A/N: I know Quinn is not in her character. This story is VERY AU. I love the reviews and I love you guys. Please tell me what you guys think, it's greatly appreciated. I own nothing.
Rachel woke up the next day to her alarm blaring. She groaned but turned off the cacophony, and sat up in her bed. She went through her normal routine of going through her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, before texting Finn to attempt to make plans. Their fight was stupid, and they had no real reason to be mad at each other. Or, that's how he saw it. She set her phone down on her bed and stood up to look in her full length mirror. She let her hand graze her stomach, pinching the fat she saw with a frown on her face. "If I can pinch it, I can lose it." she thought. She felt like she was hundreds of pounds, and Finn always joked about how big she was. It didn't help her, and she finally got the guts to say something to him, and he got mad. She pinched herself once more before leaving the mirror to go on her elliptical. She would get skinny if it killed her.
After an hour on the machine, she showered and got ready for school. Finn usually picked her up for school, but since he still wasn't talking to the diva, she was forced to walk. As she left her house, she smiled. Autumn was her favorite season. It made her think of when she was little and her dads were actually around, and how they would make her coffee when it was cold because she wanted to 'be grown up' with them. She missed her younger years. It was easier, and nothing ever hurt, except when she scraped her knee or something of the sort. Now, at 18, she felt like the entire world was trying to crush her, like every worry, every pain had been put on her specifically and no one would lift even the smallest thing from her back. She was only a quarter of the way to school when she heard a car honk at her before pulling over. It was a dark blue Kia Soul. She didn't recognize it at all, so she kept walking. The driver pulled the window down, revealing their face.
"Quinn?" the brunette asked.
"My car is in the shop, so my mom let me use hers. Get in!" she smiled. Rachel smiled back before jogging over to the passengers side. Jumping in the car, she remembered Quinns comment from the day before.
"Look, I wanna apologize for yesterday." the blonde started. "I have nothing against gays, or you, or anything. I promise I don't. You push me, and I hate being pushed. Being partnered with you, I know I'll be pushed to actually get something out of the lesson, and that's actually sort of intimidating. So I'm sorry." Rachel looked at the blondes eyes. They always took her breath away, with the gold running in chains around the dark green.
"You're forgiven, Quinn." the brunette said with a slight blush on her cheeks. Quinn smiled, an actual one, which made Rachel even more breathless than before.
"I was thinking of going to Starbucks before class. Is that okay?" she asked. The smaller girl nodded and sat back in her seat. She pointed at the radio, and the blonde girl next to her nodded, slightly chuckling. Ed Sheeran filled the silence in the car, along with Rachel softly singing along with every song. As they pulled up to Starbucks, Rachel smiled. Finn always hated coffee, and she didn't understand how. Coffee was her home away from home.
"Are you coming in as well? It's my treat." Quinn said as she opened her car door. Rachel looked at the blonde for a moment before humming 'mhm' and getting out of the car.
School had been going relatively well, Quinn hadn't seen Shelby, she had plans with Santana for lunch, and she was getting her car fixed. "Maybe things are turning around, finally" she thought. She had her best friend back, which was the happiest part of the day. She missed the Latina. Quinn had lost her due to her pregnancy, and then the raven haired girl's insecurities about her sexuality kept her from talking to the blonde girl for quite some time.
"Ready, Q?" Santana said coming around the corner. Quinn nodded and walked with the Latina out the door to her car. They were going in Quinn's car, Santana was paying for lunch, and Quinn got to use her gas. It was how they did things. They pulled up to Breadstix, and the Latina waited eagerly for the blonde to park.
"Hurry up, Fabray. I needs me some Breadstix." she said in her fake ghetto accent. The blonde laughed as she parked and got out of her car.
As they sat in the restaurant and waited for their food Santana stared at Quinn. The blonde had changed so much in the past three years. From the baby to now, the blonde had matured and gotten much more closed off. She didn't blame the girl though. Everyone, including the Latina herself, abandoned the blonde because of her pregnancy. She still regretted doing that.
"I've missed you, Quinn." Santana said quietly. The blonde smiled.
"I've missed you too."
"What was with that comment yesterday, Quinn? Like, that hurt." the tan girl said looking at her glass of water, twirling the straw around.
"Honestly? I don't really know. Rachel pushes me, and you know how much I hate that. It just kind of came out. I'm sorry, S. You know I don't care about your sexuality." the blonde girl answered. She watched the Latina twirl her straw around and avoid making eye contact. "Typical Santana" she thought. The girl would never change. Even when they were kids, whenever they would talk about feelings, Santana would avoid eye contact. It was kind of cute, at least that's what Quinn thought.
"Okay. One more serious thing before we can joke around and be normal." the Latina started. Quinn nodded, allowing her continue.
"Lift your sleeves." she choked out. Quinns eyes got large and her jaw dropped. Tears welled up in her eyes and her hands started to tremble. "How did she find out? She must hate me now. She must think I'm some pathetic little girl" the blonde's thoughts raced. Santana looked down at the blondes arms, as she slightly raised her right sleeve. Scars covered her pale skin. Some were almost faded, some were pink, showing their newness. As the blonde continued bringing her sleeve up near her elbow, the girl opposite of her sat with tears in her eyes. The scars turned into new cuts. Bruises laid around the fresh cuts, and some were too deep to scab. Santana reached out and lightly pressed her fingers over the scars on the blonde girls soft skin. "How can she do this to herself? What's so bad that she has to hurt herself?" the Latina thought. She reached up and brought the girls sleeve back down before clearing her throat. She looked at the girl in front of her. She realized now the broken look her hazel eyes. She saw that her smile never reached her eyes. Santana realized just how broken Quinn really was, the girl was broken into pieces, pieces that were hard to put back together because the blonde had locked them all in so no one could break her more.
"I don't understand it. But I love you, Quinn. I'll always be here, okay?" Santana said quietly as the waitress brought their food. Quinn nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Thank you." she answered turning her attention to the food in front of her.
The rest of the day went off without any more tears. Quinn was happy she had lunch with her friend, even with what had happened. She had someone who cared, and not the fake kind of caring. The Latinas tears were real, and even though Quinn wished the girl hadn't of cried, it was nice to see that someone loved her.
"Quinn, may I sit next to you. We are partners." Rachel said, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"You don't have to ask, of course you can." the blonde answered. The two made small talk, Rachel making the blonde smile throughout their conversation. Santana looked at the blonde talk to the diva. There was something more going on with the blonde. She said she didn't like Rachel at all, but whenever she was around the midget, her smiles finally reached her eyes and she didn't look as lost. "Maybe Fabray is Fabgay."she thought, making herself chuckle. "Whatever floats her boat".
"Alrighty guys, how has the project been? Anyone have a song?" Mr. Schue asked the class as he walked into the choir room. Puck stood up and walked to the front of the classroom.
"I got to thinking, and I have a song actually." he said looking at the teacher with a serious look. The curly haired teacher nodded with a smile before taking a seat and watching Finn stand up as well to sing along with his partner. The mohawked boy picked up his guitar and looked over at his friend, who nodded as he pulled two stools to the center of the room. Puck started strumming a familiar tune. He sat down on the stool next to the tall boy and opened his mouth to sing.
Hey! Hey! You! You!
I don;t like your girlfriend!
No way! No way!
I think you need a new one
The song was obviously a joke, but Rachel looked down, stung by the words. Quinn looked over at the sad girl and frowned. She was always so sad because of Finn, she deserved so much better. She reached for the divas hand, intertwining the fingers. Rachel looked up at the blonde and smiled, thanking her for the gesture. She needed the comfort. The boys continued their acoustic version of the song, making the glee clubbers laugh at their enthusiasm for the lesson.
In a second you'll be wrapped around my finger
'cause I can, 'cause I can do it better
There's no other
So when's it gonna sink in?
She's so stupid
What the hell were you thinking?!
As Finn ended the song, the clubbers clapped. Rachel was completely zoned out, she was concentrating on the feeling of Quinns thumb softly rubbing hers. Her touch was calming yet so exciting. The brunette didn't understand why the girls touch was so intoxicating, so she shook the thought off. She let go of her hand as glee club dismissed.
"Rach, can we talk?" asked the divas boyfriend. Rachel looked over at Quinn as she left the room with Brittany and Santana.
"Sure, Finn."
