Chapter three: Dance

Word Count: 3, 239

"This was a bad idea, Quinn." Rachel hissed as she stood outside of the school. Her hair was put back in a ponytail and she was already in her dancing gear as were Quinn who watched Rachel move from side to side. "I don't want to join the competition. I don't want to dance with Michael. I don't…"

"I get it, Rach, you don't want to do anything." Quinn said nodding.

"If you get it Quinn then why are you making me do this?" Rachel sighed and leaned her head against Quinn's shoulder.

The blonde gently patted Rachel's head and smiled into the school. She could barely make out Puck and Mike amongst the crowd of students trying to make their way out of the school as quickly as they humanly could.

"Why is it so important to find out why I quit Glee?" Rachel sighed again. "I just wanted to quit. I didn't want to do it anymore. It's not as if they liked me very much anyway. I thought maybe they'd be happy that I wasn't around to bother them anymore."

Quinn felt her throat tighten. She had been one of those people who had wanted Rachel out of Glee. She used to be one of those Rachel spoke about when she said they'd be happy. What a difference a summer had made. It only took one moment for Quinn to give Rachel a chance. And it took two kind words for Rachel to forgive Quinn. That thought rarely escaped Quinn's head. It was sad in a way she couldn't explain. Quinn was sure that it would take months before Rachel forgave her. She believed that it would take so much more than merely apologizing. But that had been it.

"What are you thinking about?" Rachel asked still leaned against Quinn's shoulder.

Quinn hesitated. "How truly sorry I am for the way I treated you."

Rachel sighed deeply and stood up straight. "How many times do I have to tell you? Quinn, you don't have to apologize for that stuff anymore. I've forgiven you, okay? I'm not angry for anything you've done to me in the past. That's all way behind us okay?"

"Yeah," Quinn shrugged. "But I still feel bad about it sometimes." – she held up her hand to stop Rachel from interrupting – "…and I will apologize until I don't feel bad anymore. Okay?"

"Sure," Rachel said sighing. "You really have a thing about apologizing, don't you?"

Quinn gave out a meh and shrugged.

"Do you know what else you can apologize for since you're on a roll?"

"What?"

"For getting me into this mess."

GLEE

"Are you ready to dance with crazy Berry?" Puck asked when he leaned against the locker next to Mike's. The locker made a loud noise in protest against the weight that the material must have thought was too heavy to carry.

Mike rolled his eyes. He couldn't claim that he was looking forward to dancing with Rachel but then again, he wasn't not looking forward to it. It was just dancing. If there was something Mike knew he could do without much preparation it was dancing. He was on the other hand nervous about being the one in charge of finding out why Rachel quit Glee. Because yes, Puck had given that responsibility to him.

"It's only logical." Puck claimed at lunch that day while pushing in protein in the form of too much meat than could be considered healthy. Coach's orders. "You'll be spending all this time with her. All you have to do is randomly ask her questions about Glee and if she misses it. Use those puppy dog eyes Chang and you'll be fine. She'll melt like fucking butter in the sun."

"So, you've noticed them too." Mike replied with a smirk.

"What?"

"My puppy dog eyes!" Mike laughed. But only until Puck opened his mouth and graced Mike with the very vivid image of what meat look when it was almost completely chewed. After that Mike wasn't hungry anymore. Despite the fact that he was eating something vegetarian.

Mike had told him between classes that he wasn't good at this stuff. He wasn't as smooth as Puck was.

"No one is, Chang." Puck had said with a laugh until he realized that was not the time to joke. "Relax man, all you have to do is dance and talk to the girl. This is Rachel Berry, after a while the weight of keeping a secret will crush her and she will tell the first person in sight. We just need to make sure that you're that person."

"What are you going to do while I do the hard work?" Mike asked.

"I'm going to make sure that Quinn doesn't ruin our plan." Puck looked across the hallway where Quinn and Rachel were walking next to each other. Quinn and Puck shared a smile that lasted a few seconds and then Quinn disappeared around the corner into her next class. "That's hard work, dude. Anyway, I'll see you after school for a nap. I'm going to the nurse. I fucking hate math."

Just like Puck said they did see each other after school. Puck appeared out of nowhere looking much less sleepy than he had just an hour ago, when he asked if Mike looked forward to dancing with Rachel. Mike shrugged and closed his locker. Much more careful than Puck had with his own. The boom that appeared when he closed his locker was probably heard on the other side of the school.

"I still think this is a horrible idea, man." Mike admitted.

"I know you do." Puck held his phone in front of Mike's face. "You've sent me about ten texts saying that you don't think this is a good idea. And let me tell you, these texts are pretty clear, which means that I get what you're trying to tell me. You don't like this idea. Well, too bad Chang, suck it up."

"You do realize what happens if this gets out?" Mike said leaning against his locker. He saw Mercedes, Kurt and Tina from across Puck's shoulder and looked down on the ground. Puck turned around and glanced at them and acknowledged them with a nod.

"Yeah, people will assume that you and I are making a joke out of Berry and people will love us even more." Puck said with a shrug.

"No- wait, what?" Mike frowned.

"Chang, if people see that we're hanging out with Berry they're just going to think that we're doing some fucked up shit to screw with her life. Seriously, who the fuck would believe that we were hanging out with the crazy person for any other reason?"

Mike nodded. He had a point. "Okay, if you say so. You ready for this man?"

Puck laughed out loud. "Am I ready for this? Fuck no, Chang, you're on your own." And with that Puck laughing walked down the hallway towards the exit of the school.

GLEE

Rachel and Mike stood alone in one of the many rooms of the studio. It wasn't as big as the room Michael had seen her dance for the first time and was mostly used when one or maybe two couples needed to work a bit extra on something. Rachel stood on the other side of the room warming up with different stretches and movements. Her face was directed to the floor or rarely the mirror. If they ever managed to look at each other Rachel turned away almost as if she was afraid he would kill her.

That fucker Puck. Mike thought angrily as he finished his warmups. What the fuck had he gotten himself into? He loved dancing but he didn't love dancing with Rachel Berry. If she was half as bossy in dance as she had been in Glee, then Mike would want to throw up at the end of every practice.

"So," he took a deep breath and turned around to face her. "Cuban ballroom dancing. How good are you at that?"

Rachel tilted her head to the side. A blush appeared on her cheeks. Mike almost thought he was hallucinating. This was not the Rachel he was used to. He was sure she would go into how her body was made for this kind of dancing and then in detail tell him about the enormous experience she had since it was needed to become as good as Barbara Strei… something. But Rachel did no such thing.

"I'm decent, I guess." She said and shrugged. "You've been doing this type of dance longer than I have. I think you're the better judge of that."

Mike nodded, somewhat confused by her reaction. "Do you have any ideas for a routine?"

"Well…" Rachel took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. "Obviously, we need something to showcase our strong sides. I'm better with the technically difficult parts that require precision. But I'm assuming you're more into street dancing?"

"Hey Rachel," she tore her eyes away from the spot on the roof and Mike gave her a soft smile. One that he never thought in his life he would have on his face when looking at Rachel Berry. "I'm not dangerous you know."

Rachel laughed. "Of course, not, that would be silly." She hummed to herself while she walked towards Mike where he stood in the middle of the room. "So, maybe we should just dance and see how it goes? Then we can come up with a choreography for our next practice?"

Mike nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good."

GLEE

Sam Evans was a blond guy with a perfect Bieber haircut, a big smile and beautiful big eyes. He looked like the nice-guy around the corner with the killer body whom for some magical reason knew exactly how to use it. Too bad Quinn wasn't into him. She loved dancing and generally hanging out with him. But that was about it. There was no attraction. No deep desire to kiss him or do anything else with his lips other than seeing him smile. Thankfully he felt no such desire to do anything with her either.

"Beautiful dancing Quinn."

"You too, Sam. Good work!" Quinn said giving the blond a hug. "I'll see you on Saturday."

If someone would have told Quinn a few years ago, that she was going to be a dancer. The kind of gladly gave up cheerleading and social events to practice, go to the gym or run in order to become better then she would have laughed in their face. But Rachel Berry had convinced her to give dancing a chance. And then, much like an addict, she was hooked. It took only a few weeks until she was learning two or three types of dancing at the same time and still felt like she could make time for more. It was an amazing fix. One that made her feel like a real teenager again. And she needed that, so bad. She needed to do things because she wanted and not because it was the responsible thing to do.

Quinn dried the sweat of her forehead with the back of her hand as she sat down on the bench outside of the dance studio. Her muscles were aching and even sitting down made them protest. There was obviously some muscle that didn't like that position. She greedily drank from the bottle and leaned even lower. Quinn would have been scolded if her mother saw her sitting like that. Somehow her mother would be able to see it as being harmful for their reputation. Then again, having a baby as a teenager probably caused unfixable damage to one's reputation. Quinn doubted that could be fixed.

"Who was that?"

Quinn jumped and glared at the man who had sneaked up behind her. "Don't scare me like that Puck." He sat down next to her and repeated his question. "That was my partner. His name is Sam Evans."

"He looks nice." Mike nodded. Quinn frowned. "Why are you looking at me like that for?"

"Nothing," Quinn said hesitating. "I just thought… I thought you were going to say something else."

"Like what?" Puck smirked. "Like, I'm going to kick his ass. Like, you should stop dancing with him? Or maybe something along the lines of Quinn, women, Puck, man – Quinn, Puck's woman. I don't blame you if you did. Most people have similar thoughts about me. I'm just a Lima-loser."

He said the last words with a much darker voice and though he laughed when he was done there was no real joy in it. When Quinn didn't laugh back at him he eventually became quiet but kept looking at her. Silence with most boys were uncomfortable. Quinn often felt a need to say something, anything, to make it stop. But silence with Puck wasn't like that. Maybe it had been before Beth, or maybe it hadn't. It didn't really matter.

"I don't think you're a Lima-loser." Quinn said after a while and felt her heart get lighter as the smile on Puck's face grew. "So, what are you doing out here anyway? Were you waiting for someone?"

Quinn looked towards the door. She knew Puck had hooked up with several of the girls that went there. It wouldn't shock her if one of them walked out and straight into his arms. Puck had that effect on many girls. Regardless of what he did to them for some reason they all came running back when he opened his arms. Quinn wasn't like that.

"Yeah," Puck said and found himself on the receiving end of a cold glare which he ignored. "I'm waiting for Mike."

A faint blush appeared on Quinn's face. But only for a moment until she frowned. "Are they still in there?" she took her cell phone from her pocket and looked down on the small screen. Other than a text message from Rachel there were several from Mercedes, Santana and Brittany all pretty much saying the same thing. And it wasn't nice things.

"Yeah," Puck nodded. There was no way they would get away with saying nasty things about her. Not when he was around. "So, how long have those assholes been bothering you?"

Quinn frowned. "Oh, since school began pretty much. Apparently, I'm now a traitor and a bunch of other shit. They're not happy with me being friends with Rachel whom they hate more than ever since they found out she quit. They also want to know why, but it's none of their fucking business."

"Do you want me to deal with it?" Puck cracked his knuckles and felt his heart soar as Quinn laughed. "Just give me the word and I'll make sure those fuckers never go near you again."

"No, thanks Puck." Quinn laughed again. "I'm handling it like an adult. If it amuses them to taunt me or nag me about why Rachel quit Glee, then I say we let them. As long as they're not bothering Rachel."

"So, when we asked Rachel why she quit… It wasn't hard to tell that she was lying." This was not the time to ask why Rachel had chosen to quit. But then again there never was a good time to ask. Quinn avoided his eyes. "Why did she quit?"

Quinn sighed deeply and looked at him with a sad smile. "That really is none of your business. And I'm not going to tell you because you won't stop talking about it. Just leave it alone Puck."

"You know I can't do that. Come on Quinn, it can't be that fucking bad. You're acting as if someone died or some shit." Puck said with a sigh that brought back Quinn's ice queen glare in full power. "Fuck no, please don't tell me I was right? Tell me no one died because then guessing that would just be fucking… wrong."

Quinn shook her head. "It's nothing like that. No one died."

"Well fuck Quinn, what can be so bad that Rachel tells only you?" Puck gestured wildly around him. "There are very few fucking reasons that are so bad that Rachel drama queen Berry would hide it. Like her being pregnant."

Puck's eyes widened. "Holy fuck is she pregnant? That would be too good to be true. Rachel Berry being pregnant."

"Oh, my god, are you fucking serious right now." Quinn's sigh was deeper than any other sigh ever before. There really were no words for this man stupidity. God, he made it so hard for her to expect things from him sometimes she thought and stood up. "I'm going to go now before you come up with another stupid suggestion. I'll see you in school Puck."

The blonde walked away before Puck knew what to say and he was left alone by the bench until the door to the studio was opened with a boom that had him put his hand over his chest. Not that he would ever admit that. Rachel stormed out closely followed by Mike whose face was red and not only from dancing Puck assumed. Rachel hissed something that sounded much like goodnight Noah and hurried towards the parking where Quinn were already sitting in her car. It took only a few moments before the car drove off but not until Quinn sent a famous ice queen glare their way.

Puck crossed his arms over his chest and turned around. Mike breathed deeply as he paced the ground.

"So, how bad was it on a scale from one to ten?"

"Fucking terrible." Mike spat. "I swear to god that woman sucks out all the fun in dancing. How the hell am I supposed to dance with her for eight weeks without killing myself in the process?"

"What did she do?"

"She wouldn't stop moaning and bitching about my dance steps. She told me my frame is too weak, my back isn't straight enough and my overall dancing isn't correct enough for fucking ballroom dancing. God, she is so fucking annoying I don't know what to fucking do with myself. I can't dance with her. We need to come up with the fucking answer for this mystery you're so obsessed with some other way."

"I'm going to ignore that you called me obsessed. Put for your information Chang, the Puckerone doesn't get obsessed. I get answers, revenge or get even." Puck sat down on the bench again and pointed at Mike to sit down next to him. "But I get what you're saying. And I may or may not have found out why the midget decided to quit Glee."

Mike's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am Chang, now if you're looking for the truth," Puck hit his hands together. "You've found the right guy. If you would step into my office, I'll give you exactly what you need. I happen to know from very certain sources that Miss Rachel Berry is pregnant and that's the reason she quit Glee."

"That… sounds like such a fucking lie." Mike said as he sat down on the bench. "Come on man, that's not it. That's like something straight from some worthless romance novel that my mom likes to read."

"Why does that sound like a lie? What else would Rachel fucking Berry let get in the way of her bright and shining future on Broadway or what the hell it's called."

"Are you serious? A baby? Rachel?"

"Yeah and maybe she doesn't want the father to know." Puck's eyes widened with every word he spoke. "Fuck, I'm good at this."

"Doesn't sound like Rachel." Mike said.

"There's one way to find out." Puck added. "One thing we could do to find out if we are right."

Mike rolled his eyes. "What's that?"

Puck smirked again. Bigger than before. "Well Chang, I'm glad you asked."