A/N: Quinn should have slapped Finn. I sure as hell would have.

Prom Queen

Quinn waved goodbye to Puck, who had been kind enough to offer her a ride home. The two of them had hardly spoken to one another since Beth had been born, but Quinn knew that they would always care for each other. They had been friends for too long not to.

Walking up the path toward her house, she really took a moment to appreciate how wonderfully the night had turned out. Despite all of the drama that had occurred tonight, she had had a lot of fun at prom.

Being prom queen was overrated anyway, she mused to herself as she strolled into the house. She took off her heels, a sigh a relief escaping from her lips. She had done a hell of a lot of dancing tonight.

"Mom?" she called out for her, noticing that the kitchen light was still on.

Her mother glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall before resting her eyes on her daughter.

"Right on time," she noted in approval, smiling at her.

"When have I ever come home past curfew?" Quinn challenged her, to which she received a raised eyebrow in response.

"Never mind," she mumbled, letting out a yawn.

"So, I heard prom was a bit of a let down," Judy commented, eyeing her daughter over the rim of her drink.

Quinn frowned at her remark, taking the seat next to her. How did she even find out?

"Yeah, Kurt won prom queen," she confirmed for her, knowing that a lecture was to come about how disappointed she was in her. "I'm sorry. I tried my best."

"Oh honey, I know you did," her mom answered, much to her surprise.

Judy set down her glass and rested a hand over hers.

Pulling her into a hug, she added, her voice a mere whisper, "You may not have won prom queen, but you look every bit like a princess, Quinnie."

Her daughter hugged her back tightly, having needed to hear her say those words more than she would ever be willing to admit. All she had ever wanted was for her parents to approve of her, to be proud of her.

"Thank you," she murmured in response before pulling away from her and getting up from her seat. "I'm really tired. Do you think we could continue this conversation tomorrow?"

She glanced at her mother apologetically.

"Of course," Judy agreed, smiling at her. "You go up and get some rest, Quinnie. I'll be up soon."

The blonde nodded in acknowledgement, heading purposefully up toward her room. Her mother, however, stopped her at the edge of the stairs, grabbing onto her elbow.

"Oh, I almost forgot," she exclaimed, although she attempted to keep her voice low. "Finn's up in your room waiting for you. He told me what happened at prom. I think he wants to apologize."

Quinn froze upon hearing his name. Suddenly, her night was starting to suck again.

"He can want anything," she told her mom, arms crossed in defiance, her nose in the air. "Whether I accept his apology or not is another matter."

She noticed her mother opening her mouth to comment, so before she could get a word out, Quinn clarified, "Which I won't be."

"Good," her mom praised her, taking her firmly by the hand. "I wouldn't want you to either. You know how much I love the boy, but no one treats my daughter like this and gets away with it. I heard him call you the most beautiful girl he had ever seen earlier and then he has the audacity to start a fight at prom over another girl? What was her name again, dear?"

Quinn had to smile, knowing that her mother had her back.

"Rachel," she echoed, squeezing her hand lightly to let her know she appreciated her support.

"Right, Rachel," her mother repeated before shooing her upstairs. "Now you get up there and tell Finn Hudson where he can stick that apology of his. If there's anything I learned from asking your father to leave, you don't need a man to make you feel like you're worth something."

I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale,
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet,
Lead her up the stairwell

Quinn nodded, suddenly filled with the strength she had forgotten she had. Before she swung open her bedroom door, she took a moment to compose herself. Once her cool, nonchalant demeanor was in place, she strolled into the room. He was sitting on her bed, a huge bouquet of roses beside him, an all too familiar pink, plastic crown in his hands. He stood up upon noticing her, grabbing the flowers and offering them to her.

"I'm so sorry I ruined your prom, Quinn," he apologized, still waiting for her to accept the bouquet.

Quinn held back a scoff. He was sorry for ruining her prom? How about for breaking her heart time and time again?

Say you're sorry
That face of an angel
Comes out just when you need it to

"Don't be," she told him, her voice cold and indifferent. "Because you didn't. I had a wonderful time without you."

She watched as his face fell, but he recovered quickly. Setting the roses aside, he took the crown in his hands again.

"I'm glad you did," he said, giving her a small smile. "For the record, you should have won prom queen. You should have been the one up there accepting that crown."

She shook her head, taking a seat in front of her vanity table.

"Setting aside the fact that the student body voted Kurt prom queen only to humiliate him for a moment," she voiced, taking a shaky breath. "I still shouldn't have won. I wouldn't have been happy if I had."

When she observed him through the mirror, she noticed the baffled expression upon his face.

"What do you mean?" he questioned, eyebrows knitted together in obvious confusion.

"Where's the joy in being queen when your king would rather be dallying with one of the handmaidens?" she asked him, a sarcastic laugh rolling off her tongue.

Stupid girl,
I should have known, I should have known

He knelt in front of her and took her hand. At first glance, he seemed sincere, but Quinn could see the sliver of guilt in his eyes.

And there you are on your knees,
Begging for forgiveness, begging for me

"That's not true," he promised her, willing for her to believe him. "I don't know what came over me. I honestly don't. I just…I love you, Quinn."

Baby I was naive,
Got lost in your eyes
And never really had a chance

She removed her hand from his and said, "I would have had more respect for you Finn if you had taken responsibility for your actions. Now, will you please just go home? I'm exhausted and I'd like to get some sleep."

He didn't fail to notice that she hadn't said those three words back to him. He stood up, defeat clearly written over his features as he made his leave.

"Does this mean we're over?" he whispered, his breath catching in his throat, his hand lingering on the doorknob.

This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town,
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down,
Now it's too late for you and your white horse to come around

"Ask me in the morning."

He nodded, realizing that he had really screwed up this time, that she was finally fed up with him taking advantage of her love for him.

When Quinn heard her mother close the front door of the house behind him minutes later, she closed her eyes, willing the tears not to fall.

They fell anyway.

I had so many dreams
About you and me
Happy endings
Now I know

When Judy Fabray checked up on her daughter half an hour later, she found her fast asleep, a bouquet of red roses and a pink, plastic crown in her trash can.

Neither woman had noticed the tiny card hidden among the flowers. Only when Quinn accidentally kicked over the garbage can the next morning did the little piece of paper flutter out onto the floor.

One rose for every time I thought about you after I was kicked out of prom. I am such an idiot for having wanted to be with anyone else but you tonight. - Finn

She counted a total of sixty three roses.

Maybe, just maybe she'd write a different ending to that Taylor Swift song.