"Morning, hon," Rachel's father Leroy greeted her in the kitchen where he was reading the newspaper while sipping on a cup of coffee. "Did you have a good time last night?"

"Morning, Daddy," she replied, pouring herself a cup of coffee from the pot. "I had a surprisingly enjoyable evening."

"I'm glad to hear it," he said with a smile as she sat down across the table from him. "Although, I was surprised to get your text saying that you were going to the football game. Are you and Finn back together?"

"No, Daddy, not even close," she shook her head. "Not that I don't want to show my support for my fellow glee clubbers, but he wasn't why I went."

"So then who did you go with?" he asked curiously.

"Quinn."

He looked at her in surprise. "Quinn, as in the Quinn who's been asking you out all week?"

"The same," she admitted a bit sheepishly.

There was a twinkle in his eye. "You were pretty adamant about never going out with her."

"It wasn't a date!" she insisted. "And, well, some things happened yesterday that made me see her in a different light. She's actually quite chivalrous, and she even admitted that she needed my assistance with her vocals for glee club. Of course I agreed to help her." She sighed and frowned then as she thought of why she had first asked Quinn to the game in the first place.

"What's wrong, Rachel?" Leroy asked, noticing his daughter's distress.

"I found Quinn sleeping in her car after school yesterday, and her shirt was kind of lifted up." She closed her eyes, remembering the marks that marred the other girl's body and the fear she had felt at the sight of them. "It looked like she had been beaten up, but she insisted that it came from playing soccer when I confronted her about it."

"Confronting her might not have been the best idea," he said.

Rachel bit her lower lip. "I realize that now. I reacted too hastily. I was just scared for her and wanted to fix it right away, and the only way to fix something is to know what the exact problem is, you know?"

"I know. And it's good that you want to help her, Rachel, but be careful about jumping to conclusions. It's possible that her injuries really did come from soccer."

"I don't think so," she said with a shake of her head. "Daddy, I saw welts on her back."

Leroy looked horrified at that piece of information. "Maybe you should mention this to the school guidance counselor."

Rachel thought of their counselor, Miss Pillsbury. She admittedly hadn't had much one-on-one time with the woman, but she seemed like she cared a lot about the students at McKinley. And more importantly, she seemed like someone trustworthy.

"But if Quinn won't admit that anything is wrong, what can Miss Pillsbury really do?"

"I don't know, Rachel, but I'm sure she'll have an idea. I hate to say it, but it probably wouldn't be the first time a faculty member encountered this."

Rachel felt a wave of sadness, realizing that it was unfortunately true. Perhaps her daddy was right—she should probably tell someone like Miss Pillsbury what she suspected. But then she remembered how Quinn's walls had fallen into place when Rachel tried to find out what was really going on. If Quinn wouldn't admit anything to the girl she wanted to date, why would she admit anything to a woman who she didn't know at all?

"She'll probably deny it, just like she did with me," Rachel said with a sigh. "I just wish I knew how to help her. She won't admit that anything is wrong."

"She's probably ashamed to admit it."

"Quinn is the epitome of self-confidence, Daddy," Rachel argued. Despite the fact that she was beginning to suspect that some of the blonde's cockiness was a bit of a put on, she didn't for one second think that the girl would be ashamed.

"People have all kinds of ways they cope," he said.

She frowned then, feeling even worse for Quinn as she realized this was a very real possibility. A small part of her was impressed by the girl's resiliency, but Rachel knew she shouldn't have to go through this alone. And again, she wondered if any of her close friends knew. Maybe there was some way she could figure it out without being too conspicuous.

But most important was doing what she could. Some research was in order to make sure she did it right.

Quinn finished applying the last of the cover up to the finger-shaped bruises on her neck before inspecting herself one more time in the mirror. Her throat hurt like hell and her back and legs were still sore, but anyone bothering to look would have no clue. She looked every inch the star soccer player in her red and black McKinley Titans uniform.

She opened the medicine cabinet then and took out the bottle of Aleve that sat on the middle shelf. Pouring out four pills from the bottle, she popped them into her mouth and followed it with a swig of water.

After grabbing her gym bag, Quinn then went downstairs, where her parents were in the kitchen eating breakfast. She cast a quick glance at her father, who pointedly ignored her. Quinn felt a mixture of relief and rejection. She was glad that his ire wasn't directed at her, but it kind of hurt to not be acknowledged at all.

She then looked over at her mother, who actually spared a glance a quick smile at her—as if nothing was wrong. Quinn hated that her mom would just pretend that everything was okay, when it clearly wasn't. But again, she knew that was her own fault. And really, she couldn't blame her mother when she did the same exact thing every single day at school.

With an inaudible sigh, Quinn grabbed a protein bar from the pantry and then filled her water bottle at the sink. When that was done, she turned to face the kitchen table. "Are you coming to the game or should I just drive myself?" she asked her parents, kind of hoping that they'd come but also hoping that they wouldn't.

Her father looked up at her then, a dark expression on his face. Quinn immediately looked down, tensing. Great, he's still mad at me.

"Not today," her mother said then, and Quinn looked up to see her father's dark eyes now on the older woman. "You go on ahead."

Quinn nodded and turned to leave.

As she closed the front door behind her, she let out a long breath. On mornings like this, she often felt conflicted—wanting to run and get away from everything, but also feeling guilty for leaving her mother alone with her father. While Quinn had never seen her father raise a hand against her, she wasn't sure it didn't happen. After all, she herself was quite adept at hiding the truth from other people.

Quinn didn't understand why she wanted so badly for her father to be happy with her, when it was obvious nothing she ever did was good enough for him. But, God, she wished so much that she would be worthy of his love. If only…

A ringing sound from her gym bag went off as she got into her car. Quinn grabbed her cell phone and flipped it open. A grin broke out on her face when she saw that Rachel had sent her a text, all thoughts of this morning's unpleasantness gone.

What time is your game?

Quinn punched in her response. 10. Why?

I wanted to come but it seems I have a scheduling conflict. :( Have any plans for after?

She was pleasantly surprised at Rachel's eagerness to get together. She couldn't stop her mind from thinking about when, not if, she would get Rachel to go on a date with her. She had her opening, and she wasn't going to screw it up again.

Nope, what did you have in mind?

Truthfully, she usually got lunch with her teammates, but Quinn would gladly blow that off if it meant spending time with Rachel.

Lunch and then we can work out a schedule for your voice lessons.

Sounds great. I'll be done around noon.

Perfect. Meet me at my house. :)

See ya. ;)

Quinn couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she dropped her phone back into her bag. I've got it bad, she thought as she pulled out of her driveway.

It was strange, letting Rachel call all the shots. Normally, Quinn took the lead, but she had to remind herself that it wasn't a date, so the circumstances were different. Rachel was different from the other girls she had been with anyway—and Quinn liked her more than she had any of them—so she was willing to do things Rachel's way and hoped there would be some payout.

Quinn was sitting alone on the sidelines lacing up her cleats when the voice of the team's striker and captain sounded behind her. "Hey, Quinn."

"Hey, Spencer," she replied as the girl sat down next to her in the grass.

The two of them almost always arrived earlier than everyone else, including Coach Castle, and Quinn enjoyed the easy rapport she had with the older girl. In a way, she reminded Quinn a bit of her sister, Frannie, who left Lima as soon as she graduated high school and never looked back.

"So, I saw you at the game last night with Berry. That was different. Don't you usually like to wine and dine 'em?"

"It's what she wanted to do," she explained with a shrug, unable to keep the smile off her face as she thought of Rachel. "I've learned not to argue with my captains."

"Took you long enough," Spencer teased good-naturedly. "I just hope she didn't tire you out last night. We need you to kick ass on the field today."

Quinn smirked. "I'm not the one who gets tired out."

Spencer laughed. "Whatever you say, stud."

Rachel returned home from her dance class shortly after 11 and after a quick shower and changing into a black skirt and a purple blouse, she found herself anxiously waiting in her living room for Quinn to come pick her up.

During her research, she found that one of her initial instincts was correct—inviting Quinn out had kept her away from whoever was hurting her. So that was something she would continue to do. But part of her had to admit that she actually did want to see Quinn for more than that reason alone—that she wasn't doing this simply out of pity.

She really had enjoyed her evening with Quinn last night, and she found herself looking forward to seeing her again, much to her own surprise.

The doorbell rang, signaling the girl's arrival. Rachel sprung up from the couch and smoothed out her skirt as she went to open the door.

Standing before her was Quinn with her dazzling smile and sporting her typical jeans and long-sleeved t-shirt—this time black. Her blonde hair fell loosely down her shoulders, still damp from the shower.

"Hi," Rachel said with a smile.

"Hey," Quinn replied easily, her eyes giving her a subtle once over.

"Shall we get going?"

Quinn nodded and stepped back to allow Rachel room to exit and lock the door behind her before the two of them walked towards Quinn's car. As she followed Quinn down her walkway, she couldn't help but think about the bruises that were hidden beneath the girl's clothes and frowned.

"So any thoughts on where you'd like to go?" Quinn's question pulled her out of her thoughts.

Rachel blinked for a moment before replying, "How about Café Luna?"

"Sounds awesome. I love that place," she agreed as the two of them got into the car. Quinn started up the engine and then handed Rachel her iPod. "Pick something."

After a few moments of scrolling through Quinn's surprisingly extensive and varied music selection—although, sadly, there were no musicals—she settled on No Doubt. She figured something upbeat would do them both good.

"So how was your game?" Rachel asked once that was done.

"McKinley 2, Carmel 0," Quinn replied with a satisfied smile.

Rachel smiled in return. "Did you score a point?"

Quinn laughed. "They're called goals in soccer. And no, I didn't. I did have an assist though."

"Oh. That's good though right?"

"Yeah, that's good. So what were you doing this morning that kept you away from me?" Rachel didn't miss the flirtatious note in Quinn's voice and found that it really didn't bother her at all now.

"Dance class. When's your next game? Maybe I can make it to that one."

"It's Tuesday afternoon at 4."

"Perfect, I'll be there!"

Much like dinner the night before, the conversation over lunch was easy—mostly talking about glee and music. It took them a good while to finish their meal, as Rachel did more talking than eating, and Quinn took her time finishing her meal. She figured it was so they would finish up at the same time, which was very considerate of the girl.

But the one thing that struck Rachel was wonderment over how Quinn was able to sit there and act like nothing was wrong—like everything in her life was perfect. It was difficult for her to do the same—to go along with Quinn, pretending to accept that as truth. Normally, she was a woman of action.

"Can I ask you something?" Rachel asked. There were so many things she wanted to ask Quinn, but most of them probably wouldn't get an answer right now. However, there was one thing she was really curious about which she figured Quinn would have no problem answering.

"Go for it."

"Do your parents know you're gay?"

"I'm not sure," Quinn replied with a shrug. "They've never asked, and I've never told them."

"They don't notice the girls?"

"I don't bring girls home. I haven't had a serious relationship before, actually. I just like to keep things fun usually." She looked at Rachel meaningfully. "But I'm capable of something serious. It just needs to be with someone special."

Rachel blushed and looked down, knowing full well that Quinn was talking about her. Even though Quinn had dated lots of girls, she believed her when she said that Rachel was special. In a way, it was flattering that out of all the girls at McKinley—Cheerios included—it was Rachel who Quinn wanted to be with. And after everything that had happened over the last two days, it was becoming harder to ignore her growing attraction for Quinn Fabray.

But mixed in with that attraction was worry and pity, and Rachel found it somewhat confusing.

Quinn's ringing cell phone distracted them momentarily, and Rachel looked over to see her pull it out of her bag and look at its display.

"Matt's having a party tonight," Quinn informed her. "Wanna go?"

"I'd love to," Rachel agreed, beaming. She couldn't help but still want to be acknowledged by the more popular contingent of McKinley's student body, which was a major reason she had been drawn to Finn in the first place. But she realized it was better to get that recognition based on her own merits than through whoever she was dating. Still, she reasoned it wouldn't hurt to show up on Quinn's arm.

The party was just getting under way when they arrived at Matt's house. The boy enthusiastically greeted both girls and showed them to the kitchen, where Puck was unloading his stash of alcohol on the counter.

When he saw Rachel had come with Quinn, he looked momentarily surprised before smirking knowingly at Quinn. "Hey, ladies," he said.

"Hello, Noah," Rachel replied.

"Hey, Puck," Quinn greeted him.

"Can I get either of you a drink?" Matt asked.

"You know you really shouldn't be drinking alcohol, as it will be detrimental to your voice, and we need all of your voices if glee is going to be successful," Rachel said, putting her hands on her hips.

Quinn smiled at Rachel in amusement as Puck scoffed. "Come on, Berry, one drink isn't going to ruin your singing career. Matt, I put those fruity drinks in the fridge."

Seconds later, Matt was pressing a wine cooler into Rachel's hands. She stared at it, a mixture disapproval and curiosity on her face.

"You don't have to drink that if you don't want, Rachel," Quinn said, reaching out to take the bottle from the girl's hand.

Rachel hesitated for a moment. "No, I suppose Noah is right. One drink won't hurt." She brought it up to her lips, taking an experimental sip. "You know, this isn't bad."

"Q, look what I got," Puck said, showing off a bottle of Jameson and pulling her attention away from Rachel.

Her eyes lit up. She wasn't really a big drinker, but there was something about whiskey that she enjoyed immensely. Puck poured them each a shot. Quinn knew he'd offer some to everyone else later, but this first drink was something that was just for them—sort of a weird ritual they had developed since they had discovered the water of the gods.

The liquid burned on the way down and settled in her stomach with a soothing warmth. It was her one drink for the night, and there was nothing else she would have preferred.

The house soon began filling up with people, and Quinn was glad it was mostly just Matt's close friends, who also happened to be her friends. She wasn't really in the mood to cross paths with jealous exes or Azimio and Karofsky—although, she knew there'd be no way Puck or Santana would allow either of them to stay.

"Be careful with those," Quinn warned Rachel as she began drinking her third wine cooler. "They taste good, but if you have too many of them, you'll regret it."

Before Rachel could reply, Brittany came by and grabbed Rachel's hand pulling her into the middle of the living room to dance with her and Mike.

"Dude, what's wrong with you?" Puck asked as they watched the three of them dance to "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love." "Are you trying to not get laid?"

"I don't need alcohol to get girls into bed with me," Quinn shot back with a smirk.

Matt laughed.

"What is going on with you and Berry anyway?" Santana asked.

"Nothing yet, but I think she's coming around," Quinn replied honestly.

"It's about time," she said with a roll of her eyes. "It was getting kind of pathetic watching you get shot down so many times."

As the song came to a close, Rachel came back to Quinn's side. "I think I need some air. Will you accompany me outside?"

"Of course," she agreed, and the two of them made their way through the sliding glass doors that led to Matt's deck. Fortunately, it was currently unoccupied.

"Are you having a good time?" Quinn asked, resting her forearms on the railing, and Rachel mimicked her position as she stood beside her.

Rachel nodded, smiling as she leaned a little closer towards her. "A really good time. Thanks for inviting me."

Quinn smiled, wondering just how sober the other girl was right now. "You're welcome."

"I'm glad we're getting to know each other better, Quinn," Rachel said.

"So am I," she agreed.

"I have something I need to tell you," Rachel said then, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper causing Quinn to lean her head closer. "I think I like you."

"Yeah?" Quinn asked playfully, her heart soaring at Rachel's admission and praying that it wasn't just the alcohol talking.

Rachel nodded and looked at Quinn intently then, brown locking on hazel. Quinn felt her pulse quicken as the shorter girl lifted her hand to her face. The way Rachel was looking at her, Quinn was sure that Rachel was going to kiss her. She had to hold back with every fiber of her being, allowing Rachel to be the one to make the first move.

Just as Rachel leaned up, the back door opened causing loud music and raucous laughter to spill outside, completely ruining the moment. Rachel dropped her hand, and Quinn sighed, looking over to see three obnoxiously loud and probably drunk football players come through the door.

"Wanna get out of here?" Quinn asked.

Rachel nodded, following her back into the house where they said their goodbyes. Quinn once again gave Rachel control of her iPod when they got into the car.

It was probably for the best that they had been interrupted back at Matt's house, Quinn realized. Rachel wasn't necessarily drunk, but she wasn't really sober. Had it been anyone else, Quinn wouldn't have cared, but this was Rachel. Considering how much she liked her, she wanted to do things right, and an alcohol-infused first kiss was not it.

"Do you want to come in?" Rachel asked as Quinn pulled into her driveway.

"I need to get home," Quinn lied. She really wanted to come in, but now wasn't the time. She didn't want Rachel to do something she would regret, and honestly, she was beginning to feel worn down from the long day. There was only so much Aleve could do—her body needed to rest.

"Okay," Rachel said, not hiding her disappointment or her worry. She hesitated then, looking like she wanted to say something more before thinking better of it. "Walk me to the door at least?"

"Of course," Quinn replied with a smile, getting out of the car and walking around to open the passenger side door. She offered Rachel her arm, and the other girl smiled as she took it.

"Thank you for your company today. I enjoyed myself," Rachel said when they arrived at her door.

"It was my pleasure," Quinn replied with a soft smile.

"Text me when you get home so I know you got there okay."

"I will," Quinn promised. She leaned over then and kissed Rachel on the cheek. "Goodnight, Rachel," she said softly before pulling away and looking down at her.

"Goodnight, Quinn," she replied just as softly, her brown eyes filled with so much warmth, Quinn thought she would get lost in them.

With no small amount of reluctance, she turned and walked back to her car. She felt Rachel's eyes follow her and allowed herself to hope that this weekend was only the beginning of something amazing.