Quinn let out a deep sigh as soon as she said goodbye to Rachel. What was she thinking? She'd almost kissed Rachel. Rachel, the girl who had been silent for almost a week because of what others had said about her. Rachel, the girl who she used to say those horrible things about. Quinn really did not want to mess up their newfound friendship. She'd given Rachel her Cheerios jacket for god's sake.

Rachel needed someone and the blonde was determined to be the person there for her. She was lost in her thoughts as she absentmindedly pulled into her driveway, until she heard a loud beep from her phone beside her. Her heart sped up as she grabbed it. "Maybe it's from Rachel." She smiled even bigger and eagerly went to her messages. Her heart dropped as she saw it was from Santana.

From: San

I swear to God, Q, if you don't get the midget to talk by the end of the week, I will not only kick her ass but yours too. Fix this.

Quinn snorted. Why did Quinn have to "fix" Rachel? The rest of the club were the ones who did this to her. If they actually thought about it, maybe they would connect the dots. She began to type out a reply to the fiery girl.

To: San

Figure it out yourself. If you do anything to Berry, I will make your life hell. Don't forget I'm still captain.

She tossed her phone into her back and trudged into her house, her heart feeling heavy.

"Quinnie! I'm so glad you're home! I was getting so worried." Judy ran up to her daughter and caught her in a bone crushing hug. Quinn laughed heartily and hugged her mother back. "Yeah, sorry about that. I went for coffee with a….. friend." Quinn let the word friend roll off her tongue. It felt nice being able to call Rachel her friend. But, for some reason, it still felt too empty for her feelings. She'd have to figure that out later. Her mother smiled and waved off her apologies. "Don't worry about it, honey. I'm just glad you're here."Her mom had begun to include deeper messages in everyday talks with Quinn. Although their relationship was extremely well, Judy still felt bad about everything that had happened when Quinn was pregnant. Quinn gave her mother a small smile and kicked off her shoes and walked into the kitchen. The air was filled with warmth and the scent of herbs. Inhaling deeply, Quinn relaxed. "I made mushroom risotto, since I know it's your favorite." Judy set a plate in front of Quinn and then poured herself a small glass of wine. The younger blonde gratefully thanked her, then dug into the plate beneath her. "So, Quinnie, I was wondering… Have you thought about getting back together with that Sam boy?" Quinn choked on her food violently as her mother's eyes widened comically. She took a deep gulp from her water, and then gave her mother an incredulous look. "Mom, where did that come from? Sam and I have been broken up for months."

"Well, you know, I was just thinking. I see their family at church every week and oh, Quinn, they're so nice! He seems like such a sweet boy! I don't know why you ever broke up." Quinn's eyes hardened. "Yeah, he sure seems like it." She mumbled quietly, remembering what Sam had said about Rachel.

"I only just broke up with Finn a few weeks ago, Mom. Do you think I should really be moving on so fast? Besides, I'm over Sam. He's not who I want to be with anymore."

"So who do you want to be with, Quinn?" Her mother crossed her hands and looked up at the teenager.

"I don't know. But not him." Quinn ignored the small voice telling her that she did know who she wanted to be with.

"I really wish you guys would have worked out. I would just love to have seen more of that boy..." Her mother began to talk excitedly as Quinn drowned her out. She loved her mother, but this was too much.

"May I please be excused? I have homework to do." She interrupted Judy's animated chatting about Sam, and her mother nodded as Quinn was already cleaning up her plate. She kissed her mother on the cheek and mumbled a quick goodnight before quickly running up the stairs. Shutting her door loudly, she slid down to the floor. Why did her mother have to remind her all about relationships? She knew she didn't want to be with Sam anymore, and she was absolutely positive she didn't want to be with Finn in any lifetime ever again. Did she even want to be with anyone? There were no more really suitable boys. Mike was with Tina, Artie was with Brittany, and she swore to God she would never go back to Puck. But then why had her head told her that she did want someone at dinner. Quinn tried to think of who it could be. No boy fit her ideal. She wanted someone with drive and passion. She laughed to herself . Good luck finding that at WMHS. She wanted someone she could be herself around and not have to worry about appearances. That would be a difficult one since so many of her relationships were purely for aesthetic and popularity reasons. Sure, she probably loved Finn at some point but getting back together with him again and again became just something to do to fix her image. He quickly became too possessive and jealous, all while getting mad at her for even talking to another boy. Sam was sweet at first, but she quickly realized she was with him because he was at the top with her. Their relationship was dull and she never had any real spark with him. The one boy she has a spark with was Puck. Puck was definitely a contender at the time. He really was sweet, but she could never be with him after everything that had happened. She could get any boy she wanted at William McKinley High School. But, she didn't just want anyone. She wanted to be in a relationship because she had true feelings, not because she wanted to have a better social standing.

She wanted someone who was not only attractive, but had a kind heart and a smart mind. She didn't want someone to idolize her and call her perfect and flawless 24/7. She wanted a real relationship with fights and feelings and messiness because that's how you knew it was something real. She wanted someone who had seen her at her worst, but would stick with her through it and knew she was capable of so much more than being the pretty blonde wife of someone like Finn Hudson. Someone like-

Oh fuck.

Rachel pulled the jacket even tighter around her as she walked into her house. Who knew that Quinn Fabray would be the one person she could go to? The girl had turned out to be surprisingly sweet and good company. The brunette hadn't had so much fun in a long time as she had with Quinn at that coffee shop. Rachel grimaced as she realized she still had to go to school the next day and face everyone else. Hopefully, Quinn would still be true to her word and stay by her side. The blonde really was quickly becoming someone big in Rachel's life. Just knowing that Quinn was there for her made Rachel's heart flutter and a wide smile appear across her features. She didn't know how long she could keep up this thing with ignoring the New Directions. Sure, they all harmonized well but she was so so so tired of feeling like she was a burden to them. At this rate, she didn't even know if she would be in the glee club for much longer. Rachel was sure she deserved better. Or did she? They shouldn't have said all those things about her, but were they all false? Her brow furrowed as she began to think about it. Rachel knew she could be loud and a little bossy, but when she did it, it was just because they wouldn't let her help them. Rachel knew she got a lot of the solos, but she liked to think that she earned them. She put in ten times as much work as anyone else in there. No one in there, not even Kurt, had her knowledge and expertise of so many different genres. Maybe she needed to work on being more a team player. Rachel quickly shook those thoughts from her head. It wasn't as if she was the only one who needed to work on things? Why did no one call out how Kurt and Mercedes were just as demanding for solos, but without the intense work Rachel put in? What about everyone else? They hardly came up with anything! Shouldn't the hardest worker reap the most benefits?

The brunette pushed the thoughts away and went to make herself a quick dinner. Her fathers were on a work trip, so she was alone again. Taking out some leftover Chinese, she put it into the microwave and began to set things up for something to watch. As soon as the microwave beeped, she grabbed chopsticks and her food and went to sit in the den. She turned on some wintertime movie and a smile graced her lips as she remembered her snowball fight with Quinn earlier. It really was extremely fun and it was nice to see Quinn let loose. The blonde girl seemed to think she always had to have her show face on, a feeling Rachel knew all too well. Hopefully, as time progressed, she could get Quinn to show her more of her true self. Rachel focused on the movie and felt herself begin to drift off. Pulling herself up from the couch, she went up the stairs and quickly rushed through her nighttime routine. She all but collapsed as soon as she reached her bed. She fell asleep instantaneously with thoughts of tomorrow in her head and Quinn's jacket draped across her.

i cannot even begin to explain how sorry i am. life got really really bad but here we are! a year later! i'm better and i'm going to start updating this more, i swear. review and tell me what you think/what i can do to make this story better. xx.