Dark Side

By: TracyCook

Disclaimer: I own nothing. These characters belong to the creator of Glee.

Couple: Quinn/Rachel

Rating: M

Chapter 10

Your Life Is Just Beginning

'Thud, thud, thud.' Her heart was pounding loudly in her head. So loud that she couldn't hear anything around her. Her brown eyes were fixated on the front doors of the school as they closed behind the blonde. Her legs were moving as fast as they could, but she couldn't seem to catch up with her. 'Thud, thud, thud.' It was like the ticking of a clock. And with every second that passed she was more and more terrified by what the outcome would be.

What would Quinn do if she couldn't catch up to her? What would she do in her desperation to escape the situation.

The thoughts that filled her mind nauseated her. She couldn't stand the thought of losing the other woman. She couldn't stand the thought of never seeing her smiling face again.

Suddenly, one of the doors in the hallway opened and Finn made his way out into the hallway, standing directly in front of Rachel. In that moment she knew that she had to make a choice. She could stop and confront her boyfriend about the tape or she could keep running and find Quinn. The decision was surprisingly not difficult for her to make. Finn could wait.

"Rachel!" He shouted at her as he headed toward her. His muscles were tense and he could feel nothing but anger towards the woman that he loved. He couldn't believe that she would lie to him, he couldn't believe that she would cheat on him. "How could you cheat on me?! After everything that happened with Quinn and Puck last year, how could you do this to me?!"

Finn was breaking right in front of her and all that she could think about was Quinn.

"Finn, I can't talk about this right now!" Rachel told him frantically, she felt like every second that she wasted talking to him was a moment that could endanger Quinn. She couldn't risk it no matter how terrible she felt for hurting him. What she had done was wrong. No matter what. Cheating was never okay. But, there were more important things to worry about in that moment. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

She attempted to run past him and he grabbed onto her shoulders and held her in place. She thrashed around, but he was stronger then her. He wasn't trying to hurt her, but he needed to talk to her. "I can't wait! I need answers now!" He told her, tears shimmering in his brown eyes, his jaw clenched tightly. "You told me that you said my name that night and you really said her name, huh?"

Rachel glanced away guiltily, biting down on her bottom lip and watching the door. She knew he deserved an explanation, but it couldn't be right now.

"We can talk later, I promise." She again tried to move away from him and he held her in place.

"I don't wanna talk later. I wanna talk now!" Finn shouted angrily. She knew he was just hurt though. "How long has this been goin' on between the two of you?!"

"Finn." Rachel spoke in a deadly serious tone. "I really don't have time to talk about this right now. I need to find Quinn."

"Of course you do!" He was beyond furious now. Here he was standing in front of his girlfriend asking her to explain her infidelity and she wanted to run off and find the girl that she had cheated on him with? "What the hell, Rachel!? You're really gonna go and find your little girlfriend right now instead of explaining all of this to me!?"

She truly did understand where he was coming from and now she needed him to understand where she was coming from. He had dated Quinn before and she knew that he still cared about her. "Finn." Rachel stared into his eyes with large worried browns. She felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest and she needed him to let her leave. "We will talk about all of this at a later time, I promise. But right now I need to find Quinn. She has lost everything that she cares about in a matter of seconds and I am terrified she is going to do something that she can't take back."

Finn had a feeling that he knew what she was implying and his heart sank. He had a lot of reasons to hate Quinn, especially right now, but deep down he still cared about her and he would always love her.

She was his first love.

And he didn't like the thought of her dying. "What do you mean, Rachel?" His brow was furrowed and his eyes were full of concern.

"You know what I mean."

Finn nodded his head and quickly let go of her arms. He was still angry with Rachel, but this was more important at the time being. They could talk about their relationship later. "Okay, I'll look this way, you look that way."

"Thank you." Rachel breathed out gratefully. It would be easier to cover the city if they were both looking.

"I'm not doin' this for you." He told her and then he ran in the opposite direction.

She pressed her lips together and nodded her understanding, before heading out the front door of the school and sending up a prayer that the delay wouldn't be enough to stop her from catching up with the other woman. 'Please just let her be alive and well when I find her... Please?'

O

Brittany had never been so angry in her entire life. She was generally a very happy and positive individual and she was always the one to stand between Quinn and Santana when they fought with each other. All that she had ever wanted was for the two of them to get along. And now, it was clear as day, that the two of them were never going to be friends again.

With one selfish move, Santana had destroyed all chances of that.

And she had destroyed all chances with her too.

She could never be intimate with her again. Not after what she had just done to Quinn. Not after what she had just done to her. She had blatantly lied to her face, then she went behind her back and betrayed her. It was cold and heartless and she hated her in that moment. Santana had made a lot of questionable decisions in her lifetime, but she had never hated her. Right now she did.

As she reached the AV Club room she witnessed the Latina attempting to sneak out of the room and head down the hallway so that no one would know it was her. Like it wasn't obvious. 'Everyone is going to know it was her... I'll tell them...'

"Santana!" She called out to her, stopping the other cheerleader in her tracks.

She had never heard Brittany sound so angry before and it made her cringe. She stood there for a moment and stared down the hallway, internally debating making a run for it so that she would never have to see the pain and anger on the blonde's beautiful face. Santana knew that there was a chance that she was going to hate her for going through with her plan, but she hadn't realized how much it was going to hurt her. She didn't want the other woman to hate her.

Finally, she clenched her fists at her sides and turned to face the consequences for her behavior. 'Hopefully I can convince her that I was trying to help them out or that it wasn't me...' She knew even Brittany wasn't that naive though.

"Brit, it's not what it looks like." Santana started to explain what she did.

"Really?" She spat angrily, her arms crossed over her chest and a look on her face that said she didn't believe her. She didn't think she could ever believe a word she said again. "Because it really looks like you lied to my face and hurt our friends really bad."

"You don't understand." The Latina said, taking a few steps toward Brittany so that they were only a few feet away from each other. "I had to do it! Revealing their relationship was the only way that I was going to get back to the top of the pyramid and back to being the head cheerleader! I had to-"

'Slap!'

The sound of Brittany's hand slapping against Santana's cheek echoed off of the walls of the hallway and it was so forceful that it caused her head to snap sideways. She was completely shocked. The blonde had never hurt her before and she hadn't expected it. No matter how terrible she was.

She held a hand up to her cheek. It stung. Turning her attention back to Brittany she stared at her with angry brown eyes. "What the fuck, Brittany?!"

Ignoring the question, blue eyes glared into brown and she took another step toward the other girl, watching as she visibly flinched. She was scared that Brittany was going to slap her again and honestly she felt she just might if Santana kept trying to talk her way out of her behavior. What she did was wrong, there was no explanation for it.

"You seriously did all of this just to be popular again?" She asked.

"I need it Brit!" She had tears rolling down her cheeks and Brittany didn't feel sorry for her at all.

"You need it enough to hurt the people you say you love?"

"She hurt me first!" Santana insisted.

"This is different! No matter what Quinn has done to you in the past, this is so different Santana!" Brittany was so furious. She didn't even know how to put into words what she was feeling in that moment. "She has never done anything this bad! Never!" She paused and tried to find a way to explain the severity of what the Latina had done. "What if she showed everyone in the school our sex tape?"

"Brit..." She breathed out. The thought of everyone in the school seeing the sex tape that they had made caused her stomach to flip uncomfortably. She would be destroyed.

"Maybe I should show everyone it! Post it on Youtube or something. Just so you know how it feels for Quinn and Rachel right now!" The blonde watched as horror covered Santana's face and she knew that the thought of that terrified her. And it made her oddly satisfied. She needed to know just how terrible what she had done was.

"You can't do that!"

"No." Brittany said. "I could do it, but I won't. Because I am a better person than you are."

With that she turned and walked away from her with absolutely no intention of ever speaking with her again. When she went behind her back and betrayed her, she had known the risk and yet she had still made the decision. As far as Brittany was concerned, she had made the choice to end their relationship.

O

Water crashed against the rocks below and caused the wind to tussle her long blonde hair. Her hazel eyes were full of tears and her cheeks were stained with the pain that she felt. She still couldn't comprehend what had just happened. In only a few seconds everything in her life had been flipped upside down and now she was staring off the edge of the highest bridge in Lima Ohio, wanting nothing more than to leap into the dark depths of the river and drown.

She was replaying the idea over and over in her mind.

She could put an end to the pain before it truly started. All that she had to do was close her eyes tight, count to three, and jump. More than likely she would die upon impact and she would never have to face the reality of her situation. She would never have to face the disappointed look of her mother or the disgusted look of her father. She would never have to hear the hateful words of the other cheerleaders or lose her position on the squad. She could just erase the rest of her future and accept the life that she already lived.

It sounded simple enough.

Quinn gripped the edges of the bridge and she stretched her legs that were hanging over the ledge. All she had to do was count to three and she could wash away with the water and never have to feel again.

'One...' She thought to herself, hazel eyes sealed tightly shut.

'Two...' Her grip tightened on the ledge and she was preparing to push herself off.

'Three...'

She couldn't go through with it. She wasn't strong enough to kill herself. Or perhaps she was too strong to kill herself. Deep down, she had to believe that even if she lost everything, even if she lost all of her friends and family it could all be worth it in the end if she had Rachel. And even if she didn't have Rachel, she could find the strength to pick herself up again.

Maybe she would run away from Lima and start fresh?

'Maybe Rachel would run away with me?' Quinn knew that the thoughts were irrational and she quickly dismissed them. Though, even if they were outlandish it was nice to have some spark of hope. Some reason to keep breathing.

"Don't do it!" A familiar voice shouted dramatically behind her.

All that Quinn could do was smile as she heard Rachel running up behind her. There was something about it that was so special to her. It meant the world to her that she of all people was the one to search for her and find her. 'Plus she is so cute when she is dramatic like that... How does she do that to me? I was so sure I would never smile again, then she shows up and I'm smiling...'

Rachel always made her smile.

Quinn turned and looked over her shoulder at Rachel and realized that her brown eyes were wide and she was crying. She looked mortified as she rushed to her side. "Don't be silly, I'm not going to jump." she muttered under her breath. "Despite wanting to."

"Don't you dare say that." The starlet said as she took a seat on the edge of the bridge beside the other woman. Even hearing her joke about killing herself made her feel sick to her stomach and like she was going to break down in tears. She had been crying the entire time searching for Quinn, and even now that she knew she was alive, she was crying.

She laughed sarcastically and shrugged her shoulders. "It's the truth, Rachel." She said, her voice cracking with the weight of emotion she was feeling. It was all too overwhelming for her. "I have nothing left to live for. I have no friends, I'm going to be kicked off the cheer squad, my parents are going to disown me. I have nothing." Her body started to shake as tears fell freely and she wheezed out the final words. She hated crying in front of people, but right now she couldn't stop.

"That's not true..." She whispered sadly.

"Sure it is." Quinn laughed again. How could Rachel deny it?

"You can't possibly have nothing." She paused and allowed her hand to slowly cover Quinn's, squeezing down on it gently and bringing a small smile to her face. She just wanted to see her smiling again. "Because you have me."

"I do?"

She sounded so doubtful that it broke Rachel's heart. She hated that she doubted in her. No matter what, she had always been there for the blonde and she was always going to be. Tracing her fingers soothingly along the top of Quinn's hand she smiled and nodded her head at her. She didn't plan on going anywhere.

"Yes." Rachel spoke with conviction. "No matter what happens with your parents or your "so-called" friends, I will be standing right beside you through it all."

"Even through the slushies?" It was a joke, but in a way she was being serious. She knew that the other students at school were going to start bullying her now that she was going to be kicked off the cheer squad and labeled a lesbian glee club loser.

"Especially through the slushies." She stated with an honest smile. Rachel would take a thousand slushies if it made Quinn happy and feel like she wasn't alone. She didn't mind.

Quinn smiled gratefully and rested her head against Rachel's shoulder allowing herself to find comfort in the warmth and closeness of her body. She felt safe now that she wasn't alone. She felt like she could make it through whatever shit life tossed at her. As long as she had Rachel by her side she was going to make it out alive. When Rachel started to stroke her fingers through her hair she closed her eyes and let out a soft hum of approval. She knew that the happiness she felt in that moment would be shattered eventually, but right now she was just enjoying being close to her.

"My life is over, Rachel." She whispered, her voice raspy and full of sorrow.

"That's not true."

"It is..."

"Who knows? Perhaps your life is just beginning."

For some reason, having Rachel say these words as she stroked her fingers delicately through her hair, she felt hope that they could be true. Perhaps her life was beginning. It was going to be hard, it was going to be different, but maybe she could finally be herself.

O

In the AV Room Artie slammed his wheelchair against the back of the closet door repeatedly.

He had been trapped in the closet for what felt like ages and no one had helped get him out. He was screaming at the top of his lungs for someone to let him out, irrational thoughts of starving to death filling his mind.

"Come on! Someone please! Let me out of here!"

Authors Note:

Thank you all SOOO MUCH for those reviews! I got so much feedback and I hope that y'all enjoy this chapter just as much! As promised I got this update up ASAP! Y'all are so wonderful! Please do tell me what you guys think of this chapter! What do you think about Faberry? Should Quinn and Rach run away together? What do y'all thinks gonna happen at the Fabray household? Did you enjoy Brittany slapping Santana? Haha. Poor Artie huh? :( Anyhow please do tell me what you guys thought and what y'all wanna see and I will try and put it into the fic!

Thank you so much for reading and as always if y'all give me lots of lovin's I promise the next chapter ASAP!

I love you guys!

-Tracy Cook-