Disclaimer: I own nothing.

I.

They were late for glee practice.

Rachel usually prided herself on her punctuality but she just couldn't seem to take her eyes off of Quinn Fabray long enough to check the time.

Her and Sam had been messing around with his guitar on the bleachers- something they usually did to pass the time before glee while avoiding bullies- when she caught sight of a distraught looking Quinn.

The Blonde was sitting on the opposite side of the stands at a spot where Rachel had a good view of her tear streaked face. She had her Letterman jacket wrapped around her tightly, looking so usually small. Rachel wanted more than anything to wipe those tears away from Quinn's perfect cheeks.

She quickly quieted and shushed the blonde boy beside her, placing her hand over his on the guitar. He shot her a confused look and followed her line of sight.

"Quinn's crying." She breathed out staring unblinkingly at the beautiful girl.

Next to her, Sam set down the guitar in its case and frowned. "Whoa, she looks really upset."

She watched as Quinn hastily wiped at her face, even when seemingly alone- the girl still unknowingly kept her guard up. If possible, this made Rachel fall for the girl even more.

"Do you think flowers would cheer her up, Sam?"

"I don't know." He shrugged, bewildered at the randomness of the question.

She nodded to herself distractedly. "Perhaps some lovely gardenias. Do you think she'd like those?"

"Don't those mean 'secret love'," he air quoted with a bemused look on his face, "-or something equally as inappropriate?"

Rachel turns and shoots him a piercing glare. "Perhaps I just happen to find gardenias lovely, Sam."

Sam snorted in amusement. "You planning on gettin' her some, Berry?" His amused look faded when he saw the girl reach into the pocket of her khakis for her phone.

Sam grabbed her wrist quickly, stopping her. "Dude! No, seriously, no." He shook his head at her in disapproval. "That's, like, beyond creepy. Even for you, bro."

She huffed at him, offended. "I am not creepy, Sam Evans! I demand that you take that absurd comment back."

He scoffed at her protest. "Rachel, you're not gonna get flowers to cheer up a girl who's boyfriend wants you dead."

"You're being over dramatic."

He stared at her with a deadpan expression. "Yeah, cause he totally hasn't been making our lives even more hellish ever since you joined the football team."

"She's not going to know there from me, Sam. She's the prettiest girl in the world, I'm sure she gets flowers all the time."

"Just leave it alone, bro...it's none of your business."

"I know that... I do. I just- I don't like seeing her like this, Sam." She muttered, clenching her fists so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.

Rachel was sure her heart was about to burst from all the pressure it was harboring. She hated seeing Quinn sad, she felt hopeless not being to do anything about it. She wished more than anything that she could only find a way to put that life changing smile back on that gorgeous face.

"There's really nothin' we can do, Rach," Sam replied regretfully.

"I wish I could go over there and get her to stop crying." Rachel yearned for the courage to make her way over there and wrap the her dream girl up in her arms, hold her as she cried.

Quinn never let her emotions get the best of her.

She always hid behind a cool facade that seemed so impenetrably thick, that no one even bothered to get through them.

But Rachel saw right through it. And the girl she saw behind the walls was the girl she'd do anything for.

Like risking permanent brain damage playing high school football with redneck numbskulls.

Last year, when everyone at school found out that Quinn Fabray's perfect family wasn't so flawless- her conservative Christian father, turns out, had an apparent fetish for tattooed pierced women who weren't his wife- Rachel watched as people stared and whispered after Quinn as she walked down the hallways of the school.

The girl kept her head high, never once did she show weakness, but Rachel sometimes saw the quiver of a lip, the daunting dark bags beneath haunting hazel eyes seemingly hidden by layers of concealers.

Quinn tried so hard to be strong, to be the Ice Queen that everybody feared, Rachel just wanted to hold her and tell her that sometimes it's alright not to be okay.

"Oh, shi- Dude, we gotta go!" Sam scrambled to get up, while he grabbed his guitar hastily. Rachel couldn't be bothered to scold him for his foul choice of words, too wrapped up in mentally comforting her dream girl.

She was only shaken out of her reverie when Sam grabbed her arm and dragged her up and away. He was babbling about being late for glee and how he didn't wanna hear another one of Mr. Shue's ridiculous lectures.

Her gaze never left Quinn until she was too far away to see her, but the upset blonde wouldn't leave her mind for the rest of the day.

Even as Mr. Schue handed them death sentences as soon as they entered the choir room.

II.

"But I still don't understand why it has to be just us! We're supposed to be a team, Mr. Schue!"

Rachel slumped back in her defeat as the curly haired man that was set to destroy her life, ignored her and went about on his one of his spiels. She gave her best friend a sympathetic look as he groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"Rachel, the club made a very good point about how seeing as you and Sam are the captains of the glee club, that you guys are the perfect representations of what the girls and boys of New directions could do!"

Rachel could see the guilty looks Mercedes and Kurt shot each other from her peripheral vision. She sighed and closed her eyes in resignation.

She couldn't be mad at them for feeding Sam and her to the sharks.

It was a cruel world out there for 'losers' like them- and each member of the club knew just how more miserable it could get for them if they caught the wrong person's attention.

"But the assembly's next Friday, Mr. Schue! We ain't got nothin' prepared!" Sam argued vehemently.

"Calm yourself, super geek." Mercedes held up a hand and stared at the red faced blonde with a pointed look. "Don't think we don't see you two nerds jamming it up together all the time."

"And based on that indisputable fact," Kurt added with a coyly raised eyebrow at them. "I'm sure there's already a plethora of song numbers you guys would be able to perform at your disposal."

"During our manga appreciation club meetings, all they do is fiddle with Sam's guitar and harmonize." Tina pipped up from where she was sitting. "Which is beyond annoying, by the way."

"Tru dat." Artie merely shrugged when Sam shot him a wounded look.

"But that's only because every time we try to talk to you, you tell us to shut up and threaten to make voodoo dolls in our image!" The big lipped boy sputtered out quickly to the Gothic Asian.

"Sit down, white boy." Mercedes barked out as she rolled her eyes dramatically.

Sam stood up and rounded on them. "I hate you, and I hate your ass face!" He snarled at them.

"Oh, hells no!"

"Sam!"

"It's a quote from a movie, Mr. Schue." Rachel explained calmly to the appalled man as Sam dropped back down on his seat. "He doesn't mean anything by it."

"Like hell I don't." Sam grumbled under his breath.

Rachel raised herself up and faced the glee club. She fiddled with a loose strand on her shirt sleeve and sighed.

"I know we've been short on members this year, since the old ones have either graduated or left the club because of the stigma placed upon it by Mr. Ryerson. So," she paused and looked at Sam. "If this is the only way we'll be able to recruit new members, then me and Sam will do it."

"What! Dude, no, no, no!"

"Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all." Rachel looked at the boy in all seriousness.

"Did she just quote 'The Princess Diaries'?" Kurt whispered to Mercedes in approval. "Nice touch."

Sam looked to be on the verge of protesting for a moment, but then just deflated and nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, okay, fine, what she said." He muttered grumpily. "We'll do it, for the sake the club."

Mr. Schuester placed a proud hand on Rachel's shoulder and grinned at the other members of the club. "And this is why Rachel and Sam are the captains. Because they don't let something as little as time constrains and unpreparedness stop them from doing what they love." He paused dramatically. "To perform in front of an audience and soak up the love."

"More like the slushies." Sam whispered to Rachel as she took her seat next to him.

Mr. Schue turned back to the whiteboard and continued to spout some random nonsense, not even bothering to notice that no one paying attention.

"Good luck. And word of advice, try not to wear anything of value to you for the next few weeks." Kurt patted them both on the shoulder.

With wide frightened eyes, the blonde boy turned to her, "We're doomed."

Rachel gulped loudly. "And this is why attendance and punctuality is critical. It could literally mean life or death."

Sam paled considerably even more. "We're going to die virgins."

III.

Even though Rachel has been officially part of the football team for a few days now, her reputation had not improved even in the slightest. To the students of William McKinley high she was still pretty much just that short dorky kid that the jocks liked to pick on and that the other kids virtually ignored.

Her Letterman jacket was still being ordered so it's not like people were exactly aware of her new status as The McKinley high titans' new first string halfback.

The only ones who knew of the development were the glee club members and no one paid any attention to what any of them had to say.

The guys on the team haven't been the most welcoming. The slushy facials and dumpster dumps have become a lot more frequent in the recent days. They seemed to be hell bent on getting her to break and quit the team.

But there was a silver lining to it.

Finn Hudson turned out to be a nicer guy than she had expected- what with being best friends with the school's man-whore and all. He was a bit dim and crass, but sweet in a stupid kind of way.

"So, my mom said it's cool for you guys to stay for dinner." The lumbering teen grinned widely at them both as he reentered his room.

Finn really liked Sam and Rachel- they were a hell of a lot nicer to him than Puck and his other friends were. For one thing, they didn't constantly call him an mean names like Finn-witt, or Frankenteen.

And also- he was sort of getting tired of Puck ditching him to scam on chicks.

Rachel smiled at him as he jumped sloppily on his unmade bed.

She didn't really get how he and Puck were best friends. She knows that Finn used to have a crush on Quinn- but then again, who didn't have a crush on her blonde angel- Rachel scowled at the thought.

Finn, the poor idiot boy, had practically followed the girl around like a lost puppy before Puck swooped in and snatched her up for himself. Rachel was pretty sure that move was against Bro-code, but Puck seemed to the type of guy who didn't play by the rules.

At the thought of the mohawked teen, she couldn't help but let her mind drift off to his better half and she instantly remember seeing Quinn's teary hazel eyes earlier that day.

"Finn," Rachel bit her lip in contemplation. "Can I ask you a question?"

From his spot next to her on the ratty old couch Finn had in his room, Sam shot her a curious look over his DS.

The boy sat up on his bed and nodded at her to continue. "Yeah, sure, Rach."

"I- well...you're friends with Quinn Fabray, aren't you?" She habitually fiddled nervously with her bright yellow bow tie.

Finn shrugged in reply. "I guess," he scratched his head in thought. "She's kinda mean to me though, and her best friends are kinda crazy, so, we don't really hang out much or anything."

"I just-well..." She hesitated briefly, but continued. "I sort of saw her crying today."

"Huh, weird...She probably found about Puck's sexting." Finn muttered distractedly to himself.

Sam's eyes bugged out. He glanced over at Rachel and winced at the complete look of disbelief her face.

"Sexti- who, I... He cheated on Quinn Fabray?" She managed to sputter out

"Shit." The hulking brunette boy faced them with a gassy look filled with guilt. "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone that."

"But, but- but how could he do that to her, Finn?"

"Well, I mean, guys have needs and I guess Quinn doesn't really put out..." Finn was at a lost for what to say and he started spouting out the crap that Puck usually told him whenever he asked the experienced boy for girl advice. Which never really seemed to work out for him.

"So not the right thing to say." Sam groaned and threw his video-game console on the couch.

"So, what?" Rachel roared, impossibly enraged at the audacity of that Noah Puckerman.

She couldn't believe she went to the same temple with someone so foul! Rabbi Abelstein would be appalled to hear of such debauched behavior.

"He should have the common decency to be able to keep it his pants and respect her decision to wait. Not go around gallivanting with randoms!"

Finn sighed and felt the need to defend his, admittedly, an asshole of a best friend "It's not that big of a deal, Rach...it's Puck. Quinn knew what she was getting into when she got together with him."

"He is sort of a slut." Sam added rather unhelpfully.

"That's not an excuse! Quinn... she deserves better than this." Rachel shook her head in frustration.

A girl like Quinn deserved the world.

"Yeah, but I mean, there's nothing we can do about it. This sort of thing kinda happens a lot with them."

"And what- she just takes him back every time?"

Rachel swallowed back her disgust as Finn just shrugged in response.

"She ignores him for a couple a few weeks and then he apologizes, begs her to take him back, and she does. It's like a...like a cyclopes, or whatever."

"I think you mean cycle." Sam smiled in amusement at the bewildered look on the oafish boy's face.

"Yeah, that!" Finn grinned thankfully at the blonde boy.

"But he's hurting her." Rachel muttered sadly.

I would never hurt her like that.

"She's not exactly the best girlfriend either, Rach." Finn pointed out. "Quinn kinda just yells at him most of the time, or calls him a Lima loser, which is, like, totally not cool, you know?"

"And that's a good enough reason to cheat on the girl who's supposed to be your girlfriend? Someone who you're supposed to take care off, someone you're meant to cherish and to hold? Someone you're supposed to...to love?" Rachel slumped back on the couch and crossed her arms, beyond upset. "He doesn't deserve her."

Finn tilted his head in confusion. "That's not really for us to say. And why do you even care so much about Quinn, anyway? She doesn't even know you."

Sam hollered in agreement. "Right on, Finn!"

"We've conversed, Sam! I specifically remember you being there!" She pointed out.

"I wouldn't exactly call that a conversation. She talked for like, two seconds and then left. All you did was gape at her and just generally acted like a crazy person."

"I was nervous! You know how much I like-"

Sam cut her off with an impatient sigh. "Rach, look, can we just forget about Quinn for like a second and please focus on the fact that your new football buddies are gonna rip us both new assholes if and when we embarrass ourselves at the school assembly."

"What's going on at the assembly?" Finn perked up in curiosity.

"Quinn being upset triumphs over the subject of our impending public humiliation, Sam."

"Dude, Quinn wins over everything for you. Even sanity, clearly."

"I'm appalled at your words, Sam Evans!"

"Good."

Rachel cut herself off and shut her eyes tightly to calm herself down. "She just- she just looked so sad today...I- I never ever want to see her hurt like that again."

Finn's head was spinning in total confusion as he looked back and forth between the two geeks.

"I get it, dude." Sam scooted over closer to her and wrapped an around her shoulders. "I get that it sucks to see her like that, but-"

"Wait a sec- hold on!"

The oaf of a boy stumbled off his bed, stood slacked jawed and squinty eyed before them.

"Dude, do you...I mean- are you like, into chicks?"

"..."

"Oh, grilled cheesus, you're totally gay for Fabray."

.

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