Quinn stopped by her locker before class. She looked up as someone called her name, expecting to see Finn, or Puck. Instead, she saw Rachel strolling through the crowd. Somehow, they'd managed to colour co-ordinate. It wasn't the first time this had happened."Hi," Rachel said, but before Quinn could retort, Rachel continued. "There's something I should probably tell you. I like you." Quinn merely looked her confusion.
"Well, you can be annoying, and very opinionated, but you're not half bad either, Berry." Rachel shook her head.
"No, I mean I like you like Finn likes you. And I have a small feeling you like me too." Quinn's jaw dropped slightly.
"Oh," she said, simply. Rachel nodded once more, then smiled. "See you in Geometry!"
"Quinn, I need a word," Puck said, not long after Quinn entered the choir room.
"What is it, Puckerman. I'm not in the mood for whatever is on your mind," Quinn said spitefully.
"No, no," Puck said, "It's just, Rachel has been staring at the door ever since she arrived, and the second you walked in, she turned her back and started pretending to read. She looked scared. What have you done?" Puck asked, concerned for the both of them. He knew Quinn and Rachel have never been the best of friends, but they can normally sit in each others' company, even if Rachel is being slightly insane.
"Oh for crying out loud," Quinn muttered, putting her hand to her face and groaning. "Seriously?" Puck nodded, confused. Quinn sighed. "This morning before class, Rachel… She just told me that she likes me." Puck's eyes widened.
"You mean, like like?"
"I've been avoiding her since first period, which was hard, as we both have geometry third." Quinn said as confirmation. Puck grinned.
"Oh, man, this oughta be good." Quinn hit him on the arm.
"Shut up, I need your help. I'm scared, but I think I like her too," she muttered the last part, avoiding his gaze.
Puck shifted his eyes to look at Rachel, who immediately looked back to her book. Clearly, somebody had been staring at the back of Quinn's head. "Okay, well, first of all, you gotta quit avoiding her! Go, I dunno, talk to her or something, do whatever you girls like doing. I mean, talk about feelings and stuff, not, you know," Puck trailed off, avoiding his ex girlfriend's killer glare, until another student called out her name.
"OI, FABRAY!"
Quinn started at the yell of her name, and Puck saw both Rachel and Quinn's heads turn in quick succession as Finn stormed into the room towards them.
"IS IT TRUE?" he yelled, pushing Puck into the corner and towering over his girlfriend. Quinn blinked back tears, terrified at the look on Finn's face.
"I… how do you know?" she whispered.
"That's not what matters," Finn yelled, pushing Quinn backwards. Puck let out a growl, and ran at Finn.
"You leave her alone! It's not her fault, or her choice!" Finn and Puck engaged in a punching battle, shouting and hitting each other hard. Mr Schuester walked into the room, saw all the Glee club staring at the two on the floor and ran over to separate them.
"Hey, break it up! BREAK IT UP!" he pulled Finn off Puck, with the help of Mike and Matt. "What's gotten into the both of you?"
"She's, she's," Finn trailed off, turning to Quinn, but was stopped by Mr Schuester.
"Calm down, Finn!"
"Is it true?" Finn said bluntly. "I don't care, just, tell the truth. Is it true?" Quinn's eyes filled with tears once again. She stepped tentatively towards her boy- exboyfriend.
"Yes," she whispered. "Yes, I'm so sorry Finn, I don't know how you-"
"It doesn't matter how I found out." Finn glared at her. "Look, I have to stay and practice with these guys for sectionals. Please, can you just leave? Just, go. We can talk about this later." Quinn looked at him for some sympathy, but he showed none. She turned her head to the floor, and slowly walked out of the choir room, her back burning with all of their questioning stares.
"Finn," Mr Schue said, calmly, "I'm not sure if that was the right behavior. I don't know what's going on, but irregardless, you can't send someone out of Glee club. That's not fair." He patted Finn on the shoulder. "Do you think you could tell us what's going on? Puck?" Puck shook his head. He wanted to stay out of this. It wasn't his decision when people wanted to come out, he knew that. Finn, obviously, did not have the same concerns.
"It's her and Rachel," he said.
"Oh hell to the no, this isn't just about some girl fight is it?" Mercedes intervened. "We divas bitch fight all the time, it's not-"
"NO!" Finn yelled, and Rachel took a further step back. "No, they like each other."
"Dude, it's not your place," Puck said loudly, but Finn ignored him.
"Hell, if Quinn didn't care so much about her stupid reputation and I wasn't in the picture, they'd probably already be dating by now," he said, scathingly. All of the Glee club turned to look at Rachel, who stared adamantly at the floor.
"Rach, is this true?" Kurt asked, weaving his way through the choir room to reach his best friend. "Why couldn't you just tell me, of all people? I hate the thought of you going through this alone." Rachel gave a soft smile, and touched his hand in thanks, but continued looking at the floor.
"I don't mean to change the subject, but I think somebody should go and find Quinn. Does anybody mind if I…?" She finally looked up, only to see Finn glaring at the wall. Mr Schue gave a curt nod, and Rachel left, her arms crossed, and eyes shining.
"Quinn," Rachel said softly, standing opposite her. "I'm so sorry, but Finn, well, sort of outed us."
"Sort of?" Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Okay, completely. May I?" she gestured towards the seat next to Quinn, who nodded.
The two girls sat in silence for a long time, before Quinn sniffed audibly and spoke.
"I have hurt so many people," she said, "but none more than you. I've been awful to you, in the hopes that you would hate me so I could get over you, but you never did. That's one of the things I love most about you, Rachel. You always see the best in people, no matter what."
"You're a very pretty girl, Quinn, and I honestly believe that you will go really far, even if the people in this school are treating you badly. We could go to New York together." Quinn blinked.
"Even if that is 2 years away, that's your dream, you wouldn't want me there too. Not the girl who called you names, teased you, and talked behind your back." Rachel just smiled softly, and a tear ran down Quinn's cheek. "You should probably go back to Glee club," Quinn said. "You really are the star, and sectionals is this weekend. They'll be drowning without you." Rachel stood up, turned back, but then left awkwardly, walking towards Glee club.
As the turned the corner, she saw Puck walking towards her. He opened his mouth to speak, but Rachel cut across him.
"Quinn'll be okay," Rachel said quietly, looking up at Puck. "I think she just needs some time to herself."
"I was actually going to ask about you. What Finn did, it wasn't nice. Just, saying those things, in front of everyone." He bit his lip. "I better go make sure she's okay, you know. Oh, and uh, Glee club was cancelled today. Mr Schue took Finn to talk to Ms Pillsbury, and I think everyone else went to Breadsticks. You're sort of the talk of the club," he said with a small laugh.
"I expected that," Rachel replied. "One day, they'll have more to talk about than petty fights and, well, surprising coming outs. Maybe not that last one. I have a feeling that'll be talked about for a while." They smiled at each other, then walked their separate ways.
"It's gonna be okay," Puck said, sitting down next to Quinn. The blonde continued staring straight ahead.
"Oh, I don't know about that," she said, "This school's pretty feisty."
"Hey, at least you've her now? Finally," he added. Quinn smiled weakly, as Puck's phone beeped.
"Sorry," he muttered awkwardly, but checked the message anyway.
Tell Q that if she wants to, I can give her a ride home. -R*
"You might wanna see this," he said, handing her the phone. Quinn took it, and let out a quiet laugh at the star after Rachel's signature.
"I've gotta go meet Rachel," she said, jumping up, and running out the door.
Puck smiled. If nothing else, he'd done something right today