A/N: Sorry it's been a while, university has kept me extra busy! Thanks for all of the lovely feedback last chapter. Even though I haven't had time to reply to them all, I appreciate the extra perspective on what I am writing. Please do review if you have any constructive criticism about my writing or the storyline. I can't promise to implement all suggestions, but I will certainly take all feedback seriously.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 7 – Insecurity

"Well," Quinn looked up at Kayla, who stood beside her "This is my stop." They were in front of Quinn's apartment door, just having returned from the promised date.

Quinn was a little surprised at how pleasant the evening had been. Kayla had arrived precisely on time, wearing a green dress that hugged her in all the right places and showed off her long legs at the same time. That had certainly caught Quinn's attention, but even more surprising was the dancer's sensitivity. She had taken Quinn to a lovely Italian restaurant, and they had spent the meal making pleasant conversation about theatre and directing.

Now, awkwardly making eye contact in front of her apartment door, she wasn't sure what to say. Kayla, on the other hand, had no such problem.

"I'm so glad you could join me tonight Quinn. You have no idea how happy it makes me that that you finally took me up on my offer." She smiled widely.

"It was a pleasure." Quinn stalled, trying to come up with a subtle way to end the evening.

Looking up at Kayla's wide eyes, shining with excitement, she felt a wave of guilt wash over her. This had seemed like such a good idea at the time – an easy way to show Rachel she was in control of her own life. She hadn't even stopped to consider the feelings of the girl who had asked her out so many times in the last few months, how she would be leading her on. It felt incredibly manipulative, like something she would have done in high school to secure her social status. She'd thought she had left that Quinn behind, and it was disturbing to discover that she was still there, just lurking below the surface.

That's when it happened. Quinn saw the signs as Kayla tilted her head, smiling softly and bending down slowly. She had just enough time to turn her head to the side as Kayla's lips descended, clearly intent on making contact with Quinn's. Instead, they had to settle for her cheek. Quinn tried to conceal a frown, annoyed as always by the fact that her chair left her vulnerable to ambush from the kisses of others, yet also increased the difficultly of initiating them herself.

"Oh." A humiliated blush reddened the dancer's cheeks as she quickly retreated, taking a few steps backwards. "I'm sorry Quinn. It's just, I thought you wanted-"

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Quinn tried to smile gently, although she was afraid that it came out looking more like a pained grimace than anything.

Kayla should have been everything Quinn could want in a potential partner: kind, attractive, compatible interests. And yet, It still felt as if there was something missing.

"It's just," she paused, trying to come up with a good way of phrasing this "I really enjoyed myself, and I like you, but..." Quinn fiddled with her belt, unable to maintain eye contact.

"But what?" Kayla questioned, her quivering voice giving away her distress.

Quinn looked up slowly. Kayla deserved an honest explanation. "I don't think I have the right type of feelings for you. I shouldn't have agreed to go on this date. I'm sorry."

"I see." Kayla appeared to steel herself. I'll see you at practice then." With that, she turned, her motions jerky, and started to stride off. After a few paces she paused, her shoulders slumping a little. Still facing the way, Quinn had to strain to hear when she spoke again. "You could have told me that before. I like you, but I'm not a predator. Goodbye, Quinn."

Reaching the elevator, she was rubbing her eyes when Quinn saw her toe catch in the gap between the hallway and the elevator. She tried to warn "Kayla!" but it was too late. Before she could finish shouting her name, the dancer had already tripped, her whole body crashing harshly to the ground.


Rachel had been at rehearsal since early that morning. Although it was now mid-afternoon, she had yet to see Quinn. She had yet to see Kayla as well, and couldn't help worrying that the two phenomena were somehow related. She had mainly been working on vocals today, so it wasn't entirely unexpected that she hadn't run into the director or the dancer, but Rachel was self-aware enough to admit that she was nothing if not paranoid.

Part of her knew that she shouldn't be obsessing over Quinn's absence this much, but she couldn't help it. Ever since Quinn had announced that she would accept Kayla's offer for a date a few days before, Rachel had been able to think of little else. Objectively, she knew that she should be happy for them, but thinking of them together still brought on a sinking, burning feeling in the pit of her stomach. Despite Quinn's claims to the contrary, she remained convinced that accepting Kayla's offer had merely been a means to put Rachel in her place for daring to butt into the former cheerleader's personal life.

The real mystery here was why she cared so much. Sure, a good part of it was lingering guilt due to her role in Quinn's accident. But even before that, she had always been almost desperate for Quinn's friendship. Rachel Barbra Berry, you are a strong independent woman, and you don't need anyone's approval to be happy. In some ways, it felt like she had regressed to the Rachel who desperately wanted Finn's approval in high school.

After discussing the matter with Kurt, she had decided that it would be best if she reigned in her eagerness a little. She was still determined to renew her relationship with Quinn, but she couldn't sacrifice her own independence and development to do it. Besides, maybe Quinn would be a little more willing to communicate if she could see that she wasn't the only one who had changed since high school. It was still difficult to keep her mind from the other girl, but she was determined to stop herself from seeking her like a lost puppy.

This new mindset firmly in place, she was surprised when Quinn was the one to seek her out.

They were having a break when the blonde haired girl entered the room and approached Rachel, addressing her directly.

"Can we talk? I have something I need to ask you about." She motioned towards the door.

Nodding the affirmative, Rachel followed her out the door and to her office. She couldn't help subtly scanning Quinn's neck for hickeys, but could only see deliciously smooth, unblemished skin. This is ridiculous. Quinn has always been way to classy to be caught with awkwardly placed hickeys.

As she sat down, she couldn't resist asking "So, how was your date with Kayla?" deliberately trying to keep her voice pleasant.

Quinn stared at her desk, blushing a little. "It was nice. Surprisingly nice, actually. We went to an Italian place that just opened a few weeks ago."

"I'm glad." Rachel said a little stiffly, one of her hands clenching the armrest of her chair until her knuckles went white.

Quinn smiled sadly, shaking her head a little. "I hate to say this, but you were right. As perfect as it was, I just…don't have those kinds of feelings for Kayla. I had ulterior motives, and in retrospect I can see that it was a pretty awful thing to do."

A wave of relief washed through Rachel as Quinn spoke, putting to rest all of the horrible worries she'd had about what Quinn and Kayla might be doing together in the past few days. She tried to contain a happy smirk at the idea that Kayla would now have to give up on Quinn for good.

Quinn could tell her words had made Rachel satisfied. "Don't look so happy, just because I admit you were right doesn't mean I'm not still annoyed with you. I owe an apology to Kayla, not to you. I realize you had good intentions, but you can't just interfere like that and expect me to take it. I make my own decisions Rachel."

Rachel nodded, albeit a little reluctantly, in acceptance. "You may be right. I acted inappropriately, even if my presumptions were correct. Independence looks good on you Quinn. And to be honest, it was more about my own insecurities." She finished with a small smile.

When Quinn looked a little surprised at Rachel's admission, the diva shrugged. "You don't have a monopoly on personal growth Quinn. We've all changed since high school, even me."

"I'm just surprised. You're probably the most confident person I've ever met." Quinn said, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Just because I'm confident in my abilities doesn't mean I don't have insecurities in my social life. Why else would I have spent so much time chasing after Finn in high school? It certainly wasn't for his sexual prowess."

"Rachel!" Quinn gasped, a few chuckles escaping.

Rachel smiled, pleased that Quinn had loosened up a little. "I hate to admit it, but Santana was actually right about that. That's beside the point though."

Quinn nodded wryly, still grinning a little at Rachel's description of Finn.

"What happened to you guys anyway? I was a little surprised that you didn't go through with the wedding."

Rachel raised a teasing eyebrow. "Are you sure I'm allowed to talk about this? I thought our personal lives were taboo?"

"I might be able to make an exception."

"You just want to say I told you so, don't you?"

"Maybe." Quinn's lips curved slightly, her eyes twinkling.

Rachel sighed exaggeratedly. "I suppose I deserve that. As you know, we almost got married the day you had your accident, but I wanted you to be there, and our time slot ran out. Then we heard what had happened, and it got pushed aside."

"You waited for me?"

Rachel's throat constricted a little as she heard the vulnerability in Quinn's voice. "I would have waited much longer Quinn. You're important to me." Clearing her throat in an attempt to brush aside the serious atmosphere, she continued. "Anyways, I realized after that I had actually been relieved to not go through with it. I had all these messed up reasons for marrying him, and none of them were the right ones. I broke it off before I came to New York."

"Maybe this is uncharitable of me, but I'm glad" Quinn said, hesitantly.

"It seemed so complicated at the time, but in retrospect it was quite simple. I made the right decision. You were correct when you told me it was a mistake." Rachel admitted.

"Well, I wasn't going to go there, but I'm happy to take credit."

Rachel felt a flutter in her chest as Quinn grinned at her from across the table. "So," she said nonchalantly, trying to push down the butterflies, "What did you want to see me about?"

"I almost forgot about that. It's a little embarrassing though, you have to promise not to judge me." Quinn said firmly.

Now Rachel was curious. "Oh really? I suppose I could agree to that. I have to say I'm extremely curious now."

Quinn's face flushed. "When I told Kayla that I wasn't interested in her the way she wanted me to be the other night, she kind of… fellandbrokeherankle." The last part came gushing out.

Rachel's eyes widened. "What? Is she okay? I have to admit I'm a little confused."

"It happened after I let her down at the end of our date. She wasn't as alert as she could have been, and she tripped into the elevator and broke her ankle. I had to take her to the hospital." She trailed off miserably, clearly embarrassed.

Rachel was taking a morally questionable amount of pleasure from this whole situation. "Wait, so she basically tripped over nothing and someone managed to break a bone?"

"Essentially." Quinn groaned, putting her head into her palms. "I feel horrible about it."

"Oh dear." Rachel tried to contain a small snicker at the image that was going through her head. This became more difficult as Quinn raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Quinn's unimpressed raised eyebrow was one of Rachel's favourite facial expressions. It was almost a little…cute. Managing to pull herself together, she asked "How can I provide assistance?"

The red flush began to fade from Quinn's cheeks as she answered. "Well, we're short one of our major dancers now. We need to find a replacement who can pick up the choreography we've already done. I was hoping that you might know someone through NYADA?"

Rachel frowned, running through her mental lists of classmates in her head. She shook her head lightly when she came up blank.

"There are some excellent dancers at NYADA, but I'm afraid that most of them already have projects on the go at this point in the semester." She answered reluctantly.

"I was afraid of that," Quinn replied, her face showing disappointment nonetheless. "There's really no-one? We could take someone a little less experienced if we had to…"

"I do have one idea," Rachel said slowly.

"I'm sensing a "but" here"

"But," the diva continued "I don't think you'll like it."

"Tell me anyway" Quinn insisted.

"Okay, but remember, you asked. I was thinking of Brittany. She and Santana both live in New York. She teaches at a dance studio pretty much full time these days, but she does some choreography. She could easily pick up what I've seen of Kayla's parts so far."

Quinn was silent for about half a minute, clearly torn, before she responded. "You're right, I'm not sure about that. Brittany and Santana are still together?"

"Oh yes. They broke up for a while after senior year. Brittany still had a few courses to get and they didn't want to do long distance. Santana actually lived with Kurt and I for a year before Brittany moved out here and they got back together."

"You, Kurt and Santana?" Quinn asked incredulously. "That sounds explosive."

"It was at first, but I was actually surprised how well it worked out. Santana has turned out to be a pretty good friend."

"So, do they know you're working with me?" Quinn asked.

"Yes," Rachel admitted reluctantly "But they know you want your space. And to be honest, Santana seems to be of the opinion that you owe her an apology for disappearing for so long."

Quinn snorted. "Typical Santana. To be honest Rachel, I think I need more time to think about it."

Rachel nodded, simply happy that Quinn hadn't shut down the idea right away. She left the office shortly after, but with a much lighter heart than she had entered. It was so nice to just talk with Quinn for once, without any fighting or accusations. Somehow, it gave her hope that one day they could have more.

A/N Well, what do you think? Next chapter will have some unholy trinity interaction, so let me know if you're looking forward to anything in particular about that! I will also try to reply to reviews this time :)