Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 46th cycle. Now cycle 47!

This is a shift day. There was another upload this morning: Troika, chapter 1.

"What You Didn't See"
Alternate Quinn/Jesse, Canon Rachel (in Canon world)
Berry-St series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

She'd known that she'd landed in some sort of alternate world, since she'd been dealing with the Jesse and Rachel from that other world already. She knew that some things were not the same as they were in her world. But knowing about it and seeing it were two different things… until that day at the pool where she had nearly drowned in the process of being transported. It had not taken her time to know what had happened to her, especially once she'd been reunited with her Jesse and Rachel. That was the one thing she didn't spend too much time concerning herself with understanding.

Her issues began when she went home, when she discovered how life had treated this version of herself… and her family, or what was left of it.

That first night, still drenched from the pool, or the rain she'd been welcomed with, technically, she had arrived home and found only her mother, and a change in décor which just negated the fact Russell Fabray had ever existed in this house. She had not wanted to know the state of her family here before the jump, but now she wished she did know. She couldn't ask her mother about it, for too many reasons, but she could figure it out, little by little, observing, listening…

In the days that had followed, she had learned plenty… too much, for her taste. Her parents were divorced, her mother had kicked her father out after discovering he had been having an affair, and months ago she… the other Quinn… had been living with Finn, with Puck, and with Mercedes, after her father had found out she was pregnant and had kicked her out.

She'd known about the pregnancy part, from Rachel, though it was hard to imagine… until she had found 'visual aids.' The maternity clothes were still there, and there were pictures. She had no words to grasp that, to think she had given birth, or some version of her had, that she'd had a child with Puck… She tried to work out the logic of what could have happened to change her life so drastically, but it only made her head hurt. So as far as she was concerned she didn't think about it and that was that.

But then her parents… All she kept asking herself was whether her father, the one where she came from, who still lived with them, was also having the affair. It wouldn't have started because of her, would it, because of the pregnancy? All this time she had seen that man one way, and for all his faults she wouldn't have thought him capable of something like this, but now… now she didn't know. Now that the fact that, yes, he would do something like this, had been introduced into her image of him, it warped everything else.

She wasn't sure how to deal with her mother either. All she saw in her was her own version of Judy Fabray, the one who had no idea… She thought about telling her about the swap, but she was so afraid that she wouldn't believe her, or that she would make her leave… So she said nothing. That didn't come without its problems.

As much as, to the people of McKinley and the better part of Lima, they couldn't appear as such, she and Jesse were in fact together. Their counterparts, the ones they were pretending to be, didn't care for one another that way in the least, so they had to hide. But when she was home, in that privacy, she wanted to be able to have him there. Up until now, the only times he had come was in a context where it was her, and him, and Rachel, and sometimes Santana, but never her mother. Somehow she had never met him. But even without the ability to tell her what Jesse was to her, she wanted her to meet him. In her world, she hadn't actually gotten to that part yet. She was going to, but then they had swapped… and she wanted to introduce her Jesse, not another guy with his face.

When she'd run the idea by him, he'd been confused at first as to why they couldn't just tell her they were together. Up until this point they had all been so careful that it had taken her by surprise that he would say that, but she told him very simply that they would be disrupting this other Quinn's life.

"Would we? Look, at the worse, when we're all back where we belong, then they can say they've broken up. Things happen," he shrugged, she frowned, and he smiled, taking her hand. "Who knows how long we'll be stuck here. It's already been weeks. I hate that we can't do this when we're out there," he looked to their hands. "I hate that I can't smile when I see you because I really, really want to. And I want to be able to kiss you." She breathed, looking at him.

"Well… we could start slow," she smiled.

"Start slow how?" he had to smile back.

"Like a new romance, starting for all to see. Let's make them believe it's real, or they won't buy it.

"It is real," he pointed out.

"For us, yes…" she clarified. "Those other two, I don't think they'd take it out of the blue, do you?"

"Right, okay," he nodded, understanding. "Could be interesting," he bowed his head and she laughed.

"Exactly," she told him. "Now my mother…"

"How do you want to do this?" he asked, and already she had ideas in her eyes.

"Still suck at algebra?" she asked, and he frowned, 'wounded.'

That weekend, Quinn had informed her mother she would have a friend coming over who needed tutoring. He came, and when he arrived she made the introductions: Mom, Jesse, Jesse, Mom… and they had gone to work, everything as should be expected. Then came the innocent pass, where she would cautiously ask her mother if Jesse could stay over for dinner. She'd know she'd done it right when she'd see her mother's smile, the one that said 'oh I see what's going on here, you like this boy.'

She got her smile, along with her mother agreeing that, yes, Jesse could stay for dinner. It was an exercise for both of them, trying to be the people they were supposed to be, while not forgetting the people they actually were. But by the end of the night, they considered the day a success. That was one hurdle crossed.

Then there was school. Fooling Judy was one thing, the student body of McKinley was a whole other problem, especially those in the Glee Club, and finally it had dawned on them there was something very important they had not factored in… and she was standing at her locker… Rachel.

"Maybe we shouldn't…" Quinn looked back to him.

"Isn't it a little late for that?" He could sympathize with her, they both could… they both knew what it was like to look in the face of someone they cared deeply about and knowing it wasn't them. "She'll understand."

"I hope you're right."

"It's like we said… We can't just keep waiting," he offered his arm. She smiled and took it.

"Then let's not wait."

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!