Title: When Secrets Come Out to Play

Chapter 8/? : Hard Truth Soldiers

Fandom: Glee
Pairings: Rachel Berry /Quinn Fabray Side Brittany/ Santana Rachel/Others minor Quinn/OC
Rating: NC-17 for sexual themes and eventual smutt.
Word Length: 2000+ per chapter.
Summary: Quinn puts her quest to find herself on hold in order to figure out the suddenly more mysterious Rachel Berry. She soon finds that there is more to the little brunette than she ever thought possible. Perhaps she'll even figure herself out on the way. Punk!Quinn Semi-Baddass!Rachel.

Spoilers: All aired episodes, only a few things from season three as it's AU for the most part. NO LUCY CABOOSY!

Disclaimer: I don't own "Glee" because if I did, well, Quinn would be having her way with Rachel right now, rather than having been hit by a truck on the way to a wedding that shouldn't have been going on in the first place. I cannot claim the name "Club Diva" either. I looked it up online so it did exist at one point, though I couldn't tell you if it still does. I do own a few of the OC's, including the chick based on me, though Dylan has a crazy mind of her own.

I love you all so much for the reviews, faves, and alerts. Can't help but feel all giddy inside.

Thanks to t8kmybreathaway/LadyHawke69 for doing wonderful beta work.

The week had gone by with a lot questions from their fellow teammates. Quinn, Brittany, and Santana had all refused to spread Rachel's business and let the brunette divulge her personal life as she saw fit. She had glossed over the happenings with her fathers and mentioned that her cousin and some good friends were staying with her as a form of comfort and company. She didn't confirm or deny her relationship to Dakota, either way. Farah had surprisingly been less flirtatious with Rachel that day in the parking lot, yet surprisingly her girlfriend had taken up some of the slack. Nothing huge, just some minor touching and a chaste kiss or two, but it was enough to spark questions.

By Friday, the girls were very much looking forward to a good time and a familiar weekend. The gleeks knew the four girls were hanging out these days, but only Puck was informed of the party scene they were involved in. Rachel wasn't ready for the whole club to encroach on that part of her world, she wanted to keep that to the people who already knew, though she felt she kind of owed Noah that much. Quinn didn't feel that same thought process where Puck was concerned, but it was her brunette friend's decision and she respected it.

Quinn had taken to watching the Cheerios practice. It wasn't out of longing to get back what she'd lost or get things back to the way they had been when she was kicked off during her pregnancy. This was out of a whole other kind of longing.

Cindy had refused to apologize to Rachel, and even though Sue exercised her evil powers to help Rachel out, she wasn't going to force a Cheerio to apologize to a glee kid. So Santana and Becky were being extra hard on the waste of space that was Cindy Holloman, while coach Sylvester simply looked on with the faintest hint of amusement in her eyes.

Unfortunately to her credit, Cindy was taking everything they threw at her with a certain amount of smug grace. The girl was in shape and rose to the occasion whenever one of her captains tried to knock her down a peg. It was aggravating as hell to Santana and Quinn that the girl just kept right on meeting each challenge, however, when she occasionally faltered, it was almost worth seeing her smugness. Therefore, yes, Quinn watched the Cheerios practice, very much longing for the moment Cindy Holloman would break.

Meanwhile Jacob Ben Israel had replaced his obsession with Rachel and began mooning over Cindy, which wasn't exactly shocking, just creepy. Though when he had taken to blogging about how she should be head Cheerio seeing as how she was quote 'the only Cheerio going above and beyond the extreme' during practices. Santana was about ready to spit nails. These accusations began to become more frequent and to say the Latina was livid would have been a major understatement.


Knowing what he now knew, Puck couldn't stay away from the warehouse party. They had all warned him that it was doubtful that any woman there would give him any time of day as it was a predominately lesbian crowd. Puck being Puck only saw it as a challenge. Rachel rode with him, though when he got there he slung his arm over Quinn and decided they were unofficially there together, that is unless he got some play from some slightly buzzed bi-curios college girl. Quinn groaned but went along with it anyway. She'd been eyed by girls in the past, though she was usually just stand offish to rebuff anyone's advances. Puck could further help keep the females at bay if she needed it.

Dylan strolled up to the group consisting of Quinn, Santana, Brittany, and Puck. She was wearing her charm anklets just above her five inch purple stilettos and her favorite pare of denim hip huggers showed of her round bottom. Her purple V-neck top displayed her bare arms quite nicely.

Quinn, Santana, and Brittany watched on as Puck gawked at the older blonde, whose makeup around the eyes was reminiscent of an Egyptian Queen's. Her earlobes dawned four piercings; the top three sporting small dangly earrings, while the bottom wore hoops with butterfly's suspended in the open space. She had gone all out on this night and Quinn could only look on in awe, she'd never know that this beauty was born differently than her, had she not heard it from the woman herself.

"You're all looking mighty fine tonight," Dylan smiled wide and they all uttered their thank yous and returned the compliment.

"You're looking pretty fine yourself," Puck wiggled his eyebrows leaning into her while holding a beer in in his left hand. Dylan rolled her eye, and pressed her lips into a tight line. "Aww, don't be like that," the boy said slyly.

"I have a boyfriend, Mohawk," Dylan returned.

Puck showed off a lazy grin. "I can keep a secret."

"Well, I can't," Dylan laughed. "Which is why I'm going to tell you that you can't handle all of this," she turned her body slowly as if she were on a show room floor.

"I can handle more than you know."

"Does that include a penis because I'm working the same thing you are?" Dylan looked down between her legs and Quinn could swear that she saw the exact moment realization hit Puck. It was about two seconds after Santana began to bust out into a gut wrenching fit of giggles. Brittany just smiled. Dylan had revealed that part of herself to the Cheerios soon after she did so to Quinn. The transgendered girl had been spending a lot more time around the Latin cheerleader and up until a few hours prior, it worried Quinn quite bit as to what they could be up to.

"What the…dude I'm not gay," Puck defended.

"Never said you were," Dylan replied. "Just thought you should know before you really embarrassed yourself."

Quinn cleared her throat, "It's really no big deal, Puck. But now that you know, you can move on about your business."

"So you're a guy?" Dylan cringed.

"Insensitive much," Quinn drawled.

"No it's all good," Dylan cut in. "I'm a girl; I just don't have the parts to match."

Puck nodded, though the pink-haired girl could tell that he didn't really understand, though he was trying not to be a douche bag about it.

Dakota's voice began to husk lowly through the speaker system, indicating what all of the regulars knew was to come. "Another week and another night of booze and ladies." Brittany began to bounce from excitement and her girlfriend slipped her arms around her from anticipation. Quinn glanced at Puck who had on a curious look and then she pinned her eyes to the stage. "And we can never forget it's another night of Rach-B blowing it out of the water. This one makes my knees go weak so ladies," Dakota playfully warned, "If you have a partner you had better snatch them up, and if you don't, I can't be held responsible for any sexual frustration, though it won't be a problem for me." She chuckled as she let the music begin to play. A round of cheers could be heard around the building as Dylan left the small group of friends, probably in search of her boyfriend.

Rachel made her way up to the stage all the while moving her body to the beat. Once she was center stage, dressed in the very red dress they'd picked out together before all the shit at McKinley went down, her lips parted and began to sing.

Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
When you put your arms around me
I give you fever that's so hard to bare

Each word was like velvet draping her body piece by piece; enveloping Quinn in warmth. She was comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time, but she liked it and she wasn't sure why she wasn't more disturbed by it.

You give me fever
When you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight
Fever
In the morning
Fever all through the night

Rachel sought her out in the crowd, Quinn was sure of it as their eyes met one another's. The girl wearing the nose ring gulped as the heated gaze bore into her. The little songbird's honeyed voice delivered the lines

Sun lights up the day time
Moon lights up the night
I light up when you call my name
and you know I'm gonna treat you right

You give me fever

Then without warning her eyes were averted. Rachel's attention traveled to a girl who looked as if she was Middle Eastern descent. She was very soft on the eyes. The sudden change stung, and that was something Quinn couldn't ignore. She could see Puck eye her strangely in the corner of her eye and he seemed to be warring between turned on, concerned, and utterly confused. Brittany looked at her as well, looking somewhat apologetically and Santana glanced knowingly but they all soon brought their eye back to the stage.

.
When you kiss me
fever when you hold me tight
Fever
In the morning
Fever all through the night

Rachel had motioned the girl on the stage and she took no time complying. 'Eager much, bitch,' the punk girl spitefully thought as she witnessed Rachel hold out her hand to help her up the few steps to the platform.

Everybodies got the fever
That is somethin you all know
Fever is'nt such a new thing
Fever start long ago

Rachel guided the girl over to center stage delivering the lines

Romeo love Juliet
Juliet she felt the same
When he put his arms around her
He said Julie baby your my flame

She circled her slowly, running the fingertips of her right hand over the girl's shoulders as she did so.

Now give me fever
When were kissin
Fever with that flame in you
Fever
I'm a fire
Fever yeah I burn for you

The glee singer positioned herself facing the audience in front of the darker girl's body before crouching down and slowly swaying herself back up to the words

Captain Smith and Pocahontas
had a very mad affair
When her daddy tried to kill him
She said daddy oh don't you dare

He gives me fever
With his kisses

fever when he holds me tight
Fever
I'm his misses
Daddy won't you treat him right

She took the girl's hand and placed a soft kiss on the back of it, leaving the girl with a wide grin before she was motioned off of the stage. Quinn was livid. Who did Rachel think she was? It was cruel what she was doing. There was no way the other girl didn't know what she was doing to her.

Now you listened to my story
Here's the point that I have made
Chicks were born to give you fever
Be it fair and have a sense of game

And there it was. Rachel was issuing a challenge, at least that's how the former blonde took it. If that's what Rachel Berry wanted, then that was what she was going to get.

The brunette on stage fanned herself as she looked to various girls and finally landed her eyes on her Jewish friend. Puck was almost giddy with the action. He watched his Jewish princess with awe as she finished out the song.

They give you fever
when you kiss them
Fever if you really learned
Fever
Till you sizzle
But what a lovely way to burn

But what a lovely way to burn
But what a lovely way to burn
But what a lovely way to burn

She took a few steps towered and then down the stage steps with each delivery of 'But what a lovely way to burn,' until the music faded away and she was safely on the ground floor.

Rachel had eagerly sought out Puck once her number was done, no doubt looking to see how he liked the performance. She was quickly barreling into his arms. He beamed at his little friend with pride.

Before she got the chance to ask he was rambling out, "Damn, babe. I knew you were great but that blew up the hotness scale."

"Totes, Rach," Brittany said, wrapping her arms around both Rachel and Puck the best she could.

"Not that you don't bring it every week." Santana looked at Quinn as she said it. Her eyes had a certain brand of evil that only the Latina could convey. The former cheerleader didn't much care for what was being reflected at her in her friend's eyes.

Rachel let out a full bellied laugh at the praise. "Thank you guys. I'm glad I could cover up what little left over damage from the 'hallway incident' with makeup. I admit I wasn't feeling very sexy enough for this song."

"Badass looks damn sexy on you Berry," Santana said, again looking at Quinn. "Wouldn't you say so, Q?"

"Like really sexy," Brittany added before kissing Rachel's cheek.

Puck smirked at the singer in conformation. Quinn did not appreciate any of it, "I need a beer," she spat at the group. Santana snickered.

"I want one too," the cheerleading co-captain mocked. "I'll be right back Britts."

"Okay," her girlfriend chirpily replied and excitedly continued to sing her friends praises.

The two friends approached a cooler filled with some light beer that Dylan was no doubt responsible for.

"What's got you so butt-hurt," Santana asked with amusement. "That was fucking awesome."

"Screw you, Santana," Quinn snarled back.

Her friend just smiled and said, "Q, we've been over this already; this ride is too much for you to take. Maybe if you start on the smaller rides first, like Rachel per se, you can work your way up to the big kid rides."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Quinn was pissed and there was no need to hide it from her friend. It wasn't as if the other girl wasn't poking her with a stick anyway. "Stop trying to start shit. I'm sick of it."

"Stop being such a fucking pussy and go for what you want, damn it," the Latin girl spat back. "If she's what you want then say so. B and I would leave her alone if you would just admit you were into her."

Quinn looked over to where they had left Rachel, Puck, and Brittany and noticed that Farah had joined the group. "I….I…I" she stuttered.

"I, I, I, I," Santana mocked, annoyance evident in her voice. "You're fucking Quinn Fabray, that's who you are. What the hell happened to you? Did all that that pink shit screw with your brain?"

"What about that?" The punk girl pointed to Rachel and Farah's now locked arms.

Santana huffed. "That can be over as fast as the words 'I'm with Quinn now' can be said. She told you point blank that there was no romantic relationship with them. It's just something to pass the time away."

"Whatever," Quinn hissed in frustration before guzzling down half of her beer in one shot.

"The Quinn I knew went and got the things she wanted."

"Haven't you been paying attention, S? That Quinn is long gone."

"No she isn't," Santana's tone had suddenly switched to that of genuine worry. "She's still in there under all that bullshit. I want you happy and if that means I have to support this whole punk look then fine, but I will not support you being a dumbass."

"Whatever," was again the brilliant comeback.

"Get your shit together before you lose your chance, Fabray." With that, Santana stomped back over to her other friends, leaving Quinn as she polished off her beer before reaching for another.

Forty minutes later she was making out with the first chick to hit on her that night. During one of her brief detachments to breathe she saw Rachel exiting with Farah on her arm.


Quinn found herself drinking more than she ever had, which is probably why she ended up in the backseat of Lynette was it? Or was it Laura? No it was, Lisa, oh who cares it didn't matter she'd called her Rachel when all was said and done.

Brittany and Santana lead Quinn up the steps to Dylan's empty room once they'd reached the Berry house. Puck had already taken the couch. They had no clue that they'd be subjecting the hazel-eyed girl to hearing Farah and Rachel go at it, and not too long later Dakota had joined them. The bedrooms were next to each other and unlike Rachel's room, they weren't soundproofed.

She ended up stumbling into Lorna's room, who allowed her to crash in her bed.


The next evening Quinn found that she wasn't quite sure how she managed to be roped into driving the seventy miles it took to get to the lesbian bar just outside of Dayton. She still couldn't fathom why her friends were able to talk her into these kinds of things and now, it involved fake I.D.s. Not even Rachel's housemates were clued in on their Saturday night venture. The foursome had claimed to be doing some glee bonding with the rest of their teammates, which was partially true. The glee kids were hanging out that night, though the four of them opted to skip it. Technically they were teammates and they were bonding with each other.

A simple conversation on whether or not Rachel had true seduction skills outside of performing seductive music numbers turned into an outright debate, which became a bet that sent them to a lesbian bar that none of them had been to before, just to settle the score. It was determined that Rachel would have to work her magic outside of her usual stomping ground in order to prove anything so here they were at the oh so appropriately named 'Club Diva' barely catching their breaths after they each managed to pay the ten dollar cover charge and pass off their fake I.D.s for real ones.

Quinn and Santana didn't actually need I.D.s unless they planned to drink as the club was an eighteen and over, but this was Santana and she was going to drink. Quinn was going to be the designated driver and she had no intention of repeating the previous night, but she liked to be prepared.

It was the opposite of what she expected. She's imagined some musty smoke filled room with tacky green walls and every lesbian stereo type known to man, but aside from the outdoor volleyball court, complete with sand, the club was a very soft environment.

"Alright," Santana boomed. "Let's get down to business."

"Let's go over the terms once more, just so we have no miscommunications," the small brunette said after taking a sip of diet coke. She'd told her friends that she wanted to be sober for this. She wanted to be on top of her game.

"Britts gets to pick her," Santana eyed her blonde girlfriend. "No singing to get into her panties."

"I won't be getting into anyone's panties," was the reply. "But I won't sing."

"She has to give up the digits."

"Phone number," Rachel confirmed. "Got it. It doesn't count if Britt picks someone who is in a relationship."

"This is so stupid," Quinn groused. "Why do I let you guys talk me into this stuff?"

"You want to see if Berry can pull it off."

"No, I really don't." Quinn wasn't lying. She really had no desire to watch Rachel flirt with women in a whole new way. She didn't like it much in general, so why on earth would she want to see it seventy miles away from home?

"This is going to be so much fun," Brittany bounced in her seat.

"If I win, San has to eat vegan tomorrow at brunch. I get to make her plate and she has to eat every last bite," Rachel interjected.

"And if I win, Berry here has to perform a repeat of T.K.O. in glee, minus, you know…the prized fighter look. Plus Britts and I get a private encore performance of Nasty Naughty Girl."

"How about her," Brittany excitedly pointed at a woman about Quinn's height, though she had hair as dark as Santana's. It almost resembled Jersey Shore's, Snooki's hair style. Quinn made a look of distaste at the thought. The woman was slender and not at all hard on the eyes. She was in a formfitting green dress with a pair of matching heels.

"Game on," The Latin girl smirked.

"Game on indeed," Rachel replied.

"God," the pink-haired girl groaned.

"First we assess whether she's into wooing or being wooed," the girl said factually. "Don't gawk at her or she'll think something's up. Talk about sectionals or something." Brittany was quick to oblige.

Quinn looked at Rachel subtly observe the woman for a few minutes as she leaned her side into the bar and had a playful conversation with one of the bartenders. The bar was hardly crowded, which was a bit of a surprise for a Saturday night. She watched as the woman tossed a few bills onto the bar and collected the drink next to her, and made a move toward a group of woman in the back. The woman began talking as soon as she got to her table and in turn it filled with laughter.

"She's a go getter," Rachel finally said over the conversation being had around her.

Quinn scrunched her brows. "How could you possibly know that?"

"She has an air about her," Rachel began. "She's brazen and it would appear she's always the first to begin conversation."

"Whatever," Santana rolled her eyes. "Just get the job done."

"I'm on it." Rachel smiled mischievously. She turned to Brittany. "Brittany would you mind dancing with me?"

"Sure," the tall blonde agreed, already abandoning her seat. She grabbed the shorter girl's hand and pulled her over to the dance area. Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow's 'Picture' was already playing half way through the first verse.

Brittany was always smooth on the dance floor, and usually so was Rachel. This time, however, Miss Berry was placing her body in awkward positions as if she hadn't taken dance lessons for most of her life. Rachel was a bumbling mess. She occasionally sent shy glances and smiles toward her intended target, but she just didn't seem like she was handling the situation well at all.

"I so have this one in the bag," she heard Santana bark out in laughter at the sight.

"Looks like it," Quinn replied, not taking her eyes off of the singer.

At first Brittany looked confused as well, though after exchanging a few words with her dancing partner, she appeared to have an understanding. At the end of the song, Brittany spun Rachel around, effectively sending her right into the table of women and causing her to throw out a myriad of apologies.

Quinn winced at the sight and opted to go and try to spare her friend from further embarrassment. "I'm going to go try to salvage some of her dignity." Quinn mentioned to an amused Santana.

"Good luck with that," the cheerleader hollered from behind her as she went over to where Brittany and Rachel were.

"Again, I'm so sorry," Rachel commented. "I'm just a little nervous. I've never been here before but my friends insisted."

"Hey, no harm done," said the woman as her friends backed her up with understanding comments.

"May I buy you a drink to make up for the one I spilled," Rachel questioned.

"No, don't worry about it," the woman said back nicely.

"Okay," she answered back. Rachel finally noticed Quinn's presence and added. "Oh this is my friend, Quinn. Quinn this is Maggie," she pointed at the woman. "And these are her friends though I haven't caught their names."

The other four women went around the table saying their names though Quinn wasn't really paying them much attention. When they were done she politely said, "Nice to meet you."

A series of, "likewise" and "you too's" were heard around the table.

"Well, we better get back to our friend," the glee co-captain pointed to Santana. "Thanks so much for understanding about my unfortunate clumsiness."

"No problem," Maggie answered as they departed the table.

The three teens walked back over to Santana. "You okay," Quinn asked.

"Better than," Rachel said wistfully sitting on her seat. Brittany looked as if she knew something nobody else did, but she had that look a lot in general.

"So that went down in flames," Santana said proudly.

"Oh don't count me out just yet, Lopez."

"Rachel, you tanked it," Quinn even conceded.

"It appears so, but just give it time."

"Please, Berry. You were behaving like a total idiot out there. You were dancing like Hudson."

"It seems I was," she began to say back when Maggie was suddenly at her table.

"Hello again," Maggie smiled lazily at the group and then at Rachel.

They all greeted her though; Quinn had a sudden knot in her gut. "This is Brittany's girlfriend Santana," Rachel pointed.

"Hey," Santana replied. Maggie nodded at the darker girl.

"So I know I said not to worry about my drink, but could I get you one," Maggie said suavely to Rachel, who looked down and blushed.

"Um, sure. I'm drinking diet coke," she replied shyly.

"Care to join me while I order it?"

Rachel grew a wide expectant smile. "I'd love to."

"Great," Maggie held her hand out, prompting Rachel to take it. Rachel took it and off they went.

"What just happened?" This was Santana who had lost all traces of her smugness.

The little trip to the bar had lasted well past the arrival of Rachel's drink. In fact it lasted through two of them. Rachel giggled and twirled her hair. She gestured to the black jean skirt that adorned her from above her hips to just above her knee, even longer than the skirts she wore to school most days. Then she motioned to her purple button up blouse. "My friend over there," the small brunette pointed at Santana, speaking a little loudly as she did so. "She picked this outfit out for me. She was worried about me looking somewhat risqué," she finished, looking all too innocently. Technically it was true. Santana had insisted upon getting the final say on Rachel's wardrobe because she didn't want her winning the bet just because she was dressed like sex on legs.

This seemed to amuse Maggie, probably because Santana herself was dressed in a low cut white halter top and tight black leather pants, much to the vegan girl's chagrin. "You look quite wholesome," Maggie replied, raising her voice just as loud as Rachel's had been. The conversation continued though they both lowered their voices once more.

Quinn watched as Rachel hung onto Maggie's every word with rapt attention. She had that wide eyed awed look going on and the girl with the pink hair was less than happy about it. 'Take me away and show me the world,' Quinn imagined the glee club co-captain saying. 'You could give me the world if I let you.' It was frustrating to think it, though it was right there, staring her in the face. Dismissing her feelings was no longer an option in the moment. The punk girl hadn't seen Rachel look at anyone like that since she had dated Finn.

This scared Quinn in a way that she couldn't describe, but she recognized it. The singer had been quite sexually open as of recently but that look hadn't ever crossed her face. Quinn was feeling like she was about to be robbed of all of her most valuable possessions.

Then it happened; Rachel was handing Maggie her phone, and the woman was punching her phone number onto the keypad. Before the two females parted ways, the older woman took Rachel by the chin and brought their lips together. It wasn't heated. No tongues were involved, but Quinn couldn't help but feel sick.

When Rachel returned to her friends she slid her cell over to Santana and said, "Call and confirm if you'd like," her feeling of accomplishment radiating the air. "You're just going to love egg substitute."

Santana just groaned. Brittany giggled.

"Rachel," the hazel-eyed girl rasped.

"Yes Quinn," the little brunette happily answered. Before she knew it Quinn was crashing her lips to the other girl's in a firm demanding desperation. She'd had enough of this, all the teasing and the feelings. She was sick of every woman around putting their lips on this girl she had only recently been able to admit to caring for. She needed this, if only just for this moment, she had to have this.

It was nothing like kissing Sam, Finn, Puck, Mac, Rob from the summer, or even 'what's her name?' This was something new entirely and she wasn't sure if she wanted to stop, even if her mind was screaming for her to. Never had she been so confused, yet sure over anything.

"Looks like I didn't lose out completely," Santana laughed maniacally as her girlfriend clapped from her seat.

Rachel pulled their lips apart and gasped desperately for air. Quinn couldn't take it. She had to get out of there. She had to run, so she did, only to have the brunette singer follow her yelling, "Stay and dance. I'll go after her," over her shoulder. Quinn had sprinted to her car in a panicked frenzy, though Rachel had quickly slipped into the passenger side. They were silent for a while but Quinn was still freaking out. "Why did you run?"

"Huh?" the girl with the pink hair couldn't bring herself to look at the other girl.

"Why'd you run away? Nobody in there thinks it's weird to kiss a girl."

"I didn't freak out that you're a girl," Quinn said honestly, bracing herself for what was going to probably be the most honest conversation she'd ever had, including the ones she'd had with herself.

"Then what's so wrong with me that you had to run away?" Rachel was obviously slipping into that 'I'm not good enough' mode and it broke Quinn's heart. She hadn't seen that girl in so long that she'd almost forgotten she was there underneath all of that bluster and bravado.

"Nothing's wrong with you, it's just… It's... Why did you have to kiss her?"

"She kissed me," she clarified. "Besides it isn't as if you hadn't seen me kiss people. That was fairly tame in comparison."

"Who said I was okay with it then, Rachel," Quinn hissed. "You give yourself away like it's nothing."

"So what," Rachel shot back. "You ran off because you couldn't stand thinking that you just kissed some ho?"

"No," Quinn quickly tried to recover. "I know you aren't a slut. I'm sorry if I ever implied…..Look you just… God you're always so damn frustrating. You get under my skin in the worst of ways," Quinn was almost yelling, unsure if she was angry or worried. Perhaps she was both. "Do you know how many years it took for me to perfect my shell?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You," Quinn spat. "You of all people are always around when my life is crumbling around me. You're always the one who manages to get in where nobody else can. Hell you're the only one I've known more than a year who even tries anymore."

"I'm sorry?" Rachel said it like she wasn't sure.

"No, I'm not asking for that it's just... It feels good, okay? Damn it feels so good that someone tries so hard but then you always manage to crack me a little bit more each time and I can't control myself enough not to feel anything. You make it so hard to hide from you and now it's affecting me with other people. Why do you have to be so fucking understanding? Even when I'm a bitch to you, you just keep coming after me," she huffed in exhaustion.

"You'd rather I didn't. You want me to leave you alone, to hurt on your own?"

"No, but I wish I did. Rach, I just want to blurt it all out when you're there, doing what not even my parents ever did. But I'm not supposed to. I'm not supposed to let people in that much. You make me feel things that I just can't afford to feel. I can't control myself around you sometimes, much less control you."

Rachel took in the admission and pondered the words. "Quinn. Quinn, look at me." Quinn reluctantly did as she was told. "No one ever will control me. I can be annoying that way," she was trying to add humor to the situation.

Quinn's voice relaxed. "But I need to," Hazel eyes were releasing tears. "Finn, Sam, and Puck. When I couldn't control Puck anymore, when I saw that he was still doing whatever it was he was doing with Santana, I had to boot him and stick with Finn because he was too hard to keep in line. Then Finn became a challenge because…."

"Because of me."

"Yeah, because of you," she chuckled to show that she really wasn't holding onto that grudge. "You were always his undoing."

"Is that what the head Cheerio thing was for you?"

"It was my best shot at control. I'm a Fabray, that's what we do. Even now I can control myself by simply saying I don't care but you ruined that too, because I really do care. Like more than I should. I care so much that it makes me physically ill sometimes."

"Caring doesn't make you weak Quinn."

"In my world it does," she said in nearly a whisper. "I cared about my father's opinion of me and everyone knows what happened with that. I cared about my daughter, even though I tried not to and it nearly killed me to give her away. And then there's…..you."

"It hurts too much to watch you suffer." Rachel quietly spoke up. "It always has. I just don't want you to be alone and in pain."

"Why," Quinn asked meekly, afraid of the answer.

"Because despite our past, I've always cared about you. I wasn't sure how until prom, but I thought I had to move on. I thought it was a lost cause." with her left thumb, Rachel gently brushed the handful of tears from the pale girl's puffy red eyes.

"What if it's not?"

"Then maybe we can start off slow and work our way up. We don't have to declare anything. It's our business."

"What about Farah and Dakota? I like them well enough but it takes everything in me not to lose it on them when I have to think about what you guys do together."

"We have an understanding. We always knew that aspect of our friendship was going to end."

"I have to tell San and Britt. They are way too friendly with you. Part of me thinks Santana's just been screwing with me on purpose."

"And Mac?"

"We don't even talk anymore."

"Just checking."

"I'm going to try really hard not to hurt you but I can't promise that I won't. I tend to hurt people, you should know that better than most," the former blonde said solemnly.

"There are no guaranties," Rachel mused. "But in the meantime, I'm going to erase Maggie's number."

"Thank you," Quinn whispered.

"Quinn?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened with that girl, the one from the party?"

"How long have you been waiting to ask me about that," Quinn smirked, for the first time in a long time feeling like she had the upper hand.

"I…since I saw you kissing her. I um…that's why I dragged Farah out of there. That's why I slept in her and Dakota's bed." Rachel sounded quiet and somewhat embarrassed.

"I was," Quinn took a deep breath and looked to her lap. "We…I'm not going to lie to you Rachel. I…we almost had sex in the back of her car."

"That's hardly original," Rachel hissed. Quinn almost let herself smile at the fact that Rachel was obviously uncomfortable thinking about her with someone else. She had been suffering for what seemed like an eternity watching Rachel hook up with other woman and unfortunately Finn. If she were being honest, her feelings probably went as far back as the whole songwriting debacle.

"Neither was you hooking up with whoever you felt like right in front of me. So sue me if I had finally had enough of seeing you all over random women," she spat back. "You looked like you were about to have sex with that skank right there on stage."

"I was preforming, Quinn."

"Is that what you were doing with Farah and Dakota last night, preforming?"

Rachel looked at the taller girl guiltily. "I was mad at you and frustrated that you wanted her more than me."

"Then you know how I've felt all this time," Quinn looked at Rachel's eyes that were full of emotion. It amazed her as to how she'd seen Rachel's eyes range in crazy ways lately, though she could still revert back to those large doe eyes. "Look, I didn't do it to hurt you. I needed to get out some frustration and she was there. Hell I ruined any chances of being with her the second I called her Rachel."

"You called her, Rachel?" the brunette looked confused, but kind of proud at the same time.

Quinn gave a soft smile and giggled. "That's what I said isn't it? She understood enough to tell me that I was dumb for trying to get over you by getting under her, because apparently that just puts me between two people."

"Kinky," Rachel joked. "Who knew sluts could be so smart?"

"Oh, I can smell the hypocrisy," Quinn continued to tease, enjoying a jealous Rachel. She'd been fighting admitting her own jealousy so much that she'd glossed over Rachel's as of recent. She hadn't wanted to see it, but now it was on in full swing, and she was ecstatic.

"Well get a good whiff," Rachel pouted, causing Quinn to laugh, though her laughter was cut short when the shorter girl leaned over to the driver's seat and covered Quinn's pink lips with hers.


So I hope this one was worth all the slow pace up to date. They moved pretty quick within the chapter but we got our Faberry kisses on, right? I'm not addicted to crack, but I am addicted to reviews so I'd love to hear how you thought the chapter went. Too fast, slow, awkward? Nice pace, maybe? Let a girl know. Thanks.