A/N: anddd here we go! managed to get this out more quickly than I thought, not entirely sure what I think of it but this is still only the beginning, so...


As Quinn attempted to unpack more of her stuff before dinner, all she could do was mull over how she could be entirely sure she had a crush on someone she'd only met two hours before. This was only the second girl Quinn had ever had a genuine crush on. The first had lived on her floor freshman year of college and boy, had that been a disaster. To say that first loves are miserable was an understatement. The fact that she had just been coming to terms with her sexuality, doing so in an environment where being gay was not in fact okay, as well as not having a single living chance in hell to be with the girl of her dreams because she liked someone else, Quinn had been quite the mess for the entirety of the past year year.

Not necessarily something great to base the outcome of a second crush on.

"Ouch," Quinn hissed and then whimpered as she managed to give herself yet another paper cut on a box she was opening. Who's bright idea had it been to pack things in boxes? Oh right, her mother's, when she sent three boxes of things Quinn would never need or want across the country.

The rap that came on the door a second later caused Quinn to yelp before her eyes snapped to the clock. Shit, how had it gotten so late so fast?

"Coming!" she yelled before dropping the offending box and shoving her feet into her flats. She really needed a new wardrobe because pale flats just did not go with her dark blue hoodie and jeans. With one more shake of the messy blond hair around her face, Quinn hurried to the door and Rachel's smiling face.

It hit her all over again how freaking adorable she was.

…Before simultaneously remembering that she had to stop staring whenever Rachel appeared at the door because her new acquaintance was going to think she was insanely social awkward.

Oh wait. Maybe that's because she absolutely was.

"Hey," Quinn cleared her throat and tried to put on a normal smile as she shut the door behind her.

"Hi! How'd the rest of unpacking go?" Rachel asked with a bright grin as they headed down the stairs.

"Eh, lots of paper cuts and not enough productivity," Quinn frowned as she lifted her wounded finger to inspect it again.

"Oh my gosh, Quinn, are you okay?" Rachel asked frantically as Quinn's eyes widened when she found her finger bleeding somewhat profusely.

"Um, I mean…I think so? I thought so? How did that even happen without me noticing?" Qunn started rambling again as she tried to figure out how best to deal with said injury. Too much blood to suck on it. Too much blood to discreetly wipe it on her jeans…plus Rachel had already seen it so no need to be discreet. Umm…

"Thank goodness I always come prepared with first aid," Rachel muttered to herself as she whipped out a small box containing gauze, tape, antibiotic cream, band-aids…the works, apparently. Wait, where did that even come from? Was she Mary Poppins? WHY did this girl make her think so much?

Quinn had no choice but to hold out her hand as Rachel set to work securing the cut with a band-aid practically the size of Quinn's entire hand. As soon as Rachel's hand was holding hers, she could practically feel her skin humming with nerves and a slight tingle of pleasure. This was getting ridiculous. You're bleeding, Fabray. Get yourself together.

"Thanks," Quinn mumbled quietly as Rachel released her hand again and stuffed the box back into her coat pocket.

"Of course," Rachel replied, her lips quirking up slightly on the right side before she spun away to head back down the stairs. She turned her head slightly to make sure Quinn was following. "Ready for real this time?"

Quinn nodded and then followed after the shorter girl, being particularly careful not to catch her foot and fall on the stairs. It didn't seem likely that Rachel had any first aid items to deal with bodies flying down the stairs…but on the other hand, Quinn really didn't want to find out.


The dining hall was a bit of a shock after being alone in the room all day, and aside from just that…there were so many girls. Girls and only girls, everywhere.

Now, Quinn was pretty sure she was past her gay panic but the second she saw two girls sitting together, one with an arm around the other, an entirely unexpected blush hit her face with such force that she jerked a little bit. Rachel glanced at her in concern before seeming to notice her pink cheeks a second later. She glanced back at what she (correctly) guessed had caught Quinn's attention and her brow creased into a frown.

"Um, I'm just…going to go make a salad. Want to sit at that table over there when you've gotten your food?" Rachel gestured towards a table off to the left, away from the main food area and Quinn managed to nod before Rachel turned away to presumably get food. As the heat began to fade from her face Quinn realized that Rachel's friendly demeanor had dimmed slightly, causing her to silently panic. Maybe Rachel had decided she really was too weird to hang out with. Maybe "making a salad" was simply an excuse to ditch Quinn and never come back. Oh no. Maybe she'd get lost in this cafeteria forever and never be able to leave and what happened when she had to pee? She guessed she wouldn't starve but what did that really matter if she couldn't use the bathroom, and –

Someone's shoulder slammed into her from the right and Quinn was jerked out of her head as pasta sauce began to run down her arm, along with some noodles that stuck to her here and there as everything dripped towards the floor.

"Oh my god, I'm SO sorry!" a stunning blonde a few inches taller than Quinn burst out with a look of horror, promptly placing her tray on the edge of the counter next to them.

"N-no, it's totally fine," Quinn tried to stutter out, the blush coming back full force.

"I feel so badly, here wait let me get a napkin or something," the girl continued to speak as she quickly grabbed a napkin from the next table and tried to dab at Quinn's arm.

It might've been the shock at more new people interacting with her. It might've been the fact that this girl was hot as hell and actually talking to/touching Quinn. Now that Quinn had at least come to terms internally with the fact that she was gay, she couldn't ignore her attraction to certain women as well as she used to be able to anymore…and it still made her uncomfortable. It might've been the fact that Rachel definitely seemed to have abandoned her, as she was still nowhere in sight. It may simply have been the fact that she was now the idiot covered in pasta sauce in the very center of the dining hall, but whatever it was, Quinn started to cry.

Even in her head it seemed ridiculous. Quinn never cried unless she was alone, and even in those cases it was rare and when she had absolutely reached her breaking point.

And now not only was she crying in public but she was crying in front of a really, really hot girl. Great. Just great. She might as well get into the stupid box she cut her stupid hand off and just ship herself back to stupid Ohio.

Stupid.

"Quinn!" Rachel's voice rang out through the din of noise around her, reaching out to grasp her shoulder just as Quinn opened the eyes she had been squeezing shut. "What happened?"

The hot girl seemed to look more apologetic than ever, despite the slight confusion on her face at Quinn's sudden tears.

"I'm so, so sorry, I just didn't see her," the girl rushed to say as she handed over the napkin to Rachel, albeit without much of a choice as Rachel had held her hand out for it the second she arrived.

"It-it's okay," Quinn sniffled, trying to brush the tears out of her eyes without moving her pasta covered arm and getting it all over more of her.

And then Rachel was in front of her, wiping her tears away and taking a few more napkins to clean her off as hot girl apologized again and then moved away when it was apparent that Rachel had taken over.

"Hey, it's okay," Rachel whispered as she managed to get off most of sauce that hadn't soaked in off of Quinn's sweatshirt.

"Yeah, I know, I don't know…I have no idea why I'm crying right now, I never do this," Quinn emphasized, still blinking away tears but beginning to feel slightly less like the world was falling apart.

Rachel laughed quietly. "Being in an unfamiliar place when it feels like no one else is going through the same thing is overwhelming," she assured Quinn, who managed to nod. She suddenly longed to tell Rachel that that wasn't just it, but as soon as the words had begun to climb up her throat it felt like all the air was gone and she was forced to swallow them again.

"Come on, let's go try and get this out before it stains," Rachel tugged gently at the sweatshirt sleeve before her eyes glanced up to Quinn's before quickly moving away again.

Quinn could only nod again and allow herself to be guided towards the door with Rachel's gentle hand resting on her back. The subtle pressure felt more comforting than anything else this time, and Quinn breathed a silent sigh of relief that her body was letting her off the hook this time.

Until Rachel brushed her bangs away from her face and they stepped out into the early evening, the lights from the dining hall hitting her just so, and –

Quinn wanted to cry all over again. Instead, she only clenched the fists she hadn't realized her hands had turned into even tighter before taking a deep breath and following Rachel back into their dorm.