Although their paths do not cross again for the remainder of the day, Mike runs into her constantly within his own consciousness; he can't get those sad, sad eyes out of his head. There is something so haunting about those hazel eyes, as if they've seen enough to last a lifetime.

And as he sits there idly in class, exercising his perfected art of hearing but not quite listening to the teacher's lullaby of a lesson, he just thinks- about Quinn, about her situation. Doing so, he realizes that although he knows a lot about her, he barely knows her. It takes a lot to look past impressions solidified by both the student body and cultural norms... and once he takes that away, there's nothing. This empathy thing is pretty tough business.

Quinn Fabray. Cheerios captain turned ex-captain, rinse and repeat. Having left the squad on her own accord the second time around, she received none of the social backlash she had experienced the first time (of course, it helps that the Cheerios dissolved the instant three of its major players left). But captain or no, her presence is commandeering of reverence in the halls of McKinley.

Of course, it's common knowledge that it wasn't always like that. Being a part of the glee club, Mike was privy to Quinn at her most vulnerable time- the pregnancy and the subsequent loss of everything worth a damn in the high school social system. Its common knowledge that her own father turned his back on her, and it's also common knowledge that this juicy saga of a gossip story ended when she gave the baby away (a beautiful baby girl named Beth… although this tidbit is only known among the New Directions).

The following September, she was back from the outskirts of social quarantine and rocketed up the hierarchal ladder in a blink. No one questioned it. Quinn Fabray was back with a vengeance, armed with a heart that seemed to have frozen solid over the summer. So that was that. The guys once again wanted her (untouchable and revered), and all the girls wanted to be her.

Mike knows all this (who doesn't?), but for the first time, he sets aside his impressions regarding her obsessive drive for popularity (they aren't good impressions, to be honest – they would paint her in an antagonistic light) and disregards the unspoken disapprovals he has of her bullying and cheating.

Strip all that away and add Lucy to the equation, and Mike comes to an interesting conclusion: Quinn's life is terrible.

Okay fine, fine; he's not about to win a Nobel prize for this anti-climatic epiphany, but it dawns on him that she's never really had anyone, not really. As Lucy, the concept of companionship was something of dreams, and she was alone more often than not (Mike again feels the ever so slight churn of guilt in his gut). Now... well now she may be surrounded by people who will do her bidding, that hang around and act the part as friends, but their acting always falls short when push comes to shove (case in point: babygate). Sure, Mike remembers the blonde's friendship with Mercedes, but from what Tina tells him, the ties binding that relationship have long slackened (he never pried further at the time, chalking it up as 'girl stuff'). And the family issues; clearly it all stems from this, somehow, someway. What kind of family condones their kid's self-loathing to support plastic surgery? What kind of family disowns their kid in the kid's most dire moment of need?

The most Quinn really has right now is… well, Finn. But everyone knows Finn isn't the brightest bulb around. So long story short, she needs a friend, and badly.

Challenge accepted.

But of course… that just brings him back to square one. Mike drums his fingers on the wooden desk in front of him. How is he going to go about this?

His plans never get the chance to germinate, however, as the bell tolls and signals the release of the captive students. It's as if life has been breathed back into them; moments ago blank and bleary-eyed, the students of McKinley jump as if shocked, and rush into the hallways with renewed vigour. Today, though, Mike doesn't join in. His thoughts are elsewhere as he slowly takes the familiar route to his locker.

By the time he arrives at his destination, Tina is waiting for him with textbooks in hand and a smile on her face.

"Hey, you. Missed you at lunch today," she offers.

Mike pecks her cheek in greeting and scans the vicinity before answering. Once satisfied that no one was within immediate earshot, he frowns and asks, "You hear about the Quinn thing?"

Mike has always found it adorable how Tina's facial expressions are so telling; now, he watches in mild amusement as Tina's eyes grow wide with intrigue and she nods emphatically. "Yeah- I mean, news like that travels at the speed of light! It's pretty crazy though. I always took for granted that Quinn was one of those pretty girls who were always pretty. Like, they were just always that way and never knew anything else."

Swiftly turning the lock and prying his locker open, Mike nods in agreement as his girlfriend rambles on.

He's all packed and ready to go when Tina's asks, "Did you hear that Zizes was the one who did it?"

Mike pauses. So distracted he has been by the aftermath of the Lucy scandal, he suddenly realizes he never even bothered finding out the cause of it. He slams his locker door shut in frustration. "Didn't hear about that part," he growls, "that's low. That's real low."

Tina looks momentarily taken aback by his hostility, but nods in agreement. "Yeah, definitely." She shyly outstretches her palm towards him, and he takes it in his own. Together they make their way towards the parking lot, where Mike's car will be awaiting to transport them back home.

"At the same time though..." Tina starts tentatively, looking at Mike curiously as though she were scared of another hostile outburst yet too intrigued not to ask, "Should we be really feeling all that bad for Quinn? I mean, she probably would have done the same thing to Zizes, you know. If she could, something tells me she would."

Mike chews the inside of his cheek. "Maybe, maybe not. People don't really give her enough credit sometimes. She's not that bad a person."

"Oh, she's not," Tina quickly asserts, "she definitely has her moments. It's just that... when it comes to popularity and prom queen stuff, have you noticed how scary she gets?"

"Well, yeah that stuff is important to her, so she goes for it. Can anyone really blame her?"

"Uhm...yeah? If she's going to bully people to gain popularity she's responsible for actions."

"But she was bullied like crazy too! It's like..the only way she knows how to exercise her power, so she doesn't know any better!"

Tina stops and raises an eyebrow at him. "Are you serious? I'd say it's even worse. If you know how much it sucks, why are you doing it to others?"

They're standing in front of his silver corolla now, in a parking lot deserted save for the vehicles of some straggling students and teaching staff. "She...she's had a hard life. She just deserves a break."

"I know, I know. I totally agree- her life has been like a soap opera, and she's not a bad person. I mean, she has her moments."

"Yeah."

She rubs circles in his palm soothingly. "Any reason in particular why this is bothering you so much?"

"I went to Belleville. That nickname - Lucy Caboosey - that's what she was called. And seriously, people were downright mean," he explains, "I guess I graduated and never saw it as my issue."

Tina's expression grows stern. "You didn't join in the bullying did you?"

"No! No, not directly. But I mean, I just went with the flow, you know? So just imagine if you thought finding out today was shocking...me, I remember Lucy, and I know Quinn, and putting those together in my mind is like...like, bam! Mind explosion!

And I just can't stop thinking about it you know? Like all I can think about is how messed up that girl is, and how cold she can be, and you can't help but wonder if she even had just one friend back then, if she'd be a totally different person now."

"It sucks. But it's not your fault."

"I don't know. Does it matter? Can't I help anyway?"

Tina gazes at him for a long moment, then smiles and pecks him chastely on the cheek. "You and your hero complex. It's adorable."

"You know it," he smirks. "But yeah, it just really bugs me."

"How about this- I'll talk to Mercedes for you. Ask her if she knows anything... I mean, they did live together for a while last year."

"Yeah, that'd be good..." he agrees, as they both step into the car.


Tina's house is a cozy 2-storey house on the west side of Lima. What this is means is that after he drops her off, he has to drive back to the east side, where his house is located, passing by McKinley in the process... as per routine.

What isn't routine, however, is the blonde he sees briskly walking away from school, presumably to get home.

And of course, just his luck, said blonde happens to be Quinn Fabray.

Now, everyone knows where the Fabrays live- it's just one of those things that are unanimously known amongst the student body; everyone recognizes the Fabray mansion on the upper east side of Lima.

It is this fact that strikes Mike as odd: upper east side of Lima is a good thirty minute walk away (ten by car), and of all the days he's taken this route afterschool, today is the first he's ever seen her walk home.

Well... the coincidence has to be a sign of some sort, he tells himself. Mike nods in resolve and decelerates the car, pulling up by the curb next to Quinn.

The girl startles at first, freezing mid-step. Recognition then registers in her eyes, and the surprised expression quickly gives way to the all-too-familiar look of nonchalance. Mike, ever the observer, takes note of the speedy transition. He rolls down the passenger window and waves.

"What do you want, Chang?"

"Need a ride home?"

"No."

"Your place is pretty far from here."

"I know perfectly well where I live."

"What happened to your car?"

"Go away," she sneers as she resumes walking, seemingly to have resolved to ignore him.

Mike, not one to give up, simply shrugs and starts his car. He keeps at an extremely slow speed, just enough to match her pace. He does this for about a block or so, until she finally snaps and turns to glare at him.

"Please tell me you aren't serious."

"It's a long walk. Let me give you a ride, Quinn."

"What is your issue?

Suppressing the urge to smirk, Mike just shrugs innocently and raises an eyebrow. Quinn simply responds with an angry scoff and resumes ignoring the vehicle tagging alongside her.

He really isn't quite sure what possessed him to do so, and where such courage came from- under normal circumstances, he would never have dared to disobey the Quinn Fabray of McKinley royalty, for fear of being singled out- but he ends up following her all the way back to the Fabray mansion. But hey, he's already crossed that line of no return- if she already has him on her blacklist, what does it matter?

Upon arrival, Quinn promptly marches up the interlock driveway, goes into her house and slams the door without a backwards glance.

As he rolls his window back up and proceeds to back out of her driveway to finally head home, Mike can't help but smile. A tiny part of him fears for his own sanity (is dogging her home really going to get him into her good books?), but somehow, he feels like he's going somewhere, and he has definitely left an impression.

What kind of impression, however, remains to be seen.


Over the course of the next few days, he follows the same route home again after dropping Tina off, only to find that Quinn Fabray is still seemingly car-less, and thus, still walking home.

And so, over the course of the next few days, Mike and Quinn continue to drive and walk (respectively) to the Fabray mansion, usually in silence, save the occasional sighs of exasperations elicited by the blonde.

By the time they make to her driveway on the fourth day, he's about to back out when she suddenly whips around and sticks her head through his open passenger-side window, startling him in the process. However, ever the agile and smooth dancer, he recovers quickly.

"Okay, seriously, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Mike shrugs, "Just wanted to hang out?" He offers a weak smile.

If looks could kill, Mike is pretty sure he would be dead by now; she glares and raises an eyebrow at him. "If I didn't know you were harmless and awkward as you are, I would have already called the police. But all the same: what. Are. You. Doing?"

"I was just thinking... we've known each other for so long, but we don't really know each other, y'know?" He gulps, and starts rambling, "And ju-just wanted to make sure you're doing okay. I mean, with glee and school and prom and everything; it must be a lot of stress to deal with and all-"

"If this is about the Lucy thing" she bites out (and Mike notices that momentary look of disgust that crosses her features as she spits out her old name), "you can drop it and get your sorry ass home before I make you more sorry than you already are. I don't need your pity. I don't need anything from you at all, actually."

"There's a difference between pity and concern, Quinn."

She opens her mouth in retort, but Mike quickly continues before she gets a chance to. "And yeah, we're all part of glee club and we all claim that this is one big cheesy cliché family, so why don't we act it? Yeah, you're a strong girl, but you've had a shit week. And I'm not saying you can't handle it alone, but why should you have to?"

She just stares at him, and Mike once again finds himself staring into those mesmerizing eyes once again, and he swears he sees them soften the tiniest bit, if ever so slightly.

She drums her fingers along the window ledge, quickly transitioning from anger to nonchalance (a perfected skill) and simply comments, "Well... next time don't creep me by driving your tank of a car next to me. I think you've singlehandedly burnt a hole through the ozone layer by now."

And with that, she turns on her heel, and, as always, makes her way into the fortress of a house in front of them without a backwards glance.

In the car, Mike breaks out into a grin. He reverses out of the driveway and makes his way home, satisfied and relieved that his seemingly insane gut instinct seems to have gotten him somewhere.


A/N: so sorry that it took pretty much... half a year to update! This is a bit longer; hope that begins to atone for it. But yeah, sorry again! Also, as always, reviews and comments are greatly appreciated! Oh, and happy holidays everyone :)