A/N: Had a bit of a writers block with this one. I re-wrote a good portion of this chapter several times before I was finally content enough with it. I know exactly the direction and major points of the story and how I want it to go, it's just getting there that can be a bit of a hassle sometimes. Anyhow, onto Chapter 8!

Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows. To answer a few questions, yes the girls will be joining Glee soon. ;)

I've actually thought about the idea of Krissy and Rachel, but I'm still on the fence about it. It could happen, it depends on the flow of the story, somethings end up happening that I never planned. Just the heat of the writing I guess. Enjoy!

It was surprise that she had managed to have a civil conversation with the blonde. Although, her attitude began to come out near the end. Maybe she was still touchy on the subject involving Finn. Either way, Rachel had saw something different in Quinn, as if it was the true Quinn. The Quinn who never put up her guard or tried so hard to be something she clearly wasn't. At least she was hoping, maybe they could be friends outside of the public eye.

Rachel had been leaning against her locker for the last few minutes eating a granola bar, like the one she had left Quinn. She eyed the clock on the wall above the row of lockers across from her, the bell was going to ring within a minute to end their lunch period. "Oh Rach! There you are, I was looking everywhere for you." She immediately smiled at the voice that called out to her.

Her gaze moved to the tall football player that was taking his long striding steps towards her. "I didn't see you in the cafeteria, but I was wanting to know what your answer was." He towered over her, his eyes shining with anticipation.

He really was a sweetheart, and he did seem excited about the possibility of a satisfactory answer from her. "Of course, I'm sorry to keep you waiting. My answer is yes, I will go on a date with you."

His smile broke out even wider with glee. "Yeah? Awesome! How about this Saturday? I got football practice Friday so I can't really do it then."

Rachel simply smiled in response. "That sounds perfect."

"By the looks of the dorky smiles on both of their faces, I believe Finn has finally asked the Troll out." Santana snickered as she elbowed Quinn and Brittany. "The dough boy actually looks happy she said yes." She couldn't help but laugh.

"I think it's cute," Brittany responded.

Quinn didn't bother looking, she already knew this was going to happen.

"Q, I thought Finnocence was going to tell you when he was going to ask her out, how come you didn't tell us it was going to happen today?" Santana asked.

"I knew, actually I just found out just before you guys found me." She replied.

"How? I followed him out of the cafeteria and saw him go right to Berry." Santana eyed her.

Quinn fidgeted. "I um, I found out from Rachel actually."

"Whoa, hold up. Since when do you talk to the Troll? And since when do you call her 'Rachel'?" Santana roughly grabbed her captain's shoulder and shoved her sideways so she could face her.

Quinn's face hardened immediately as she roughly shoved her arm off her shoulder. "I don't have to answer to you." Quinn growled.

"Seriously, what crawled up your butt today?" Santana challenged.

"Why don't you back off? You already made me angry enough today." Quinn snarled.

The two girls had a heated stare down that was cut off as Brittany stood between them. She rested her arms on their shoulders to help disperse the tension. "Can we not fight? I know I could take you both on, I'm super strong but I don't want to have to hurt you. I don't believe in violence."

Immediately, Santana backed off. The scowl on her face softened as the blue-eyed blonde smiled at her. She turned back to look at Quinn expectantly. "Fine." Quinn huffed. She pulled her shoulder away harshly as she grabbed her books and stalked off in the opposite direction.

Quinn did her best to avoid her two friends for the remainder of the day. Santana had made her angry one too many times today and she was not looking to add more to her mark. She knew that their explosive friendship would eventually come to a head, and someone will eventually say something that will really hurt the other. They both had that nasty bite and a tendency to try and hurt the other more than they've been hurt. For Quinn, she feared that Santana knew more than she was letting on and she was afraid of what it would uncover. Her musings continued most of the day as she walked to and from classes.

Before she knew it, it was already the last class of the day. Thankfully for the HBIC, they were no longer doing daily Cheerio practices. Sue finally weeded out the weaklings and seemed content enough with her current squad to lower the number of practices. Today was the day that she didn't have practice and going home ignoring everyone sounded like the best idea. Quinn was emptying her locker with books that she would need for her homework. She was beginning to shuffle through her notes of some of her classes that she didn't pay attention in hoping that it will help her catch up on whatever lessons she had missed. "Soo, sounds like someone has a big date planned for this weekend!" A voice interrupted her thoughts. She paused and glanced down the hallway across from her. She could see that same girl (Christina?) hugging her books to her chest as she playfully shoved Rachel with her shoulder.

Rachel giggled in response. "Um, yes actually. This was only confirmed at lunch, how did you find out already?"

"Girl, please. The whole school knows. Most of the kids in our grade are talking about it!" Krissy shrugged her shoulders. "When and how did this happen!? I need the deets."

Quinn knew eavesdropping was wrong, yet she couldn't help herself here. First off, if they didn't want anyone listening to their conversation, why were they talking so damn loudly to begin with? She shook herself out of her musings enough to remember that she was attempting this new thing called being discreet. So, she reached inside her locker and pulled out a thick red binder. She rested it against her locker and began to shuffle through the pages slowly, not really reading anything on it but simply listening to the conversation happening a few feet away from her.

"It wasn't anything over the top and romantic. It was just simply a boy asking out a girl, I'm not sure how much more graphic I could make it for you." Rachel shrugged.

"Rae, come on! That's boring. This is Finn we are talking about! He is the most popular guy in school, tall, the quarterback and not to mention, he is gorgeous. He's a real catch and any girl would be so lucky to date him! You can't tell me you aren't excited by this at all. I've heard that he's been chasing you for the last week hoping to ask you out. He even joined the Glee club; he must really like you." Krissy was gushing.

"I mean, I suppose that's true… I just don't understand why he is so interested in me. He could have any girl in this school, why me?" Rachel's voice wavered in uncertainty.

"Well, why not you? You're cute, you got this Sunday school girl thing going on, some people dig it, I'm sure. I heard there is this thing called anime and most girls have the long knee socks and granny shoes with skirts. Sort of like what you do."

"I am not copying some anime girl thing." Rachel huffed. "But really, I'm not that cute. Why would he want someone as boring as me when he had the prettiest girl in school as his recent ex-girlfriend?"

Quinn shifted uncomfortably at the mention of herself. This was not how she expected the conversation to go. Why was she mentioned at all? This entire situation was supposed to be about Rachel and Finn. Once again, Quinn had found herself stuck in the middle of this prank.

"I assume you mean Quinn?" Krissy asked.

"Who else do you think I was talking about?" Rachel retorted.

Krissy shrugged her shoulders. Her eyes moved towards them and landed on Quinn herself.

Quinn felt herself stiffen at the fact that once again, she was caught. It was a reoccurring problem that she found herself in on this day. Thankfully, her entire head wasn't facing the way of the talking friends. It was just at the corner of her eyes she could see Krissy glare at her sternly. It was a pathetic glare, but Quinn knew better than the involve herself at this moment. She didn't want Rachel knowing that she was listening to their entire conversation.

Quinn popped open the binder hinges and eased out several pieces of paper. She slipped them into one of her books before closing it and shoving her locker closed. She had no idea what those papers said, but she wasn't about to make it even more obvious. She gathered her books into her arms and moved passed the two in the direction to leave the building. She really should just go home and try to shake off whatever was happening to her today. It had been weird, and she really didn't want to spend anymore time in this hellish place.

x x x

Rachel froze as she saw a flash of blonde hair in a high curly pony pass her. It was shortly after Rachel herself had just called her the prettiest girl in this school. Panic began to bubble in her chest once more as a small flush settled in her cheeks. It was a strange combination of feelings. "D—Do you think that um…" Her voice was coming out in a small, throaty voice. She paused to clear it. "Do you think that Quinn heard our conversation just now?" Rachel asked, her eyes pleading it was a no.

Krissy bit her lip in hesitation. Rachel could see that she was weighing her options on telling her the truth. Krissy herself seemed a bit uncomfortable as well, probably because both had been caught talking about Quinn's ex. Krissy finally nodded her head. She licked her lips slowly. "She um, I caught her looking at us right after you said, that."

Rachel's eyes widened in horror. What kind of luck was that? If Quinn didn't hate her already, she was sure she did now. But how could it be so bad? It was just one girl commenting on another's beauty, surely that isn't all that bad. It could be viewed as innocent right? Rachel didn't mean anything by it. Krissy just recently told Rachel that she looked cute, and Rachel didn't take it horribly. That's all it was right? But they had been talking about Quinn's ex. Even if Quinn had given Rachel the blessing to continue the pursuit of Finn, she seemed irritated every time his name had been brought up in conversation. It only cemented the fact that Quinn may not be over Finn as much as she claims.

"Look, I don't think she will think anything of it. Besides, you meant it as a compliment. She is pretty, I don't think she is the prettiest though, but she is definitely up there. Don't stress, okay? You got the guy." Krissy reached down and squeezed Rachel's shoulder in comfort. "I should go, my mom is waiting outside. I'll see you tomorrow." She flashed Rachel a quick smile before she turned on her heels and left.

Rachel was so deep in her thoughts that she hadn't heard a single thing Krissy had said to her. In fact, she had no idea how long she was standing there deep in her thoughts. This was dangerous waters to be swimming, surely, she wasn't that naïve to think she could chase Finn so relentlessly and not get burned. The diva had made a vow to herself years ago to do whatever she could to keep herself out of the wrath that was Quinn Fabray, yet here she was, stupidly chasing her ex-boyfriend. Maybe she should cancel this date, nothing good could come out of it. Aside from the fact that she would be dating the most popular and sought-after boy in school. The thought along brought an immediate blush to her cheeks.

Fingers dug into her sides yanking her out of her ponders causing a loud scream to erupt from her throat. She jumped and twirled around to face her attacker head on. Instead of being a murderer, or a jock, she came face to face with a giggling Brittany. "Brittany! Don't do that. I could have hurt you!" She scolded the grinning blonde.

"Rach, you're silly. There is no way you could hurt me. You looked so defenseless and deep in thought. It was the perfect time to tickle you." Brittany giggled. She bent down and picked up a book Rachel had dropped on the floor and placed it inside her locker.

Being Brittany, she began to poke through Rachel's locker, picking at random pictures that was plastered on her locker door. "Um, Britt. Anything I can help you with?" She couldn't exactly tell the blonde she felt a bit nervous with her digging through her locker. It felt a little too personal for their current state of friendship if it could even be called that yet. Sure, they had begun to talk recently, but it was very brief.

"Yeah, now that you mention it." Brittany slammed Rachel's locker shut and turned to face the shorter girl. Her face pinched in what looked like annoyance. Rachel couldn't help but flinch. Now she was really nervous. This particular blonde Cheerio was also so happy and cheerful, she rarely showed any other emotion. To see her face in anything but a smile was alarming. She swallowed. "Why are you wearing those socks? The shoes aren't that bad. But it makes you look like a grandma. I thought we talked about your socks Rach."

The brunette exhaled; the relief was easily replacing the fear she had. Brittany was someone who could potentially be a friend, she seemed to be friends with nearly everyone in school, despite her popular status. "I thought you hated me." Rachel chuckled. Brittany's face didn't change.

"Don't avoid my question Rach."

"I'm not. I was under the notion that it looked satisfactory."

"I hate to say, but it really doesn't. It makes you look like a grandma." Brittany frowned as she gave Rachel a once over. "Other than that, you do look a lot better, just lose the socks." Brittany smiled brightly once more. She patted Rachel on the head gently then skipped off.

It was always a bit of a strange encounter whenever she was in the space involving Brittany. Not unpleasant at all, just interesting.

The next few days had been interesting. Really, there was no other word that could explain it. Everything since that fateful Tuesday had just been just that, interesting. Once again, Rachel had been the talk of the school, or at least that is what it seemed. Every day she walked down the hallway, it was slushy free and the continue gawking of her fellow classmates. It was déjà vu, back the Monday after the party she attended.

Her books were clenched tightly to her chest, she continued to look around her in fear. Usually she wandered the hallways alone, squeezing between people. Usually, she was shoved out of the way and constantly dodging people who looked right through her. Now, she was walking in a straight line, everyone saw her and moved out of her way. It felt strange, powerful almost. Was this how the popular kids felt? More importantly, the Unholy Trinity? It certainly felt that way, especially with Finn walking right beside her. He had been hanging around her more frequently, walking her to and from classes. If it wasn't Finn accompanying her, it was Krissy. "Uh, Rach? Are you listening to me?"

She felt a hand touch grip her shoulder halting her. She jumped a bit startled. She turned to see the taller boy giving her a confused look. "My apologies Finn, did you say something?"

"Yeah. But you don't look like you were listening to me." He frowned. Quinn would not be happy with him. Sure, he had been spending a lot of time with the diva, more time than he was willing, but she continued to threaten him. He had to admit, she really wasn't that bad, but he missed his bros. Lately, Rachel had not seemed so enthusiastic with his company. She was always lost in her thoughts or vaguely listening to anything he had to say. He scratched the back of his head. "Look, if you don't want to go out with me, that's cool. But could you at least tell me? I deserve that much."

"Oh no! Finn." Rachel panicked. "I've just had some things come up and it has been quite distracting lately. I do apologize if it came across as me second guessing the date. In fact, it is far from it, I'm very much looking forward to it."

Finn's face contorted with a slight frown before it overcame with a bright smile once more. "Cool. And sorry, for jumping to conclusions" he laughed sheepishly. His hand gestured them to continue walking to Rachel's class.

The awkward part always came when he dropped her off, the two stood there unsure of how-to part. "Oh! Before I forget, what kind of food do you like? I wanted to know so I can plan our date out."

Rachel's stomach did a flip with his enthusiasm, he seemed to really be taking the time to go through the details of their date and woo her. "Honestly, I'm hardly picky. Just nothing to do with any animal products, I'm vegan." She stated proudly.

He blinked awkwardly. Quinn did tell him that she was, and it was only certain foods, but he didn't quite understand the difference between vegans and vegetarians. Thankfully, the bell signaled the beginning of their classes. He was thankful for it, the bell saved him from making a fool out of himself. Quinn had constantly rolled her eyes at him and mumbled 'idiot' under her breath several times when he asked her to clarify it once more. He thought it was the same thing, but according to Quinn, it was not. He flashed her a grin and nodded his head. "Got it, I'll see you on Saturday!" He waved at her before he took off in the opposite direction to head towards his class.

x x x

"Ow. Dude, that burns!" Finn yelped. The loud sound of a metal utensil crashed against the tiled floor. Smoke began to fume where it splashed the red-hot element. The newfound sounds sliced through the silence of the Fabray house.

Quinn was measuring the ingredients, adding each one slowly into the blender. She jumped as he yelped loudly, causing her to nearly drop her perfectly measured broth all over the counter. She turned to see him blowing feverishly on his hand. A small red blotch was beginning to form in small drops along his hands and arm. She grabbed his arm and tugged him near the sink, causing the taller boy to nearly stumble across the kitchen. "Put it under cold water, quick." She shoved his hand under the icy water a little too roughly. She could see him visibly relax as the chilly water soothed the burns on his hand.

The blond-haired person turned back to the stove where the water was boiling furiously, a little too much, which made small droplets to splash the hot stove underneath creating a loud sizzle. She quickly turned down the heat and stirred the few contents he had managed to add. She grabbed the rest of the pasta box and slowly eased the remaining noodles into the pot with ease.

"You make that look easy." Finn chuckled.

"It is easy." Quinn responded. "I can't believe you can't even cook pasta." She sighed. He was truly trying her patience and it took every ounce of her being to be nice to him. Lately she had been a bit short with him, Santana told her to tone her bitch down. He was already doing everything they had asked, if they wanted to keep doing it, she had to play nice. Finn was only doing it because Quinn had promised him something in return and if she ruined it, Santana threatened to go Lima Heights on her behind.

She continued to stir the contents in the pot to stop it from sticking. She turned around back to her island counter and continued measure out all the ingredients and dump the contents into the blender. The blender switched on, roaring loudly until everything look decently blended. It was smooth and creamy, it looked exactly like it did in its pictures, say for a few small particles that needed more work. She scraped the sides with a spatula and mixed it by hand a bit before she blended it once more. Pleased with the results, she set it aside for the time being.

Quinn whipped around the kitchen, going back and forth from the stove to the island. She sliced mushrooms, sauteed them on the stove. Move back to mixing the pasta every now and then. She was so engrossed in her tasks at hand that she had nearly forgotten that Finn was with her as well. She had so much to do, he was supposed to be her help, but it seemed that he was causing her even more problems than helping. He made a mess of the water by adding way too much salt to the pasta which set her back at least 15 minutes. He splashed nearly all her water out of the pot while adding the pasta. She could smell a piece of pasta burning because he dropped some under the burner. He did try to slice mushrooms, one of the easiest things to cut up and kept cutting them too thick. He also nearly cut his finger off which was why he was pasta duty to begin with. In a way, she was happy he was out of the way with his hand under the faucet. The kitchen was one of place Quinn truly felt at ease; having someone in there with her, no matter how experienced, was awkward. The cheerio was used of doing so many things alone that it always caused a disruption in her groove with someone else there.

Finn cleared his throat. His hands were resting on top of the counter looking at her expectantly. "So, I think I'm good now. What can I do to help?" He drummed his fingers annoyingly on top the marble counter.

She paused and glanced around the kitchen. It had a bit of a mess from used pots, pans, and utensils. "Um, I think I got everything done already actually. I just need to wait for the pasta to finish boiling and mix everything together again. The butternut squash pudding was done earlier before you came because it needed to chill for a few hours." She shrugged.

A small frown was beginning to pull at his lips. "Was I really as useless as I feel?" He asked.

She couldn't help but laugh. "I mean, a bit. You sort of caused more damage than help." She could see him look down at the counter ashamed. She felt a bit bad for him, although a few minutes before she was happy, he was out of her way. "Look, its fine. You're not much of a cook, but it's not like you can't learn, right? It took me some time too. My mom has had me helping in the kitchen for as long as I can remember." She smiled encouragingly.

A small smile tugged on his lips in appreciation. "So now that it's all done. What do I do?"

She moved towards the stove with Finn following her in tow. She took out a small piece of pasta and blew on it to help cool it off before popping it into her mouth. She nodded in appreciation and moved to drain it. "I'm going to mix this and the sauce together, add the mushrooms. We can just put it in a container for you. It should be cool enough to put it in the fridge when you get home." She moved to the drained pasta into a bowl and dumped the contents of the blender into the container with it. "Just before you are ready to go pick her up, put all of this into a frying pan for a few minutes to reheat it." She bundled up the container and set it in a small grocery bag. She moved to grab the pudding to add on top. "This is the desert. Everything is entirely vegan friendly."

He smiled. "Thanks Quinn. In case she asks, what exactly is it?"

"Oh, right. Tell her that you made vegan alfredo. The sauce is mostly cashews. There is some other stuff, but everything is vegan. For dessert it is butternut squash pudding."

"Wow, that sounds good! I think." He was a bit hesitant on trying this vegan stuff. He did see Quinn taking a lot of taste testing during their cooking trial. She had offered a spoon to him to allow him to taste but he was not sure about it and usually shook his head. Now that he thought about it, he really should have tried it.

"Don't mention it. I mean it, don't. She can't know I helped you with this, she will catch on."

"You got it." He flashed his dopey grin to her before he grabbed his food bag and made his way to the door. He had at least two hours or so before he had to pick up Rachel. They made it with just enough time.

Quinn exhaled a long sigh. It was a tedious afternoon, not exactly what she wanted to do on a Saturday. She had to turn down Santana's and Brittany's request to hang out by the pool to do this. Of course, they made fun of her relentlessly, mostly on Santana's part, but it had to be done.

Her phone buzzed loudly against the marble countertop. She looked over at it, speaking of the devil. She popped open her phone to see a few missed texted messages from Santana.

Saturday, 2:15 PM

San: Hey.

Saturday, 3:01 PM

San: Q!

Saturday, 3:58 PM

San: Are you done playing house yet?

Saturday, 4:42 PM

San: B and I are coming over. B there in five

Like clockwork, there was two knocks on her door before she heard someone barge in. Santana really did have a bad tendency to barge in after a brief announcement of her arrival. It has caught Quinn off guard quite a few times, sometimes in not-so-great moments of her mid dressing.

"Q! Why the hell are you ignoring us?" Santana walked into the kitchen plopping herself down on the stool of the island counter.

"I'm not intentionally ignoring you. You know I was busy." She grumbled.

"Yeah, being a housewife for the Troll." Santana retorted.

"I already told you it was to help Finn impress her." She groaned. This was a continued tease that kept coming up since Santana found out she was going to help cook for Finn and Rachel's date. One that was beginning to get a little old if you were to ask Quinn. The thing with Santana was, she never did ask Quinn. She liked to push these buttons and rile her friend up.

"Uh huh, you keep saying that." Santana smiles wickedly at her.

The head cheerleader doesn't bother responding. No matter what she said, it always came back to the same thing anyway. She turned and started filling her sink with water. If her mother returned to see the kitchen in this state of disaster, she would have a cow. "Why are you here anyways?"

Santana had moved to inspect the dirty dishes. She was sniffing all the used pots, her nose crinkling in disgust with each dish she sniffed. Brittany on the other hand had her fingers scraping the sides of things tasting everything there was to offer. "She wanted to apologize about the other day. You two haven't really talked much since the fight and she thought you might hate her. She was worried." Brittany chimed in.

"No, I wasn't!" Santana groaned.

A single brow arched up in response. Santana glared at the cheery blonde before turning away to continue sniffing through the dirty dishes. Quinn could see a small flush settle on the Latina's face. Hazel orbs glanced towards her fellow blonde. Brittany smiled in response 'she was' she mouthed.

Quinn could not help but smile softly. Once again proving that Santana was a big softy to certain people. It was exceedingly rare that Quinn got to see that side of her, it was probably because the two were always at each other's throats. It would really give the HBIC more ammunition against her if they ever got into a bad squabble. "That's cute, even for you San. We are good."

Santana sighed. "Whatever."

Both blondes giggled in response to the grumbling brunette.

"By the way, what is this crap? It smells like shit." Santana was trying to change the subject.

"Probably because everything is vegan. Its alfredo and butternut squash pudding." Quinn rolled her eyes in response. She slowly began to wash the dishes up.

"Well, it looks like crap too."

"I think it tastes good!" Brittany responded. "You really are a good cook Q. If I marry you, will you cook for me?"

Quinn couldn't help but laugh. "Sure, B."

"Hey! What about me? Don't I get food too?" Santana clearly annoyed about the development in conversation.

"No, you said it looks and smells like crap. I'm not cooking anything for you." Quinn responded.

"Whatever. I don't want your food anyways."

"Don't worry San, I can sneak you some," Brittany said.

"That's cheating Britt, she can't have any!" Quinn grumbled.

"But—" Brittany pouted.

"She called it crap, she doesn't deserve my food. If you plan on feeding her, I won't marry you." Quinn threatened.

"I'm not the one you want to marry anyways." Brittany smiled knowingly.

"What?" Quinn paused and looked at her friend. "Who do I want to marry?"

"You're not ready." Brittany smiled softly.

"I'm bored. Britt let's go. Quinn wants to continue playing house." Santana got up abruptly and began to walk out of the kitchen heading towards the entrance of the house.

"Where are we going?" Brittany looked at the other cheerleader trying to leave.

"I don't know, the mall?" Santana paused at the door and looked at her friends.

"I can't. I have to go to Rachel's house." Brittany frowned.

"What!? Since when?" Santana looked like she was fuming.

"I promised her I was going to help her get ready for her date." Brittany shrugged.

Silence fell on the house. Both cheerleaders watched their cheery friend. It was a surprise Quinn was not the only one doing things. It seemed that Brittany had taken an interest in this particular prank and was helping Rachel in an unusual way. She wasn't entirely sure just why though. Santana was the only one doing absolutely nothing to participate. How did she manage to get away with that?

"Why?" Santana broke the silence.

Brittany smiled softly. "She asked me to. She was really nervous and wanted to look nice."

"Yeah, but why? You don't need to help her," Santana was clearly getting annoyed.

"I already promised her. I can't go back on it now."

Santana growled. "Fine, I'll drop you off so you can play dress up with man hands." She turned and stormed out of the house. "Don't expect me to be there with you."

Brittany smiled happily. She turned to look at a very stunned Quinn. "I'll see you later. Text me!" She beamed at her captain before skipping out to follow their brunette friend.