AN: Wow… just… wow… Over 60 alerts within the first two days… Thank you so much for showing so much interest in this story! Especially to all of those of you who reviewed to tell me what you thought of the first chapter. It was a real confidence boost and it helped push me to get working on the next chapter.

Summer Camp

Chapter Two

The first official day of camp had been… hectic in Quinn's opinion. Starting with the unwanted wakeup call that is Rachel Berry.

Quinn had been minding her own business in her state of REM sleep when an alarm had sounded below her. Annoyed and confused, Quinn reached out to hit the snooze button, but was met only with air. Cracking open an eye, her hazy vision found nothing but a six foot drop.

This woke Quinn up instantly.

She was on the very edge of her bunk and the tiny two inch high barrier that was the side of the bunk bed, would not have been enough to stop her from falling to her possible death, had she accidently rolled over.

Quinn had shot back so quickly towards the opposite side of the bed that she knocked her head against the wall with a loud thump. Quinn swore and tenderly rubbed the back of her head.

"Quinn? Are you okay?" Rachel asked, standing up on the edge of her bed so that she could see over the edge of Quinn's.

"M'fine. What time is it?" Quinn asked, annoyed.

"It's six."

"Right, it's six" Quinn repeated out loud. There was a short pause before the information sank in.

"Berry, why am I awake at six freaking AM?" Quinn mumbled as she attempted to rub the sleep from her eyes.

"I'm sorry for waking you up Quinn, but I always wake up at six. It gives me plenty of time to prepare for the day and while I usually take this time to exercise at home, I don't have the workout equipment that I require, so I-"

"Berry, shhhh." Quinn reached out and covered Rachel's mouth with her hand, effectively cutting off her early morning rant. It wasn't something Quinn would normally do, but dammit she was tired.

"Quinn!" Rachel protested with a muffled squeak. The blonde could feel Rachel's lips move against her lips. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, but her tired mind was still able to register the fact that that meant it was important for her to remove her hand from Rachel's face. Now.

"No Berry, it's quiet time. Wake me up at eight. Until then, shush." Quinn moved back to her original sleeping position by the wall.

"But, Quinn-"

"Shhhhhh." She heard Rachel huff out an annoyed sigh and stomp her foot before she slipped back to sleep.

xXxXx

Rachel had promptly woken Quinn up at eight. The sleepy blonde had protested at first, but when Rachel had mentioned breakfast, Quinn had managed to slide herself off the edge of her bunk before heading to the shower.

The shower helped Quinn's awareness of her surroundings increase exponentially. By the time she was dressed and heading out the door with Rachel beside her, she was almost fully functional. Now she just needed food. Preferably bacon.

"Our campers get here at eleven, Quinn! I can't wait!" Rachel looked like she was going to burst from excitement. To Quinn, all of the energy that the shorter girl currently possessed was disturbing. Normal teenagers were not morning people. Apparently Rachel hadn't gotten the memo.

Once they entered the mess hall, a few people that Quinn remembered seeing eating with Rachel at dinner, waved her over. Amanda was among the small group.

Rachel skipped over to her new found friends, leaving Quinn behind to go get herself some breakfast. The ex-cheerleader gave Amanda a weary glance before heading towards the line for food.

After filling up her plate with mostly bacon, Quinn was flagged down by Rachel who called her over to sit by her. Quinn reluctantly set her plate down on the table, taking a seat across from the singer. Rachel promptly began to introduce the other counselors around the table in turn. Quinn tried her best to smile politely at each of them until Rachel got to Amanda.

"And this is Amanda-"

"We've met." Quinn deadpans, her face morphing from neutral to a glare. Amanda just smiles and winks back at Quinn in response.

"Really? When?" Rachel asks, looking from one girl to the other.

"Quinnie here and I just had a little chat yesterday, introduced ourselves and whatnot." Amanda supplies with a smirk. Quinn flushes a little with rage at the pet name. Rachel glances again between the two a little confused, but lets it go and launches into an excited ramble about the soon to arrive campers.

Quinn tunes her out in favor of glaring daggers at Amanda. The girl on the receiving end of the deadly looks remains unfazed, which only pisses off Quinn further.

Before long Quinn is silently seething. Nobody takes the "Fabray Glare" lightly. Nobody. Her hand clenches tightly around her fork as she stabs her breakfast.

Calm down Fabray! Just because the bitch is almost as cocky as Puck doesn't mean you need to lose your cool. Get it together for now, you can't let her have the satisfaction of getting under your skin.

Or into Berry's pants… Eww… Forget stopping her for Berry's sake, I'm stopping the bitch because just because I feel like it.

With quite a bit of effort, the blonde smoothed out her features. Face now emotionless, Quinn continued to eat her breakfast silently, eyes never leaving Amanda.

xXxXx

It was almost eleven and the campers were due to start showing up any minute. Quinn hoped that someone would walk through the doors of their cabin soon before Rachel died from the anticipation. The shorter girl was pacing up and down the small space and it was seriously starting to irritate Quinn.

"Berry, cut that out. You'll wear a path into the floor and they'll dock our pay." Rachel slowed to a stop and huffed in exasperation.

"I'm sorry, but Quinn they'll be here any moment! How are you not excited as well?" Rachel asked innocently.

"I am excited." Quinn answered calmly. It wasn't a lie, she really was excited. She was just able to contain herself better than the shorter girl.

Quinn had always adored little kids, but she just hadn't been ready for Beth and she truly believed that it was best for the both of them, especially Beth, for her to be put up for adoption. That didn't mean she was over the whole situation, even if it was in Beth's and her own best interest. It didn't stop her from mourning the chance at being a mother that she had willingly given up.

She was trying to cope, hoping that eventually the pain would disappear after time.

Her main reservation about the job before she had accepted it had been the possibility of dragging up the hurt that was still fresh by being surrounded by little kids, trying not to think of her daughter.

The pain that flashed across Quinn's face did not go unseen by Rachel and she was about to ask if the blonde was okay, but at that moment their first camper wandered into the cabin, parents trailing behind with luggage. Both teens plastered on smiles and moved to greet the camper.

"Hello there! I'm Rachel and this is Quinn, what's your name?" Rachel asked as Quinn helped the child's parents place the bags down near the closest bunk bed.

"I'm Katie…" The little girl muttered shyly. Rachel's smile widened at the bashful little camper. It was just too adorable.

"Well Katie, why don't we get you settled in?" Katie nodded slowly and followed Rachel over to where her parents and Quinn were setting up bed sheets and unpacking bags.

xXxXx

All of the other campers had wandered into the cabin within the next hour. Rachel and Quinn took turns greeting the kids and their parents, most of which were easy to deal with. There were however, a few exceptions.

One of which was a small light brown haired girl named Jamie, that Quinn had mentally dubbed as "mini-Rachel" due to her need for attention from basically anything breathing. The girl had walked in and immediately introduced herself to both Quinn and Rachel, not even giving the teens a chance to breathe before she had moved past them and was telling her parents where she wanted what near her bunk bed. It was obvious that the young girl knew what she wanted in life and was ready to take it.

Another exception had been a girl by the name of Nicole, who was a whole head taller than most of the other campers. Within minutes Quinn could tell that Nicole would be a handful. The young girl had demanded that she get the top bunk and had not been against threatening and insulting other's to get her way. She was just like a mini-Santana. The thought made Quinn cringe.

Once all of the campers had settled in and the parents had left Rachel had called them all together to gather around in a circle.

"Okay everyone, I'd like to officially welcome you all to cabin six! Quinn and I are very glad to meet all of you!" Quinn was content to let Rachel talk for the both of them for the moment while she scanned all of the excited little faces hanging on Rachel's every word.

"According to today's agenda we are supposed to go on a tour of the camp followed by a nature hike. Let's all put on the appropriate shoes for the hike and be ready to leave the cabin in the next five minutes, okay?"

"Yes, Miss Rachel." All of the girls replied excitedly as they rushed to find their shoes. Both teenagers watched as the campers scampered to get ready for their hike.

"Miss Rachel?" Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow at the brunette. Rachel flushed slightly. It wasn't often that she heard the blonde say her first name.

"I think it's rather fitting. We're in charge and they're showing us respect by addressing us as such. Don't you agree, Miss Quinn?" Rachel replied, and Quinn stopped herself from mentioning the fact that most eight year olds didn't really have that strong of a grasp on the topic of respecting their elders like Rachel assumed they did. So instead she nodded at Rachel and her odd logic.

xXxXx

On the tour of the camp, Rachel stood at the front of the group while Quinn stayed back to make sure that none of their campers wandered off. Quinn was once again fine with letting Rachel talk. It was in fact one of the things the girl did best and if Quinn was being honest, she hadn't really paid too much attention when Joe had given them the tour earlier.

Rachel was spouting out historical facts at a mile a minute on each and every building, it made Quinn wonder if the shorter girl had taken notes earlier. Or if she was making it up as she went. Either way, the singer had all of the campers enthralled with her tales of how each building had come to be. Quinn even found herself paying more attention this time around, finding it hard to ignore the passion in Rachel's voice as she explained that the storage shed that they had just passed had once housed the great-great grandfather of the founder of the camp, who had had to wrestle a bear and several wolves daily just to survive.

Okay, she's definitely making this up as she goes… Quinn scanned the faces of the girls to see if any of them found Rachel's story to be ridiculous, but all of them were watching their counselor with wide eyes, completely entranced in the false tale. Quinn shrugged and continued to half watch the kids and half listen to Rachel.

The tour was going pretty well and Quinn would even admit to enjoy it had she been asked, but then Amanda appeared from around the corner of the mess hall, followed by her own group of campers and her fellow counselor.

"Oh look! It's Rachel and Quinnie! I want all of you to say hello to the pretty brunette over there and the grumpy looking blonde!" Amanda said turning to her campers with a smirk. The group that Amanda was in charge of waived at the two teens shyly, a few of them mumbling a hello. A couple of the children eyed Quinn warily after hearing from their leader that she was '"grumpy".

Rachel blushed at the complement and Quinn had to hold back a snarl at being called "grumpy looking". Using children to flirt and insult her at the same time was a low blow, but at least now Quinn knew that Amanda didn't play fair. So from now on, neither would she.

Quinn would take the bitch down a peg. Or ten.

Without putting too much thought into her next action, Quinn walked up to Rachel and looped their arms together. She felt Rachel almost flinch away from her. It didn't exactly surprise Quinn based on their track record, but it still made her feel a bit guilty.

The guilt was quickly replaced by a smug sense of satisfaction as Quinn watched Amanda's jaw drop slightly. The older girl quickly recovered and sent a glare in Quinn's direction. The ex-cheerio smirked back in response before turning to the girl now attached to her arm.

"Let's go Rachel; we've got a tour to finish." Rachel nodded, confused and let Quinn lead her towards their next destination. It took the singer a minute to compose herself before she picked back up on where the tour had left off.

xXxXx

Quinn had pulled away from Rachel long before they reached the trails. The diva had given her weird looks the whole time that they had been connected by their arms and Quinn ignored every single look.

Quinn returned to her spot at the back of the group as they took their first steps out onto the trails. Two minutes into the hike and Rachel's explanation of why the trees in this area were as green as they were, both teens heard an argument breakout between two of the girls. Jamie and Nicole, or in Quinn's mind, Mini-Rachel and Mini-Santana, were fighting over who got to be at the front of the group. The little scuffle was quickly turning into shoving and Quinn rushed forward to intervene.

"Hey now, that's enough you two!" Quinn gently separated the girls before Nicole could get in one last shove. The teen knew that her safest bet at peace would be to put as much space between the two as possible. Just like with the real Santana and Rachel.

"Sant- err Nicole! Why don't you come stand at the back of the line with me? You can help me keep watch, it's a super important job and I need someone to help me with it." Quinn's words apparently did the trick and Nicole nodded before marching towards the back of the group, standing straighter now that she had a job to do. Rachel and Quinn both let out a relieved sigh before continuing on the hike.

Before long the inhabitants of cabin six had reached a creek about six feet wide. Stepping stones had been placed in the middle of the water for campers to cross over.

"Alright everyone, let's be careful crossing over the creek. I'll go first to make sure everyone gets across safely." Rachel gracefully hopped from one stepping stone to the next and was on the other side in an instant.

Watching to make sure that none of the children fell into the water, Quinn was suddenly hit with a sense of déjà vu. Back during Cheerio's survival week, or hell week, Quinn remembered the long hike they had taken and how at one point when crossing a river, there had been a snake in the water that had almost taken a bite out of Brittany. Thankfully, Santana had been there with a rather large stick to scare the reptile off.

Quinn's face paled.

"Berry, make sure you watch out for snakes." Quinn called to the brunette. Several of the campers squeaked at the mention of the slimy reptiles and Rachel shot Quinn a disapproving look.

"Quinn, these paths receive a lot of foot traffic and I doubt that any snakes in the area would slither within half a mile of here. There is really no need to scare the girls." Rachel responded, clearly irritated with the blonde.

"Whatever Berry, I wasn't trying to scare anyone; I was just trying to keep us all safe." Quinn growled back. She wasn't exactly happy with the tone of voice that Rachel had taken up with her. Back at McKinley, the diva would have never gotten away with talking to her like that.

Rachel had just finished helping Nicole across the stepping stones and was now ready to give Quinn a piece of her mind. Hands on her hips, Rachel squared up and gave Quinn a stern look.

"Well you did scare them and now we'll have to deal with the fact that they're probably all paranoid of snakes now." The rant continued and Quinn zoned out. She was so used to not paying attention once the shorter girl started one of her long winded spiels that it had become a habit. Quinn placed her focus in crossing the stepping stones instead.

She was halfway across the creek, when something caught her attention by Rachel's feet. Her eyes widened and she froze. Right behind Rachel was a multicolored snake, slowly slithering closer and closer to Rachel's left leg.

Shit! Aren't snakes that color supposed to be super poisonous? Is it red and yellow together that's bad or red and black? How did that rhyme go? You should know this, Fabray! You were a freaking girl scout when you were little!

"Berry!" Quinn yelled out, interrupting Rachel.

"Quinn Fabray, interrupting people while they are speaking is just plain rude and furthermore-"

"Berry, there's a freaking snake by your leg!" Quinn interrupted again, equally terrified and annoyed. Why couldn't the loudmouthed brunette just listen to her for once?

"Seriously, Quinn? What kind of fool do you take me fo-" At that moment, the snake decided to make its presence known. It wrapped itself slowly around Rachel's foot, the feeling of scales against her skin halting any further words. Rachel screeched in terror and launched herself forward, directly into Quinn, knocking them both into the water.

Quinn landed with a thump and a splash, her clothes instantly soaked through. Quinn looked down at the shorter girl who was now clutching her shirt tightly, burying her face in the crook of her neck and shaking. Rachel had landed on top of her and to Quinn's complete and utter annoyance, remained mainly dry.

"Is-is it gone?" Rachel asked, her lips trembling against Quinn's neck.

Quinn felt her eye twitch. She was seconds away from pushing Rachel off of her and into the creek as well. Throwing a quick glance to where she had last seen the snake, Quinn stood up, bringing Rachel up with her.

"It's gone. Now get off of me." Quinn barely resisted the urge to pry Rachel off of her. Slowly, the singer extracted herself from the taller girl and looked around her quickly. She couldn't see any snakes nearby, but she did see ten sets of worried eyes on her and Quinn.

"We're all right, everybody is fine." Rachel tried to soothe the camper's worries, wadding through the water until she was once again on dry land.

"Miss Rachel we were so scared!" Jamie cried out before clinging to her counselor's clothes. The other children quickly followed by example and soon Rachel was in the center of a giant group hug.

Quinn watched as Rachel was engulfed by the eight year old's hugs. Feeling cold from her soaked clothes and a bit like a reject for being left out, Quinn dragged her feet out of the water.

She would never admit it out loud, but the fact that the kids already obviously favored Rachel stung. Quite a bit.

I'll make more of an effort to be likeable and not be the "grumpy looking" blonde… Quinn thought to herself as she looked at her now ruined shoes.

"Quinn?" The former HBIC looked up at Rachel, who was now free from the group hug.

"What do you want, Berry?"

"I just wanted to apologize for chastising you when you were clearly in the right. And for pushing you into the creek as well." Rachel eyed Quinn's wet clothes regretfully. Quinn suddenly felt a tiny bit self-conscious about how her damp clothes clung to her body.

"It's fine. Just listen to me next time."

Did I really just let Berry get away with practically shoving me into a creek? I guess being nice isn't too difficult…

"I promise I will." Up until that point, Quinn had been able to keep eye contact with Rachel, but as the brunette said this, voice filled with sincerity, Quinn had to look away.

xXxXx

They had had to cut their hike short in favor of going back to the cabin so that Quinn could change into dry clothes. None of the girls seemed to mind leaving the trails early.

They had spent the remainder of the day playing name games and decorating the inside of their cabin. Quinn had tried her best during this time to be as approachable as possible and before long the campers seemed to have warmed up to her.

Dinner at the mess hall had gone better than Quinn had though it would, due to the fact that she had strategically placed herself where she could keep an eye on Amanda. A few times the two made eye contact, resulting in matching glares. Amanda kept her distance this time and the blonde was thankful for that.

She was too tired tonight to deal with bitches.

xXxXx

Bedtime had been a bit hectic at first. The eight year olds were still bursting with energy, jumping from one bunk to the other, nearly giving both of their counselors heart attacks. Several of the girls demanded that Quinn tell them a story before they would even consider closing their eyes. The ex-cheerio had claimed that she didn't know any bedtime stories, but had caved in when the girls had started chanting "pleeeeeease" over and over again. She ended up making up a story as she went, trying her best to spin a yarn that would appease the campers.

Half way through her tale, she could feel Rachel's eyes on her as well, and it made her skin itch slightly when she saw the look of admiration on the diva's face.

She wrapped up the story with the standard happily ever after and was thankful to see that most of her audience's eyes were drooping shut.

Rachel then took her place at the center of the cabin and began to sing softly. Quinn wasn't familiar with the words that she was hearing, but it was clearly a lullaby of some sort. She could feel her own eyes start to close and barely made it up the ladder to her bunk before she was out for the night.

AN: Hope that works for you guys. I don't like it when things happen too quickly so I'm going to try to pace the Faberryness. Thanks for reading and feel free to review. :P