Disclaimer: I own nothing really, just borrowing the characters for a little joyride

Pairing: Eventual Quinn/Rachel
Spoilers: Anything up to that has already aired. Starts in around Theatricality-ish,

A/N: Thanks to everyone again for your comments. As always, constructive criticism and comments most welcome! And thanks so much for the comments and reviews!

A/N:I had a note, and now it's late, and I'm pooped, and I don't recall what it was. As I am a bit anal about that and corrections to the 20 mistakes I will find within half hour of putting it up live, I will likely recall it in the morning and put it in. Hm... wonder wtf it was? Oh, hang on, maybe something about wondering whether I'm making it look like Quinn hates Puck or something. I don't think she does (not that I think they belong together either, lol) Anyway, that is not really the case, she's just a bit frustrated with him. I think I wondered if I was making him look worse. I love Puck's character actually.

A/N I think my note was something to the effect of finally with this chapter I have an apology out of the way, but have given permission for Quinn to still be a smartass and sarcastic and bitchy, otherwise I think that would suck all the fun out of her, no? :) And sorry it's a bit choppy this time. I wanted to get it out as it is a BIG World Cup day today. And sorry to any of you in Spain who give a crap...but at least you have a chance to go through and probably will. Unlike France...who look like karma may have kicked them in the butt for beating out Ireland for a spot with Henry's handball. To those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about... uh, sorry, and it will all be over after July 11 :)


Rachel gazed out at the water as she waited for Quinn to get back from the bathroom. She thought the ex-Cheerio moved at a pretty snappy pace for being several months pregnant, but it was still slow going. Her research on the topic had more than convinced her she was NOT interested in dealing with the same consequences that Quinn was dealing with now. She liked the idea of sex, sure, but not being pregnant at 16! She was more grateful than ever for her own dads just now. They weren't perfect by any means, but they'd always given her all the encouragement she needed, and provided her with a safe, nurturing environment, with very few strings attached. She felt perfectly free, and was expected, to go to them if she needed answers to questions.

She was certain that, like any parent, they would feel an initial disappointment if she was involved in the same collective predicament that Puck and Quinn found themselves in. But she was sure they would never have given her the treatment that Quinn herself had received from her own parents. Parents were supposed to love you no matter what, right? So what if her dads were gone a lot. With their careers, it was certainly to be expected. It left her more time to completely immerse herself in her singing, and practice. They let her explore her own boundaries, encouraged it even, because they trusted her. She couldn't imagine either of her dads snooping through her ipod for 'unacceptable' music. And Rachel was self-aware enough to know she was, well, a little much to handle sometimes. But her dads never tried to tamp down either her energy or her passion. They had learned it was sometimes best to stay out of way until her admittedly seismic piques of emotion subsided. They would usually leave a pint of Ben and Jerry's outside her door, and wait it out from a safe distance. They always let her come to them when she was ready to talk, and were full of answers if they knew them. Or a shoulder to cry on and hot chocolate if the didn't.

She sighed. Despite how wonderful her dads were, she couldn't help but wonder, as she always did, what her birth mother would think. Of her. She hoped she wasn't like Quinn's mom, wherever she was. She couldn't be.

"Phew! Talk about having to pee like a racehorse!"

Rachel shook her head and watched Quinn descended the shallow embankment to join her by the water.

"I'd rather not, thanks…"

"Dork. You know what I mean."

"Perhaps hanging out by large bodies of water is not the wisest of things right now then?"

"This is true. Shall we?"

The fell into step with each other, meandering the bank as long as they could before stopping and looking out across the water..

"Pee like a racehorse…nice, eh? What a weird phrase. So, Encyclopedia Berry, where does that phrase come from?"

"Are you testing me, or asking me in earnest? "

"Earnest actually. I wonder about these things. I just forget to look them up when I'm online."

Rachel raised her eyebrows at her, and opened her mouth to speak. And then snapped it shut. Quinn watched her face go flat, brown eyes staring ahead at the water, but really at nothing. Her brows furrowed a little, and her lips pressed together.

It happened in a matter of seconds only, but now Rachel just looked like she had turned 'off'. It was subtle, at least for Rachel Berry it was. And quiet. As Quinn turned it over in her mind, grinding it out til Quinn felt her stomach tighten, and a slight feeling of nervousness, and not the good kind flooded her. Her face and neck felt hot, as she thought about what information Rachel had to go by in regards to how Quinn spent her time on the internet; making fun of Rachel's videos, and leaving some diabolically nasty hurtful remarks.

Quinn cleared her throat, and glanced at her under the tendrils of her hair that were dancing in the breeze. She shifted her weight back and forth, from foot to foot.

"Rachel…I just wanted to say…"

Quinn lifted her head and looked up at the blue sky for inspiration. None was forth coming.

"I've never been good at apologizing. But, you, you deserve one."

Silence, but Rachel shifted now, and crossed her arms, looked down at her feet, then back out to the water, squinting, brows furrowed.

"I haven't ever been kind to you. In fact…somehow I always seem to have reserved the complete, worst, ass-side of myself for you."

Rachel took an audible breath. Uh oh, here it comes, Quinn thought. But still nothing from the normally preternaturally loquacious girl. But at least she wasn't storming off. So maybe she could get through this.

"Rachel. I'm really…I'm sorry. For everything." Quinn put her hands on her hips. And looked over at the girl's profile again. "Look. I took out a lot of things on you. You were an easy target. And I'm sorry. I guess in a way, I should be thanking you for something I've been blaming you for."

The stoic pose fell apart at that. Brown hair whipped around as dark eyes looked up at Quinn baffled and accusing at the same time. Quinn held up her hands, in mock surrender.

"Berry…Rachel, I'm not saying it equates with…well, the hell I rained down on you for the few years. It doesn't. But! You know, you did try to steal my boyfriend, Lolita. And I know that breaks the no boys rule, so I'll shut it down in a sec. But first…"

The brunette's eyes had looked skyward, as she weighed the charge. Sheepishly, she shrugged her shoulders in acknowledgment. "Go on…"

"I have to say…well…? If you hadn't channeled your inner skank…I wouldn't have felt threatened…" She watched Rachel warily, and continued. "Yes, yes, I said it. I felt threatened. What can I say? As Man Whore said…you are clearly one hot Jew…?"

Rachel ducked her head, smirked and tried to look reasonably self-effacing as opposed to pleased. She didn't exactly succeed. So she shrugged as Quinn continued.

"Yeah, well, as I was saying…if you hadn't channeled your inner skank to a level which even Santana might grudgingly approve… I wouldn't have joined Glee."

Quinn's voice had dropped in volume. Rachel had uncoiled a bit more and was watching her earnestly now.

"And, if I hadn't joined Glee, I would have been…well, all alone. For all of this." She gestured down. Out of habit, she had been rubbing her belly.

"And on top of that, I like Glee. I admit it. I like belonging to something again. And I like belonging to something special. Mr. Schue makes it special. You…all make it special."

Quinn risked another glance at the smaller girl. Her arms were still folded and her posture a little defensive, but she was less rigid, and she was biting her lower lip in concentration, looking out at the water, but clearly waiting to see what else Quinn had to say.

"And Rachel, I know I can't make up for all the malicious or manipulative things I've done. To you. To Finn. Or to anyone else. I can't…not really. But I can try."

Quinn sighed. This was hard. Really hard. She hoped she had grown strong enough, or would grow strong enough very soon, to not put herself in a position like this again. To stop conducting herself in a manner that would lead to having to feel this guilty, this sorry. Her life felt like it had become nothing but a series of unspoken apologies. She was learning she had to be accountable for her actions. She couldn't make up for everything she'd done to Finn because of the baby. She couldn't make up for years of torture of Rachel, and others not on the top of the social food chain. But she could try not to repeat her mistakes. And she didn't want to make any more false promises she couldn't keep. So she took a deep breath and continued.

"I can't promise I'm always going to be saccharin sweet to you, or anybody for that matter. That isn't me. Okay, it's more me than it is Santana, but…"

She raised her hands and faced the water again, and dropped her hands with a smack to her thighs in mute but expressive frustration. Turning back to Rachel, her voice was just barely above a whisper now.

"But I will promise you that I am working on being…a better person. I'm still looking for her, apparently. But I am trying to find her, I really am Rachel."

Another quick glance revealed that Rachel's eyes looked a little wet, and she was nodding, as if to herself. Relief flooded through Quinn, and her voice strengthened barely.

"So…I won't treat you any worse than I do anyone else from now on. That's about all I can promise. I'm still going to be a bitch sometimes. Sarcasm may be the lowest form of wit, but it's been my crutch for a long time. So, sorry in advance…? And you know what? I'm not sure this is all that great a deal for you anyway. I don't know if you've heard this, but I've made quite the nasty habit of crapping all over people around me. Especially people who might actually give a shit about me. People who might care about me…"

Rachel's eyes were shining now, and her lips were pulled in a tight smile, but she was nodding. Rachel finally turned to face her, to look her tormentor in the eye. Quinn faced up to the warm brown eyes that regarded her. She didn't see absolution there, but neither did she see accusation anymore.

Rachel smiled and nodded before speaking.

"That'll do Pig."

A nervous laugh but genuine laugh exploded from Quinn, and a weight Quinn had been carrying around for a long time, started to lift.

"Okay, more cool points if that is from Gilmore Girls, and not Babe."

Rachel smiled smugly "Gilmore Girls. Not that I'm chasing cool points, OR that I'm disparaging Babe. But if I was quoting Babe, I would have said "That'll do Pig…that'll do."

Quinn clapped her hands and laughed. Relief made her a bit giddy now. She held out her hand.

"Hi. Quinn Fabray. Ex-HBIC, ex-Captain of the Cheerios, ex-girlfriend of Finn Hudson, ex-one time Noah Puckerman Man Whore hookup, current baby-mama of aforementioned Man Whore, current happy Glee member. Current Work in Progress."

Rachel listened to Quinn's litany, eyes still clear and bright, then she took the proffered hand and shook it.

"Rachel Barbra Berry, ex-wannabe-skank, current Queen of the perfect storm off, current happy member of Glee."

Then Rachel smiled an enormous glowing, non-affected grin, and tugged the hand she held slightly and abruptly, and completely invaded Quinn's personal space. Quinn stood stunned as she felt arms wrapping around her. Or at least wrapped around to the best of Rachel's ability to wrap her arms around a very pregnant Quinn. It was a hug the blond was completely and utterly unprepared for.

Quinn found herself staring down the top of Rachel's head, crowned with rich and wavy hair, her own arms akimbo, feeling a tug in her belly that wasn't entirely unpleasant, and completely at a loss.

"Oh, uh okay, hugging. Uh, and we're hugging? Okay…okay then. Yeah, not a big hugger here. Really not so much with the hugging for me usually. Oookaaayyy."

She patted Rachel on the back awkwardly, and when the smaller girl failed to retreat and end the hug, Quinn looked up to the sky. Rolling her eyes, mouth twitching at the corners, she looked back down at the dark head, gave an exasperated huff, and put her arms around the smaller girl and returned her hug with a gentle firmness. She was once again getting a noseful of Rachel's enticing hair product aroma.

"Seriously Berry…?"

One hand that had been holding her suddenly released her and shot up, inches from her jaw. Quinn was startled, as one would be when almost taking a fist to the face while in the middle of an admittedly nice hug. She jerked her head back from where she had leaned a little closer while trying to the elusive hair product She looked at the fist, almost cross-eyed it was so close.

"What the HELL Rachel?" As she looked again, it wasn't really a fist, and now her pinkie was sticking up.

Understanding, but at the same time not really getting it, Quinn asked "Pinkie Swear?"

Rachel pulled back from the hug and smiled and shrugged. "I assumed you were about to add 'Quinn Fabray doesn't mind a good hug now and again' to the list of things I'm sworn not to reveal."

Quinn looked at her, arching her brow. "As a matter of fact no." She smiled. "I was going to tell you again that I really need to know what shampoo you use." When Rachel smiled even bigger, Quinn continued, looking a little apologetic.

"However…I would be lying if I said I didn't want to take you up on that particular Pinkie Swear at the moment."

Rachel shrugged, not surprised, still smiling. "Baby steps…"

Quinn's grin was lopsided. "Something like that. But, you need to understand, it's not personal. It's…well, it's a general thing. Hell, I've only been not completely opposed to hugging for…oh, 30 seconds, and frankly I'm not sure it wasn't an anomaly! So I don't know why every Tom, Dick, Kurt or Artie need to know that til I know it, ya know? Ever since my business has become common knowledge and fodder for gossip, I guess I find I really like my privacy."

Rachel nodded, and brightened again. "I can understand that."

"Okay, well understand this, and forgive me for this next thing…I have to pee again. Damnit"

"Like a racehorse? You're kidding."

"Like a really big effin racehorse. And yeah, I wish I were kidding. But the good news is that I think the possibly somewhat OCD Public Toilet Fairy has been by recently, and I am pretty sure that due to said Fairy's attention to detail there are still probably two pre-papered stalls left. If you're worried about that."

Rachel sighed. "Who me? Worry? Okay, if you're okay to go alone, I'll meet you back at the table. I have more ipod exploration to entertain me."

"Knock yourself out. Beware the Disney mix this time. You've been warned."

Quinn turned to head back where she had just come from not 20 minutes ago. It was frustrating and infuriating. She started her trek back, addressing Rachel as she trudged away.

"Back as soon as I can waddle my ass there and back. Argh. I may not be allowed to voice them per our ground rules today, but I can absolutely assure you I am thinking very nasty thoughts about Puckzilla, Puckasaurus or whatever the fuck Man Boy calling himself today. He did this to me and he can kiss my once perfect ass right about..Grrr. Peeing every 10 minutes…"

As Quinn's voice faded, Rachel turned one last time to the water, allowing herself a smile, she hugged herself. Turning for the picnic bench, she could hardly keep herself from skipping.