3

It was dark by the time Quinn got home. There were a few stars out, but the moon was hiding behind the clouds, as if it, too, didn't want to see what happened the second she stepped into her household. She had driven around Lima a couple times, trying to think. Though it made her heart sad, she knew that her parents would kick her out. They couldn't have a single flaw on their perfect reputation. And let's face it, Little Quinn-y was just made of flaws. She gave her love to someone at sixteen, she had gotten highly intoxicated, and now she had killed someone. In her parents' book, she had a front seat, one way ticket to Hell. What a disgrace.

Quinn numbly made her way to her house door. It didn't feel like a home, really. It felt like one of those posed houses of a perfect family that you'd see on Nick at Nite, where when one of them has a problem, it'll be resolved in thirty minutes top. Quinn whished real life was like that, but she knew it could never be so. She also knew that the problem she was about to face might never be able to be resolved in a lifetime, let alone thirty minutes. Slowly, she opened the door.

Sure enough, she found her parents sitting on the couch, a glass of vodka in each of their hands. And yet she was the sinful one. She had gotten intoxicated once - where her parents got wasted so often, it was like a new form of religion. Hypocrites.

"You're home." Quinn's mother acknowledged in a flat, drunk tone. Quinn gave a half smile. She pondered over what to do next. She ducked her head and tried to make a bee-line for the stairs, her backpack feeling like bricks on her shoulders.

"So Quinn, have another doctor's appointment tonight?" Her father hissed. Quinn froze. Yes, she expected this one burden to actually be acknowledged, but she didn't expect it to be so blunt, and so...cruel. She felt stupid for always hoping that her father of five years past would suddenly make a grand appearance. The man he was back then was gone, and all that was left was a drunk, abusive bastard. It hurt her to think this, but she knew both of her parental figures were long gone. She had been sticking to herself for a long time now, and now a mean response came automatically through her mouth when anyone tried to be nice to her. Though the thought wasn't intended this way, she realized it could explain a lot between her and Berry.

"No," Quinn whispered, feeling tired and not wanting to fight, or explain to him that his accusation made no sense whatsoever. All she wanted to do was lie down until the next century. "I didn't."

Quinn's father gave her a stare down; he obviously wanted something more of an explanation, some drama. But Quinn didn't owe him - of all people - an explanation, and she was too exhausted for drama.

"Oh," Her father said after a moment, and Quinn thought maybe he would leave it at that and she wouldn't be kicked out after all, but was proved wrong. "I see. You got bored of that method of murder? What was it this time? Slipping poison in someone's drink, perhaps? Or maybe you snuck into someone's house and shot them?"

Quinn flinched at the casualness in his tone, as if this idea of her being a murder was something they dealt with everyday.

Quinn didn't know how to reply, so after a while she decided she wouldn't. There was no right thing for her to do about the situation in their eyes. No way in hell could she keep it, adoption was no, and abortion was murder and murder was sinful. She had hoped with the abortion she could slip in, slip out, and no one would ever know except her. But unfortunately, a girl from her Spanish class was there with her mother and had saw Quinn. She snapped a photo of Quinn and sent it right off to Jacob. And now, this.

Quinn's father chuckled. "You can't even say anything in your own defense." He stated. He waited for Quinn to puff up and yell and scream, and was dismayed when he saw she didn't. "Your things are in the hall," he said, "Have a nice life."

And with a wave of his hand, Quinn was dismissed. Just like that.

Quinn hadn't planned on calling Rachel. But after she had thought about it, she really didn't have any other choice. Brittany, Santana, and Finn were all ashamed to be seen with her, and she didn't have any family that lived in town. Rachel was the only choice she had.

Quinn had been waiting in the park when Rachel had picked her up. Rachel slowly made her way over to Quinn. She sat down next to her and was silent. Quinn felt herself relax. She didn't want apologizes, she didn't want to explain what had happened, she just wanted company. And Rachel, surprisingly, gave just that.

"I guess I deserved this." Quinn whispered, intertwining her fingers together. "You get what you give, I guess. I've been incredibly mean to so many people and they were incredibly mean to me. But the only reason why I was so mean to everyone was because they - my parents - were so mean to me to begin with. How could I love when I had never been loved?" Quinn sighed and didn't wait for Rachel to reply. "I can't."

Rachel nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?" Quinn snapped, "I bare my heart and soul to you and basically explained why I've been such a hateful bitch to you and all you can say is okay? Not even an 'I'm sorry' or an 'I understand'?"

"I don't know." Rachel shrugged, shivering as the wind started to kick back up. She cursed herself for denying her Uncle Jim's offer for a jacket, swearing that she wouldn't be gone long. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Rachel kicked the heel of her shoe, trying to get the blood flowing again. "Do you want me to feel sorry for you?"

Quinn deflated. "Well, no."

"Okay." Rachel repeated. She glanced around. Technically, they considered it a park, but it was really just a path, a bench, and then the beginning of some trees. An old man walking his dog smiled and tipped his hat at the two girls. Rachel gave a small smile at him. She had always respected elderly people.

"So what now?" Quinn whispered.

"What now." Rachel repeated. She looked down at her shoes. She sighed when she looked and saw the pile of boxes and the defeated look in Quinn's eyes. As much as Rachel would have liked to, as much as Quinn deserved it, Rachel couldn't turn the poor girl away. "I suppose you can stay with me and my uncles temporarily until we can find a more permanent living arrangement for you."

As much as she disliked the idea of Quinn living with her, Rachel knew what she was doing was right when she saw Quinn's eyes light up with gratefulness. But then, suddenly, it was gone.

"You shouldn't be so nice to me, Rachel."

"I suppose I shouldn't." Rachel agreed. "Well, we better get going. My uncles are waiting."

Authors Note: Man. I'm getting worried this is going to end up like another Faberry story I'm reading. *bites nails nervously* No worries though. There will be some changes. And this story will continue. :)

Thanks to meri1984, little fille, sakushi12, bandie3565, t3rri.,, SexyBeast101, IrisAyumi, fuzzycocoa64, D23698, dinosaurchickennugget, InvisibleNinja, sugarspiceandnotsonice, and PurpleOrchid85 for alerting this story. You guys rock.

Thanks to fja, smiling-on-the-inside, and LaPaige for reviewing. I love to hear what you have to say. And Jean because you're just plain awesome girl. (:

fja - OHHHH YAY. SMILEY FACE. :D SEE? I CAN MAKE ONE TOO. :) AND THERES ANOTHER. :O

smiling-on-the-inside - Thank you ma dear. Tough Rachel is pretty sweet, right? But the thing is I totally didn't plan for them to end up switched but it just happened. Lol.

LaPaige - It HAS been a while indeed, Paige. I think all us Disney girls kinda went MIA. But school's winding down for me so I should be making more appearances soon. :) Yes. Faberry. I hadn't thought about them either but a few Youtube fanvids and FanFics and my opinion changed.

Love you all!

-Geena