Episode 13, Chapter 1:

"What's the difference between gossip and scandal?" So glad you asked, UESForever. Anyone can commit a minor indiscretion and generate a day's worth of buzz, but in order to birth a true scandal, it requires the right person to be in the wrong place. Take one It Girl on a pedestal. Add a crowd eager to see her fall. And give them the means to knock her down

Rachel lived to troll Gossip Girl. Most of the time there wasn't anything jaw dropping. She was used to seeing the usual embarrassing photos from the spray tanners or nose jobs gone array. Once in a while a group shot found its way to the site with her in the background, and she'd immediately save it to her computer. Today, she found something surprising.

"Blaine!" she cried, and Blaine rushed to her aid.

"What? Why'd you call me?" he said on one foot as he leaned into her room.

"Did you see this?" she said shoving her computer in his face. "Your boyfriend was spotted shirtless at the gym with a brand-new tattoo."

"When did he get that? I just saw him! —How old is this? Maybe it's not real."

"I think it's real. Look what it says: 'It's got Bette Midler." Strange, but somehow it makes sense. I think you two have something to talk about. You're welcome," she smiled, and it took a moment to follow her train of thought. Blaine grinned cheekily at his sister, going to his computer to Skype with Kurt with the hope of getting cyber-lucky.

Kurt smirked when Blaine brought up his new tat. He got it the day after they were last together, but it originally was supposed to say something completely different: It gets better. But the atrocity that it turned out to be was: Its got better. The tattooist was lucky Kurt didn't sue him! He had been waiting to unveil it privately, but it looked like the cat was out of the bag, and now all of Gossip Girl's followers had seen it.

"Well, I can't wait to see it in person. I never imagined you'd be the tattoo type."

"I didn't think I was either, but I just went for it. I thought it'd be a fun little treat before Valentine's Day. Show a little love... to myself!" Kurt joked.

"Maybe I should get one…do you think I'd look good?"

"I know you'd look good with one, but I don't want you to get one."

"Why not?" he pouted.

"Because I like you just the way you are, completely untouched, untainted by anyone," Kurt smiled at Blaine's red face, "except me," he added.

Before school the next day, no one would have guessed the name-dropping scandal to blow into town. On the steps of the Met that morning, nothing was unusual. Quinn was with her two best girls, Brittany and Santana, and some new transfer hot shots who'd just come back to William McKinley. Quinn knew to make good with them quickly. Sugar Motta always wore bold, flashy necklaces; Sunshine Corazón liked fiddler hats; Becky Jackson was a unique character with red rectangle glasses.

Sugar had them all on the edge of their seat as she went into detail about the extravaganza she was about to throw in honor of Valentine's Day, which was her absolute favorite day of the year. Her daddy bought her a popular restaurant that was being renamed 'Sugar Shack' for the occasion.

"What does your father do again, Sugar?" Quinn asked.

"He sells pianos. He doesn't work for the mob if that's what you're thinking, and everyone thinks that," she said.

Rachel arrived late to the steps. Her train was delayed in-between stations for 25 minutes and then, deciding to chance her luck, she got out of the subway. She ran in black snow to get there before classes started. Quinn took one look at her and groaned.

"You're late, Rachel."

"I know. I'm sorry it won't happen again," she said breathing heavily and sitting on a top step. Quinn wasn't having it. "Do me a favor and take about two steps down. You smell like the subway system."

"Come on Q, you know I tried to get here on time," Rachel sat still waiting for a change. Quinn wasn't budging though. Rachel got up. While she was still taller than the other girl, she took advantage. "I'm pretty sure I've proven myself by now. It doesn't make sense that I'm still being hazed."

"If you have a problem, you can leave," Quinn said. Santana looked interested, but Brittany looked hurt. She actually liked Rachel. The short brunette spun on her heel and raced down the steps. She had time before class now to pick herself up a hot tea.

"Why'd you make her leave?" Brittany asked dopily. Santana nudged her shoulder and shook her head. Brittany continued to pout. Kurt was next up the steps just missing Rachel.

"Hey girls, sorry I'm late. I couldn't get out of bed this morning. They had a Real Housewives of Orange County marathon last night, and I forgot how good that show was!"

"I understand, Kurt. Here, sit next to me," Quinn moved her feet so he could sit on the step below her as hierarchy dictated.

"I don't get it. Why'd you make Rachel leave because she was late and you're okay with Kurt sitting next to you?" Brittany asked. Santana looked up at the sky.

"You made Rachel leave?" Kurt asked. "Come on Quinn, she can sit with us already."

"I make those calls…" she replied. Kurt sighed. "You didn't say hi to our friends,"

He greeted them, "Sugar, Sunshine…Becky."

"Hey Pancake face!" Becky beamed. Kurt's mouth opened in confusion and offense. He rolled his eyes, tightened his mouth and bit his tongue. He shook his head refusing to look at her. She smiled proud of herself.

"Becky, that's not very nice, Kurt's our friend," Quinn defended him.

"Bite me, Fabray!" she yelled for no good reason. Santana stuck her hand out.

"Okay, this is ridiculous, Becky! I don't care how many chromosomes you have, but if you insult another one of my friends, I'll end you and that's it!"

"Bring it, Sandbags!" Becky yelled. Santana had to be physically held back.

"Well, that was more than enough excitement for one morning," Quinn said when they were all calmed down and sitting comfortably again.

"So, besides the big party, Sugar, what else is new with you?"

"Yeah, why did you move in the first place?" Santana asked.

"Well, Daddy had business that was going to take a while, and he wanted to make sure he did it himself or else people get away and things get messy."

Kurt tilted her head wondering if she was serious.

"What about you Sunshine?" Quinn asked quickly.

"My dad had to go to the Philippines last year for work, but we've officially moved back," Sunshine smiled. "At least, I hope," she added as an afterthought.

"That's wonderful! It must be so cool being the daughter of an Ambassador. You must have been all kinds of cool places," Quinn said.

"I've been all over Asia: Laos, Malaysia, Beijing, Japan, even India—"

Brittany laughed, and they all looked at her making funny faces with Becky.

"What are you doing?" the head blonde asked her.

"Oh, me and Becky were just making faces. Hers are so good. Did you see—?" Santana shook her head to be quiet so she did. She mouthed 'sorry.'

"Well, this sure has been interesting, but can you and I talk privately, Quinn?" Kurt asked aloud getting her attention. Together, they walked down to get some privacy in a wide-open place. He could laugh and pretend to be civil, but there was something he'd been thinking about since the day before when Quinn had gotten him really nervous.

"What is it, Kurt?" she asked him.

"It's not about me. How are you? Did you take the test?"

"Like I told you a million times yesterday, no. Look, I don't know if you know this, but there's no quiet way of going about getting those... tests," she said quietly like it was a dirty word, she looked over her shoulder in case anyone was eavesdropping on her.

"It doesn't matter how quiet it is. You need to find out quickly."

"I'm fine, Kurt. You're just overreacting."

"Based on what you told me, it can't be put aside, Quinn. It's Puck's baby," he said through gritted teeth so he wouldn't yell.

"What if it doesn't exist?" she snapped back loudly. She took a breath. "I can handle this by myself, Kurt. I'll see you in class. Don't forget to pick something up for Sugar's party tomorrow night," she said waltzing away.

And for a scandal to really blow up, all it needs is an unexpected turn.

Honestly Quinn was nervous, but she wouldn't let Kurt or anybody else know. What was even worse than the possibility that she was pregnant was the possibility of it being Puck's. If when she got home to take the test, she turned out to be pregnant, then she would swear until her dying day that it was her boyfriend's. Puck wouldn't take any responsibility anyway. She couldn't trust that he could handle it. He'd probably be grateful to not have to deal with it.

After cutting ties with Puck, she oddly couldn't stop thinking about him.

When Sam walked up to Quinn who instinctively held her books to her stomach, she was shocked by his touch.

"Are you alright?"

"Of course," she immediately put on her fake smile, "tired maybe."

"You should get some sleep. I know there's a classroom on the third floor that doesn't have class right now. Sometimes I skip a class and take some naps."

"I'm going to class. I'm trying to get into Yale remember," she kept the smile.

"Yeah sure, I'm probably not getting into an Ivy League anymore. Without my dad around, maybe I could actually pursue my dream."

"Wait, what's your dream?" she didn't think she'd ever heard it.

"To be a model: billboards, Times Square, these abs. I never thought it would happen, but I think it might now." Quinn smiled blinded by how adorable he was. "Quinn?"

"Yes," she answered.

"You really should get some sleep."

"No, I'm fine, really."

"Okay, I wanted to ask you something else. Do you think you can visit my dad with me? It's another one of those visiting days, and I still can't do it on my own."

"I'd love to," she answered quietly; her smile was genuine.

"Thanks, and, oh, I have surprise for tomorrow! I shouldn't tell you, but I think you're going to love it." She still looked like she was in dreamland, but Sam didn't notice. He kissed her cheek and went to his next class.

Kurt debated all day what to do about Quinn. She was very hard to get through to if she had already decided not to listen. He needed to ask someone for advice and the best person to get advice from was Blaine. This meant going behind Quinn's back and telling Blaine what he knew. Even though she might not have trusted him with this type of secret, Kurt knew he could trust Blaine. They had date night most nights so he could bring it up right away. He made sure Rachel wasn't around because the last thing he needed was for her to know too.

"Is something on your mind? You've been looking at me the whole dinner with this serious look on your face," Blaine said as he opened his fridge to find milk for the coffee they were going to drink with dessert.

"Okay yes, I need to tell you something, and it can't leave this apartment, or even this par-tic-ular conversation. It's not supposed to be my secret to tell, but I need your help."

"This sounds serious," he said turning on his cappuccino machine. Kurt nodded slightly and finally when Blaine sat down in front of him with the coffee, he spoke the words.

"Quinn's pregnant."

Blaine breathed audibly though his nose, tasting it in his mouth for a second before asking the obvious first question.

"Is it Sam's?"

Kurt chewed on his piece but slightly shook his head.

"Puck's," Kurt replied. He wasn't surprised at all by the look Blaine gave him.

"No!" Blaine said feeling like he was living in one of the Bravo shows he loved.

"My thoughts exactly. Sam and Quinn just got together too. It couldn't be more stressful, crazy timing. She's trying to handle this all by herself, but she handles things herself by ignoring things she doesn't like."

"I'm assuming Puck doesn't know. And Sam—" he froze as he thought about it, "Wow, that's bad."

"I know so what do I do?"

"I mean Puck's got to know. I'm sure she wouldn't want Sam to know details, but Puck deserves to know as the dad, and maybe he could convince her to take it seriously now before it's too late to make a decision."

While the advice sounded good with the information Kurt knew, when he told Puck, he learned there was more to the story that he hadn't known, i.e., Quinn never told him she had sex with Sam.

Now, all that Kurt managed to do by telling the Mohawk-wearing teen was to get another person involved in one girl's business.

"How could you not tell me about you and Sam? That's big news!" Kurt barged in yelling. He'd given up the rest of his date night on his stroll to Puck's apartment and now Quinn's. He was going to burst from all the excess stress. She sighed loudly.

"I doubted sex with Sam would be anything you haven't heard or seen before," Quinn had to improve the security here. Just because Kurt was often at her house did not mean they had to let him in without asking her first.

"That's low, Quinn," he crossed his arms.

"Why was Sam talking to you about our sex-life?"

"I didn't hear that from him. I heard it from Puck of all people when I talked to him about talking to you."

"Wait, you told Puck?! Are you out of your mind? Why would you do that?" Quinn yelled as she rushed towards him. He put out his hands to defend himself in case.

"Because I was worried, and you don't like to hear certain things. Someone has to be the mature one!"

"Kurt, I took the test already. I'm not pregnant!" she hugged him, which was hands-y-ness they were usually both uncomfortable with, but at this moment was very much enjoyed.

"Nah nah honey, I'm good / I could have another but I probably should not / I've got somebody at home," someone started singing. Early in the morning in the courtyard, Quinn and Kurt looked up for the voice, and the band that'd been set up on the steps as a certain blonde sang his way down them. "It's been a long night here, and a long night there / And these long long legs are damn near everywhere / Hold up now / You look good, I will not lie / But if you ask where I'm staying tonight / I gotta be like oh baby, no baby, you got me all wrong baby / My baby's already got all of my love," Sam winked at Quinn, who smiled gorgeously.

"So nah, nah Honey, I'm good / I could have another but I probably should not / I've got somebody at home, and if I stay I might not leave alone / No, honey, I'm good / I could have another, but I probably should not / I've got to bid you adieu / To another I will stay true (oo oo owoo) I will stay true (oo oo owoo) I will stay true," Sam sang getting closer to his target. There were dancers now performing around him, and Kurt was honestly impressed. Quinn only had eyes for him.

"Now better men, than me have failed / Drinking from that unholy grail / Now check it out / I've got her, and she got me / And you've got that ass, but I kindly gotta be like / Oh baby, no baby, you got me all wrong baby / My baby's already got all of my love / So nah nah Honey, I'm good / I could have another but I probably should not / I've got somebody at home, and if I stay I might not leave alone / No, honey, I'm good / I could have another, but I probably should not / I've got to bid you adieu / To another I will stay true (oo oo owoo) I will stay true (oo oo owoo) I will stay true (oo oo owoo) That's right, I will stay true (oo oo owoo)."

Sam stood in front of Quinn, who his song was meant for. He had at least four cameras documenting the performance.

Blaine had found Kurt in the mob crowd that formed of students, teachers and passerby. He hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek making Kurt blush.

'Oh, I'm sure ya, sure ya will make somebody's night / But oh, I assure ya assure ya, it sure as hell's not mine." Sam sang the chorus two more times before finishing on his knees in front of Quinn. He showed her the rose he'd been hiding behind his back the entire time.

"That's the most amazing thing anyone's ever done for me," she said lifting him so they could kiss. The whole crowd erupted in cheers. Santana and Brittany threw fake confetti made from their homework, and eventually everyone followed their lead.

"I also wanted to give you something," he said showing her a promise ring. "It's only a promise ring, but I do want to marry you one day. This ring will symbolize my promise to you to be true. I'll never pressure to you to do anything more than kiss. I promise to make you feel proud when you walk down the hall and say 'that guy's my boyfriend.' I want us to be together for real, for always. What do you say?" She was overwhelmed, and she knew with everything on her plate she should be jumping for joy that this boy (finally) wanted her, but she had grown to be a bit more cautious.

"I say... maybe," she said turning down the ring but hugging him again. He couldn't say he wasn't disappointed. He still smiled because he knew if he waited, he could change her mind.

Quinn still walked into school with more joy than she could bear, but she passed it off as her usual levelheaded, indisputable malice.

At lunch, there was another serenading of Rachel with the song 'Stereo Hearts.' Finn didn't do the singing, but he'd sent some choir friends of his to do the honors. Rachel was thrilled to be a part of it. Finn, who was never great at romance, had been winning the holidays. Rachel didn't have anything for him, but a very public kiss, which got the whole school talking. There were very few freshmen girls who had boyfriends, which made her part of a special elite few.

After the first two musical displays of love, Blaine took it upon himself to join in all the fun. By gathering some of his show choir friends to back him up with an acapella version of 'Teenage Dream,' which was always his favorite Katy Perry song. Kurt couldn't take his eyes off of him and believed he'd fallen in love all over again. Blaine was too good at being cute, charming, and sexy that it was likely going to drive him mad. He was thankful they were dating so that afterward he could kiss him in front of the school. Their kiss gave all the other kisses a run for their money.

~A.N. Sam singing and declaring his love? We STAN! Welcoming Sugar, Sunshine and Becky as some popular/mean girls! Hope Quinn's story turns out all right-it's a nail-bitter!