Hello. There has been generally no amount of Faberry in these episodes. It is rather sad. Anyways this chapter is a little long! There also may be some errors…just because Just Dance interrupted my proof reading. But please read and review! Oh small note Italics are used for flashbacks and emphasis.

Chapter 2

An Extraordinarily Indecisive Christmas

It was not unordinary for Quinn and Rachel to go days without speaking to one another. The silence was not anything strange; in fact it was a normal occurrence in their relationship. It was a comfortable one that did not need to be filled with useless small talk, and droning monologue rambles.

However, this break was…unusual.

There was a stiff uncomfortable tension whenever they came within shoulder-brushing distance of one another. At some other time Quinn may have worried about the other Glee clubbers noticing the awkwardness (to her it seemed as obvious as the dead animal that replaced the Mohawk on Puck's head) but something else consumed all their attention.

Christmas.

The Glee club room was decked out with a large glorious tree decorated in long glittering streamers and ornament globes. Music filled the air and Mercedes reverberated throughout the room as they danced without choreography.

At the finish Rachel spun into Fin's arms around a streamer. Her skirt splayed around her and she beamed after they shared a kiss.

"Best Christmas Ever!"

Rachel Berry's bright and perky face popping up unexpectedly at eight o'clock in the morning was enough to spawn a migraine. Quinn couldn't imagine how anyone could be that happy when forced to go to high school this god damn early.

Then again, she was pretty sure that Rachel lived in her own world of golden microphones and infinite solos.

"Good morning!"

Quinn nodded in response and shut her McKinley red locker. Rachel did not require an in-depth response and continued on to her next point.

"Quinn, even though we have several unresolved issues that are implicating our relationship currently, I believe that during this time of year we should wait to discuss those difficult things until after the holiday season is over." There was a slightly hesitation afterwards, and her breath hitched at the end, in anticipation for Quinn's answer.

She looked down with her eyes fixating on the floor, "Plus it is my first Christmas back together with Finn, and…" She crinkled the paper between her hands and her face formed into a frown.

Quinn snapped her lock shut, and spun around to fully face Rachel. She made her face form into a small smile, truthfully it was only a frown with a slight upturn.

"That's fine." The clip in her tone had the same effect as a slap in the face. Well, Rachel had already received that, and she could say that even though it stung-it was more pleasant that Quinn's completely passive face.

She pushed past Rachel and the two of them strode side by side with Rachel hurried in her step to keep up.

"What's that?" Quinn asked idly, and eyed the piece of paper Rachel grasped between her hands like life support.

"Oh! This is my Christmas list for Finn. He can choose any of these five items!" She swayed back and forth with delight lightening her face. The list was ridiculously long for just fifteen items due to the very clear methods of how to acquire each.

Quinn wasn't sure if it was that or the expression of pure bliss on Rachel's face that filled her with a feeling of reproach.

She snorted and picked up the pace. Rachel, despite her confident stride, was easily jostled in the hallways. Her tiny stature was overlooked and in the more dense crowds she would suffer collisions more than once.

"WellI'm sure that really captures the holiday spirit," She muttered with sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Yes, I think it is a perfect way to express our relationship." Then after a few seconds of silence passed she continued, "I just now became aware that you may not have meant that in a sincere manner."

Quinn tilted her head downwards to catch a glimpse of Rachel's frown that etched over where her smile used to be. Her eyes were focused on the bottom of her strange snowflake/circle patterned shirt that screamed Berry original.

"I don't care how you and Finn express whatever bu-"

"Quinn are you jealous?"

The statement, at least according to Quinn, was entirely out of the blue. She stopped and turned around to Rachel so quickly that her flats made a nasty screeching sound on the tiled floor. Her green eyes were wide with surprise at the accusation, and the books under her arm almost tumbled to the ground.

"What? No!"

"I understand if you still have feelings for him, I mean you two did hold a deep connection, and I know that my current actions have been less than appropriate for a girl friend. But I'm trying to fix that, there are just many things that complicate the situation. My dads always told me that artists feel more passionately than others, and that it was something I could never be rid of."

That initial surprise soon turned to anger. It was only a misunderstanding on Rachel's part, but the matter of it brought a flush of indignant to her cheeks and a swarm of fury up her body.

Quinn took a deep breath in. The momentary haze of red that clouded her vision also blocked the continued rambles of Rachel. Their position was quite inconvenient to the rest of the hallway. People were weaving around them with frustrated looks, and shoulder clashes.

"I meant not everything is about getting presents."

Rachel's confusion flickered to playful, "Well of course I'm going to get him something to, that would just be absurd not to."

Quinn frowned, sighed. Rachel was insufferable most of the time. Usually, Quinn noticed in the past, she learned from her mistakes quickly. That generally took a little over a week, but through the process she made more intolerable comments.

It always briefly reminded Quinn why she was in a battle between resenting and tolerating Rachel.

"Rachel," She put on her sickly sweet smile she used to soften the blow, whenever she was about to say something cruel, "not everything is about you".

She walked away swiftly, and left Rachel a little shocked and a lot puzzled.

Quinn had done terrible things to Rachel. She had drawn pornographic pictures, slandered her name, slapped her, and once or twice remarked that she was getting a nose job to fix that obstruction on her face. That was before they were 'friends'. Honestly, Quinn always knew that their friendship would either be complementary lies or painfully blunt truths.

She was wrong about there being any sort of sexual attraction between the two of them-so maybe her interpretation skills were not as strong as she prided.

She knew that something was wrong. Normally, Rachel pestered her at least once a day, but for the past three days Rachel had avoided her like Quinn caught strep.

She couldn't tell if when Rachel walked into the Glee club whether she would look like a kicked puppy, an infuriated diva, in a still confused daze, or simply revert back to normal.

Quinn was already seated when Rachel entered. She was wearing a visually assaulting red dress. She slipped past Quinn to get to her seat on the second row. Finn had yet to finish football practice and would be arriving later with the other boys.

As she passed by Quinn she dropped a neatly folded note sealed with a golden star into her lap. Quinn believed that the action went completely unnoticed by anyone. Rachel maneuvered with grace and Quinn tucked it into her black jacket pocket neatly. The stealth plus the limited number of members in the room shouldn't have drawn any attention to the exchange.

Or so she thought.

However one person in the room had seen the exchange. Though she spoke nothing of it immediately, her devious mind was still trying to form pieces of the puzzle. It was still in the early rounds of the game, and completely impossible to deduce anything yet.

The witness was about to comment, when the boys of the club ran through the door, and Rory launched into a somber ballad. By then, her head was filled with things to insult the song rather than what had happened previously.

"Gosh, that song was so depressing; I may actually be dead right now." Santana insensitively commented.

Rachel was quick to step in after wards. She twirled her fingers around her straight brown hair while speaking quickly, "I-I think what Santana," She gestured and turned her head around to her fellow glee mate, "t-hat what Santana means is although that was mournfully beautiful, now that the whole Glee club is back together that we should focus on the more…" She clenched her fist in front of her with a radiant grin, "joyous and pageant aspect of this holiday season."

Her smile was like a salesman cutting their way into a deal.

"Rachel's right, last Christmas was super sad, Kurt was at another school, coach Sylvester trashed everything, and Artie got a pair of magic legs that broke the next day," Tina continued, "We were the island of misfit toys. This year is gonna be-"

"This year is a whole new sprig of mistletoe!" Mr. Schue came sliding into the Glee club room, and shed his scarf as he did. "Guess who's not getting goal in their stocking for once?" He set it down on the nearby chair, and looked at his students with his serious, slightly grinning face, "Us."

He patted the transfer student on the back, "Rory have a seat."

Mr. Schue had several looks, and Quinn knew this one. It was his extremely excited expression that was trying to deliver the good news on maximum impact, no matter how long it actually took.

"I just got off the phone with Don Barowsky, the local station manager, at Lima's PBS affiliate. Turns out, that their annual broadcast of the Yule log burning has been cancelled."

Puck's head, squirrel Mohawk and all, snapped up, "The hell?"

"Yeah, they can't afford the licensing fees anymore." He clasped his hands together in a prayer motion, "But thank you Scrooges that own that copyright, because," He spread his hands apart, "Don came to sectionals. He loved what we did, and he is offering us-"

Rachel cut in, "A Christmas special featuring all of us?" She tilted her seat with her hands gripped at the edges, "Okay please say you said yes!"

"Not only did I say yes, but when Don said they were looking for a director for the special, I nominated you Artie."

Artie did not look as happy as Schue expected him to-as all of them did. He looked a little bewildered, a lot disapproving.

"Me?"

"Yeah, he saw Westside story, loved your work, and he wants to take a meeting."

Artie's expression transformed into a disgusted one when he continued, "But…I…" He looked back and forth at his other members, "I swore I would never sell out and do television." Mr. Schuester's face fell with every word. "I'm really going to have to think about this, Mr. Schue."

Quinn almost snorted, was it just recently that she had been noticing these flaws or was the holiday season just enunciating them? Whatever, she was still just as excited as the rest (minus Artie) for a chance to be featured.

Mr. Schue let out an exasperated sigh, while the rest of the members shared looks of disbelief.

The rest of the meeting went by fast once they overcame the awkward silence. They finalized plans, started to discuss repertoires, but the excitement caused a commotion that was hard to get anything done. Quinn slipped out first, and to a private place where she could read the note folded in her pocket.

It was no surprise-Rachel always had to be the dramatic.

The time when Rachel was most appealing was when she was singing. In fact if she sang every long drawn out sentence then people may tolerate her more.

Or maybe not.

The ballad was moving, stirring, not at all happy, but not sad either. It was a mixture of emotion. For Quinn, it seemed like Rachel was portraying a deep sense of longing that made her avert her eyes whenever the brown ones found their way over. It wasn't sorrowful, like Rory's, but so brimming with emotion that it didn't depress nor lift you. When it was over Quinn felt drained and hollow.

They clapped slowly; Quinn slouched further into her seat.

"Rachel could you come see me?" Artie's voice was not pleased in the slightest.

"Yes, Artie, of course," She had the look of an eager puppy wagging its tail for praise, "And if this is about my ears, I know they're a little bit naked right now, but that's just because I'm waiting for something special." She sent a very obvious look to Finn, "Something that's really going to sparkle and you know, catch the light. So what's up?" Her voice dropped down to a whisper, and made it impossible for Quinn to hear any of the conversation.

It looked like she had thought about nothing they had spoken of from before.

Quinn did not like being bossed around. She may have recently been quiet about her opinions but that did not mean she didn't have any. Therefore when Rachel's note ordered her to meet at her locker at "Precisely a quarter past noon" or in any normal language, the beginning of their lunch period, Quinn was tempted not to show up, just for the desire to disobey Ms. Berry's wishes.

And if sensing this temptation, Rachel found her first.

"Quinn!" She skipped over to her. The now Mystery Machine green dress with two oddly placed bows sashayed around her knees. "I was worried that you may not be inclined to meet me or perhaps forgot about out my note, and therefore I thought that it would be better if I found you. Of course, I'm sure that you would come to see me, but seeing as how our discussion ended last time I wasn't quite sure."

Quinn nodded, and flipped through her wallet to check if she had the right amount of money. Now that she had gotten rid of all stretch marks, and her extra pregnancy flab, she felt that she could eat two meals a day again. She closed her locked shut, and started towards the cafeteria. Despite how many calories were branded on those meals-it was better than anything at her own place.

"So, I have been thinking about what you said, and I think I have come to a conclusion about what you were saying."

Quinn knew not to be surprised until Rachel said something worthwhile.

"This is obviously about our…excursion. I realize know when you said not everything is about me," She pressed a hand to her chest in a gesture, "You really meant that I should be more considerate of Finn's feelings, and be careful about how to approach the subject of what I-we- did."

There was that anger, frustration- there needed to be a new word invented just to describe how Quinn felt around Rachel Berry.

"I actually want to avoid the topic with him for awhile. Finn is such a kind sweet soul, and admittedly not the brightest, but that's just part of his generic charm."

The hallway was almost empty now, the strands of students had separated into their various lunch groups or filed into the cafeteria.

"So I know that this just isn't about me, as you said, so I'm asking you if you want to pretend it never happened? Of course we probably can never quite, but as actresses we can manage." Her voice ended on a high hopeful note.

Quinn rolled her eyes, but put that same smile on her face, "Fine," She didn't add that that wasn't what she meant at all.

Rachel didn't look pleased with her answer. In fact, she looked rather disappointed. Quinn understood how difficult it must be for Finn. In Rachel's head everything was a Broadway play with her own twists, turns, and expected endings. Almost everything said was the wrong thing, and the right ones were nearly not exuberant enough.

Her voice was low in a whisper, even though there was no one else around, "Are you sure? I mean…"

"I was talking about how you have a knack," She chose her words carefully, "for believing that the world turns around Rachel Berry." Still probably not the most polite way to phrase that, but there would always be that part of her that wanted to see her sad tortured expression.

Instead she laughed. "Yes, I have been told that is one of my major faults. Thankfully, my talent makes up for that."

They reached the entrance of the cafeteria. For them to walk inside together would be a strange, and both knew that they would have to separate before entering. They stopped before parting, to finish the dwindling remains of their conversation.

"So you were meaning to say that I have been….egocentric?" She said the last word lowly with her lip caught between her teeth.

Quinn didn't respond.

Rachel tucked a piece of hair behind her and her tan cheeks flushed a light pink, "Well that's rather embarrassing. I thought you were speaking of something else entirely."

Quinn bent down to her level. She constantly forgot how short Rachel was in comparison, and she had to bend her back quite a bit to reach her height, and whisper close to her, "Let's forget".

Rachel's voice rose to an indignant cry, "And what is that exactly?"

Artie addressed the entire club with his next speech, "We begin in the Swiss Alps, in the village of Gstaad," He spun his chair through the pathway of the theater, "In the perfectly appointed living room of Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson's chic, swank, chalet." He stopped in the middle, his eyes focused ahead as he stared at something. Quinn assumed it was his 'creative' vision. "The tree? Towering and opulent. The fireplace? Draped in garlands. The stockings? Bejeweled." He gestured to the two boys sitting in the row next to him, "Kurt and Blaine, the perfect hosts, have invited their friends to drop in, for an evening of Noel Coward-esque banter and fun, happy, cheer-filled songs".

Rachel looked like someone had repeatedly dumped slushies all over her. Her tone quivered when she asked, "Are you telling me I'm not invited to Kurt and Blaine's for Christmas?"

Artie didn't seem to notice or care about the raw hurt as he replied, "Not unless you pick a happier song".

Rachel made a gasping noise, and Quinn couldn't tell if she was fighting back words or if it was the result of her 'punched in the stomach' expression.

He wheeled back over to his previous position, "The evening festivities conclude with Rory dressed as the Christmas elf Itchy, reciting 'Frosty the Snow Man', start with fun, end with fun, that's how you do it, kids."

Was this sounding more and more ridiculous or was it just Quinn?

Sam turned in his seat so he was facing Artie. He did not sound amused at all when he spoke up, "The Frosty story isn't fun. At the end he melts and dies."

Artie's smile did not fade, "I'm rebooting Frosty, in my version he doesn't melt. He…well, new pages forthcoming."

Oh it was definitely not just Quinn.

Apparently she wasn't the only one who realized how ludicrous the plan was, because Sam rose from his seat with his mouth in a firm line, and his hands clenched at his sides.

"What's wrong with a story that's a little sad? Or a song that's a little depressing? I mean, that's part of Christmas too right? It's the sad things that make you remember what's real."

There was a dull ache in Quinn's chest when he said that, truthfully that last statement was the one that she could relate to the most. More so than any heat-proof snowman.

"It's the sad things that make you remember what's really important."

Artie shot down Sam without a moment of consideration, "Sorry Sam, but the phrase is 'Merry Christmas' not 'Morose Christmas'" He swung his fist in the air, "That's the vision! That's what you have to buy into."

"Well sorry Artie, I'm not buying into it."

Quinn was mildly impressed. Who knew that the broke stripper had such morals and guts?

"I'm going to go downtown, see if I can ring one of those Salvation Army Bells. Come on Roy, I'll give you a ride." He stopped turning back towards the younger boy in the seat expectantly. Quinn didn't know what was going on between the two (frankly she had been too distracted by her own hidden relations to pick up on others) but Rory looked incredibly conflicted. He glanced around the auditorium in indecision.

Finally in a low regretful voice he replied, "I should memorize my parts Sam."

Sam turned away and made a very Berry-like diva storm out.

After Artie's hint that the songs needed to be less 'blue' and more uplifting, the Glee club members got the hint. Or at least Blaine and Rachel did. They were both, especially Rachel; milking him for all he was worth. It was the most kiss-ass performance Quinn had ever seen. Still nice, still fun, but purely just to impress him.

All was going well afterwards, Artie was singing their praises and designing a vision around them. Then Sue Sylvester came in.

Everything went south.

Through the commotion and excitement, all of the members had forgotten about their other engagement on Friday evening. Of course, Sue hadn't and the homeless had not either. Her visit was quick, and if she didn't already hate the Glee club now, she certainly did after Artie rejected her offer for Friday.

Artie was quick with the comebacks though, reminding Sue of everyone of her sins, but that did not ease the tension of the situation. Then she asked if they all agreed on the matter.

Every fiber of Quinn's body was screaming a resounding no, but nothing came out of her mouth.

Sue left with a bitter gritted Merry Christmas, and slammed her clipboard as she walked out.

When Artie told them to smile and start over, Quinn realized that she did not want any part of this. She felt distant from the crowd, as if her mind belonged somewhere better than fake cheery smiles and rewritten story books. It was a fog that came over her, only to be interrupted by Sam slamming back his chair.

"We are seriously going to leave homeless children for a Christmas special?"

He looked around at his fellow Glee members awaiting their agreement. When none came he continued his speech.

"These kids have nothing, and we are seriously going to take this away from them too?" There was only silence that greeted his outburst. That and a few guilty stares directed at the floor. One of which was Rachel's who just finally received the message that the homeless would not be able to see their Christmas spectacular.

Artie was the only one to talk back, "Sam, we all feel terrible about not singing at the shelter. But this is a big opportunity for us, and we can't afford to lose thi-"

Sam stomped down to the ground level and towards the door. He held his hands up in exasperation, "Yeah, and the homeless can't afford anything, they don't have anything." He took a deep breath, and lowered both hands so one rested on the door frame.

"When I came back to McKinley, I did it for the people who would help other misfits. I'm going down to that shelter, and helping them. If you want to come with me you can." He announced, but he was out the door before anyone could turn around to follow him.

Quinn rose from her seat. She adjusted her skirt, and intertwined her fingers over her front. She spoke with the grace of a previous head cheerio, "I agree with Sam." Her exit was far less dramatic, but in general had a quiet impact that left the club stunned. "I'm leaving too."

She glided across the room and out the door. She heard a strangle cry of "Quinn!" coming from Rachel, but that was all.

Holy God did that feel amazing.

She saw Sam's back, and caught up her with her heels clicking against the tiled floor. She tapped him lightly on the shoulder, and he slowly turned around. She could see he was furious, and his mouth was open to tell off whoever he thought came after him.

"I…don't want to be in the Christmas special."

His rage melted into a half of a smile. He scratched the back of his head and laughed. "That's a relief. I was kind of hoping someone would follow me."

The stepped into pace with each other and headed towards the parking lot. The different club members cars were the only ones left, and it looked empty without the mass of poorly parked vehicles.

"You seemed pretty confident."

He clapped a hand on her shoulder. It was a friendly action; there was no romantic intention behind it. He was desperately in love with Mercedes, and Quinn was dealing with her own issues. Not that they were anything she would share with Sam no matter how trusting his blue eyes looked.

"Yeah, well it still helps to not be alone." He slid his hand off and shrugged, "It would still be nice though, if the others got it too, ya know?"

Quinn's raspberry lips upturned slightly at the corners as an idea formed into her mind. She didn't have time to weigh the consequences that was the last thing she was thinking of when she noticed the depressed look in Sam's eyes.

"I think…I could help with that."

"Quinn!"

Rachel Berry's mouth was set into a firm line. Her eyebrows were scrunched together in a mixture of anger and confusion. There was a thin wrinkle stretched across her forehead that became visible when her bangs flung back as she marched towards Quinn.

Right on time.

Sam left after exchanging information about the time tonight. As she searched for her keys, she was counting down the seconds till someone stormed out after them. If it was just Sam-they would pay it no mind. But Quinn was a tentative member of the club, more so than Sam at least. With two of them gone, it would create more of an uproar. Sam had long left in his truck that spat smoke out of the tail pipe, and this left Quinn as the only one to confront.

Quinn could just imagine Rachel standing up from her seat, and delivering a speech about how the unity of the club was important, and then Finn seconding. Of course it was very possible that Artie shut them both down, and when it came between fame and friends; Quinn couldn't imagine Rachel choosing the latter.

She wondered what discussion had occurred from the rest of the club that caused he charge through the empty parking lot, with one white shoe stomped after the other.

"Everyone was in an up riot!"

Quinn paused and left the key hanging in the slot, and slid out of her car seat. Rachel stood on the other side. Her hands were clenched at the fabric of her navy dress, the snowflake patterns crushed against her palms.

"The entire club is broken on whether this is a decent idea or not. This is our shot to become stars, and now everyone doubts if it is the right thing. At first we just thought it was because of Sam's economic situation that he would be more inclined to turn down the opportunity, but now that you are too, everyone has become divided on the matter."

Rachel marched over to the right side of the car. She didn't seem as anger as first perceived, more frustrated and flustered.

In a whispering voice with her eyes focusing downward and lips quivering she added, "I'm not sure why you don't want to be on television."

Quinn put on a pageant winning smile, "Because Christmas is about giving."

"We are giving. The gift of my, our, talent for public display is a superb gift!" She answered with defiance.

Quinn sighed for about the umpteenth time today, "Rachel haven't you ever wondered what it is like to not have a home or not have any food?"

Rachel was completely silent.

Quinn made an odd noise, not a laugh but a more cynical sound. "When I think of Beth, even if she's not going to be mine, I don't want her to experience that, to be deprived of happiness. When Coach Sue was talking today all I could think about is what if, what if one of those kids was Beth and the only thing they had to look forward to was us…."

"But Beth isn't your daughter Quinn," Rachel's voice was quiet and hesitant. The topic was taboo, but they had visited Quinn's issues with that in the past, and the other girl was more or less confirming that it wasn't starting up again. Either that or she was trying to change the subject.

She rolled her eyes. "It was an example. I know," Quinn took a deep intake of breath, "Beth is Shelby's daughter, but it doesn't only have to be family that you care about. Even if they are strangers, they still…need our help, someone's help. So why aren't we giving it when we can?"

Rachel averted all eye contact, but she looked like she had been hit. Her mouth was slightly agape in shock, and tears brimming at the corners of her eyelids. As she raised her head, Quinn noticed all of this, and that once again Rachel Berry was at a loss for words.

"…I never thought of it like that."

This speech was turning out more emotional than Quinn had planned. She wanted to quickly woo Rachel into taking up her side, though she now realized that was a mere fantasy seeing how nothing with Rachel Berry went quick or agreeably.

"We…can't just abandon the show either, I mean they won't have anything to show…and this could be my big break."

Quinn dipped down into a close distance. It was awkward, trying to match Rachel's height, especially when Quinn wore low heels, and the other girl stuck to her oddly-designed flats.

"I've already made my choice."

If Rachel was interpreting any other double meaning behind that, she was first wrong and second dumbfounded.

"W-well I mean there are a lot of other factors that come in to play, without my voice how would the show survive? Sure, they are talented but without my astonishing soprano, the show can't possibly be as good."

Quinn backed away and opened the driver's seat of her car. She was in mid-crouch position when Rachel spoke again, "How long will you be at the shelter?"

The smirk that formed on Quinn's face was gone when she turned around to Rachel again.

As soon as she arrived at the shelter she was given a starch white apron to cover her cheery red and pale pink blouse, and a pair of gloves. The woman in charge gave her one disapproving look from her flowered head band to her expensive shoes until Sam came running over.

"So do you really think they'll come?" He called from afar before trotting over to meet her.

She grinned; it was small and barely showed any teeth, but still a grin. "I don't know, maybe."

She dished another plate of the mysterious looking 'casserole', and Sam joined her in line taking his serving spoon eagerly. After a few scoops, he rubbed his hands together and watched her out of the corner of his eye. The look did not go unnoticed by Quinn.

"What?" Her tone was light and teasing.

"Everyone's just been telling me you've been having a rough year, but you seem pretty good to me".

She slightly nodded while raising her arm to scoop another spoonful. Her conversation with Rachel from before sprung back into her mind again. Beth.

"I'm better." In a murmur she added, "I think I was just stuck focusing on everything I didn't have, and not on the stuff that was good." A small smile played across her lips, "Stuff in the future."

"How long will you be at the shelter?"

Quinn didn't stand back up, but instead sat down in her seat. She craned her neck backwards so she could still see Rachel. The position was uncomfortable.

"Awhile most likely, nothing Coach Sue does is unimpressive."

Rachel smiled slightly. Quinn couldn't tell if she was embarrassed or not. Surely, Rachel got ashamed of her actions every once in awhile, but Quinn wasn't sure if she reflected on them.

When the discussion drawled into a silence, Quinn moved to leave, but Rachel interrupted the action.

"Finn got me a pig for Christmas. Well, it's technically this African South pig-or something like that. He said that he's going to pay to feed it for a few months, and then when it's fat they'll kill it and feed it to the starved."

Quinn snort turned into a laugh that she tried to stifle with her palm, "Aren't you a vegan? I just remember from the whole egg thing."

Rachel cringed at the memory, and shook her head as if to dispel it from her mind. "Yes, I originally wanted a good luck charm as on my list. Even though I personally would rather go hungry than eat anything with a face I think…I'm going to keep it. Sure, I don't like the idea of animals being brutally slaughtered, but I think you had a point before…"

"Well, who would I have ever thought that I would get Rachel Berry to selflessly kill a pig?"

It was Rachel's turn to laugh, "That does not sound like something to be proud of. But it has a few more months before it becomes…edible. So I guess it's…death…will be something they can look forward to in the future."

Quinn smile appeared again, "You don't sound at all happy."

"I'm trying."

"I'm glad you turned it around." Sam's voice had brought her out of the reverie. The conversation had dropped to a serious level, and Quinn was aware now was not the time to be remembering conversations about selflessly killing pigs.

"You deserve good things Quinn."

When their eyes met, Quinn was reminded of what she liked about Sam. He was always honest; she tended to be more inclined to honest people. Maybe that's why she had tolerated Santana for so long, and was developing some sort of dysfunctional relationship with Rachel.

Huh, Rachel sure seemed to be coming into her mind with Sam around.

"I'm trying," she nodded this time in reassurance of her answer. The loud voice of Sue Sylvester ripped the two apart from their bonding moment. She broke between them and examined the contents they were dishing.

"Ah ah ah! Portion Control, Bee sting. Come on." She took the handle of the spoon out of Sam's hand and muttered, "Guess you're just not used to being on this side of the serving line." She elbowed him out of the way, to fully take his place.

Quinn tried to change the topic. "Seriously though, I don't think we have enough food for everybody."

Sue's voice sounded sad down to a level Quinn rarely heard it yet, "Yeah. Economy gets bad, people give less."

Then, what they had been waiting for all night burst into the room. The McKinley Glee club pushed through those doors.

"Hey!" Mr. Schue led the pack. He held the doors open for the other members to enter, Artie carried a bowl on his lap, and Mike Chang carried a present bag. They were right on cue. In slow motion Coach Sue's frown formed into a classic smile.

Emma pushed Artie over towards him, "I know we're late, but we were all hoping there's still time to help. We brought the turkey from the special with all the fixings"

Rachel, who was accompanying Finn on his arm, shot a Quinn a coy look with a half grin. Quinn returned it, and wondered just what exactly happened when Rachel returned to the Glee club.

Will joined on Artie's side and continued, "Yeah it's a prop but it's real."

Sue was delighted-in a way that was hard to spot, "Why don't you put it over there kiddo?"

Sam was wearing the same expression, "You guys finally came around."

Finn was standing near the purple tree, answered 'Well you can thank Rory for helping us see the light."

Rory saw Sam's smile widened at that, and he followed the same suite, "I was just following my Christmas Sponsor's lead."

Puck was wearing a hat that was almost as ugly as the patch of fur that normally ran down the center of his head. "Would it be weird if I made myself a plate?"

His comment was ignored, and Artie continued, "We have a song too, We were gonna perform it as our final number for our Christmas Special, but we lost the final ten minutes of air time, when the station reached a last-second agreement with those Yule log people."

For once, Sue didn't object to their songs, "As long as it's not 'Jingle-Bells'. It seems it's the only song our janitor knows how to play, and I'm bleeding from my ears."

Quinn took off her apron and joined the rest of the glee members. She folded it across her arms and stood next to an ecstatic Rachel. Before they started singing they exchanged another look that went unnoticed. Even by Santana, who had been watching the two like a hawk the moment they stepped in.

Their rendition of 'Do they know it's Christmas' was inspiring and brought up the mood to an even higher level. They handed out presents; Mike Chang danced with the children. The evening turned into a joyous event, more so than it would have been without the Glee club.

At the end when they were cleaning up the torn wrapping paper scraps, and empty plates, Rachel joined Quinn. The two were by themselves, with the exception of Sam and Rory who were scraping the dishes.

"I was wrong. I think that….doing this was better than any present I could receive."

She wiped off the table, while Quinn picked up the trash from the ground. She placed them into a giant plastic bag hanging over a chair.

"I thought the grand Rachel Berry never admitted she was wrong."

Quinn couldn't tell if Rachel took offense in that or not. She was standing behind her, slowly making a round across the floor to get scraps. She thought the slight twitch in her shoulders was a silent laugh.

"The rest of the glee members just believed it was some fleeting prompt, that I had been inspired by some strange source or something. Rory was the only one who really followed me up. Without him, it would have been disastrous."

"Oh, well, who inspired you to come to this realization?"

"I never said anything about being inspired by someone." Quinn made her round to the other side. She was facing Rachel who was making a very sad attempt to clean the surface. Quinn couldn't decide if she was distracted by their conversation or just wasn't used to having to work without solely using her esophagus.

"How do you know it was under the influence of someone else?"

Quinn smiled slyly, "I have been acknowledged as a great guesser."

"Is that so? I didn't know that Quinn Fabray had any such hidden skills." Her light proper prim voice teased.

Quinn enjoyed this rapport, "Well, not all of us flaunt our talents."

"Then you can probably guess what I want to tell her."

Where did all the people go? Sure they had all filed into their various corners, and the Glee club members left, but it seemed more vacantthan before. Rachel's voice hovered above a whisper. Quinn rose from her crouched position, and leaned across the table (avoiding the various spots) dropped her voice down to a volume a little lower than Rachel's.

"Actually I think there are many possibilities."

Rachel looked taken aback, and as if Quinn was right, she sputtered for a few seconds before replying, "Quinn?"

"Yes?"

"Are you sure, absolutely positively sure, that you want to forget?"

Sorry this was kinda long, but please review! I like those, they're fun :D