AN: As promised, next chapter, next day, still first story, still begging for reviews, and you still know you want to. Mistakes? Correct them.

For the stories sake, we are going to pretend that Quinn has never been slushied before this. This takes place before Sectionals, around Mattress I think, but I don't refer to any events that happen during that episode.

Disclaimer: And still, I do not own Glee (I'd wish, as so many others with me) and I don't own the music or books or other things I may refer to.

Quinn's First Slushie

Sectionals were getting closer, and the Gleeks got closer. The closer they got as a group, the better they started to sing, and mr. Shue was supporting every team-bonding opportunity they had. Not that that was really necessary. Even the football players were all part of the Gleeks now. The awkward atmosphere between Quinn and Rachel was starting to disappear, to Quinn's relieve, now the Gleeks now had accepted her as one of them. She needed friends, everyone did, and although the Gleeks hadn't been her first choice originally, they were now. She now saw that there was no group that was more loyal and warm than Glee club. At first, she'd been uncomfortable, knowing that the nice kids she was talking now were once the object of her distase, even fearing revenge. Not that she wouldn't have deserved it. But when she realized that the Gleeks didn't blame her anymore, and had forgiven her, she started to relax, and noticed that she really enjoyed their company. It was easy liking the Gleeks, once you gave them the chance to be likeable, and being herself there seemed as natural as breathing.

However, she also got the dark side of the Glee club. She had a hard time believing how hard she'd once made life for her now-friends. Amazing, how you hardly think about what you're really doing to someone. The embarrassment, the hurt. She'd been talking to Brittany, who hadn't fallen out of grace like Quinn had, when she got slushied. It was bound to happen sometime, but she hadn't seen it coming. She ran to the bathroom, and remembered when Kurt said that the worst part wasn't the ice crystalizing in your hair, but the embarassment of slushie dripping down your face in front of the whole school to see. This was one of the now rare moments that she wished she was still a cheerleader, she wouldn't wish this on anyone. She leaned against a door and slid against it to the ground, face in her hands. That was when she had heard a toilet being flushed, and felt someone pushing against the door. She stood up quickly and saw Rachel opening the door.

"What happened?"

Quinn scoffed, but her voice broke which made it sound slightly hysterical.

"What does it look like?"
Rachel nodded. "Your first slushie."

"You make it sound like your first kiss, braces or babysteps or something."

"It's happened to the rest of us. Even Finn had to take a slushie twice."

"I can't believe I was ever a part of that."
"I can't believe you were a part of that either."

"I'm sure you can, you felt it yourself."
"I know, but you now seem like a surprisingly nice girl, you know. I had no idea that this was person was inside of you, but it's amazing to see. Why were you never nice before?"
"It's easy to get caught up in things. I didn't really think about it. Blending in is like a second nature to me, whereas you seem to be all about how unique you were."

"It has it's perks. So, you wanna get cleaned up?"
The dripping of the slushie on the bathroom floor seemed almost noisy, as Quinn fell quiet for a second, considering to just call in sick and wallow the rest of the day. The safety of being alone was almost worth missing Glee practice, even though Sectionals were just a week away. But Rachel stretched out her hand, and she took it, noticing how soft it was.

"Wow, your hands are like satin!"

"Thank you! So much for Man-Hands, right? I'd suggest you ask Kurt for tips. He knows everything about products for your skin and hairproducts."

She should've known. Kickass Kurt. She grinned, then sobbed.

"Here, watch your make-up, it's running all over your face."

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I never was such a crybaby, and suddenly I feel like I cry all the time, for reasons I hardly understand myself."
"I know what's wrong with you. It's called being pregnant. Teen girls are already emotional basket cases, add the pressure of puberty and it's hormones to pregnacy hormones, and you get one hormonal bomb. You should be a wreck." Rachel said in a matter-of-fact like manner.
"I probably am."
"I think you're doing great. Have you decided what to do with the baby? Or told your parents? You'll need all the help you can get, and Finn can be very easily distracted. He'll make a great father, but I'm not sure if he'll already make a great father by 17."
"You're right, of course. I've made an arrangement for adoption, but I'm not sure about it. I don't know what I'm going to do. I did tell my parents, but they let me know that I wouldn't have to count on them. They kicked me out of the house, I've been staying with Finn."
She hadn't planned telling Rachel this. She hadn't planned telling anybody this.

Rachel's mouth fell open. "You have!? What a horrible family you've got! I know Finn can be a little irresponsible at times, but it's a good thing you have him. I can't believe that someone would put their own pregnant daughter out on the street!"
"I knew something like that could happen. I know my parents. They'll probably deny now that they even have a daughter, or say that I've gone crazy. Conservative bastards!" She spit the last word out. Silence fell.

"I can feel you've done this before, getting unslushied... or something. You're really handy."
"You're not easy, Quinn. Puck at least had his head shaved, that made it a whole lot easier."
"You did Puck too?"
"Well, yeah, that was when I was sortof dating him."

The bell rang.

"Do you want to go home?" Rachel asked.

"And miss Glee practice?" Quinn gave her a half-smile. "Glee's the highlight of my day, and Sectionals are in a week. I'll be fine, just go to your class."
"I've got Spanish too, I'll wait. Mr. Shue will understand if we're late."

Quinn told herself to suck it up, if everyone else could do it and just carry on, then so could she. She remembered when Kurt 'took one for the team' and commited slushiecide. If he could just do that, she could certainly do this. She smiled at Rachel, and told her she'd be out in a sec.

When Rachel was gone, she tried to remember the last time one of her cheerleading friends had been such an example of a good friend. Listening, caring, advising, comforting. Or she just threw up a really good show. But something told her that Rachel was a very fair person. Honesty and openness seemed to beam out of the girl, and her smile was one of the most genuine Quinn had ever seen. And she was a Gleek, which spoke for itself. In another world, she could have seen herself being friends with Rachel, and for a moment she felt the weight of her history with the Gleeks press down on her. Then she checked herself in the mirror, made sure the emotions were buried safely under the surface, and hurried to Spanish.