A/N: Sorry this is posting so late. I had to work all day and then I got distracted with other things and forgot to proof this chapter until now.

To clarify something from one comment, Hummelberry aren't all that close of friends in this story since Quinn took Kurt's place in the Duet at the end of "Duets". Rachel and Quinn are best friends instead of Rachel and Kurt. Thus the original scene at the end of last chapter was a replacement scene for the Barbra-vention. This came about because it doesn't really make much sense to me that them having a flash mob singing Barbra's name over and over again would convince Rachel that she doesn't need a nose job. On the other hand, finding out Quinn's secret history as Lucy might show her that changing your appearance really doesn't help fix your problems and that she'd rather not have something like this hanging over her head, waiting to embarrass her in her future stardom.

Chapter 6

This pre-prom dinner was a bad idea. Quinn had known it would be from the moment the idea slipped from Rachel's mouth. Things between Finn, Quinn, and Rachel have never been entirely sociable no matter which girl he's with at the time, not when all three of them are together anyway. Jesse St. James serves as little more than gasoline on the already existing inferno.

From the moment they all sit down, Quinn wishes that she'd said no. Mercedes and Sam had been wise enough to bail, choosing the healthier alternative (both nutritionally and psychologically), the sub shop down the road. Quinn would go there now, with or without her boyfriend, if her mother hadn't pounded into her head how rude such a thing would be. Finn's just attacking Jesse at every turn. Every attempt Jesse makes to turn things in a more peaceful direction gets flung back in his face by Finn. Admittedly, Quinn's not exactly thrilled that Jesse's back in Rachel's life either but Rachel has asked her to give him a chance so she is. Rachel asked Finn the same thing, but Finn doesn't seem interested in that. Quinn gives Jesse all the credit in the world. He never once loses his calm demeanor or succumbs to Finn's taunting, though he does fling a couple of clever barbs back at Finn.

Normally, Quinn would be pissed at that but Finn hasn't said a word to her and has hardly even glanced in her direction since setting eyes on Rachel. Admittedly, Rachel does look amazing in her strapless pink dress with her hair curled, but Quinn still doesn't want her boyfriend staring at another woman all night, much less her best friend, his ex-girlfriend.

Quinn smiles through her teeth and tries to just get through dinner until she just can't take the tension in the room anymore and excuses them to go to prom early and start campaigning hard for last minute votes. She texts Rachel to apologize for skipping out, but Rachel just thanks her for it. Apparently Quinn wasn't the only hating how things turned out.

They just have to get through the night Quinn reminds herself. The gym is going to be very full, there's a good chance they won't even see Rachel and Jesse all that often tonight.

But of course, that doesn't happen either. Rachel, Jesse, Mercedes, and Sam all make a showy entrance, already obviously laughing and having a lot fun. In fact, Quinn can't help but notice that nearly everyone here seems to be having more fun than her. (Well, a life sized cutout of Dave Karofsky would appear more lifelike than the real Dave right now, though that isn't much of a saving grace.) Isn't this supposed to be her night, culmination of her very existence and all that?

They are the entertainment tonight and things go pretty well once the music starts. That is until Rachel sings her solo and burns up "Jar of Hearts" which sounds great but seems out of place at a prom. Quinn's far less concerned about that though as she is about Finn's attention being on Rachel. It's not as though Quinn hasn't known since about Regionals that her relationship with Finn has an expiration date, that he'd rather be with Rachel than her, but does the whole thing have to blow up here, at prom?

She just wills them to get through this night and if… when she wins prom queen and they have that dance together… who knows, maybe it will feel so good that Quinn will want to fool around with Finn some, not all the way, of course, one teenage pregnancy was enough for her, but there are several things short of all the way. Maybe the confluence of all of those things will be enough to break whatever fascination Finn has with Rachel and things can finally go back to normal.

Rachel seems happy enough with Jesse, which is good, and as long as he remains on his best behavior (which so far, so good, he's been sufficiently contrite to Rachel about the eggs, did his damnedest to be civil towards Finn, and he called Quinn the ghost of Grace Kelly, which is both flattering and accurate) then Quinn won't have to flay him alive.

Just try to get through the ni... Nope, that's not happening because Finn starts a fight with Jesse and Coach is dragging them out by the ears. "But we're running for prom king and queen," Quinn protests feebly. She knows very well that Sue doesn't care at all about such things, and Quinn, of all people, is unlikely to change her mind.

"Sucks for you, sister," Coach Sylvester replies and carries on removing the quarrelling boys from the premises, as though she hadn't just summed up the whole of Quinn's life in four words.

It does, indeed, suck for Quinn because she knows now (though she won't admit it to herself or anyone else for some time yet) that her prom queen hopes are beyond her reach. Who knows, maybe they always were and she was just kidding herself. Maybe Lauren's big revelation had done them in, despite yeoman efforts from Rachel to spin her transformation. Maybe it was teenage pregnancy. She has the rest of her life to speculate.

Rachel looks contrite and apologetic, as though Finn's being a jackass was her fault somehow. Quinn just shakes her head at her. Rachel shouldn't apologize for him, for either one of them but certainly not for Quinn's boyfriend.

The announcements for king and queen come up and Quinn briefly thinks about not even going up there. She won't win now. However, she started this thing, so she's going to see it through. She stands there and listens to Karofsky's name being called and that kills whatever last slivers of hope that she might have. It's going to be Santana, and Quinn's going to have to listen to her gloat about it for the next year. She'll probably wear the crown to school every day, just because she can.

Then they call Kurt's name and Quinn just loses all sense of herself. She knows she's fleeing the gym and she knows someone is following her but where she's going, who's following her, and what either of them are saying doesn't register. She just remembers thinking that she didn't get elected prom queen because queens are supposed to command the attention of all her subjects but Quinn couldn't even command the attention of her own stupid boyfriend.

She's shocked out of her headspace when her hand connects with Rachel's face. "I'm so sorry." Her level of self-hatred couldn't be any higher right now if she tried. She's never just hit anyone unprovoked before. Even that fight with Santana at the beginning of the year had just been a bunch of shoving and hair pulling and Santana had started that. She, on the other hand, has been hit just like that before...by her father. It wasn't often but it was often enough to make her mind immediately flash back to what he looked like when it happened. She wondered idly if she looked as ugly as he used to when hitting her.

"God Rachel, are you okay?" She asks. She's choking down the urge to vomit because she knows that if that happens then Rachel will begin comforting her and she doesn't really deserve that after what she just did and also because once Rachel starts, Quinn will almost certainly break down into a blubbering mess over the death of her prom queen dreams and the fact that her boyfriend is within days, at most, of leaving her... and probably over Beth too, since that subject is ever present and always good for a few tears.

Rachel walks silently over to the sink and slowly examines her face in the mirror. Quinn moves to stand next to her and waits for Rachel to say something. "You know," she starts slowly. "Most girls would be upset about being slapped in the face. I happen to appreciate the drama of it."

"I know you think it's hard to be you, Rachel," Quinn says, "and I know that in a lot of ways it is, but at least you don't have to be afraid all the time."

"What are you so scared of?" Rachel asks as she hands over some paper towels for Quinn to fix her make-up.

"The future," Quinn says wiping her eyes, "What happens when all of this is gone."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asks, "When what is gone?"

Quinn sighs, "You're the one with the big dreams and the bright future, Rachel. Even though it might kill most of them to admit it, there's not one person in this whole school who doesn't know how talented you are. Me, on the other hand, I'm the high school pretty girl who gets crowned prom queen, marries her high school boyfriend, goes nowhere in life, and refers to high school as the best years of her life. Except my high school boyfriend is more interested in you, I hate this place, and I'm not prom queen, so I'm just a pretty girl who's going nowhere."

Rachel presses her lips together and shakes her head. "Look, you have nothing to be scared of. You're a very pretty girl, Quinn. Prettiest girl I've ever met. But you're a lot more than that. Here." Rachel takes the paper towel back and starts wiping away Quinn's smeared make up.

"You really believe in me, don't you?" Quinn says after a minute.

"For as much as you believe in me," Rachel says, "I believe in you more. Because whereas I am an exceptionally gifted singer and actress, you, Quinn, are the smartest person I know. You could do anything you want."

"Okay," Quinn says with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm serious, Quinn," Rachel says, "If someday, many years from now, you are elected President of the United States, I'll not be surprised." Quinn snorts in laughter. "And in the meantime, if prom queen is still important to you, then there's still another prom next year. We'll win you that one for sure."

"What do we do with the rest of this one? I mean, our dates are gone. We didn't even get to get pictures with them."

"Well, I don't know about you," Rachel says, "But I'm more than happy to spend the rest of the evening with my best friend and all of our other friends, singing, dancing, and having fun. We can take pictures with each other. Our dresses are even complementary colors."

"You look really pretty, Rachel," Quinn says, "I'm not sure if I already told you that or not."

"You did, thank you," Rachel replies, "But it never hurts to hear it again. You, of course, look amazing."

"Thank you."