she walked away.

-
'Far Away' by Ingrid Michaelson

Rachel cuddled up to her lover and wife in their white, pristine bed and sighed as the smell of the sea wafted in through the window. They had moved to Italy two years ago, but the mornings never ceased to amaze her in their beauty. The smell of the Rimini sea and sand, the warmth of the sun, the sounds of the waves lapping against the shore and the seagulls outside.

This place was so far away from Lima…and so much more worth it.

"Good morning, lovely," Quinn mumbled, and Rachel got up and kissed Quinn's nose.

"Good morning."