A/N Thanks for all the reviews! Enjoy!

"Rachel, why are you in the hospital? Are you okay?" Shelby asked, completely ignoring Rachel as she moved further into her room. She had been visiting a friend when she was told that she had to leave and she hadn't expected to hear a familiar scream coming from one of the rooms. She knew that voice, it belonged to her...child. Shelby had contemplated just leaving, after all, she hadn't ended things with Rachel on the best terms but something had compelled her to check on the girl.

"I told you to leave, Shelby. Get out." Rachel's voice was chillingly calm but inside, she was livid. The woman before her had pushed her away, rejected her own daughter, told her she didn't want a relationship. Shelby didn't want her and that stung. Although she hadn't known Shelby for very long, it didn't mean that she hadn't developed feelings for the woman and there was a bond growing between them that she had felt. Why hadn't Shelby? Was it just her wishful thinking?

Rachel had spent so long after her last meeting with her mother wondering what it was that she had done wrong. Was it something she said? Had she been too pushy, too desperate for a relationship that she had scared the woman she just wanted to get to know away? For the life of her, Rachel couldn't remember what she had done, she had tried to be so careful in leaving a good first impression but like everything else in her life, she had messed it up.

Then again, Shelby had said that Rachel wasn't what she was expecting. She was a teenager. Had Shelby expected her to still be the baby she had given up? It wasn't Rachel's fault that she had grown and aged but yet, it had cost her a chance, her only chance, with her mother. That's why she resented the woman. Shelby was blaming her, making her pay for something that was out of her control and Shelby had been the one to initiate everything! Was she not aware of what was going to happen?

"Rachel-" Shelby began again but was cut off by the younger brunette. "Get. Out." Rachel said bittingly. She was beyond livid, Shelby had given up the right to be concerned about her long ago.

Sighing, Shelby realized that Rachel wasn't going to budge. She knew the girl had been heart broken when she had left with little explanation after worming her way into her life but she thought that Rachel had gotten over it or at least wouldn't display such immense hate for her. Yes, she admitted that she had been selfish, she had thought of herself and hadn't really considered the young brunette's feelings but at the time, she did believe it was for the best. Moving to the door, Shelby stopped before exiting.

"I'm so sorry for everything, Rachel. I shouldn't have done that to you. Stay safe."

It's a bit late now, isn't it?

Despite the voice echoeing through her mind, Rachel held Shelby's gaze in a glare before the older of the two relented and left the room, once again leaving Rachel alone in silence, only disturbed occassionally by the voices speaking in her head.

She slowly awoke from a peaceful slumber. As the sleepiness wore off, she could vaguely hear raised voices. For a moment, she thought she had been imagining them, but as she focused her hearing, she noticed that they sounded familiar. Curiousity got the better of her and she climbed out of the large bed, quickly slipping out of her room. It was almost pitch black in the hall but she took the darkness as a cover and started to make her way to the end where there was one illuminated bulb near a large wooden door.

As she padded quietly along the carpet, she kept close to the wall, attempting to remain undiscovered and out of trouble. A loud crash and the sound of glass breaking made her feel scared, afraid of what was happening. Had a burglar made it into the house? She imagined him with a ski mask over his face, grabbing anything valuable in sight and stuffing it into a bag but in his haste, he accidentally knocked over something.

As silence swallowed the dark house, she continued on her journey towards the end of the hall. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her hands were sweaty and clenched tightly at her sides as she treaded lightly, making sure that her feet made no sound as they hit the thick carpet beneath her.

Finally arriving at the door, she put her ear on the wood, straining to hear any sounds within the room. Not hearing anything, she put a small hand onto the door knob. Breathing in deeply, she tried to calm her racing heart.

She turned the knob fully. She gulped. Pausing, she inhaled once more before moving to push the door open.

Suddenly, a hand landed roughly on her shoulder and she jumped.

Awaking with a start, Quinn snapped her eyes open, only to be met with the white ceiling of her bedroom. She was sweating. Not too badly, but still enough to make her clothes damp. She put a hand to her chest, feeling the rapid beating beneath her wet palm. As she took deep, even breaths, she felt the pace start to slow but she still felt incredibly...shaken. She shifted onto her side and lifted her head slightly to look at the clock. 4:33am. She sighed deeply. Deciding she needed a drink of water before she could go back to sleep, the blonde rolled out of bed and left her room.

The hall was once again dark. She couldn't really see very well, but managed to make her way down the steps and into the kitchen. After turning on the lights, she walked over to one of the cupboards, getting herself a small glass before filling it with cool water. Slipping the liquid over her lips, she swallowed thirstily, hoping to quench the thirst she had worked up from her dream. She sighed.

She hadn't had that dream, that memory, for a while. Not since she had been kicked out by Russell Fabray. She had been so thankful when she heard her mom talk about how she had driven him out the door, a knife pointed to his back as she yelled at him. Now it was just the two of them and Quinn was glad in a way, anything was better than having to live with Russell but still, she missed her sister dearly, without her, she felt so lonely.

"Hey, Quinnie. What are you doing up at this time?" Caught of guard by Judy who had been stading behind her, she wheeled around quickly and came face to face with her mom who was dressed in a white nightgown, hair slightly messy. Quinn wondered why she was up at this time. Judy wasn't a light sleeper and certainly didn't rise this early.

"Nothing, I just had a nightmare, that's all. What are you doing up?" She asked uncertainly, watching her mother's face carefully for any emotions, any reaction that would indicate why her mom was awake at 4am.

"Oh, I thought I heard something downstairs so I came to check it out. Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Quinn was suspicious of her mother's explanation. Yes, they had grown closer after Russll left but there was still this distance that existed between them. She didn't know if she could trust what Judy had said and that made her feel a tinge of something...sadness, maybe. She shook her head at the fact that she couldn't bring herself to fully believe her own mother's words.

Perhaps it was because of the lies, the breaking of trust that something was missing in their relationship, a bridge that had been destroyed in the process and couldn't be fixed. Not that easily, at least. Months had passed, not too many, but still...

She watched as Judy smiled broadly, almost adoringly, at her before kissing her forehead and leaving Quinn alone in the kitchen as she returned to her bedroom. Quinn just smiled back as she watched her mother leave.

The conversations they shared were few and far between, they were often shallow and barely delved deeper than how their day was. She knew that she wanted something more. She wanted to actually have a proper, healthy relationship with her mother and she was going to make it happen. She just really hoped that nothing would come along and ruin it before it even began.

A/N Thanks for all the reviews and alerts! Let me know what you thought of this chapter. For those wondering, this isn't the last we're going to see of Shelby. Review!