Quinn was sitting in her bedroom, crying her eyes out and trying to figure out what the hell she was supposed to do. She had just told Puck she was pregnant and he took it much worse than she thought he would. Never in her life had Quinn felt so lost - and she had absolutely no one she could talk to. Sure, there was Jesse, but that would just be weird and she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him yet, he may be her brother, but...exactly - he was her brother. He most likely would go punch the shit out of Puck and make the situation even worse. The next problem Quinn had was Yale; who wants to start off their college experience looking like a giant walrus? Quinn had decided at least that much that she would have the baby, she couldn't get rid of it, it didn't seem right and she didn't know if she could take it. But that makes her life just that much harder; being a pregnant freshman in college - Yale, nonetheless - definitely does not sound like the ideal experience.

Quinn jerked as she heard a knock on her door. She quickly swiped the tears from her eyes and called out in an irritated voice, "What?"

"Hey, can I come in?" she heard Jesse from the other side of the door.

"No."

But she should have known better, of course Jesse was already in the room, "Quinny, what's wrong?" he asked as he saw her puffy face.

"Nothing, just go away!" Quinn turned her back to him and demanded.

"Come on, I ju-"

"Jesse, I'm serious, leave me alone!" She buried her face in her pillow.

Jesse sighed and shook his head. He knew his sister, she always played the tough one, the untouchable one, she would never admit what's bothering her to him, "Well, there's someone downstairs to see you, when you're ready," he said softly.

"What, who?" She jerked her head up.

"That's for you to find out," he said as he walked out of the room.

"Great," Quinn muttered as she jumped up and went to the bathroom to try and make herself look presentable, since she was pretty sure Puck was downstairs getting ready to beg for her forgiveness. Maybe this day would turn around yet.

About 10 minutes later, once the major puffiness had gone and she looked decent, Quinn took a deep breath and went downstairs. Much to her surprise, she saw Jesse and Rachel sitting in the living room, instead of a pleading Puck. This was way worse.

"Quinn, hi!" Rachel said as she caught sight of the blond beauty entering the room.

"Uh, hi," she answered distractedly, "Am I missing something?" she asked Jesse, rubbing her forehead.

"No, no, Rachel's here to see you. I'll leave you two alone. Model Latina is starting in a few minutes, anyway," he smirked and left.

Rachel raised an eyebrow as Quinn responded, "Yeah, I don't get it either, Jesse has a thing for the Latina. Or maybe it's just a thing for models."

Rachel nodded, "I guess so."

"So, did you want to talk about something?" Quinn said as she sat down on the couch next to Rachel, but leaving a fair distance between them.

"Actually, yes," Rachel replied, but then stopped, not knowing how to proceed the conversation.

"About?" Quinn finally couldn't stand the hesitation and asked, trying hard to disguise the inner pain she was still feeling from her recent conversation with Puck.

"Just...life."

"Life..." Quinn repeated as she arched her brow and puckered her lips, as if not understanding the meaning of the word.

"Yeah, how have you been? I couldn't help but feel like our last meeting was a little...uncomfortable."

"Well that's because you suddenly showed up at my house after being MIA for 6 years," Quinn snapped with and emotionless face. She didn't have the strength to pretend that everything was fine today, she needed to get her frustration out somehow and if it was going to be on Rachel, so be it.

Rachel suddenly looked stunned and baffled, "I-I..." she mumbled with a furrowed brow.

"You what? Thought you would come back and we'll have sleepovers and paint each others toenails like when we were 10?" Quinn mocked in a slightly insulting tone. Quinn Fabray was in extremely strong person, no one knew when it quite happened, probably around the time Rachel left, but she became very independent. Whenever she had a problem she'd deal with it herself, what business was it of other people what she was going through? She always had this tough facade and God forbid it would fade even a little. True, she had let Puck in a little and vice versa, but the fact that he dumped her was exactly why she acted the way she did. It was too hard to let people see what she really felt on the inside, so she usually played the invincible, confident, popular, perfect cheerleader. She had closed herself off to many emotions, which was why it was so strange that she was sitting in her room crying over Puck just minutes earlier. The pregnancy was probably to blame. The pregnancy was turning her into someone she didn't even recognize. She couldn't help but wonder if she needed to be broken in order to get on with her life, because deep down she knew there was no living the way she did.

"No, but I didn't expect this kind of reaction, either!" Rachel said firmly.

"What did you expect, then?"

"I, I don't know...I mean, we once were such good friends and then-"

"Then you just left, that's exactly what happened. You left and now you're surprised I'm not greeting you with arms wide open."

Rachel looked completely frustrated and it looked like she'd just been punched in the gut, "What does that have to do with anything? Are you angry at me because I left?"

"Yes, Rachel!" Quinn almost screamed as she got up from the couch, "I am angry that you left me all alone in this God forsaken town. I'm angry that my best friend in the entire world just packed up and walked out of my life. I'm angry that you didn't even try to keep in touch," Quinn started rambling as tears formed in her eyes, "I'm angry because you had no idea how much I missed you! I'm angry because you didn't even care!" Quinn finally broke down and let everything she had kept inside somewhere out. This day had turned out to be more than she could handle, so she just let go and embraced everything she was feeling. All the things she hadn't mentioned since Rachel left, everything she had kept bundled up inside for the past years - everything was just coming back to her and flowing out of her mouth and she didn't even think twice about it.

Rachel felt like she could hardly breathe, like little needles pierced every inch of her body and the ball in her throat denied access to speaking.

"Quinn..." was all she could bring herself to say. She had been aware of none of this and it pained her to see how much Quinn was suffering due to her absence.

"And now your just back, reminding me of the friendship I've lost, and I just can't take it anymore, I have enough on my plate," Quinn continued.

Rachel stood up from the couch, knowing she had to handle this and it was no time for hesitance, "I'm so sorry you feel that way, I had no idea..."

"Of course you didn't, you were too busy becoming a Broadway star in New York!"

Rachel felt offended that Quinn saw it like that, as if she had abandoned her. Honestly, she was 12, she didn't think much of well, anything. Yes, it had been hard to leave Lima and Quinn, but Rachel Berry knew she was destined to be a star and she wouldn't pass up that opportunity. People move all the time - it's no big deal, or at least she thought so at the time. Now she was realizing what an impact that had made.

"You think I just forgot about you? You think I haven't thought about you all the time over the years? You think I haven't regularly visited your Facebook page, wanting to write you?"

"Why didn't you?" Quinn said softly with tearfilled eyes.

"I-I don't know, I thought you'd moved on and who was I to intervene in your life here," Rachel confessed.

"Asking how I'm doing wouldn't be intervening! You never called, you never wrote, you never came to visit me when you were in town."

"Well, you know, you could have done the same," Rachel barely whispered, stunning Quinn, "it takes two you know."

"But you were the one who left!" Quinn quickly recovered, "And I stayed here without someone I could depend on. I needed," she said through sobs, "my friend!" she turned around and faced the wall as she fought the tears. Poor Rachel had no idea that right now was the moment she needed her friend the most.

Rachel's eyes filled up with tears as those words pierced like swords. "Quinn, don't think that I've found someone like you in New York. You're the best friend I've ever had, and I deeply regret that I let our friendship fade..."

Neither of them spoke for a while, it felt like they needed to take a moment to themselves to figure out what to say next. Quinn suddenly felt awful for saying all those things to Rachel. It was true - it did take two and Quinn was just as much to blame as Rachel, except she wasn't the one who moved away. Rachel thought of what it was like growing up in New York and compared it to living in Lima. Yes, it was great living in the city that never sleeped but the friends and experiences she had in Lima could never be replaced in New York. Between school and work, she didn't have much time to maintain relationships with her peers. For a split second Rachel couldn't help but wonder, if she'd have a chance to do it all again, would she.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me. I know how hard it is to grow up without someone next to you going through the same stuff," Rachel finally spoke.

Quinn looked at Rachel, her icy facade melting, "Well, you're here now," she smiled. It felt incredibly invigorating to express everything she had kept inside for so long. And now that she had gotten it out, she could move on. There was no more use being angry at Rachel, it wouldn't change the past, she ought to look to her future now, since that future looks in dire need of love and support. She felt like maybe she was ready to let Rachel back into her life.

Rachel was surprised to hear such a reaction but she returned a smile.

"And I should be apologizing, too, I totally just blew up at you," Quinn continued. She had a feeling these pregnancy caused mood swings would lead to no good.

"That's alright. It was very dramatic," Rachel joked.

Quinn chuckled and lowered her head in embarrassment.

"And it was also something that needed to be done. At least hopefully we won't have all this awkwardness between us," Rachel continued.

"Why don't we go upstairs and catch up?" Quinn suggested as sort of a peace offering.

"I'd love to," Rachel stated with a huge smile on her face. This was what she was expecting today.

About 20 minutes later, Jesse knocked on Quinn's door and peaked in to see both girls on the bed, and apparently Quinn was showing Rachel pictures and they looked happy. He hadn't seen Quinn happy in a while, so the sight of this warmed his heart.

"Status quo?" Jesse asked, though he was pretty sure what the answer would be.

"Oh no, we're good now," Quinn replied, "Now leave."

Rachel giggled and Jesse smiled and closed the door. He was glad they were friends again, but he couldn't help but wonder what this meant for his relationship with Rachel. Not that they had much of a relationship, but he doubted this new development wouldn't have an impact on it. However, this would also mean Rachel would be spending more time at their house. Jesse felt he'd be staying at home much more than usual from now on.

"You performed a number in wheelchairs? That's an amazing idea," Rachel said as she looked at the picture of New Directions doing "Rolling on the River".

"Yeah, Artie inspired us to do it, it really gave me a different perspective on things."

"And how do you manage both cheerleading and glee, isn't it tough?"

"I thought it would be harder, actually. When you're in the Cheerios, everything else seems easy," Quinn joked.

"I bet," Rachel laughed, "Oh my gosh, who's that?" she pointed at a beautiful Latina in the Cheerios picture.

"That's exactly who you think it is."

"Santana?" Rachel exclaimed in shock.

"Yep. Shocker, isn't it."

"She's like, gorgeous!"

"If you're into that kind of thing," Quinn shrugged.

"What thing? Hot, gorgeous and big boobs?"

"She's a huge bitch, though," Quinn tried to avoid admitting Santana was beautiful. There was a constant battle between them, Santana had her hooks in Puck, and it was hard as hell ripping him away from her. Santana also constantly tried to take Quinn's place as captain of the Cheerios. The biggest joy graduation had brought to Quinn was the knowledge that she'd never have to fight Santana for anything ever again.

"Ouch. Why is she in glee then?" Rachel asked.

"I don't really know. When I decided to join she said she'd join, too. It seems she really likes it," Quinn explained, even though she knew the real reason was because Puck had also joined and she just couldn't let him be involved with Quinn in something like that.

"Remember the sleepovers we used to have at her house? She'd always somehow manage to get Mike and Puck over," Rachel started saying, but then she remembered she shouldn't mention Puck.

Quinn's attitude suddenly changed. This whole time she was with Rachel she had avoided mentioning his name or thinking of her huge secret, and now the burden fell right back on.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean t-" Rachel saw her immediate mood swing and tried to ease the tension.

"It's fine," Quinn interrupted her.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Quinn took a moment to contemplate the idea, and once she came to a conclusion she replied, "Not tonight."

Quinn had just gotten her friend back, but she wasn't ready to tell her something no one else but Puck knew just yet. It would take some time for their friendship to get back to the way it was - or even better than it was.

"Okay..." Rachel said softly, "It's getting late anyway, I should probably go," she got up and headed for the door.

"Rachel," Quinn called as she went after her.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're back."

Rachel smiled, "Me, too." They hugged and said goodbye, after Rachel stated she'd let herself out.

Once Rachel got to the bottom of the stairs, she spotted a conveniently located Jesse sitting in the living room, reading a book and facing the stairs.

"What happened to your Latina Model?" Rachel asked as she came closer.

"Oh, you know. There's nothing like looking at a real life beauty," he shrugged and smirked as he looked at her intently.

Rachel felt a blush creeping up quickly spoke, "Isn't that charming. Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for pushing me to talk to Quinn today, it was very productive. And I also had a very nice time at Breadstix today, thanks for introducing me to that place."

"No problem," Jesse said as he shut his book and stood up, facing her a few feet away, "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?" A confused Rachel replied.

"I mean, why are you leaving our house at 9 o'clock on a Friday night. Have a hot date or something?" Wow that sounds weird asking Little Rache if she has a "hot date", Jesse thought. Whatever Jesse would do, there was still a part of him that saw her as "Little Rache". It was making him extremely uncomfortable but he quickly shook the feeling off.

"What business is it of yours?" Rachel decided to play along with his little game.

"Well, you are my little sister's friend, and you are over at our house, which makes me kind of responsible for you," Jesse explained with an over-exaggerated look of what a babysitter should look like.

"Is that right," Rachel chuckled.

"I believe it to be so."

"Well then... You're responsible for getting me home, since you did drive me here."

"I'll get my keys," Jesse smirked and went to get the car keys.

Thanks for reviewing - you have no idea how much every review inspires me! Therefore I'd love to hear what you hope to see! This chapter was more Quinn centric, next one will finally feature Rachel's POV. There is more St. Berry to come - that's for sure. And maybe even a night on the town with Jesse and Rachel *wink wink*