Trials & Tribulations

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of its characters. I'm simply having a little fun with them.

Chapter Two: Autumn Leaves

The rush of adrenaline was coursing through Rachel's veins as her legs kept a steady pace on her elliptical. Sweat was collecting on her brow and her ponytail was swishing from side to side as her legs kept pumping. She only had three minutes and forty-five seconds left before she would have to stop her workout and then continue with the rest of her usual morning routine. It was a routine that Rachel had been sticking to since her fathers had gotten her the work out machine the summer before freshman year. Rachel had expressed the necessity of getting used to working out for at least twenty minutes every morning if she wanted to be in tip-top condition for Cheerios. When the small timer on the machine went off, Rachel hit the off button and allowed the machine to turn off before hopping off and immediately stripping out of her workout clothes. After an invigorating shower, Rachel went through the process of putting on her Cheerios uniform and fixing her hair into its usual trademark high ponytail. She was so used to the tightness of the ponytail that if it was even a little bit loose she would adjust it immediately. It had been the source of her numerous headaches during her freshman year, but now it was a part of her everyday life. She couldn't imagine going to school in anything else. After Rachel had laced up her white tennis shoes she bounded out of her room with her backpack in her hand and her keys in the other. Due to her late start (5:30 instead of the usual 5:25), Rachel was opting to skip over breakfast with her dads so she wouldn't be late to the mandatory morning Cheerios practice.

"At least take an apple or something!" Hiram, or daddy, demanded.

Leroy, or dad, was simply watching his little girl and his husband bicker while sipping on his morning coffee and skimming over a crossword book.

"I probably won't even eat it, that'd be a complete waste." Rachel pointed out as she fiddled with her electronic key pad. It was nearing 6:15 and it would take at least ten minutes to get to school and practice started at 6:30. Her daddy did not realize that he was potentially putting his little angel in mortal danger.

"Leroy, talk to your daughter!" Hiram cried dramatically, already turning away to continue the breakfast he had slaved over for fifteen whole minutes. Honestly, he was so underappreciated sometimes.

Rachel turned to look at her dad, raising her eyebrows when she saw that he wasn't even paying attention to the mess in front of him. The man was tapping the eraser on top of his pencil against his coffee mug as he stared down at the puzzle in front of him.

"Princess, what's a four letter word for scheme, starts with an R?" Leroy finally asked.

Rachel smiled as her daddy threw his oven mitten clad hands up in the air before taking one off and smacking his husband in the back of the head with it. Rachel was too busy jumping at the opportunity to make a hasty departure to giggle at the expression on her daddy's face.

"Ruse," Rachel answered easily. Leroy's brown eyes brightened as he bent down to write the word down while Hiram grumbled under his breath and banged some pots against the stove.

Taking this as her exit ticket, Rachel pecked both of her fathers on the cheek before making a beeline for the front door. When she got into the entrance hall, she could hear her dad consoling her daddy with sweet words and she smiled to herself as she left out of the front door and braced herself for the chilly autumn morning.

Rachel's eyes pinched in annoyance the second she approached her locker. Noah and Finn were right down the hall, talking conspiratorially with one another. Their heads were close and Rachel could clearly see her boyfriend's devilish smirk in full force. The sight made her extremely uneasy, especially when Noah caught her eye and his devilish grin turned into a shameless leer. Rachel scoffed and then spun her combination before letting her locker door swing open. She grabbed her Chemistry textbook and the spiral notebook she used for Spanish. She didn't know why she even bothered showing up to Spanish, she had been taking it for three years and already knew more than the current teacher; Mr. Schuester. He was an awesome singer and he was doing Glee Club wonders, but the only Spanish culture he knew was Taco Bell. Santana usually skipped his class, only because she thought the entire thing was a huge joke. It was one of the few things she and the Latina agreed on. Rachel still liked making an appearance in class though since it showed good character. The brunette was just about ready to make her way towards U.S. History when her locker was slammed shut, her fingers almost getting caught in the process. She bared her teeth at an oblivious Noah. The boy even had the nerve to still be smirking at her.

"Hello my hot Jew Queen, how are you this fine morning?" His voice was undoubtedly attractive, suave and dark and just…ugh. Rachel hated him for being so damn attractive with the mohawk and the white smile and the tan skin. Damn Noah Puckerman to Hell.

"I told you to stop calling me that Noah! I am not the Jew Queen and you are definitely not the Jew King." Rachel said hotly, clutching her books to her chest and calculating how far she would get if she turned around and just ran for it. The hallways were already starting to empty as students made their way to their respective classes.

Noah probably hadn't even been to his first class of the day at all yet since he was always late or just skipping. The boy managed to put on a mask of mock hurt before it fell away and he pressed both palms against the lockers, cornering Rachel like a wolf would his dinner. The mere thought made Rachel shiver. She was sure that it was more from arousal than anything else, a realization that made her mentally chastise herself.

"I'm definitely the king, babe. And since you're my girl that makes you queen by default."

Rachel glared at her cocky boyfriend and made an unintelligible noise in the back of her throat before slipping under his muscular arms, finally free from the suffocating position. She had two minutes before the late bell rang and her U.S. History class wasn't exactly close by.

"You're more like the court jester, baby." Rachel corrected the boy with a small smirk on her face. She turned on her heel while Noah stood there, still leaning against her locker and wondering what the hell a court jester was.

Puck and Rachel were so wrapped up in their own little bubble that they didn't notice a hazel eyed blonde staring at them as she made her way towards her U.S. History class. Quinn and Rachel were in the same class, though Rachel had never seemed to take note of it. Quinn was wondering if the brunette would miss class for the first time ever, because the way she and Puck were looking at each other made it seem as if they would need a little 'alone' time. Not wanting to be caught looking, the blonde ducked her head and picked up her pace. When she got to her destination she slipped into her usual seat next to Tina Cohen-Chang. Quinn was still a little on edge after the dumb Finn incident at last Friday's game. It felt like everyone was giving her weird looks now and she could've swore some of the girls in chastity club were gossiping about her yesterday before she showed up to the meeting. Finn had apologized, claiming that he had gotten really worked up after the win and just needed to let loose. Quinn didn't categorize that as an actual apology but Finn was too sweet to actually mean any harm so she had grudgingly told him it was okay. How could she not when he asked her if she still wanted to be his girlfriend? He had given her this really bad constipated look (which she had learned was his puppy dog face), and she didn't have the heart to say no. She didn't know how the relationship had even unfolded. Finn and his mom attended mass one evening and Finn and Quinn's father, Russell, had started talking about Ohio State football or something. Russell had been dropping hints about how good of a match Finn would be for his daughter.

That just showed Quinn that her father knew absolutely nothing about her. She and Finn had nothing in common; all the boy knew was football and superheroes. Trying to hold a conversation that lasted more than two minutes with the boy was exhausting all in itself. Basically Quinn was now turning into her sister Amanda; she had allowed her father to control her love life. The thought was daunting and weighing on Quinn's conscience as she took out her U.S. History textbook and started to dig through her bag for a pen or pencil. Due to her search, Quinn wasn't able to see Rachel slip into the classroom right before the late bell rang. The blonde looked up just in time to see the Cheerio slipping into her seat next to Mercedes Jones. Quinn couldn't help but notice how distracted and slightly flustered the brunette looked and she silently wondered if it had anything to do with what she saw earlier with Puck. The thought of the mohawk-clad boy made Quinn's skin crawl. He was the biggest pervert in the school, save for Jacob Ben Israel, and Quinn could not even begin to fathom why Rachel was seeing him. Maybe she didn't know that her boyfriend had plowed through two-thirds of the female student body?

Quinn's attention was demanded immediately as Mr. Franklin started his monotonous lecture about the Gettysburg Address. Her chin rested in the palm of her hand as she stared through Mr. Franklin and at the blackboard behind the shorter-than-average man. Tina, who was usually just as studious as Quinn herself, was dozing off while Mr. Franklin started to talk about Abraham Lincoln as a whole. Hazel eyes drifted around the room, a spark of amusement lighting them as she noted how a lot of students were falling asleep. Quinn's gaze landed on Rachel and she cracked a small smile when she saw that the girl was actually taking notes on Mr. Franklin's lecture.

After the class was over Quinn quickly collected her belongings and made her way out of the room like the rest of the students, some shuffling slower than others due to their recent nap. Quinn needed to get to her locker before English because she had left her composition book in her locker, which probably meant she was running the risk of being late to class. So as Quinn carefully but quickly spun the combination on her locker, she did not notice the three Cheerios who were approaching her. Quinn didn't really interact with Cheerios so she assumed that when she saw the swishing of red pleats that some Cheerios were passing by her. Quinn had retrieved her composition book and was about to close her locker when it closed all by itself. Hazel eyes pinched in mild annoyance as she spun around to see three smirking Cheerios. She didn't recognize them, unable to actually put names to faces. Quinn raised her chin in the air a fraction, a defense mechanism she had learned from her older sister.

"Can I help you with something?" The blonde asked in a clipped tone, her hazel eyes narrowing as the Cheerios' smirks turned to sneers.

"Yeah, you can get lost and leave Finn alone." The one in the front, obviously the leader of this little trio, said in an obnoxious voice.

All three had the trademark high ponytails that all Cheerios were required to wear but they all had varying hair colors. The one who was standing in front was a redhead and Quinn could even see a splash of freckles over her nose. She tried to put a name to the face but she came up blank and decided that it'd be best to get away from all three of them if she wanted to avoid trouble. One thing that Quinn had managed to do throughout her high school life was avoid trouble. No one ever bothered her, except the occasional boy, and she was unused to the mocking taunts of Cheerios. She didn't let them get to her though, she was a Fabray and she was going to hold her ground.

"I don't think that's any of your business Freckles, so why don't you run along with your friends and leave me alone," Quinn's tone was turning icy and she could feel her shoulders tensing up. The redhead looked taken aback by the sudden change in the blonde but she didn't let it throw her off too much.

"Listen here you bible thumper, Finn Hudson doesn't need to be dating some prissy prude and I sincerely hope that you take this conversation into consideration the next time you see him because there are other girls out there who are way more vicious than us, ones who want Finn Hudson a lot more than we do." Freckles warned in a low tone.

Quinn never backed down, though the words the girl had said made a small shiver run down her spine. Freckle's two friends brushed pass Quinn, following their redheaded leader like little puppy dogs. One of them, the tallest and the one with sandy brown hair, bumped Quinn into the locker by 'accident' before the red pleats disappeared around a corner and Quinn was left standing in front of her locker in a daze. Had that really just happened? Did she just get threatened because of a boy? Quinn was so lost in her own world that she didn't notice another three pairs of eyes on her from down the hall.

Rachel Berry's brown orbs watched Quinn like a hawk as the blonde sighed deeply and then turned in the opposite direction for her English class, her composition book held protectively against her chest.

She had seen the entire thing, and now Rachel Berry was fuming. She was positively livid. The way Jessica had gotten all up in Quinn's face about something and then how Francine had actually pushed Quinn against her locker was making Rachel's blood pressure spike. Rachel Berry was actually seeing red in the metaphorical sense and it took Santana's brawn and Brittany's consoling words to talk Rachel out of pulling the three girls out of their respective classes and making them run suicides until they threw up. Quinn had looked so strong and unbreakable but when the blonde thought no one was looking at her she had seen the mask fall away. She had seen a scared girl who had just most likely been threatened. Rachel would bet her entire Broadway memorabilia that it had something to do with that giant ogre. Stupid Finnept and his psycho fan club.

During lunch Rachel threw icy glares at Jessica, Francine, and Katy. The trio was oblivious to the imminent danger they were in and easily greeted Rachel out of respect. The brunette had half a mind to throw her lunch on Jessica when she saw the girl trying to flirt with Finn.

"You look like you're about to blow a gasket. Should I call the guidance counselor?" Santana taunted from across the lunch table.

Rachel grimaced at the mere thought of having to sit in Miss Pillsbury's office for any extended amount of time. The redheaded guidance counselor had a weird obsession with hand sanitizer and wet wipes. She would rather be sent to Coach Sylvester's lair than to that crazy woman's office.

"I'm just trying to formulate the perfect punishment for what happened earlier," Rachel mused as her thoughts started to wander. The Latina across from her scoffed and shook her head sadly.

"That is so not your expertise, Berry. Leave it to the professionals, alright?"

Rachel's eyes hardened as she scowled at the smug girl in front of her. Brittany had bounded off somewhere, saying something about wanting a grape soda. Rachel had no idea where she would get such a thing since there was no soda for sell on school grounds. Without Brittany as a distraction or a potential diffuser, Rachel was feeling way more on edge.

"Oh I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that being cruel was a talent." Rachel spit out the word 'talent' bitterly. The smirk on Santana's face only made the short brunette angrier.

"Well it is, so listen up. Making those bitches run laps and suicides isn't going to make them back down; they're used to that treatment from Coach." Santana's words quelled some of Rachel's anger but she was still thinking that death by suicides was still a pretty good idea. "I don't even know why your spanks are in such a bunch, in all honesty. They talked crap to the bible thumper, big whoop." Santana said with a shrug.

Rachel growled lowly, contemplating if she would have a good enough chance to make a run for it after throwing her lunch on Santana's wrinkle free Cheerios uniform. The odds were not in her favor. She was a fast runner and her legs were longer than you would expect from a short person, but Santana was in just as good as shape as she was and the girl had a few inches on her.

"Don't call her that! It's so derogatory. Who cares if she likes to praise God a bit more than others?"

Santana just rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to her cheddar goldfish. There was a tense silence between the pair and Rachel was praying for Brittany's presence so that the awkwardness would disappear. When it looked as if the rest of lunch would be spent in silence, Santana spoke.

"I can help with the whole punishment thing, since you obviously need guidance." The Latina said with a small devilish smirk blooming on her face. Rachel stared at the girl for a moment before her own smile spread across her face. It was times like these where Rachel knew that calling Santana a friend wasn't reaching.

Quinn was so far out of her comfort zone that she had thought of just going home multiple times. She had only stayed after school hours for chastity club a handful of times and to make up some tests on the rare days that she happened to be absent. She had definitely never thought that she'd be staying after school for the sole purpose of sitting on uncomfortable bleacher seats and watching the football team scrimmage. She didn't even enjoy football. Quinn's Spanish book was open to unit six on her lap as she peered down at it and scribbled in a little spiral notebook. Since Finn was keeping her from precious homework time she might as well get some of it out of the way while she waited for him to be finished with practice. Football practice had started immediately after school (2:35) and Quinn had already been sitting in the bleachers for ten minutes before she heard the sound of Sue Sylvester's booming voice. The track suit clad woman came into view, her red and white megaphone hanging from her neck, with her prized Cheerios trailing behind her. Spanish homework now forgotten, Quinn watched as Sylvester barked out orders and her cheerleaders scrambled around like ants. The only one who wasn't in motion was Rachel Berry. The head Cheerio was standing stoically by her coach's side, watching her fellow teammates start to get in position for warm up stretching.

Watching the Cheerios go through their runs was ten times more entertaining than watching the football team batter each other. Quinn had been watching the Cheerios for twenty minutes and Sylvester had handed control over to Rachel for the time being. The brunette had risen to the occasion and was leading her squad around the large football field, already on their sixth lap. Rachel stopped the squad after their tenth lap and looked to be telling everyone to cool down before continuing. Hazel eyes watched as Rachel stopped three Cheerios from following the rest of the group. Quinn's eyes widened when she realized it was the same three Cheerios from the hallway incident earlier.

Quinn had never been good at reading lips, but she was good at reading body language. Rachel's shoulders were tense and she looked to be reprimanding the girls sternly. The conversation was short and ended with the three cheerleaders starting around the track again, looking properly scolded and dejected. Quinn had been so caught up in watching the three cheerleaders start another set of laps that she hadn't felt the burning gaze targeted at her profile. Hazel eyes flickered to the left and Quinn visibly swallowed when she saw Rachel Berry openly staring at her. It didn't look like a mean stare, it didn't look like anything. It was just blank and slightly contemplative. Quinn was wondering if she should wave or do something, but Rachel spared her the embarrassment by looking away and making her way back towards the rest of her squad. Thank God.

Things just kept getting weirder and weirder. First, Quinn Fabray had showed up at a football game. Then, at the same game, Quinn Fabray had made out with Finn Hudson for the whole world to see. And now Quinn Fabray was sitting in the vacant bleachers watching the Cheerios practice. It was like everywhere Rachel turned, Quinn was there. It was making the brunette slightly fidgety and that did not bode well for her.

"Why don't you just go talk to her? You obviously want to." Brittany puffed out between crunches.

"Is talk another word for hump?" Santana snickered as she came up for another rep.

Rachel didn't have the wind power to answer either of them so she simply flicked Santana off and continued through her reps. Her abdominal muscles were on fire and she felt the muscles in her calves twitching from the exertion.

"Humping is good too! I'd want to watch that." Brittany chimed out as she finished her reps and opted to sit up and catch her breath. Brittany was usually the first one to finish reps; it was the thing that Rachel envied about the tall blonde.

"Rachel may be pretty, but she's not that pretty." Santana snorted as she worked faster so she could finish as well. Rachel ignored them both for a another minute and then she collapsed on her back as she finished her last rep. The brunette took deep gulps of air, staring at the pale blue sky before sitting up and reaching for her now lukewarm bottle of water.

"What do you mean I'm not that pretty?" Rachel questioned with a scowl. Santana didn't answer until she had finished and then she took her sweet time downing her own bottle of water before turning her attention back to her impatient captain.

"It's Quinn Fabray." Santana said with a simple shrug. Rachel's eyes pinched but her scowl weakened.

"So?" Rachel challenged, raising her chin in the air as she put the cap on her now empty water bottle and tossed it onto her open Cheerios gym bag.

"Never mind the fact that you're missing the equipment that Quinn is most likely interested in," Santana stated while Rachel scoffed indignantly. "The fact that she's the president of the chastity club would put a huge damper on your sexual escapades, or lack thereof." Santana said in one of her trademark bitchy tones. Rachel absolutely loathed moments where the Latina actually made sense.

"How did we even get on this topic? Change it." Rachel grumbled out as she got to her feet to watch over the rest of the working Cheerios. Brittany just gave Rachel a sympathetic look and Santana cackled before lying back down on the itchy grass.

Cheerio practice actually ended before football practice, which rarely happened. Coach Bieste had tasted victory and now she wasn't going to let it go. The next football game of the season was a week from now and if the Titans won they were actually looking at a shot of getting considered for a spot in the Lima Conference. Something that hadn't been done since Rachel's daddy Hiram had attended the school decades before. Most of the squad – save for Jessica, Francine, and Katy – were hitting the showers. The three girls were now running suicides and Rachel almost felt bad when she saw that their uniforms were completely drenched in sweat. The football team was apparently practicing punting, something that could take up to another forty minutes, and Rachel was eyeing the blonde girl who was perched on the bleachers. She was obviously there for Finn, something that made Rachel angry at the giant oaf. Making the girl wait so long was just inconsiderate and ungentlemanly. Rachel had half a mind to interrupt Bieste's practice and tell the boy herself. In the end, she settled for just climbing the bleachers and sitting next to Quinn.

Rachel had never actually spoken more than a handful of words to the girl next to her, but she had known of her existence. It was hard not to notice the beautiful blonde as she walked down the halls of McKinley, her books always tucked against her chest. Rachel felt a small lump forming in her throat but she knew that she would have to be the first to speak. She had been the one to approach the girl and it would only be courteous to extend the first greeting.

"Are you here for Finn?" It was probably the worst thing that Rachel could have used as an opener, yet she couldn't stop the words from spewing out of her mouth.

Quinn looked at her quizzically before giving a curt nod and shifting her gaze back to the football field. Rachel mentally cursed herself for being so uncouth. Rachel Berry was never uncouth. She had to try again, if only to redeem herself.

The brunette cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter, though she couldn't help but wonder if she reeked from the workout she had just endured. "My name is Rachel Barbra Berry, head Cheerio. I'm sure you already knew that and I surely already know who you are but I think introductions should be exchanged for common courtesy."

There. That was a huge improvement. Quinn seemed to think so too because she had a small quirky smile on her face. Quirky smiles meant good things, right?

"I'm Quinn Fabray," she said softly, her fingers immediately latching onto the small cross that was around her neck. Rachel's brown eyes flickered down to look at the cross before they flickered back up to meet a shocking green.

Rachel knew that the color of irises could change colors but she had never seen it happen so quickly. You could still see the golden flecks of hazel around Quinn's pupil but the majority was a soft mossy green. The mixture of gold and green reminded Rachel of autumn leaves. The brunette had never seen anything like it and she found herself leaning forward and trying to get a closer look. Quinn had backed up a little when she noticed that Rachel was leaning inward.

"Your eyes are so cool," Rachel breathed out before removing herself from Quinn's personal space. A blush, so faint that it could have been easily overlooked, tinged Quinn's fair cheeks as she ducked her head.

"Thanks," Quinn murmured bashfully just as a huge shadow loomed over the two girls.

Rachel should have known it'd be Finn. She had been so caught up in Quinn that she hadn't even taken notice that football practice had come to an abrupt end and Finn was now standing in front of the two girls. He was there to retrieve his girlfriend. Rachel knew that she had outwardly cringed and she also knew that Quinn had seen it.

"Hey Quinn, Rachel," Finn said dopily while nodding 'coolly' at Rachel before turning his full attention on the blonde. "You ready to go Quinn? Sorry that it took so long but Coach was going crazy today. I promise it won't take this long tomorrow," Finn said with a dumb smile on his face.

Rachel made a noise in the back of her throat and got to her feet, noticing that her three Cheerios were still running their suicides and looked ready to keel over. She had informed them that every time she caught wind of them bothering Quinn that their practices would get longer and harder. She and Santana had also had a word with Coach Sylvester, telling her that the three were slacking and should be demoted from their middle positions on the pyramid and work their way back up again. Needless to say, she was sure that Quinn would not have any more troubles from any of her Cheerios. Rachel watched as Quinn nodded her affirmative at Finn's question and then grabbed her tote bag and slung it over her shoulder while she got to her feet and smoothed out her baby doll dress.

"I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow, gotta go let those three off the hook so I can get home." Rachel said as she made her way down the bleachers.

Finn smiled and waved dopily while Quinn smiled softly in Rachel's direction and gave a small wave of her own. Her wave was way more dignified than Finn's. Despite the oaf's bad timing, Rachel felt good as she dismissed the last of her squad and then made her way into the Cheerios locker room.

She had successfully broken the ice with Quinn Fabray and now it was time to start treading water.

A/N: Thank you guys so much for the feedback! I should've mentioned this in the previous chapter or maybe in the summary but there will be no baby-gate Quinn or Rachel. It wouldn't really fit into my story anyways. Let me know what you think about the chapter. xx