Ms. Pillsbury was an angel sent from the Heavens. Quinn need not have worried at all about how she would work her pumping schedule around her classes, because by the time she arrived at school on Monday, her lovely guidance counselor had already worked that out for her. She called Quinn down at the start of first period to explain the plan.

Quinn was already working hard to make everyone forget she'd just given birth two weeks ago. The trouble was, she was still healing from birth, still doing all these things her peers knew nothing about. Running around, trying to pretend she was back to normal was already killing her. And though many people that passed her by had commented that she looked good that morning, the spanx under her carefully-chosen skirt and cardigan were doing the heavy lifting needed in order to make that possible.

"You must be exhausted," was the first thing Ms. Pillsbury said when Quinn walked into her office, carrying the huge purse she was using to inconspicuously transport her breast pump from place to place.

"Is it that obvious?" That was her gut-reaction, for she had been struggling all morning and even Artie had commented that it must have been tiring, trying to put on a show for everyone like she was doing.

Earlier, when she'd barely had time for breakfast, due to the demanding first-morning pump and bag routine, he'd seen her frantically buttering a piece of toast and innocently made a remark that she'd carry with her all day.

"You don't have to pretend it's all fine, you know," was what he'd said, on their way out the door.

Artie had driven them both to school, as he would be doing for the remaining two weeks of school. Quinn technically still had her car, but she'd left it parked at Mercedes' house. She'd been planning to text her father soon and let him know that he could go there to pick it up. DeShaun would give him the keys, and hopefully, her father wouldn't say anything racist. She just really didn't want to use anything that he'd paid for, including that damn car. She didn't want to owe him anything.

They hadn't talked about it on the way to school, but Quinn very much understood that Artie spoke from a place of personal experience when he told her that she didn't have to pretend everything was fine when it wasn't.

Except he was wrong, when it came to Quinn Fabray. If she wanted to climb back to the top, tired or not, she had to start now. She wanted people to know she'd come out of his whole experience a stronger, better person. Perhaps she could spin this into something positive. Coach Sylvester would surely let her rejoin the Cheerios once she realized that the squad could essentially take credit for Quinn's rehabilitation, from homeless pregnant teenager to their star cheerleading captain again.

Only now Ms. Pillsbury had seen right through her big fake smile, probably noting the bags under her eyes, the dark circles that told the whole story.

"I took the liberty of telling all your teachers that you'll be pumping and you'll need breaks for that," Ms. Pillsbury said, noticing the way Quinn opened her mouth to ask how she knew. "It was Artie who let me know. I have a room here in my office that has its own lock and key. It's where I keep the students' files. And, really, those are also locked, so there's no risk in letting you in there. What I'm saying is, I know you need a private place to pump. So, use my extra room. And you can store your milk in my mini-fridge."

Quinn bit her lip to keep from crying. Because, besides her flabby stomach, tears were the other thing she'd been holding in all day. She just hugged her counselor instead, thanking her profusely and then leaving her heavy bag in the tiny filing cabinet closet, which already contained a comfortable chair that looked like it had been a recent addition. She made plans to come back between first and second period for her first pumping session of the day. She would miss the beginning of Mr. Schuester's class, but naturally, he wouldn't be marking her tardy.

She finished her class, and by the time the bell rang, she was hightailing it across campus to get back to the counselor's office. On her way in, she was met by Artie at the door.

"What are you doing here?" she breathed, stepping aside to allow him entry.

"I have my scheduled, weekly meeting with Ms. Pillsbury," Artie explained, as Quinn learned for the first time that he did this. "She started meeting with me last semester, to help me adjust to high school. It's been really helpful."

He added that last part for the benefit of Ms. Pillsbury, who had risen from her seat and approached to hold the door open for them both.

"Any student who would like a weekly appointment with me is welcome to make one," Ms. Pillsbury shared. "To that end, the walls are a bit thin, so it would be best if you listened to music so as not to inadvertently eavesdrop on private conversations. While you take care of your, um..."

"Mommy business," Artie supplied, with a knowing smirk as Ms. Pillsbury proceeded to look flustered. Quinn knew that the guidance counselor didn't do messy, so quite honestly, the fact that she was letting Quinn store her milk in her personal fridge meant an awful lot.

As Quinn locked herself in the closet and prepared to go about her 'mommy business,' she was sure to quickly put in her ear buds and turn on her iPod shuffle, which was mostly a mix of songs from Glee club.

"Beth, I hear you calling. But I can't come home right now..." She'd forgotten that this song was on the playlist. It unexpectedly brought on thoughts of her sweet baby girl, whom she now hadn't seen in two days. Since thoughts of Beth usually increased her milk production, though, she didn't turn it off. But it did cause her to ruin her eye makeup.

When she'd finished pumping and had fixed her eye makeup, she wasn't exactly sure how to leave without interrupting the counseling session. She did not stop her music, just to be sure she didn't overhear a thing, but she had no way out without walking through the office. She'd just have to put her head down and avoid looking at anyone as she went.

But this was her best option. It was this, or a stall in the locker room. There were rules about this sort of thing in the workplace, but Quinn didn't know of any laws protecting breastfeeding teens in high school. She was on her own. At least Ms. Pillsbury had taken an interest in making sure she had some shred of privacy.

Artie was still in there, talking, but Quinn had rendered herself deaf. She gave an embarrassed little wave as she hurried out of Ms. Pillsbury's office, depositing the milk bottles in the mini-fridge on her way. She stepped out into the hallway and headed back to Spanish class, where she'd have to see Finn.

She smoothed out her flared skirt. It was just about the best outfit she could have chosen, given the circumstances of her new body. She still had to hide what was left of her tummy, but her boobs weren't so bad, thanks to what she was currently using them for. And clothes could camouflage a lot. All in all, she had enough reasons to be proud of how she looked.

And then Finn gave her one more.

She stepped into the class quietly, trying not to interrupt Mr. Schue's lesson, but everyone stared at her this time, all of them curious to see what she looked like two weeks after giving birth. She pretended not to notice as she slipped into her seat.

"Wow, you really look great," Finn whispered, which made her instantly turn red. She hadn't counted on an actual compliment from her ex, so it automatically flustered her.

"Thank you, the spanx are really working overtime today," she whispered back, and she could have kicked herself for even mentioning that. Why not just let him think she'd snapped back to her former size and body shape minutes after birth, the way they did on TV?

"The what?" Naturally, Finn didn't even know what 'spanx' were.

"Nevermind," said Quinn, who looked intently at Mr. Schuester and tried to focus on not disrupting his lesson any more than she already had.

...

The best part of her day was still Glee club, even though that was all about to change soon. She was glad she'd made it back in time to sing the last song, cry a few more tears with her teammates, and say good-bye to some of the sweetest memories she'd ever shared with twelve other people (her eleven teammates plus Mr. Schue, and thirteen, if you counted Beth).

Lauren Zizes had naturally bailed on the team as soon as she'd gotten her Spanish class credit, but even she was sorry they'd lost. So, in an interesting turn of events, she had shown up and wanted to sing the song to Mr. Schue that day.

They'd met in the auditorium today, just because it seemed like the place to be. It had apparently started there, with 'Don't Stop Believin'' and now it would be ending there.

After they'd practiced and planned out what they were going to say, in telling him what the club had meant to them, Rachel left to go find their teacher. While she was gone, the auditorium naturally fell silent, without the nasally brunette's voice interrupting even the slightest of pauses. Quinn was even going to miss Rachel's annoying interjections.

Santana filled the space with her version of a compliment to Quinn. "You don't look like you pushed eight pounds out of your hoo-hah two weeks ago."

Quinn felt her face flush. "Uh, she was just over seven pounds," she said. "And — thanks. I think?"

Thankfully, any further discussions about Quinn's body and the event that had occurred two weeks prior were set aside just then, as Rachel led Mr. Schuester to the table where he'd sat to watch all of their performances and rehearsals.

"So we have something we need to say to you," Rachel began.

Lauren Zizes cleared her throat and opened by sharing, "In the beginning of this year, I was just your run-of-the-mill Twi-hard lady wrestler who needed to pass Spanish."

Matt Rutherford shot her a confused look before opening his mouth to speak for probably the second time all year. "I was just another football player."

"I had a stutter," said Tina.

"I was a closeted diva." That was Mercedes, wearing a sad smile.

"I used to be captain of the Cheerios," Quinn added. And, in other words, what she meant by that was: I was as cool as you could get. Until I wasn't anymore, but the rest of you loved me anyway.

"I was afraid to dance outside my room," confessed their best dancer, Mike Chang.

"I hated everyone in this room." That was Santana, who suddenly and inexplicably had tears in her eyes.

"So did I," Brittany agreed.

"I wasn't honest about who I was." Kurt looked like he was on the verge of falling apart, too.

"I was tossing kids into dumpsters." Puck. He'd changed a lot this year, too, and not just because he'd gotten Quinn pregnant and, for the first time, felt real remorse.

"I had never kissed a girl before." Quinn saw Artie glance at Tina after he said this.

"And I was getting slushied," said Rachel.

"I didn't-I didn't have a father," Finn said, his voice cracking slightly with emotion. "Someone I could look up to. Model myself after. Someone who could show me what it really meant to be a man."

"We don't care what the judges say," Rachel concluded. "We won. Because we had you as a teacher.

"And Glee Club will never end, Mr. Shue," Mercedes put in. "Because you are Glee Club. And you're in all of us now."

As they sang 'To Sir, With Love,' it was hard to get through it. Quinn was surprised to see that it was probably Santana who cried the hardest, and she had no idea that the club meant that much to the other Cheerio. But it had meant so much to all of them. Quinn wished it wasn't the end, but without a place to practice and the approval of their school, what else could they do?

"Thank you all," Mr. Schuester said, wiping his eyes when they had finished and visibly swallowing hard. "It has been a privilege being your teacher and taking this journey with you. Uh..." And he rose from his seat. "Don't stop believing. In yourselves. In true happiness. In love. Class dismissed."

He left the choir room in a hurry, like he was afraid he'd break down if he stayed another minute. They all felt that way. After a few awkward hugs and small talk, they began to disperse.

"That was awful," Mercedes sighed, as she fell into step next to Quinn and Kurt on the way to the student parking lot. She was arm in arm with Tina, who spotted Artie and promptly unlinked their arms to push his chair. Quinn exchanged the briefest of glances with him. As usual, he said nothing.

"I'm just glad I made it back to be a part of it," Quinn added, adjusting the heavy bag on her shoulder. It contained her pump and all the milk from the day with ice packs. It was nearly time to pump again, but as long as they went straight home, she'd manage.

"How was your first day?" Tina wanted to know. "Was everyone impressed by your lack of postpartum tummy? Because I know I am."

"Oh, it's still there," Quinn admitted, with a chuckle. "Just carefully concealed and tucked away with copious Spanx." She knew Kurt knew what those were, and Artie had a sister, so he wasn't quite as confused as Finn.

"Have you been missing Beth?" Tina asked, as Mercedes gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head. "What? What did I say?"

"It's okay," Quinn said, stopping as they reached Artie's car in the handicapped space first. She turned to face Tina. "Yes, I miss her a lot, but today's been pretty busy. I just think about her when I pump. But I know she's in good hands with Shelby."

"She is," Mercedes said, quickly. "You really lucked out with that one."

"It's good to have you back," Kurt added. "And I'm glad to see that at least you still seem like you're planning on acknowledging the rest of us in the hallway. Can't say the same for your other Cheerio and football counterparts. I think this is the end."

"Don't say that..." Quinn trailed off, looking at the rest and seeing that no one was disagreeing with Kurt. "I mean... I think Santana really was sad. And Brittany. And the football guys..."

"Yeah, okay," Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'll believe it when I see it. Anyway, I've got to go, I've got a facial with my name on it waiting at home. And not a slushie one, the regular kind. See ya."

As the rest headed their separate ways, Quinn climbed in the car and waited for Artie to finish the arduous process of transferring, dismantling his chair, and stowing it away. As she waited, she was deep in thought about what Kurt had said.

"Do you think the popular kids are going to ditch the rest of you?" she wanted to know. "Do you think Kurt's right?"

Artie didn't even hesitate. "A hundred percent," he said, then noticed her confused expression. "Look, when you're not one of the 'special' ones... or at least, not the good kind of 'special,' it's just something you learn to deal with. People are not going to fawn over you. At best, they won't even see you. At worst, you're in the dumpster with yesterday's lunch."

Quinn paused, opening and closing her mouth without speaking, then folded her hands in her lap. "I had no idea," she said, softly, not able to bring herself to look at him.

Artie shrugged. "The more you know," he said, quoting one of those after-school specials.

"Yeah." Quinn rode in silence, still trying to process everything that had happened that day.

There would be no more Lady Gaga costumes in the middle of the week. She wouldn't ever be able to get onstage and be part of an epic funk number again. Kids like Artie, Mercedes, Tina, and Kurt wouldn't have a safe haven, a place where they were accepted without question. No one would ever know that the four of them had real, undeniable talent. And she even felt bad for Rachel, who would probably have to go back to creating embarrassing MySpace videos while singing into a hairbrush.

She was starting to wonder if the five original glee kids even trusted her now. Maybe they thought she was using them all for a place to live. She had to check her own heart. If she hadn't been pregnant and kicked out of her home, she wouldn't have needed glee club. But even if she got it all back, even if she somehow became a Cheerio again or maybe even captain, she was going to have to make an effort not to forget the ones who loved her when she was just Quinn.

And especially not the one who remembered her as Lucy Caboosey from the sidelines of the soccer fields.

She glanced at him now as he drove, his whole self fully dedicated to the task of driving a car with just hands. He was still a novice, to be sure, but Quinn felt completely safe in his capable hands.

He had yet to tell her about the major surgery he was scheduled to have over the summer, although she knew he would have to say something eventually. She was just going to pretend it was news to her.

But the fact that he was putting off confiding this secret told her something. It told her he didn't completely trust her, not yet anyway. She was really going to have to earn that trust.