When I woke up the next morning there were two books on my nightstand. Couple Skills: Making your relationship work. And, How to be an adult in a relationship: Five keys to mindful loving. My first instinct was to be embarrassed. My dads realized I was a terrible girlfriend. On the other hand they loved me, they loved me enough to buy me books so I could improve myself. Self improvement was the Berry way and I'll be darn if I was going to let myself fail. I could turn this around. I was going to show Quinn that I was the worlds best girlfriend in training.

I spent my morning on my elliptical machine, showered, dressed, applied my makeup, tidied my hair and decided to be proactive. I grabbed my phone and sent Quinn a text. If she thought I didn't take enough of an interest in her then gosh darn it I was going to prove her wrong.

Tell me one thing about you that you've never told anyone else.

I smiled, proud of myself. That should stump her for at least half the day. Perhaps if I made the questions so hard she'd get tired of answering them and give up. That would be ideal.

Oh my goodness, I'm doing it again. It's been less than one day and I'm already looking for a way to avoid dealing with her feelings. What in the heck is wrong with me? She's right. I'm a terrible girlfriend.

As if that wasn't enough my phone chimed with a message. The screen flashed Lucy. Quinn. I brought up her message and to my horror she already had a response. It didn't even take her a minute. I'd be stumped for weeks with that question. Then again I was chatty.

I have nightmares. I've had them as long as I can remember. They scare the crap out of me.

I wanted to call foul. I knew this already. She was just here the other day and she had a nightmare. That shouldn't count. On the other hand this is probably the first time she's ever admitted that out loud. Telling her it wasn't good enough would just reinforce my bad behavior in her eyes.

You should tell me about it. It might help.

Yeah, maybe She sent back.

Confident I'd made a good first step I head off to school with my head high.

(At School)

School went exceptionally smoother today. I got a frustrated glare from Azimo in the hallway. I could tell by the almost sad look on his face that he was thinking about what could have been. I did my best not to gloat. Gloating would only result in my own misfortune. Wasn't that the quote? Self glorification upon completion of a difficult task will cause a man to fall back into misfortune. Was it Gandhi who said that? No not Gandhi, that's in the I Ching.

I found Tina waiting for me at my locker, again. Today however she wasn't alone. Standing with her was another girl from our now defunct Glee Club. Mercedes Jones. Mercedes was an extremely talented singer, albeit not nearly as talented as myself, who Tina had befriended last year. Occasionally the three of us got together for girls night out. Of course this consisted of dinner at Breadstix and Karaoke in my basement. It was always really fun but it had been months since we'd done it. I tried to keep my evenings open for Quinn these days.

"Ladies." I said politely. I had no idea what they wanted. By the look on their faces I didn't suspect they wanted to get together and sing Lady Gaga.

"Rachel I was just telling Mercedes how much I miss singing." Tina told me.

I missed singing too. Uploading songs onto the internet after singing them on my homemade basement stage was sorely lacking the pizzazz I needed. I was a performer and performers needed an audience.

"Me too. Although I am sure Lima isn't big enough to house my particular talent."

Mercedes rolled her eyes and I did my best to ignore it. I suddenly found myself missing the point of their visit. Tina must have sensed me getting antsy because she quickly spoke up.

"Well we were thinking about starting a group. You know to sing places. Mr. Schue said he'd help us."

Mr. Schuester was our failed fearless leader. He'd attempted to restart the Glee club until Coach Sylvester squashed him like a bug. As much as I disliked her she was the only person in the school who knew how to win things. Under tutelage such as hers I'd be unstoppable when I finally left this haystack town behind.

"You mean like a trio." I asked. "I supposed any opportunity to showcase my skill wouldn't be a real waste."

Mercedes hands were suddenly on her hips. "Who said you'd be the lead singer. I'm just as good a singer as you."

I laughed. "Hardly."

"See I knew she wouldn't cooperate." Mercedes said.

"Rachel just think about it." Tina said.

I didn't remember saying no. Had I said no? I wanted to sing. I loved singing. Missed it even. Over Tina's shoulder I saw Quinn coming down the hall. She looked in my direction with empty emotionless eyes. How did she do that? Turn everything off?

"I'll think about it. Although if we do sing I must sing lead."

Mercedes rolled her eyes but I was no longer invested in the conversation.

Quinn's eyes bore into me. She looked at me as she walked past and I found myself wondering what she was thinking. A few feet away she stopped in her tracks and I realized what must have been coming. A name, a rumor. Something.

"Rachel Berry." She said. There was ice in the words. Seemingly no love at all.

"Oh God what now?" Tina said softly.

Quinn turned quickly and stared hard at Tina causing her to avert her gaze. "Something you want to say to me Elvira?"

Tina shook her head. "No." She said softly.

Quinn continued to stare the girl down. "Like I was saying. Rachel." She said emphasizing my name. It was her way of telling Tina to shut up and mind her own business. "Seeing as how you're my personal stepping stone again I want you to get your things and come with me."

Come with her where? To do what?

I nodded. "Now?" I asked.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "No. Next week. When your schedule clears up. Of course now."

I didn't want to seem excited. "Guys. I better go. I don't want to make her mad."

"No you don't." Quinn said. "Now collect your crap and come on."

(After School)

Quinn made me follow her around all day at school giving me freedom only to go to class. I stood with her in the popular kids hallway, quietly of course. I sat with her at lunch time, again quietly, but under the table she kept her hand on my knee. I actually liked it. It was fun. Everyone watched me, it was like being a movie star. No wonder the popular kids tortured us to keep their reputations intact. Being popular was really cool. Even though I was just a voyeur I still felt like an actress on Oscar night.

Of course nobody talked to me. Most of the kids wondered why I was even around. The rest of them ignored me. Well all except for Santana. She ordered me around like a butler during lunch. Hey Berry go get me a coke, Hey Berry go warm up this pizza. Quinn didn't let me do any of it thank God. She staked her claim on me clearly and vocally.

"Berry isn't here to serve anybody but me. I want everyone to know she's Fabray property again."

I cringed at being called her property again. It was insulting. As much as I hated it I knew she wanted to prove some kind of point. And since I'd promised to trust her more I did my best to keep quiet.

Noah Puckerman did speak to me. Cordially even. In typical Puckerman fashion he welcomed me into the fold by making a crude comment about getting me into bed. The Puckerman initiation he called it. He was a handsome boy, cute and a bad boy. His Mohawk was pretty cool too. Unfortunately for him boys didn't do much for me. Besides that Quinn really didn't take kindly to his comment. After he made it she sent me away.

When I pulled into my driveway she was waiting for me. I took the opportunity to go run some errands after school since Quinn was at practice. I didn't expect her to be finished before I made it home. When I pulled my car into the driveway she came bounding up the driveway behind me from her parking spot in front of the house.

"Where the hell were you?" She asked. She seemed pissed.

"I had to go to the store." I told her. There were shopping bags in the backseat to prove my point.

She stared at me with skepticism. "Were you with Puck?"

Puckerman? And me? Was she kidding? "Quinn no. I was by myself."

"Why are you all tart-ed up then?"

Did she call me a tart? I'd been called a lot of things but never a tart. I wasn't sure I even knew what a tart was. And since when was I tart-ed up? I was dressed this way all day and she hadn't said anything earlier.

"Don't call me names." I told her.

"Uh, whatever. Then don't parade yourself around in front of my friends. Shaking your ass in their faces. How do you think it makes me feel when I have sit and listen to some boy say how he wants to get your pants off?"

I fought back a comment. The last thing I wanted to do was fight. "Quinn I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I embarrassed you."

She walked over to me and rested her hands on my shoulders. "I'm sorry too. I'm just being jealous. I know you'd never sleep with Puck." Her eyes sharpened. "Would you?" It was the kind of question I know she needed to have answered decisively.

"Of course not. I only want to be with you." I told her.

"Santana invited us over. Me and you and her and Brittany are going to have a party."

This was new. She was willingly taking me to Santana's. The last time we'd seen them she went into hiding for twenty four hours. Now here she was inviting us to hang out with them. Well it was growth at least.

"That sounds like fun." I said.

"I don't want you to talk to him anymore." She said suddenly. I almost didn't understand who she meant.

"Who, Puckerman?" I asked. How did we get back on Puckerman?

She nodded with confidence. "Yes. Puck. I don't like it when you talk to him."

Good Lord, again. The whole school is going to be off limits pretty soon. First Santana and now Puck. "Baby I'm with you. He's a boy. I don't like boys like that. I'm not going to cheat on you."

She pulled away. "So you won't agree?" She asked me.

"Quinn I barely know him. He says hi but that's it."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine. You can have him." She started to storm off.

What? No! "Quinn wait." I chased her down and grabbed her arm from behind. "Okay."

She turned to stare at me. "Okay what?"

"Okay I won't speak to him anymore." I agreed. It was a ridiculous request. Puckerman would probably bed me if he could but he wouldn't actively try. Boys like him weren't interested in girls like me. He needed popular girls to feed his ego. Some no name like me was hardly worth the challenge.

That seemed to ease her fears. She smiled, happy that I'd agreed to her demands. "Good. You don't need some stupid boy. Don't I make you happy?"

"Of course you do." I admitted. She did.

"Good. You don't need anybody but me." She leaned into me and gave me a kiss. A soft kiss that sent my body into a flutter.

I was so locked onto the kiss that I didn't hear the car behind me. Quinn pulled away from me and walked off. I felt the absence immediately. It wasn't until I opened my eyes that I realized somebody had pulled up.

"What the hell are you doing here? Don't you know how to call first?" Quinn was asking somebody. "Or do you just like spying on me?" Quinn didn't wait for a response before she walked to her car and hopped inside. For good measure she slammed the door. Before I could wrap my mind around what happened she was driving off.

My brain kicked into high gear. Tina. It was Tina who was sitting in her dad's Chevy Trailblazer in my driveway. What was she doing here? Why hadn't she called first? Quinn was right. Was she spying?

"Tina what are you doing here?" I asked as I rushed over to her open car window.

Tina looked over her shoulder towards the spot Quinn had just occupied. "What is she doing here? Is she torturing you at home now too?"

Wait, had she not seen us kiss? That was a load off my mind. The last thing I needed was Quinn freaked out again.

"We're working on something for school." I said. Terrible lie.

Tina stared at me in silence then shook her head. "She's not very nice Rachel. You should be careful."

"I'm fine. I can take care of myself." I looked towards my house. "What was it you needed again?" I asked. It was kind of a rude way for me to behave but Quinn had already established I was selfish and rude. And for validation Tina didn't respond to my comment. She ignored my rudeness probably out of habit.

"I was coming over to say hello. I never see you anymore. You never call me, we don't hang out. I called you ten times last weekend and you never called me back. I wanted to hang out Friday night but your dad said you'd gone out with a friend."

The comment hung in the air like a cloud of cigarette smoke. A friend. I know Tina had wondered who that friend was. I didn't have a lot of friends at school, the options were limited. She could ask them all in a matter of minutes and sniff out the truth.

"I had a previous engagement." I said doing my best to sound casual.

"What about tonight. Want to hang out?" She asked.

Darn. "Not tonight. I have something important to do. How about tomorrow?"

She looked at me as if she wanted to protest but didn't. "Tomorrow it is. I'll call Mercedes and we can talk about the group."

I nodded. "Okay." It wouldn't hurt to spend some time with Tina. Have some fun. Talk about singing. I missed singing. To have it so briefly then let it get snatched away was torture.

(Santana's House)

I half expected Quinn to disappear and not come back. I called her after Tina left and relayed the conversation to her and she seemed satisfied Tina hadn't seen her kiss me. Still, she told me that I needed to be more careful where I showed affection.

She picked me up a little while later and we went over to Santana's to hang out. Santana had a huge house, turns out her father was a doctor of some kind and her mother did something with insurance. According to Quinn they were never home and gave Santana and Brittany all the privacy a teenager could ask for. My dads closed door rule wasn't in effect over here.

We walked right into the house without knocking and Quinn excused herself to go to the bathroom. In the distance I heard two voices having an argument. Santana and Brittany I assumed. I made myself comfortable on a nearby sofa and listened in like a stalker.

"San you told me after high school was over things would be different. You said we'd go to California." Brittany said. Her light and goofy 'Brittany' tone was missing. She sounded serious. Serious and upset.

"Britt this isn't my fault. This isn't me looking for a way to break my promises to you. This is Harvard Britt. Harvard. My uncle pulled some strings to get me in. I can't not go. If I go and get a degree from that school it will set me up for the rest of my life."

Brittany made a funny sound with her mouth. "Yeah, the rest of your life."

"Britt that's not fair." Santana said.

"What about USC? You said we could go to California so we can be together. I haven't applied to Boston."

"Brittany Harvard is a better school. And my uncle is going to pay for it. I can't say no. I can't say no to a free education from one of the best colleges in the world. And not only that but once I graduate with my bachelor's degree I'm going to apply to the business school. It's like being given the secrets to the universe. If I do well in my classes I can get a really good job making lots of money for us. That way you can dance for as long as it makes you happy. People who graduate from Harvard Business school become CEO's and stuff. I can make millions of dollars for us."

"This wasn't the plan Santana. I was supposed to dance and make us money so we can finally be together. I'm tired of lying and hiding. Boston will just be another Lima."

"I want to go, I have to go Brittany, but I want you with me. I'm doing this for us. If you're not onboard I may as well get a job at McDonalds here in Lima."

Brittany sighed. "I can't just move to the other side of the country with no plans. I won't have anyplace to live. I won't be in school. I'll be in a strange city alone while you're off with your smart Harvard friends."

"Brittany we've saved up like ten grand already right? That's more than enough money to get us a place. And my dad will pay our rent after that runs out. He already said since my uncle's paying for my college I can get an apartment and he'd pay for everything. He has like two hundred grand set aside for my college expenses."

"Yeah, your college expenses. That doesn't include me. I'm not his daughter."

"You can be if we get married. They'll let us get married in Boston." Santana said.

"Santana be serious." Brittany said. "We aren't getting married so I'll have a place to live."

"Britt that won't be the only reason. I love you. I was going to ask you anyway when I graduated College. I was going to get down on my knee and ask you to be with me until we're old ladies in rocking chairs. I know we're young but I've been in love with you since the second grade. I'm not just doing this for me, I'm doing it for the both of us. This is the best thing for the both of us. I want to be able to give you everything you want in life. Besides, I applied to Boston for you already. You got in but you'd have to wait until second semester. I told you, I'd never leave you out. So will you be my Brittany Lopez?"

"Of course I will, of course I'll be your Brittany Lopez. Let's go to Boston. I'll follow you anywhere. Boston, Chicago, Mars, it doesn't matter as long as we get to be together." Brittany said.

Oh my God. I felt terrible eavesdropping but how could I not listen to that conversation. As big a bully as Santana was it seemed she was completely different with Brittany. There was love in her voice when she spoke to the blonde. There was vulnerability and fear in what she said to her. I could tell Brittany was capable of breaking the girl into tiny little pieces. I couldn't believe they were going to run off together after high school and get married. They even had money saved up already. My opinion of Santana changed almost instantly. What she'd said was just so, romantic. I knew in my brain getting married so young was foolish but my heart was screaming do it! Something about the way they spoke to one another felt right. I wanted them to do it. I wanted them to run off and get married so they could be together forever.

"Hey what you doing?" I heard Quinn ask over my shoulder.

Somehow telling her what was going on felt like a mistake. I had the distinct impression she wasn't going to be as happy for them as I was.

"Nothing."

"I was thinking. Tomorrow night we should have our first date." She told me.

Tomorrow. I told her I was hanging out with Tina and Mercedes tomorrow. "I made plans with the girls tomorrow Quinn."

She began to simply shake her head. "You get all worked up because I won't take you anywhere and I finally offer and you say no. I mean are your friends going to look out for you? Did Tina make sure you didn't get detention for ditching first period yesterday? No. I did that. All I'm asking for is a little bit of your time and you say no. Fine, hang out with your friends."

Oh darn. "Okay. Tomorrow. Date night."

She smiled. "You'll call your friends and tell them you can't make it?" She asked me.

I nodded. "Yes." She sat down next to me on the sofa and stared at me. "Now?" I asked. She couldn't possibly want me to do this right now. She nodded her response.

"Now." Was all she said.

"When can I reschedule?" I asked her.

She seemed to think it over. "Tell them you'll get back to them."

"Okay." I said a bit glumly. I was just starting to look forward to singing again.

"Oh baby don't be sad. We'll have fun I promise. Just me and you. We can do anything you want."

"Karaoke?" I asked letting my disappointment fade.

"Of course. I love hearing you sing."