Hand in hand
Pairing: Quinn/Rachel
Author's note: I'm the worst person ever, I'm sorry. School work hit me like a tidal wave and when I finally finished, I'd lost all sense of direction with this. Anyway, I have two weeks and a final left of this semester and then when I start working this summer I should have more time to write. This is slightly longer than previous chapters, so consider this my attempt at making amends for being so slow. Again, SORRY!

"What the hell is wrong with me!" Quinn said to no one in particular while banging her head gently against the steering wheel of her car. Her heart was still beating faster than normal after the... incident with Rachel in the locker-room, and her thoughts were all over the place. It was in fact so bad that she had some problems with locating her car after leaving. She now wondered why she had reacted the way she did when Rachel had shed her clothes, and why she became so damn nervous and unable to form even simple words.

The minutes ticked away faster than Quinn realized and soon there were a soft tapping on her window. She immediately shot up, screamed in surprise and clutched her chest. She quickly looked to the side and saw Rachel standing outside looking both scared and worried. Once Quinn had came to the conclusion that there were no immediate danger, she forcefully opened the door and went out to stand in front of the shorter girl.

"What the hell Berry!" Quinn shouted. "Are you trying to give me a freaking heart attack! God, what's your problem?" Rachel quickly took two small steps back so that she was out of reach for the blonde. Rachel had seen her with her head on the steering wheel, so obviously she had felt a bit concerned and wanted to see if she was okay and if she perhaps needed some help. She started to apologize to Quinn.

"I am sincerely sorry for startling you Quinn. That was of course not my intention when I knocked on the window." Quinn broke eye-contact long enough to roll her eyes before Rachel continued. "It's just that I saw you with your head on the steering wheel, and earlier in the locker-room you told me that you had to leave right away because you had plans with your mother for the evening, so I was worried that something had happened seeing as you were still here. It's been approximately twenty-one, no wait, twenty-two minutes since you left me, uh the room I mean." Quinn looked into the diva's eyes and saw nothing but honest worry and compassion, so she sighed and averted her eyes from Rachel's and looked at the ground for a few seconds. When she had composed herself enough she looked up and to the waiting girl.

"Um, yeah. I just had a lot of... things on my mind and I guess that I kind of lost track of time." Quinn answered and gave Rachel a half-hearted smile, which the diva returned with a full-hearted one.

"Oh, is it maybe something that you would like to talk about? I am aft -" Rachel was interrupted mid-sentence Quinn's answer.

"NO!" Quinn yelled and Rachel was taken aback by the force the blonde had put behind the word. Quinn sighed again (because that was apparently her new thing), and reached out to softly take a hold of Rachel's shoulders.

"I'm sorry Rachel. I didn't mean to snap at you like that, but whatever is on my mind is something that I really need to figure out on my own when the time is right, which it isn't now, just so we're clear." Quinn's tone had now changed to a much softer and friendlier one, making Rachel wonder what exactly was going on with the blonde to make her act the way she was. 'Maybe she is pregnant again.' Rachel thought, but heartily wished that wasn't the case. She didn't think that Quinn deserved that, even after this week's events, and to be perfectly honest she was almost certain that she knew that the blonde wasn't so foolish to put herself in that situation again, or foolish at all for that matter. However she did see an opportunity to either lighten the mood or get her to open up, so she went for it.

"You're not pregnant again, are you?" Rachel asked while trying to show nothing but support with her eyes. Quinn opened her mouth in surprise, but soon started to laugh uncontrolledly. It was lucky she was still holding on to Rachel because she needed the support to not fall to the ground. Rachel on the other hand was taken back a bit by the extreme reaction, and she was therefore still unsure what the laughing actually meant. However she couldn't help but smile at how beautiful Quinn's laugh sounded in her ears at that moment, almost as beautiful as when she herself was singing, almost.

"No Rachel." Quinn got out between laughs, and when she then tried to compose herself, she failed miserably. After a few more minutes she was able to stop, and with tears in her eyes and a huge smile she looked at Rachel once again.

"No Rachel, I'm not pregnant again. I'm not that stupid, and I've already promised myself that I won't have sex again before I'm married." Rachel smiled with relief.

"That's a very smart and mature decision you've committed to. I myself have vowed to not have sex until I'm 25, so I can relate to your feelings on the matter and for the record, I think you're doing the right thing." Rachel smiled and patted one of Quinn's hands which were still holding the diva's shoulders. "However to return to what we were saying earlier, your mother is probably waiting for you, and she might be worried." Quinn's smile dropped a bit and she averted her eyes.

"Yeah, it's not that big of a deal, I'll just call her on the way." They stood in comfortable silence for a while before Quinn retreated her hands and started to softly scrape her foot along the ground while looking down at what she did with her foot. Rachel had the feeling that there were something else Quinn wanted to say, so she stayed and remained silent, waiting for the other Cheerio to gather her nerves, or whatever it was she was currently doing.

Truth be told, Rachel was actually enjoying this little chat and didn't want it to end since it was the first time since Quinn became head cheerleader again that she wasn't trying to hurt her. Even after a nice hot (for the first time) shower she was still undecided about whether she wanted to be friends with Quinn and the others or not, but figured that this was her chance to see how it would feel and if she would dare to think that it might be worth it. Eventually Quinn looked back up at Rachel who was expectantly waiting for whatever the blonde was going to say.

"I'm sorry for making you partake in my punishment. You were actually right, I kinda was all over the place and I should know better than to not focus during practice." Quinn silenced for a moment before continuing. "I was wondering... if maybe you would want me to... like give you a ride or something? To your house I mean." Quinn was mentally kicking herself. 'When did I become so bad with words, and why is it always around Rachel? Get a grip Fabray!' Quinn thought while studying the smile on Rachel's face, that in some magical way was able to grow even wider and brighter than it already was. She could not help but smile back, though this time her smile was one hundred percent real.

"Yes Quinn, that would be very much appreciated. Otherwise I would have to call my daddy and wait for him to get here and pick me up." Rachel then realized something, so before Quinn could respond, she continued. "But what about your mother? You're already awfully late and spending time with one's parents is important and I don't wish to reduce the time you two can spend together. " She was just concerned, but somehow Quinn's smile soothed her and made her feel like all the problems in the world suddenly vanished, a completely new feeling for her.

"Tell you what Berry, if you get in the car I'll call my mom and explain the situation before we drive. I'm sure she won't mind. Besides, it's my fault you're here anyway, so my offer is not up for discussion, alright?" Both girls smiled before Rachel walked around to the passenger side and got in, while Quinn retrieved her phone before getting in herself.

During the next two minutes Quinn had to fake a call to her mother since she actually didn't have any plans with her, it had just been a lame excuse to leave when Rachel stripped. So she explained to her phone why she was late and apologized for the same, and finished by saying that she would drive a friend home (Rachel stopped breathing when she heard Quinn refer to her as a friend) before going home herself. When she was finished she looked at Rachel and gave her another smile.

"There, all taken care of, satisfied?" Rachel nodded happily and Quinn started her car and drove towards the Berrys' house. She didn't want to admit that she knew where Rachel lived, so she allowed the brunette to quickly explain the route while they were leaving the school's parking lot.

After that was taken care of they fell silent, neither saying a single word. Rachel was desperately trying to come up with something to say, but her mind failed with coming up with any topics that they hadn't already covered while running, and since she was in Quinn's car she didn't have the guts to try and touch the radio. Instead she simply sat and fidgeted in her seat and played with her fingers. Meanwhile Quinn was lost in thought, only aware enough to not crash into anything or anyone. She was wondering how she had gotten herself into this situation, driving Rachel home, voluntarily. 'Santana would die on the spot if she ever heard of this.' Quinn thought. But even more she wondered why she all of a sudden both enjoyed Rachel's company, even if they didn't talk to each other, and felt incredibly nervous and insecure around her.

Soon Quinn was parking her car in the street in front of Rachel's house, but still neither girl spoke or moved. Rachel hesitantly peaked at Quinn, who was doing the same, and when their eyes met they both averted them immediately and blushed profusely. The silence was deafening and one could easily cut the tension inside the car with a knife. When Quinn looked over at the house she could see one of Rachel's fathers standing at the window, watching them intently. She swallowed hard under his gaze and finally addressed the girl beside her.

"Um, Rachel?" She said but waited until the brunette looked at her before continuing. "You should probably go in, your dad is looking at us, and he's kinda scaring me with that stare." Rachel looked towards the window next to the front door and when saw the man standing there, she blushed yet again. 'Why does he has to be so embarrassing?' She wondered.

"That's actually my daddy, but you're right. I have a lot of homework to do today because with my busy weekend schedule I won't have much time to do them any other time than now, and your mom is waiting for you to get home, so..." Rachel shyly looked at Quinn again who finished her sentence for her.

"So we'll see each other in school on Monday." She then watched as Rachel unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the car, but before she closed the door she looked back in, waved and said a simple adieu.

"Good bye Quinn. See you Monday."

"Bye." Quinn replied back and then waited until Rachel was safely inside before driving home, blissfully unaware that Rachel's daddy was still watching her as she drove away.

After Rachel was done scolding her daddy for scaring her... classmate? teammate? potential friend? (Quinn had said friend on the phone to her mother) whatever Quinn was to her, she disappeared into her room to get started on her homework, but of course Quinn, the other Cheerios and the prospect of a friendship with at least some of them took up most of her time.

For as long as Rachel could remember she had wanted to be friends with Quinn. She never really understood why, but since the first time they met as small children she knew what she wanted, for the blonde to be her friend. Not even years of torture could change that desire, as she was still passionate about winning her over. When it came to the rest of the cheerleaders, she could almost already consider Brittany to be a friend, sort of at least, and if she was going to be friends with both Quinn and Brittany, Santana would always be a part of that as well, even if neither one of the two brunettes would be too happy about that situation. As for the rest of them; sure she wouldn't mind having them as some sort of friends (or at least not enemies), but to her it was always a certain blonde who was at the top of her wishing list.

For better or for worse, Rachel was also a highly intelligent girl and she knew better than to believe that every day would be like after today's practice with Quinn. Sure, it had been a little awkward at times with neither one of them knowing what to say or do, but all in all Rachel was still very happy with how things went. And even if she didn't have the intelligence to understand this, she had the experience to do so. Sting might have sung that 'History will teach us nothing', but Rachel had learned. She had learned to never trust a Cheerio, unless toy wanted to get hurt. She therefore decided to approach any friendship with any Cheerio with extreme caution and not allow herself to fully believe in their comradeship until she was sure that it was real and not just another cruel prank to further humiliate her.

Meanwhile, Quinn got home to an empty and quiet house. With her dad gone, her mother had to work a lot, and more often than not late as well. Quinn was of course happy and relieved that Russell was no longer in her or her mother's life but she felt bad for the older blonde that she had to work so much to be able to support the two of them. And despite how much she hated her father, he would always be her dad and not many days passed by without Quinn wishing for the daddy she had when she was little, back.

Unlike herself and Russell, Judy Fabray wasn't a bad person. She had made some severe mistakes, one of which she regretted and apologized for every single day, but she loved her daughter and did everything she could to give her the best life possible. That was yet another reason why Quinn felt so bad about the things she did, especially to Rachel. She felt as though she was a huge disappointment to her mother by not being the girl she truly was deep inside and at this point in her life, she truly hated herself. That's why she took some of her mother's sleeping pills before getting ready for bed that night. The only salvation from her own thoughts was sleep, which hadn't come easy lately.

Quinn was normally, just like Rachel, an excellent student with great grades and she was very strict with always doing her homework and different assignments for Glee and the Cheerios. Because of this it wasn't at all unusual that she did them Friday night, again just like Rachel. But right now there were too many things going on in her head and she hadn't slept much during this last week. So even though it was still very early and a Friday night, she decided to go to bed, not wanting to have to face her thoughts any more than absolutely necessary. And when she fell into a drug induced sleep, the last thing she thought of was the petite diva and their afternoon together.

The weekend had passed much too fast for Rachel's liking. There never was or ever had been any room for relaxing in her life. Because like she often explained, 'If you want to be a star, you have to become the best you can possibly be' so that's what Rachel had been doing for her whole life. It had now only been two weeks since she decided to try to become a Cheerio, and only one since she achieved that goal. So now when she had cheerleading as well as all of her other activities she was going on full capacity every waking minute of her day. On a slow week Sue only had them suffer through three practices, not including the more than occasional weekend practices, so of course she had wondered how long she would be able to keep this up before being forced to quit something. This was not now though, so Rachel refused to allow herself to think about her future choice and what further changes it might cause in her life.

However none of this really mattered to Rachel right now. She was finally safe from slushies and hurtful comments (at least in the open) and despite the hatred many of the Cheerios and other students still felt towards her, she was no longer afraid when she was in school. She even hoped that she finally might get some good high school experiences.

This was why she was practically beaming when she walked through the doors and into the halls Monday morning. She was nervous about meeting Quinn and the others today, but there was a very small part of her that thought that things with Quinn would continue like they ended Friday. She should have known better.

She didn't see Quinn walking through the hall with Santana and Brittany behind her, and she didn't see how Quinn looked this morning. Her two best friends did however, and they were both worried. The blonde looked even more tired than she had at the end of the previous week. She was irascible and snapped at anyone who tried to talk to her or even eyed her in the wrong way.

Rachel was finishing stuffing her books in her backpack when she saw the three girls about to walk past her. She smiled shyly and waved before attempting to greet the girls.

"Good morning fellow Cheeri-" That was as far as Rachel got before Quinn's shoulder hit her chest like if it was an out of control eighteen-wheeler, sending her crashing into the lockers. Quinn locked back over her shoulder and glared at Rachel.

"Watch it Berry! People are walking here." Quinn spat back at her, Santana laughed at how hurt the diva looked and Brittany just looked pained and followed Quinn's every move.

Rachel rubbed the back of her head; she had hit the lockers hard. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the psychological pain Quinn had so easily just caused her. The incredibly small hope Friday afternoon with Quinn had lit had now been completely obliterated and she felt so stupid for ever even thinking Quinn would want to be friends with her, if only for a second.

It was a given that Rachel felt disappointed, but she also knew that what had happened was probably for the best. Truth be told she most likely wasn't mentally ready to pursue a friendship with any of them yet either way. So for now, she decided to just be their teammate. She also figured that a better use of her time would be to focus her energy on getting her friendships with the other Gleeks back to what it had been not that long ago.

The days went by without anything of importance happening. Rachel continued to work hard with school, Glee and the Cheerios, which was something she liked more and more for every practice, especially now that the other cheerleaders didn't do anything malicious to her.

At the end of the week Quinn still looked completely exhausted and she seemed to just walk to halls of the school aimlessly, deep in thought. Despite several tries, neither Santana nor Brittany could get her to open up and barely even to acknowledge them. Quinn was still irritable but mostly tried to ignore people who otherwise might have upset her, in particular Rachel. The two girls hadn't talked all week excepts if they were required to do so for Glee or the Cheerios.

Rachel had made a promise to herself not let Quinn or what she did occupy her thoughts, but she was concerned for the blonde. Nonetheless, seeing as they weren't friends she didn't know how to approach or help her. It seemed to her like the blonde had suddenly disappeared into herself and no one knew how to get her out of there, at least not the ones who cared about her.

On a happier note, Rachel was making great progress with the Gleeks which made the Glee club's practices much more enjoyable for Rachel. She was of course still required to eat with the other Cheerios, but other than that she spent as much time with her only friends as she could. She had somehow even successfully convinced Finn that a friendship between them was favorable, even if he once (or thrice) again had tried to talk her into getting back together with him.

All in all time flew by for Rachel and before she knew it, she had been a cheerleader for almost one and a half months. And although she was now really good friends with the Gleeks (except for the other three, or mostly two, cheerleaders), she was still only a teammate to the Cheerios. Little did she know that things were about to change significantly, and that it would all start today.

This day had started like any other over the last couple of weeks. Rachel got up early, exercised on her elliptical (yes, she still did that even with the extra training being a Cheerio provided), got to school and had the some more or less interesting classes, and during lunch she had talked some with Brittany like she often did. She had grown to like the blonde and the talks they had from time to time. The tall girl was after all still the only one of the cheerleaders that actually talked to her if not being forced to do so during practice, and let's not forget that she was always nice too. Even Glee had been especially good today. Sure, Mr. Schue still hindered her by giving away her solos and disagreeing about which songs to perform way too often, but today Rachel had been given a new solo she might get to sing at their next competition, and then she had performed a Broadway medley she had been working on for the better part of two weeks. It had been a complete success according to herself, and the others seemed to like it too.

Rachel was actually happy when she got to cheerleading practice that afternoon. Sue on the other hand was in a foul mood and yelled at them before they even got a chance to do something incorrectly. But not even this or the not so discreet glares she constantly got from some of the girls could bring Rachel down from her high, which probably should have made her extra careful.

Rachel joining the Cheerios had been good for Sue in more ways than just angering Will. The latest gain was that she finally had enough girls to add another level in her human pyramid, which at this point had become dangerously high. Because Rachel was very small and not sturdy enough to be at a level more suitable for her status at the Cheerios, she had been put very high up in the pyramid, just below Quinn at the top even.

This had caused a lot of arguing and verbal fights in the group, but Sue always gets what she want and if Rachel had to be at the top for that to happen, then so be it. Rachel had after the first time been nervous that this new turn of event would turn the other cheerleaders even further against her but luckily for her, Quinn's orders were as much a law at WMHS as Sue's, and since they were still valid she got out of that situation without any harm being done to her.

Rachel was currently climbing to the top, forcing herself not to look down. Heights scared her quite a bit and the top of a human pyramid wasn't normally a place she would want to spend any time at, but she knew better than to question Sue's 'request' as the coach had put it. Said coach and Quinn was standing to the side, trying to spot any weaknesses in the structure and making sure everyone knew their places and were fast enough.

Unluckily for Rachel, she wasn't fast enough, and because the girl who had the spot next to the diva at the second level from the top was apparently experienced in climbing pyramids, Rachel seemed even slower. Both Quinn and Sue yelled at her to be faster, to stop acting like a sloth and get up there. Swallowing back her fear, she quickened her pace and was soon ready to hoist herself up on the two girls below her with the places below her.

Quinn had at that moment turned to their coach to confirm the quality of the pyramid when she heard something that causes her heart to skip a beat. Rachel was making some noises that could only mean one thing, that she was losing her balance. Before she even had fully turned her head towards the diva, Quinn began running towards the back of the pyramid. When she finally laid her eyes on the diva she panicked. Rachel had obviously failed to get up and was now leaning so far back that the question was not if she was going to fall, but rather which tenth of a second she was going to do it. All the other girls were in the pyramid and unable to help, perhaps also unwilling in certain cases, so it was up to Quinn to help the brunette.

Then it happened. Rachel lost contact with the girl she had previously been anchored to and fell backwards towards the unprotected wooden floor. It was obvious from the start that she had absolutely no control in the air and that there was a high risk of serious injuries. The idea of Rachel's life being in danger was what finally made Quinn realize what all the confusing thoughts she had been having since Rachel joined the squad had really been about. What all the years of torture stemmed from and why she never had wanted to be near the brunette.

The world was going in slow motion for Quinn. She saw Rachel falling way too quickly towards the floor and she knew that she wasn't fast enough to reach her in time. Rachel would crash and by the look of it, her head would take the first blow. Quinn panicked and screamed for Rachel, reaching for her with her arms, as if she was hoping they would suddenly grow รก la Mr. Fantastic, and be able to catch her.

The rest of the Cheerios tried the best they could to look back to see what would happen to the falling girl, everyone except Brittany. She had looked at Quinn the whole time, and just like Quinn she finally knew why Quinn had been acting the way she had, the suspicions she had gotten after the locker-room incident had at last been confirmed.

Rachel screamed in terror as she plummeted towards the floor and desperately tried to turn in the air to avoid landing in a life-threatening way. By the time Rachel was just over a yard above the floor, Quinn had already tears in her eyes. She didn't want to lose the diva, and especially not now when she knew why she had done all the things she had.

Quinn screamed out Rachel's name one last time as she saw Rachel hit the ground.

She saw her land on her head and left shoulder.

She saw Rachel's neck bend in a very unnatural way.

She heard a deafening snapping sound as some form of bone broke or left its normal position.

And just like that, Rachel's screams were no longer heard...

Author's note #2: Okay, since this is a Faberry story you will all have to pretend that you don't know that Rachel will be fine in the end, and that you really are worried for her life. The suspense will be greater if you do this, you know?
Please don't forget to review, every single one of them means the world to me. Thoughts about the story, things I did well or bad, ideas, anything really, please click on the button and write me a few words.
And if I take this long again, don't hesitate to send me an angry PM telling me to get my foot out of my... you know what.