I went ahead and rewrote part of this chapter because someone pointed out to me that Quinn was being too bitchy for how she should have reacted to the situation. Hopefully this is more to that person's liking. A big thank you to the anonymous reviewer who pointed it out to me.

Chapter 28: No Air

(Season 1, Episode 7: Throwdown)

Spanish Class

The next day, Quinn, Finn, and Brittany were sitting in their shared Spanish class, taking a test. Quinn was about three quarters of the way through her test when a folded sheet of paper fell on the paper in front of her. She looked up and saw Finn returning to his desk from where he had pretended to be stretching.

"What is this?" Quinn whispered.

"Check it out. I came up with a name that I think would be good for the kid." Finn turned around to gauge her reaction.

"Eyes on your own test, Finn." Mr. Schue called from the front of the room. Finn sat forward until Mr. Schue was busy helping Ronnie, one of the guys on the football team, with his fifth question within 10 minutes.

"Anyway, then I read that Gwyneth Paltrow named her kid Apple and I thought that's so cool because you know how much I love apples, right?" Quinn looked up from her test and glared at her boyfriend, hoping he would either get to the point of quit talking so that she could finish her test. "So I figured we should name our kid something more original." Quinn picked up the paper and opened it, reading the childish scrawl that Finn called handwriting. "Then I came up with the best baby name of all time."

Drizzle.

Freaking. Drizzle.

'Why am I dating this numbskull again?' Quinn mentally asked herself.

"Drizzle." Quinn said, not even bothering to whisper anymore.

"Yeah. 'Cause, you know how awesome it is when it's just drizzling outside but it's not really raining so it smells like rain but you don't need an umbrella to go outside." Quinn wanted more than anything to let him know just how much of a moron she thought he was being right now, but held back the insult that was on her tongue. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, then whispered again.

"Finn, while I think it's great that you're taking an interest in our baby, I would really prefer not to talk about baby names right now."

"What? But-"

"Just finish your test. We'll talk after class." Quinn took her test back from Brittany and went back to work. She was the first to turn in her test, and waited patiently for Finn to finish. Once he was done they left the room together.

"What's going on, Quinn?"

"You are so insensitive, bringing up baby names when you know I don't want to keep it. I can't keep it."

"I know, but what am I supposed to do about it?"

"Not have an opinion." Quinn kept walking while Finn stood there in shock. He ran to catch up with her.

"Hey, this is happening to me too!"

"No it's not!" Quinn turned and faced Finn. "You aren't the one whose parents will burn her like a witch if they find out. You say this is happening to you too, but you're the one who got up and left before we found out the sex of the baby! Rachel and Scott were the ones who stayed and helped me through it. I don't see how you could say you're part of this when you can't even sit there and hold my hand while I'm getting a freaking ultrasound! On top of that, I haven't seen a single cent of yours go towards any of the medical bills. Scott and I have had to pay for all of this on our own." Quinn thanked god that there was no one in the hallway, because she was too angry to control her voice volume. She turned to her locker and started shoving books into it before retrieving the ones she'd need for Geometry and Chemistry.

"You know, sometimes I wish you were more like Rachel." Quinn turned and stared at Finn.

"Really?"

"Yeah. She cares about my feelings. She sticks up for me. She sticks up for both of us. You know she gave that Jacob kid a pair of her underpants just to keep him from posting on his blog about you being pregnant." Quinn stood stock still, staring through glass eyes at the boy.

"She did that? For me?"

"Yeah, that's what she told me. And whether you realize it or not, she cares for you. I think, given the opportunity, she'd do it all over again."

"I need to go." Quinn closed her locker and ran down the hallway to the bathroom, where she immediately rushed into one of the stalls and threw up her lunch.

"Quinn?" She heard Rachel's familiar voice call. "I saw you run in here. Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, just…you know." She dry retched into the toilet again before standing up and leaving the stall. She wiped her mouth on a paper towel and proceeded to brush her teeth with the brush and toothpaste she kept in her backpack.

"Morning sickness?" Quinn nodded, unable to look Rachel in the eyes. The weight of what Finn had told her was still heavy on her shoulders. Once Quinn was done, she returned her brush to her backpack.

"There's something I need to ask you."

"Sure. Ask away."

"Yesterday, you said that you did something for Jewfro so that he wouldn't run a story about you and Finn being a couple." Rachel nodded. "Were you lying to me?"

"N-no, why would you think that?"

"I talked to Finn after Spanish today. He was suggesting baby names…We fought…said some things…He said that you gave Jewfro a pair of panties to stop him from running a story on my pregnancy." Rachel stared at the floor between them guiltily. "You could have told me…"

"I know. It's just…well, I know you're going through a lot of stress right now. I didn't want you to have anything else to worry about. It doesn't matter, anyway. I got Jacob's silence. No harm done."

"Rachel, we both know that's not true." Rachel finally looked up from the floor and met Quinn's gaze. "You did far too much to stop Jewfro from running that story. I mean, you gave him a pair of your panties! Everyone knows how much of a perv he is, especially towards you." Rachel's gaze returned to the ground.

"I'm sorry." Quinn stepped forward and pulled the girl into a hug.

"I'm not mad at you. If anything, I'm mad at Jewfro. He's gone way too far. I'm thinking he's long due for a slushy facial, and maybe a patriotic wedgie to go along with it." Rachel giggled and returned the hug.

"I thought you said you were going to try to stop being a bitch to people."

"I did. But I reserve the right to let the HBIC out when people deserve a reality check." Quinn released the tiny diva from her hug. "I'm also going to break into Jacob's locker and steal your underwear back. He sure as hell doesn't deserve them." Rachel grinned.

"Just try not to get suspended, okay?"

"No promises." The girls shared one last hug before going their separate ways to class.

Choir Room

Mercedes had called the entire club into the choir room directly after their last class so that they could have a private jam session without having to worry about Sue Sylvester breathing down their necks. Mercedes looked up at the clock and sighed.

"We'd better go, you guys." She said. "Ms. Sylvester is expecting us in ten minutes in the dance studio." The kids said their goodbyes and greeted Mr. Schue as he came in before leaving.

"Alright good news, guys." Their teacher said. "I brought the band with me, and I think we've got our number for Sectionals."

"Mr. Schue, we don't like what this has become." Rachel said. "We're supposed to be a team. Why are we being broken apart?"

"Don't you guys see? That is how Sue wants you to feel. Giving up doesn't help anyone but her. If it were up to me, we would all perform together at Sectionals, but it's not up to me anymore. Sue's gonna do her song, and we're gonna do ours. Now, Sue's kids are singing about hate. Literally. So I thought we could try a kinder approach." He handed out sheet music to everyone still assembled in the room. "I also thought we'd try out something a little different. Normally we'd have two people take the lead on a song, but I was thinking since Sue was nice enough to leave us with Rachel and Finn, as well as Scott and Mariah, that we would try a double duet."

"Double duet?" Finn asked, looking at the sheet music.

"It's when four leads are split into pairs and those pairs sing separate parts in a song." Rachel stated.

"It helps to showcase the group's talent a bit more than a regular duet, and it also gives the song a little more spice by adding other voices to the mix." Scott added.

"Right. So Finn and Rachel are one pair, Mariah and Scott are the other."

"Ooh, I love this song!" She patted Finn on the knee. "C'mon. Follow my lead." Quinn felt a tightening in her stomach as she and Finn laughed happily on their way up. Scott and Mariah joined them moments later.

"So much for togetherness." Quinn muttered as the music began. She, Brittany, and Puck took their places in the back as they began.

This chapter is a tiny bit short, but I think it's making room for a larger chapter coming up in the next day or two, so look forward to that. It should also be the last chapter covering Throwdown, unless things change drastically from what I have planned. The next chapter will start off with their big performance.

Update: Got landed with a surprise project by the Corps to take care of today, so chances are you can expect the next chapter to go up tomorrow. I'll do everything in my power to finish it today, but I can't promise any results.