A couple months and a secured Sectionals and Regionals later, Mr. Schuester is still skeptical about the glee club's unity as a team. The Finn-blabbermouth debacle of the year has come and passed, and it's safe to say that the whole thing is water under the bridge, but the good old Schuester is still pretty convinced that something else will blind side his motley crew of teenagers and derail their chances of nabbing the Nationals trophy during what is the last year of high school for some of them.

So he comes up with this…

"Alright everyone, let's all settle down," Mr. Schue announces as he walks into the room. Quinn stops midsentence and turns away from Mercedes and Tina to look at Mr. Schuester. The gossip can wait later.

"I know that Nationals is right around the corner and we should really be focusing on our song selection for that, but…" He trails off and Quinn can already feel her eyes rolling involuntarily. "I have one last assignment for you."

He takes the fedora resting on the piano and brings it up with him.

"I'm going to pull names out of this hat and pair you all up randomly," He explains. "The exercise will help you if the situation ever arose that you're forced to work with someone you don't normally work with or someone who has a different musical style like it often does in the real world. You'll be presenting in the order that I call you. Take note that your performance can also be a lead in for a solo at Nationals."

"Fair enough?" He asks them all, looking around the room. Rachel's hand immediately shoots up.

"Just for clarity's sake, will we be allowed to pick our own songs?" She asks with that look of hers.

"Sure, that's part of the assignment," Schuester explains. "Anything else?"

Rachel's hand shoots up again. Santana gives Quinn a pointed look before rolling her eyes and looking back at the front.

"Would it really be fair to wager a solo for Nationals if our chances can be potentially marred by who we are paired with?" She asks innocently and Quinn cringes. That girl…

"Well, it's not like anyone's going to be a shoe in after this assignment," Mr. Schue starts slowly. "But it'll be nice to see new combinations."

He hesitates to ask if anyone else has a question, but when nobody else says anything, he shrugs and takes out two pieces of paper from the fedora.

"Finn, you're with Tina," Mr. Schue announces as he reads off of the two pieces of paper. Quinn sees Finn turn around and give Tina a two thumbs up. "Kurt and Puck, give us what you've got."

"Alright, homie, up top," Puck smirks, holding a hand up for Kurt.

"Don't call me that," Kurt scoffs, giving him a high five nonetheless.

"Mike and Brittany," Schue announces. Mike looks at Brittany with a slight apologetic smile—probably for his supposed lack of singing abilities.

"Mercedes," Mr. Schue starts before pulling out another piece of paper. Quinn holds her breath, wondering if she'll be paired with her.

"You're with Artie."

"Chyea, girlfriend," Artie cheers, turning around and being met with a menacing eyebrow. "Just kidding?"

Quinn looks around the room. She's literally left with three people here and—

"Quinn," Schuester calls her and she snaps her head forward. "You're with…"

He starts saying but then he drops the piece of paper back into the hat. He apologizes to no one in particular before going back to pick up another piece of paper.

"Sam," He finishes and Quinn relaxes a little. She turns to Sam and gives him a small smile and he's holding his hand out low. She gives him a discreet "low-five" and shakes her head in fake disapproval.

"Like Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan," Sam tells her. "The dream team."

She just laughs.

"Which means," Mr. Schue continues and Quinn turns to Santana, who still hasn't been called yet. "It's going to be Rachel and Santana."

Quinn can see Santana's nose flare a little and she can't help but laugh a little. Santana looks at her with narrowed eyes and she just shrugs.

"I got jipped," Santana grumbles as they walk out of the choir room. She looks at Quinn with narrowed eyes. "How did you two end up together while I'm stuck with Yentl over there?"

Sam just laughs and Quinn shrugs.

"You'll be fine," She tells the other girl. She's been volunteering with Rachel for several months now and she hasn't strangled her yet. So she should know.

"Santana!" They hear a voice from behind them and all three of them turn around.

"Yes?" Santana asks with a raised eyebrow.

"I suggest that we meet immediately," Rachel starts with that tone of purpose that she almost always talks in. "Seeing as we have a lot work to do."

Santana's mouth hangs open and she looks at her incredulously.

"I sing just fine, thank you very much," She scoffs and Quinn stifles a laugh. She interjects before she and Sam get stuck in this conversation even more.

"As much as I'd love to watch you two attempt to collaborate, Sam and I should really get going since we have work tonight," She explains, starting to walk backwards and away from them. Sam follows suit, waving to the other girls.

"So," Sam starts as they're cleaning up the tables after dinner. "What do think we should sing? 'Cause I was totally gonna go for some sci-fi tributes. Or maybe country."

"Sam, I don't think we can hum to the Star Wars soundtrack and have it count."

"But that would be so awesome," Sam reasons as he balances a stack of plates on his arm.

Quinn laughs.

"How about we both come up with three possible songs and then just do a quick guitar accompanied duet to pick the best one?" She offers. "I'm sure my mom and your family can help with judging which one's the best."

Sam nods.

"I like the way you think, young padawan."

Quinn shakes her head and throws a stray carrot at him.

"Hey, did you already turn in your OSU application?" Sam asks her casually.

"Yep, I turned it in with Santana," Quinn replies. It's not her dream school, but everyone needs a safety school and that's OSU for her. "Did you?"

"Um, not really," Sam says with a sheepish grin. "I want my application to be perfect and I'm not really the smartest tool in the shed. I'm doing the regular deadline."

Quinn looks at him. It's really the first time she's ever had a conversation about colleges with Sam. Angie's helped her narrow down her college list and because she likes to be on top of everything, Quinn's already taken care of all of her applications. OSU might be her safety, but it's Sam's dream school.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," She reassures him. "We can look over your essays if you want."

Sam looks up at her with a big smile.

"Really? That'd be awesome if you could."

Quinn still doesn't have any songs an hour before she said she'd meet with Sam to work on arrangements. She's waiting for Rachel for their free dinner after volunteering and she really can't think of anything.

"Sorry for the hold up," Rachel announces as she comes running up to Quinn. "What were you thinking about?"

"Huh? Oh," Quinn's a little startled, what with Rachel's dramatic entrances, but she starts walking with her to the cafeteria. "I'm supposed to come up with three possible songs for glee club. I have none as of the moment. That and colleges."

"Oh, what about colleges?" Rachel asks with an excited tone as they make their way to the stairwell.

"I was just helping Sam with his OSU application," Quinn mused. "I didn't realize that early decision letters for OSU will be coming out soon. I'm slightly nervous that I won't get in."

"You'll be fine Quinn," Rachel reassures her. "I have no doubt that you'll get into OSU."

"Thanks," Quinn mumbles. "At least I have some time to prepare for rejection before top tier schools send out their decision letters."

She laughs. But she's only half joking.

"That's the same weekend as Nationals, right?" Rachel quips. "I'll be coming home to either a large, happy envelope or a sad and normal sized envelope from NYU. After we win Nationals of course."

Quinn laughs.

"Of course," She mimics Rachel.

"Well, the same goes for your Stanford letter," Rachel adds.

Quinn doesn't say anything. She doesn't really like mentioning what her top school is—it means less people will have to know if she doesn't get in. Angie knows, just because she's partially the reason why Quinn looked into it in the first place. Her mom knows, since she helped Quinn pay for some of the application fees. And Santana knows, just because she nagged Quinn until she caved (but only after Santana admitted that she wants to go to Northwestern University in Chicago).

And Rachel knows because honestly, is there anything that Rachel doesn't know?

Stanford seems so perfect: a beautiful campus, California weather, a top medical program. Never mind the massive price tag. Her mom and her are pretty much making ends meet at the moment. She can only hope that she gets a hefty financial aid package. She would rather die than ask her ass of a father for money.

Once they're inside the cafeteria, Rachel nods gets their drinks from the refrigerator and Quinn grabs two trays.

"You know," Rachel starts with her conspiratorial tone. "I really shouldn't be offering any advice since we're technically in competition with each other…"

Quinn rolls her eyes.

"But I do think that you and Sam harmonize well with simple songs with a guitar," Rachel finishes off.

Quinn thinks about it as she reaches for two banana nut muffins.

"And I have some song suggestions, if you'd like," Rachel adds while they look for an empty table.

"Sure," Quinn tells her, spotting a table by the windows. "How's your duet going?"

Rachel sighs.

"So far, Santana's resisted all her urges to strangle me," she explains. "But that's really all because of me; since I've been choosing semi-public places to meet in the event that her homicidal tendencies take over and I would need to call for help."

Quinn shakes her head and laughs at this ridiculousness.

"So what are these songs again?"

Rachel gives her one song. She and Sam put up a mini trial concert for her mom and his siblings and there's not a doubt in the house that the song is perfect.

Finn and Tina are up first and Quinn can only think of how unusual the two of them look in front of everyone else. Unusual in the sense that she's just never seen that two of them in this capacity. Drums and snapping open up the act and Tina starts humming shortly before Finn joins in. Quinn immediately knows what it is.

"Little bitty pretty one," Finn starts singing.

Quinn smiles because this reminds her of a movie she watched over and over again as a child.

The song ends and it's a pretty good performance. Kurt and Puck come up and Quinn doesn't know if they coordinated their outfits or not, but it works.

"What would you think if I sang out of tune," Puck starts off and Quinn can hear Sam saying something along the lines of 'nice, the Beatles!' next to her.

Kurt gives Puck a high five when they finish the song and Brittany immediately runs to the front. Quinn's really interested to see this, since Mike has been so shy about his singing abilities. Brittany counts them off and starts singing and dancing with Mike.

"I'm feelin' sexy and free," She sings out with a big smile on her face. Quinn sees Santana looking at the two with a small smile on her face.

Mike sings the pre-chorus and literally wows everyone else to silence.

"We can do this all night," He sings with some fancy footwork before winking at Tina's direction. There's a cat call and Quinn starts laughing.

They end the song with a dance showdown and Quinn's convinced that they have to work this into Nationals somehow.

Artie and Mercedes come up to the front after Mike and Brittany take a seat. The music starts and Artie starts singing. It's not a song Quinn's heard of before, but it's really good and perfect for their duet.

"You are the reason I stay," Artie croons.

"I stay, I stay," Mercedes sings next to him, rocking out and swaying.

It's amazing and making Quinn nervous and she just hugs Mercedes when she and Sam get up for their turn.

Sam looks at her with a smile and nods. He starts strumming his guitar and Quinn takes a deep breath.

"She grew up on the side of the road," Quinn starts singing. "Where the church bells ring and strong love grows."

This is a really ironic song, Quinn finds herself thinking as Sam starts singing his part. The lyrics do but don't reflect her life in a weird way. They get to the chorus and Quinn finds herself looking at Rachel, wondering if she thought about the same thing when she recommended the song to Quinn.

"Tryin to be everything can make you lose your mind," Quinn sings out and Rachel just gives her a small smile. Like she knows what she's thinking.

They finish the song and Quinn's not going to lie—it's not solo material, but they sure sounded great.

"And finally," Mr. Schue says from the front row, turning around to look at Santana and Rachel.

The two of them make it to the front and it's awkward at first. Like two rival singers told to sing with one mic.

The jazzy sound starts playing and Quinn's not so sure what this song is.

"Closed off from love," Rachel starts singing. "I didn't need the pain."

Rachel sings through the chorus of one song before Santana starts singing the verse of another song.

"Now you think that I," Santana sings. "Will be something on the side."

Quinn raises one eyebrow. Of course Rachel and Santana can't just settle on one song. They had to do a mash up of two. It's pretty impressive. And looking around the choir room, Quinn knows everyone else is thinking of the same thing. Quinn can't believe no one ever thought of having Santana and Rachel sing a duet before.

That Friday, OSU releases its acceptance offers for people who applied to the early admission program.

Quinn and Santana are at Quinn's watching Jersey Shore when Quinn remembers and they both check their online OSU accounts.

Five minutes later, both she and Santana are jumping up and down in her basement, screaming and dancing and singing at the top of their lungs. It might not be their top school, but it's the first school that they both got into and that's something to go berserk about.

They both almost crush Quinn's mom when she comes down, worried after hearing their screams.

It's the weekend after they sang their duets for glee club and Quinn's over at Rachel's to work on their lab reports. Rachel Berry being Rachel Berry and Quinn being Quinn, they finish early and are now four episodes deep into Drop Dead Diva.

"I wish I came up with a series as brilliant as this," Quinn mumbles casually, digging into the popcorn.

"I occasionally find myself wishing that," Rachel nods, grabbing her platter of carrot sticks. "I would have loved to obsess over the court room jargon and fashion. And I would have included a musical number or two. But then, what would we watch in the meantime while I still haven't penned this marvelous story in an alternate universe?""

Quinn rolls her eyes.

Rachel looks at her with her eyebrows knit together.

"Although I don't think I'm clever enough for the snappy dialogue," She muses. "That's more of a 'you and Santana' kind of talent. Maybe I could hire you both to insert witty comments throughout the script."

"You've obviously thought this through," Quinn looks at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, well if you didn't already notice," Rachel reasons as digs into her home made dip. "I have a tendency to plan everything down to the last detail. So then nothing will go wrong. Nada. Zilch. Kaput."

"Alright there, I get the point," Quinn says with an eye roll, shaking her head. She threw a popcorn at Rachel, laughing at the other girl screaming.

"Planning is good," Quinn says off handedly a couple of minutes later. "I mean, glee club has managed to stay afloat all these years."

"If that is your backhanded way of complimenting me for all the time and effort I've put into glee, then thank you. And fret not, this year, we're actually going to prepare for Nationals. No more of this let's all write a song the night before the competition crap."

Her words stick to Quinn and she mulls over them while she watches the show. Much, much later in the week, she comes up to Rachel when she sees her standing by her locker.

"I think I have the perfect song for our group number," she says before Rachel even has a chance to say good morning.

Songs used:

Thurston Harris - Little Bitty Pretty One

The Beatles - With a Little Help From My Friends

Jessie J - Domino

Fitz & the Tantrums - Pickin' Up the Pieces

Lady Antebellum - American Honey

Leona Lewis/Duffy - Bleeding Love/Mercy (Calmucho mash up)