a/n: hey guys, here's another update! not quite as long, but I hope you like it. i hope to get one more done by the end of this weekend. thanks to everyone for the reviews (cici - you are right on the nose with your observations, although there's more drama brewing around the corner), and keep 'em coming! good and bad! i really do take them all to heart and try to make this story better (and make more sense).

also, i probably shouldn't write when i'm randomly craving popcorn...

I felt a little self conscious changing into my practice clothes for field hockey. My knees and legs were all banged up and my arm still full of scratches.

"Have a nice fall, McCullers?" one girl said to me as I shoved my bag into my locker. I turned and ignored her snide remark, but as I heard her giggle, it cut right through me. I knew that Bianca must have told the rest of the team what she had done to me yesterday. As I made my way through the locker room and out to the field, I felt the glares and the sneers and heard the laughter and the chatter. I tried not to crack, not to show any emotion at all. I wasn't going to let these girls get the best of me.

As we did our warm up run, I let myself fall to the rear of the pack to try and avoid most of the girls. I never let myself fall behind everyone else, but, it was easier than being teased and laughed at. As we rounded the final bend, the coach pulled me aside as the girls circled up and ran their stretches. I began stretching on my own as the coach spoke to me.

"Everything all right out there today, McCullers?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well, you seemed a little slow out there today and you're a little banged up. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." She folded her arms as she looked at my battered legs. "We need you this week."

"I'm okay. I...I just had an accident running this weekend."

"Be careful. I don't need any other players getting injured."

"Yes, ma'am."

She patted me on the back as I returned to the team to join the circle. No one moved an inch, though, to let me in, so I just sat behind the rest of the girls.

I tried to stay in my own head, stay focused on practice, and tune everyone else out. I was successful...until the scrimmage. Much to my dismay, I was placed on the same team as Bianca. We were positioned as the only two defenders on our team. As we took our positions on the field, she turned to me and scowled.

"Don't screw up."

My hands were shaking as I struggled to get my key into the door. After fumbling around for a bit, I threw the door open to a darkened room. I tossed my messenger bag to the floor with some force, slammed the door shut and let out an exasperated scream. As soon as I had finished my fit, I saw Quinn quietly perched on her bed. She was silent, her hand halfway to her mouth holding a piece of popcorn, frozen in place. I was mortified that I had put on such a show in front of her. I thought for sure she wouldn't be in the room.

She pulled down her headphones from her ears and placed the piece of popcorn in her mouth. Once she finished chewing, she finally spoke.

"I suspect you had a lousy day, too?"

"What gave you that idea?" I snapped back with a snarky tone. I didn't mean to give her attitude, I was still just trying to calm down.

"Well, okay, grumpy pants, no need to bite my head off. At least you didn't spill coffee all over yourself this morning. Or get a B in History. A B!"

"I get B's all the ti-"

"Well, I don't. Yale won't even look at me if I have B's!"

I was taken aback by her comment.

"Sorry," she continued, more gently, "I didn't mean it like that. I guess I'm still a little wound up, too."

She put another handful of popcorn into her mouth. The crunching of the snack was the only sound in the room.

"I also quit the cheerleading squad," she nonchalantly said, her mouth still half full.

"Wait, what?" I was completely caught off-guard by her throwaway line.

"You know that whole 'I'm tired of being someone else' breakdown? Yeah, that."

I stared at her with a puzzled look still.

"I hate it. I'm not going to even pretend to like it anymore. At least at McKinley it was challenging. And we were top notch. And-"

"And you're not head cheerleader anymore."

"And I'm not head cheerleader anymore. Yes. But it's more than that."

"Oh, really?" I was enjoying giving Quinn a hard time.

"Yes, really!" she yelled as she threw a handful of popcorn at me. "You're a punk, you know that? I, honestly, can't stand it anymore. I feel much more at home with the show choir anyway."

I smiled as I thought about Quinn singing with the other girls. "That officially makes you a nerd."

She smiled back. "Then so be it. I bet you think its hot, anyway."

I looked away, not wanting to acknowledge the truth in that statement.

"So," she continued, shoving another handful into her mouth, "what's your deal?"

I strained to understand her. "Uhm, I got into a fight with one of the girls on the team."

"Seriously?" She nearly spit out what she had in her mouth.

"Seriously. She's been giving me a hard time lately and today she decided to plow into me and try to trip me."

"No way."

"But I was just fed up with her crap, you know? So I threw my stick to the ground before I confronted her and threw her to the ground."

Quinn stopped chewing and froze in place again.

"Some of the girls started freaking out and the coach came over to separate us. The other girl was about ready to fight back. The assistant coach took over practice while the coach gave us a stern warning. Next time anything like that happened, we would be suspended. And then she dismissed us from practice and escorted us back to the building. I wasn't going to hang around, so I just bolted back here."

Quinn extended her arm towards me with the bowl in her hand. "Popcorn?"

"I think we missed dinner."

I looked over towards my alarm clock to confirm Quinn's suspicions. Time flies when you're having fun...or having a movie marathon while consuming three bags of popcorn.

"That was a totally acceptable use of an afternoon."

"Agreed," Quinn replied with a huge grin on her face.

I took her hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You feeling better?"

She smirked. "Yes."

I should have pulled my hand away, but I didn't. She should have pulled her hand away, but she didn't. Instead, I stared at my hand, resting atop hers, glowing from the dim light of the laptop screen. I looked up at Quinn again, only to find her already staring at me.

"What?" I asked sheepishly.

She smiled back. "Absolutely nothing."

I got lost in her eyes. My eyes trailed down to glance at her perfect lips before returning. This was it. This was my chance. I refused to let those girls get to me. I didn't care what anyone else thought. This is what I wanted. Nothing, or no one, was going to stop me. I closed my eyes, but before I could even move in to kiss Quinn, I felt her lips brush against mine.

My hand moved from her hand, up her arm and to her neck. We shared light, sweet kisses before it I felt my entire body begin to tingle. My hand weaved its way through her hair and I pulled her in closer to me, deepening the kiss. I felt her drag her hand down my back as I pulled away to catch my breath. I could tell she felt satisfied by my reaction. I leaned in again, continuing the kiss. I began to massage the back of her head and took a gentle nibble of her bottom lip. She let out a soft moan that sent shockwaves through my body. We kissed more passionately, more fiercely, with each passing moment. I felt her tongue run along my lower lip and I opened my mouth to allow her access. Her tongue swirled against mine as we dueled back and forth. She was holding me now, both of her hands just above my hips and it was driving me absolutely wild. I wrapped my free arm around her back and brought her body closer to mine. I could feel her deepen the kiss as I did.

When we had run out of breath, we finally pulled away and stared into each other's eyes, panting with exhaustion. I brought my hand forward and lightly rubbed her cheek with my thumb.

With an exasperated breath and a smile, I said, "I don't think I've ever felt anything like that before."

Quinn nodded. "Me neither."

"Gee, you mean Finn wasn't that great of a kisser?"

She gave me a coy smile. "Shut up and kiss me."