A/N: Thanks for the reviews, feedback is really appreciated. Here's another chapter and I'm sorry it had to happen again... I'm not too sure about the last part but I hope you enjoy it none the less.
It was a Friday night a few weeks into the term and Quinn was at the Puckerman residence for another one of Puck's 'Wild Parties'. Most of the jocks and Cheerios were at the party and even a few of the Glee kids had been invited although Rachel had missed out on an invite and Quinn couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing. Ever since sleeping with Finn she'd become distant to him, only spending time with him in school and even then it was minimal. They hadn't had a repeat performance and it was clear that Finn was getting bored. He'd stopped pressing Quinn after two weeks of excuses and went to shamelessly flirting with other cheerleaders; he'd even started spending more time with Rachel which angered Quinn no end. She didn't want to admit it but she was jealous, not of Rachel but of Finn, of the fact that he could talk to her and she couldn't.
The events of the past three weeks now meant that she was stood, leaning against a wall in Puck's small living room, alone, staring at the mass of people moving as one in the centre of the crowded room to the heavy beat of some dance tune Quinn had never heard before. To say she was having a bad day would be a major understatement. She was having a bad month and to top it all off she had also slipped in Cheerio's practice and nearly fell from the top of a three storey human tower. Sue had had strong words after that. It was clear her position at the top was precarious, she felt like she was hanging by her finger tips to the top of the social pyramid and Finn wasn't there to keep her steady anymore.
She sighed and put her head back against the wall, closing her eyes to the sight of Finn grinding against some brunette cheerleader. A cold glass bottle was pressed into her hand and the blonde looked up to see Puck grinning at her.
"Looks like you could use a drink." He said with a smirk.
"I don't drink." Quinn said through her teeth, she didn't need anyone pitying her, the day was already crap. Puck's cocky demeanour didn't slip as Quinn attempted to push the Wine Cooler back into his hands.
"Sure you don't." He smirked again and grabbed Quinn's wrist pulling her towards the mass of other party goers.
"Puck! I don't want to dance with you!" Quinn said; her anger increasing.
"You don't have anyone else to dance with." He said looking pointedly at Finn who was now sandwiched in between two girls. Quinn followed the jocks gaze and clenched her fist. Finn was trying to make a fool out of her. She took a gulp of her wine cooler. Puck's smirk grew and he pulled Quinn into his body and began dancing against her. Quinn downed the rest of her drink and began moving with Puck.
"I need another drink." Quinn stated with disinterest after another two songs had finished playing.
"Sure babe, follow me." Puck said, pulling the blonde cheerleader out of the lounge and into his equally crowded kitchen. He pulled another beer and a wine cooler from the fridge and opened them both, handing Quinn the drink. She'd never drunk that much alcohol before, just a glass of wine with dinner occasionally and she was already beginning to feel the dull numbing ache make an appearance in her head. She didn't care though, she needed to escape her life for a few hours and that's apparently what happened when you got drunk.
They wandered back into the lounge and started dancing again. Puck was getting more confident but Quinn just didn't care. She needed to spite Finn and forget Berry. It was a win-win for everyone, just like last time. Quinn didn't want to think of what a failure 'last time' turned out to be and just kept dancing and drinking.
She couldn't remember when or how she'd got up the stairs and into Puck's bedroom but she thought it was sometime around the time that she'd seen Finn making out with the brunette cheerleader from earlier. In fact she couldn't actually remember much after her fifth drink apart from seeing Finn and the other girl, walking or stumbling up the stairs and hearing Puck utter the words "beautiful" and "trust me" and then the familiar feeling of guilt settling like a rock in her stomach once more.
Quinn woke up in an unfamiliar room that smelt of a mix of sweat and beer; she wrinkled her nose at the smell. She then realised that she wasn't alone in the bed and that with the ache was beginning to make itself known all over her body confirmed her fears.
She'd done it again.
"Shit!" she breathed. The person next to her stirred slightly and Quinn looked over and recognized the Mohawked head of Puck beside her. "Fuck!" she said a bit louder, shooting upright and attempting to get out of the bed. Her stomach seemed to lurch forward and it felt as though someone had just dropped a rock on her head. "What the hell?" she whispered before clamping a hand over her mouth and diving forward, pushing her face into a small bin before retching and releasing the contents of her stomach. After her stomach was suitably empty she slowly stood back up and ran her hands through her knotted hair, realising she was naked at about the same time.
The blonde gave another frustrated sigh and went about trying to retrieve her clothes from the room, battling the urge to get back into bed and sleep until the headache went away. She needed to get out of the room quickly and avoid having to talk with Puck who was still sound asleep. She finished tugging on her clothes and left the room. The landing was littered with bottles, random food wrappers, silly string and bodies and it took Quinn 2 minutes to walk 5 metres avoiding standing on anyone or anything. The stairs were equally precarious however she was out the house in 5 minutes and it seemed she was one of the first people to leave. She checked her phone, it was 11 o'clock.
Quinn pocketed the phone and began walking to the side walk shortly before realising that she had no way home other than walking, she'd arrived with Finn and there was no way she was going back in there to find him. She began to walk in the direction of her house before she remembered it was Saturday. She was meant to be at Cheerio's practice.
"Oh Fuck!" Quinn yelled before breaking into a run. Practice started at half ten, she'd already missed half an hour and it'd take at least another half hour to get ready to go providing she could find her way back home. Her head seemed to be imploding on itself; she felt like she could throw up at any second and she was missing cheerio's practice. She tripped over a crack in the pavement and fell to her knees, tearing the dress she was wearing. "Argh!" Things seriously couldn't get any worse.
She gritted her teeth and got back up to her feet. She was Quinn Fucking Fabray, Queen of McKinley and Head Bitch In Charge she had to pull it together. She defiantly swallowed the tears that were trying to force their way out of her eyes and began running home again. She needed some coffee, a paracetamol and a shower and then she'd be at Cheerio's practice with some excuse to do with church or something.
She pulled up at the school 30 minutes later to find the parking lot empty except for one car. Quinn arched an eyebrow and climbed out of her car, grabbing the red and white duffle bag as she went. She walked into the empty school building and into the gym. It was deserted. Quinn looked at the huge clock in the far corner of the room, it was 11.45, practice didn't finish for at least another hour and a quarter and that was if Ms. Sylvester was feeling nice. Quinn glanced around with her patent raised eyebrow thinking back to last practice.
She dropped her duffle bag and clenched her fists. Practice was cancelled this weekend, that's why so many Cheerios were still lying passed out on the floor at Puck's house. "Damn it!" Quinn picked up her bag and made her way back into the deserted halls. She was really losing it.
The blonde roamed the corridors; she didn't want to go home and face her parents again or explain why she wasn't home last night that was if they even noticed. She found herself stood outside the auditorium doors. It was completely silent so she made her way in, setting her bag down on the front row she climbed up onto the stage and sat behind the piano that was set off to the side. She was concealed from the rest of the large room by the curtains at the wings of the stage. It was good to be alone in the school; she didn't have to keep up her guard like usual.
Her slender fingers began to move across the keys to some unknown tune. She'd taken lessons since she was eight and by now was grade 7 piano. The action was so natural she closed her eyes to the feeling, forgetting all the events of the past month and just focusing on the notes she was playing.
"Quinn? I didn't know you played piano?" Quinn's eyes shot open and she whirled around to she Rachel looking at her with an expression of confusion and awe. She blushed under the gaze and tried to look away.
"Rachel what are you..." she'd said her name, damn it. Time alone had made her soft, especially if that time was spent at the piano. She pulled her hand through her hair and looked around awkwardly as Rachel gave her a dazzling smile. "What are you doing here?" she finished eventually.
"I came to practice but realised I'd left some sheet music in the choir room so I went to go and fetch it and when I returned I heard someone, who now it turns out was you, playing the piano so I stayed to listen. You're really good Quinn." She gave her another dazzling smile.
"Thanks." The girl mumbled before looking back down at the piano. What was she doing? She was meant to hate Berry, not call her names and take complements from her. She tried to pull up her walls but they didn't seem to want to go up. The silence began to drag on and it was clear the diva was content to stare at her in silence. Quinn gave a small, nervous cough. "Do you always practice here on Saturdays?" she asked without looking up from the piano.
"Well, ever since the start of this year. My neighbours threatened a law suit as they said that my singing was becoming annoying but how am I supposed to become a star if I don't practice enough? And it was a complete over-reaction, I do not sing loud enough to wake the dead, I was merely practicing voice projection techniques which are vital to anyone wishing to get on the stage and actually be heard by the members of the audience." Rachel said indignantly, Quinn merely laughed at her speech however the brunette decided to ignore this. "What, may I ask, brings you to the auditorium on a Saturday dressed in your cheerleading uniform?"
Quinn looked down at herself in almost surprise, she'd nearly forgotten about the events of this morning and last night. She kept her gaze trained down on the keys in front of her. "It's been a long morning" was all she could say. It summed up her day and month perfectly, it had been a long struggle and it didn't seem to be looking up.
"I see. Well, I need to practice and it seems that Brad has actually left the building for once." Rachel emphasized the statement by looking around the stage which made Quinn smile despite herself. "Quinn, would you play for me?"
The question caught her off guard; she'd never played for anyone in Glee club before, well never really for anyone so the thought of accompanying someone was a little daunting. "I don't know Rachel, I'm not that great." The diva beamed at her again, she'd never seen such a bright smile, especially not from someone she'd just said "no" to. "What's with the grin? You look like the Cheshire Cat." She stated with her patent raised eyebrow.
"You're calling me Rachel." Quinn blushed at the acknowledgement.
"I guess I am..." The brunette's smile seemed to be actually splitting her face; it was slightly unnerving to be honest. All she'd said was her name.
"You're really good at piano Quinn." She said, the smile not decreasing in size.
"Thanks, again." Quinn looked away again in embarrassment. What was going on? She was meant to be HBIC, why couldn't see keep a straight face in front of Rachel Berry of all people and more importantly, why did she find herself unable to care. She really was losing her touch. Berry really wasn't that bad on her own and she really didn't have anything else to lose, she'd already lost Finn and her grip on the top was beginning to slip.
"Please will you play for me? It's not exactly a hard song and I won't mind if you mess up. No one's around to hear you." Rachel pleaded again.
"Um, sure, ok, what are you singing?"
"I was trying to perfect that assignment Mr. Schue gave us this week." Quinn looked at her blankly, she hadn't been paying attention in glee much recently and Mr. Schue never asked her to perform, in fact he seemed slightly scared by the blonde head Cheerio. Rachel cocked her head to the side. "The assignment about what we're thankful for." Quinn raised her eyebrows. Of course it would be something like that; Mr. Schuester was always trying to boost their self-esteem with some sort of life lesson through song.
"Right, and what are you singing?" It seemed slightly ironic that Quinn was now helping Rachel Berry with a glee assignment to do with things that she was thankful for after she'd spent the past year and a bit making her life hell.
"I'm singing thank you by Dido."
"Makes sense I guess. Who are you thanking?" Quinn inquired.
"My dads, they're always there for me at the end of the day when no one else is." Rachel said, the smile disappearing from her face as she looked down to the floor. Quinn closed her eyes and ran her hand through her hair. The silence stretched on growing increasingly tense, it was obvious she should try and apologise but one wasn't forthcoming, a downside of the Fabray genes. She was too proud to apologise no matter how much she wanted to. Quinn opened her mouth only to close it again. She sighed.
"Have you got the music?" she asked finally looking up at Rachel who reached forward to hand Quinn the music. "Thanks." Quinn said placing it on the stand on the piano, she looked over the notes. They seemed easy enough although she'd never really listened to the song before. Rachel walked out onto the stage and glanced over at Quinn.
"Ok?"
"Yeah, Ok then, sorry if I mess it up." She said before beginning to play the intro. Rachel took in a deep breath and began to sing the first verse. A smile began to grow on Quinn's face; she'd never really appreciated the diva's voice properly until now and it really was incredible. She seemed to convey her emotions with a brutal honesty that Quinn had never recognized before.
Rachel looked over to the blonde at the piano who was smiling to herself as she concentrated on the music before her. The brunette walked over to the piano, smiling to herself as she continued to sing. Quinn kept staring at the music unaware of Rachel's new position. The song began to draw to close and Quinn looked up to see Rachel gazing straight at her, her eyes locked onto the deep brown, glistening eyes before her. Her breath caught and she hit a wrong key, she began to blush and look back down at the keys trying desperately to carry on. The music seemed to blur over the stave and she made another mistake. "Argh!" she cried before after the song finally drew to a close and she ran out of music. "Sorry" she said without looking up.
"It was great." Rachel said with a grin.
"No it wasn't, well, you were but I messed up the ending."
"No, it was great." Rachel stated matter-of-factly. Quinn rolled her eyes.
"Well, I should probably go. My parents might remember they have a daughter and wonder why I wasn't home last night." Rachel quirked an eyebrow. "I was at Puck's party." Quinn answered the silent question. Rachel's face instantly fell, great; she'd managed to say something to upset her again today. Not that she hadn't done things to upset her in the past but it was different now, she couldn't hide the fact that she cared under all her irrational anger today, she didn't have any. "Trust me, you didn't miss much Berry." Quinn said with a sigh, trying to convince herself more than Rachel. In actual fact she had missed Quinn fucking up again but it wasn't like she was going to broadcast that fact any time soon, in fact she was planning on forgetting it or at least burying it under everything else.
"I was busy anyway, Friday night is movie night." Rachel said trying to pass off as cool an air as possible. Quinn raised an eyebrow but decided to just nod in acceptance.
"Well anyway, see you around Berry." Quinn said getting up from the piano stool and making her way towards the steps of the stage.
"Thanks for playing for me." The brunette called after her. Quinn turned around and smiled softly at her.
"Don't mention it" she said before exiting the stage and the auditorium. The diva hadn't annoyed her at all even though she'd spent time alone with her. She really couldn't see what the whole school had against her, she was just like any other high school kid, she just had more drive and determination than the rest of the Lima losers. Quinn smiled at the thought, Berry would make something of herself, and she wouldn't let anything that anyone said or did to her hold her back from her dreams. It was comforting to know for a reason that Quinn couldn't exactly pinpoint. Maybe it would spite her father or maybe it helped to absolve some of the guilt that still weighed in her stomach.