Quinn looked up upon hearing her voice to lock eyes with none other than Rachel Berry. Her eyes widened and she momentarily stopped her movements around the pole, frozen to the spot. Rachel watched as her eyes flicked away to catch someone else's, an older man at a table corner. Rachel watched as Quinn got off the stage and the older guy yelled for a different stripper to get up on the stage in Quinn's place.

Rachel jumped up from her seat and followed as Quinn made her way to exit the bar. Puck still wasn't back yet, but hopefully he wouldn't freak out too badly when he came back to an empty table.

Rachel's mind was racing. How in the hell had this happened? Why was Quinn a stripper, still in Lima? Last she had heard, Quinn had been set to go off to Yale for their drama department.

Quinn was running now, trying to get away from Rachel. "Quinn! Wait!" Rachel yelled out. The blonde did not stop, but she did slow down enough that Rachel could catch up to her by the time they made it out the back door. Once outside, Rachel looked around for Quinn only to be slammed against the brick wall of the club by none other than the blonde she was looking for.

"What the hell, Berry?" Quinn growled. Rachel took in a sharp breath at the sensation of being caught suddenly against a wall.

"I-I…" Rachel stuttered. She swallowed and got her thoughts as together as she possibly could. Quinn looked like a cornered animal, which was ironic considering the fact that Quinn was the one pinning Rachel to a wall, not the other way around. "What are you doing here?" she finally asked.

Quinn's eyes narrowed. "And here I thought the outfit gave it away," she said back snarkily.

"But… you were going to college," Rachel spluttered. Quinn rolled her eyes.

"God, do I have to explain the obvious again? I'm clearly not there anymore, though I would have graduated two years ago anyway," Quinn replied, exasperated.

"Well, yes, I suppose that's true. Wait, are you saying you didn't graduate?" Rachel said.

"Berry, if I had graduated from Yale, do you really think that I'd be working as a stripper?" Quinn asked rhetorically.

"I suppose not," Rachel murmured. "I'm so sorry," she added quietly. At that point, Quinn backed up and averted her eyes, allowing Rachel to remove herself from the brick wall.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. I know you're going to ask what happened, but I really don't want to get into it. Let's just say that at least I have a job, even though I no longer have the perfect life of the head cheerleader with the perfect boyfriend," Quinn sighed. Her voice was strained, like she was trying to keep sounding angry, but failing.

Her statement angered Rachel. Actually, the whole thing angered her. Quinn had a rough time in high school, that much was obvious, but in her senior year, things had really started turning around. She'd even gotten into Yale. And her mentioning that she no longer had a perfect boyfriend? Well, that irked Rachel, because she was in the same boat there.

"You know, there were at least three guys there at a bachelor party, tonight, in Lima, that we both know. And do you know what they all have in common?" Rachel spat.

"They were attractive football players at our high school?" Quinn guessed with a raised eyebrow. Well, she was right with that guess. Finn, Puck, and Sam had all played football at McKinley.

"No. They all gave you their hearts, and you threw them right back," Rachel corrected the blonde. She didn't know why she was so angry at Quinn. Maybe it was because of the way she was talking. Maybe it was because she threw away a great life to be a stripper. Maybe it was because despite every time Rachel told Quinn that she could do something with her life, the other girl basically laughed it off.

"I get that you might not understand what it's like to have more than one guy in love with you. But that's just the way it's been for me. And, look around you, it still is that way. Half a dozen guys are in love with me each night now," Quinn said nonchalantly, not affected by Rachel's angry words.

"First of all, I don't like what you're insinuating about me not understanding what it's like for a man to be in love with me. Second of all, those men back there aren't in love with you- they just like your body. That's not love," Rachel seethed. Why couldn't Quinn see her point?

"Yeah? Well what more do I have to offer?" Quinn fired back, but without any heat. Rachel wanted to beat her own head against the wall. It always went back to that, didn't it? Quinn thought that she was just a pretty face.

There was silence for a moment. "I've told you before, Quinn, you're a very pretty girl. The prettiest girl I've ever met. But you're a lot more than that," Rachel said, her anger subsiding.

"You never did tell me what that mysterious "more" was," Quinn sighed. She wasn't meeting Rachel's eyes, instead looking down at the ground. Rachel tried to catch what she was looking at, but she was distracted by some glitter on the girl's right thigh.

"I never thought I had to," Rachel whispered. It made her sad that the girl didn't even know what all she had going for.

"And I never thought I'd need any more than my looks. It turns out I didn't. I bet I make more than half of the people at that stupid bachelorette party for Finn's idiot bride-to-be make," Quinn argued. She was now looking at a part of the wall just over Rachel's shoulder. That confirmed something that Rachel had been wondering- Quinn did know that Finn was getting married. Did she receive an invitation? It would make sense if she had considering Finn had even invited Rachel even though the two of them hadn't exactly talked since they broke up.

"And I bet you're half as happy," Rachel shot back.

Another moment of silence. "Well, it's been great talking with you, but next time you want this much alone time, I suggest you bring a few extra bills with you," Quinn said in a tone that indicated finality.

With that, Quinn stalked off to what Rachel assumed was the other woman's car. Rachel, ever persistent, followed her.

"Is that seriously the only way that I'll be able to talk to you again? If I order a lap dance?" Rachel asked, incredulous. So sure, maybe the two of them hadn't exactly gotten on well in high school, and sure, maybe they hadn't actually spoken to one another in six years, but to be told that the only way she could talk to Quinn again was if she paid for it stung.

Quinn got in her car but left the door open, looking up at the brunette. "My life's not a charity case, okay? I don't want you thinking that you need to step in and fix me. I'm not depressed, I'm not throwing my life away, and I'm not your newest project, or whatever else you were thinking about me, okay?"

Rachel opened her mouth, but then closed it, realizing that what Quinn accused her of thinking was fairly accurate. She was being judgmental within ten minutes of conversation, and Quinn didn't really want to hear it.

Quinn, apparently tired of waiting for a response, shut her car door and set her car in reverse, pulling out of her parking spot and away from the strip club.

For the next thirty seconds, Rachel just stood there, trying to comprehend what had just happened. She started walking back into the strip club in a daze. She'd just seen Quinn after six years, only to learn that the girl had not made a life for herself in any of the careers Rachel had imagined for her- perhaps an actor, or a writer, or even a lawyer- but instead working a strip joint. Her mind was right back in high school- only using her physical appearance instead of her obvious intellect.

When she made her way back to the table, Puck was looking up at her anxiously. "Yo, what the hell? I brought back drinks, like, twenty minutes ago. Where were you?" he asked.

Rachel sat down and gazed at the drink in front of her. She still didn't know what was in them, but this time she didn't care enough to ask. She felt more like going along with Puck's plan of getting absolutely plastered. So, to begin executing that plan, she tipped her head back and chugged half of the drink.

"Damn," Puck murmured. "It's good to see a girl who's not afraid to get her drink on, but seriously, what's up? I mean, I know seeing Finn get married has gotta be hard for you, but you're worse than before." Rachel tossed him a look before choosing to focus on something else. Like the fact that the new blonde who had currently taken the pole closet to them was an obvious bottle blonde and her body did not move nearly as fluidly as Quinn's.

Puck couldn't keep his curiosity to himself for long. "Come on. Like I said, I like that you're getting your drink on, but could you just tell me what the hell happened?"

Rachel sighed, downing the last of her drink and placing it- more like slamming it- back on the table. She didn't want to give away what most probably a secret that Quinn worked at the club, that would be atrocious behavior. But, she also wanted to give Puck a reasonable explanation, not a lie. And as a side note, she wondered if Puck knew that Quinn worked here. He did live fairly close by and apparently frequented joints like it, and he and Quinn shared a special and unbreakable connection.

"I just had an unexpected conversation with an old friend," Rachel replied at last, leaving it purposefully vague. Puck motioned to another set of drinks. Thank goodness he'd had the foresight to get multiples this time.

"Oh. Someone call?" he questioned, taking a sip from his glass. He had his pinky stuck out while he did so, and Rachel wanted to make a comment about how it made him look like a girl, or British, but thankfully was able to restrain her now slightly drunken and clearly easily distractible thoughts.

"Something like that," Rachel mumbled into a glass of blue liquid that smelled like vodka. So at least she knew what the base was of this drink.

For the next hour, the two of them sat and drank and talked, Rachel sneaking in covert glances at the strippers. What? She was twenty two years old and had no black and white defined sexuality. She was entitled to a few appreciative glances at women who were being paid to be looked at.

Puck avoided the topic of Finn, which Rachel was grateful for. Mostly he talked about his new business, what some of the other former glee clubbers were up to, and some things that had changed around Lima. He, in turn, pried for information into Rachel's life. She excitedly relayed the information that she had been in two off-Broadway plays so far and was currently auditioning for the real thing as often as she could. He'd pressed her for information on her dating life, and she'd recounted a few of the terribly embarrassing dates Kurt had set her up to go on. She even told him that there had been dates of both genders, which led Puck to making that wistful face he made when confronted with the possibility of lesbians and maybe even a threesome.

"Wipe that look off your face, Puckerman. I want to assure you that even if I was seeing a girl, I would have to ensure that you were kept as far away as possible from her so that you couldn't make any crude comments around her in the nature of the ones you surely have swirling around your head," Rachel reprimanded him. She attempted to get up to make a storm off to the bathroom. She usually retained control of her speech, even while drunk. Her balance and other physical capabilities? Not so much.

Luckily, she had only made it a step before she started to fall, the world tilting, so she was able to grab onto the table and lower herself back into her seat without losing too much of her grace. At least that's what she told herself.

"Dude, that's a lotta words. You seem diff'rent, ya know? But you still use a lotta words," Puck said, his head resting on the table now as he tried to get a better look up the stripper's ridiculously short skirt before she took it off.

"I seem to recall you telling me earlier on the phone that I haven't changed at all," Rachel reminded him. Puck's brow furrowed like he had to try really hard to think. He probably did.

"Oh. Well, yeah. Guess so. But I notice the diff'rences now more. I'm smarter drunk," he replied.

That comment sent Rachel into a fit of giggles. She really did have to use the bathroom, but this time when she stood up, she did so slowly and used the table for assistance. Once she was sure she was able to stand without ending up on the floor, she made her way into the bathroom.

Once she was done, she stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. Her head was spinning like she was on a tilt-a-whirl at a carnival, but that fit just perfectly. Her life really was a circus at this point, wasn't it? Her perfect little life plan would put her currently married to Finn, starring in a Broadway show, and beginning to think about kids in a few years. She also imagined staying in touch with almost everyone from glee club so they could give interviews when her biography was written. They could tell stories of her triumphs in the beginnings of her singing career and how wonderful she'd been even as a teenager.

Looking at that plan, she hadn't even really gotten close. She was single, attending Finn's wedding. She had been in a few small productions, but had yet to step on a Broadway stage. Kids were something to laugh about since the farthest she'd gotten in a relationship in three years was to the third date. She had only really stayed in touch with Kurt since college, leaving the rest of the glee club behind.

And then, to top it all off, to add a ring master to her circus, Quinn Fabray had just waltzed into her life. Well, it had actually been more like a saunter. People didn't usually sway their hips that much when they were waltzing… Focus!

With one last look at her reflection, she laughed, realizing that though she still recognized the face in the mirror, her sixteen year old self wouldn't recognize the person behind it at all.


A/N: I don't want Quinn to be a weak and broken character. She has her issues, but there's a reason for her choices. Just wanted to clarify. Also, Rachel is different than she was in high school for two major reasons- one, people change, especially when they go through college, and two, she went through a really bad break up that symbolized the end of her childhood fantasies.

Yeah, so I go off to college in two days, but hopefully I won't be too busy to post again. If I get some reviews, that might be the kick in the butt I need :)