Catalyst

by neveraworsename

Quinn tried not to feel hurt, because after all it was her own fault. She couldn't have it all, not even both of them; the boyfriend and the girl with the stunning smile that had gotten her pregnant. G!Peen, AU S1, Quinn-centric

6. Chapter 6

Title: Catalyst

Author: neveraworsename

Rating: T for first two, M later on

Fandom: Glee

Pairing: Rachel Berry/Quinn Fabray

Summary: Quinn tried not to feel hurt, because after all it was her own fault. She couldn't have it all, not even both of them; the boyfriend and the girl with the stunning smile that had gotten her pregnant. G!Peen, AU S1, Quinn-centric

Author's Notes: Chapter six, on time, and about double the length of the previous chapter.F

Disclaimer: Glee is the sole property of Fox, Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan and Brad Falchuck. I am using them for entertainment purposes and do not have any rights to them.

Chapter 6 –

The air whooshed out of Quinn's lungs. The first thing out of her mouth was also the first thing she thought, "It's a fake."

Rachel's voice sounded far away, but firm, "I assure you, it is not." In a manner that was strangely unselfconscious, she lifted her penis to show that the skin was taut, so it was connected to something even if she couldn't see what. You're pregnant, idiot, she thought. Of course you know what they're connected to. Alright, so somehow Rachel had tucked herself in there and wore a skirt everyday, kissed her boyfriend, changed for gym, and no one had noticed an unseemly bulge?

"You're a boy?" She asked. Part of her was hopeful. This meant she wasn't gay, didn't have any homosexual tendencies at all, really. Her body just knew what her mind didn't. The rest of her felt cold. This meant she could very well be pregnant with Rachel's baby, and trapping her.

Rachel shook her head. "I am a woman."

"How?" She asked. The words hurt to get out.

Rachel pulled her clothes back into place and sat next to her. "I-" She bit her lip, frowned, looking very contemplative, and then said in a voice that was curiously flat, "I'm an intersexual. I have male and female sexual characteristics. I-I shouldn't be able to, to get you pregnant but I did."

Quinn rubbed her eyes, "I don't- I don't understand."

The brunette frowned, "What's not to understand? Would you prefer for me to clarify it?"

If anything, it was too clear. The image was stark in her head; a little baby, pale and skinny, attached to a bunch of tubes, a green blanket because they weren't sure to swaddle it in blue or pink. It. But it was staring at her with big, teary brown eyes and a pink mouth that was getting bitten to death and wringing hands. It was wearing a skirt and a sweater vest and Mary Jane's. It was just barely past five feet and had a penis and had breasts. The other girl shook her head, eyes covered by the heels of her hands. "No. Just, give me a minute."

"Of course."

It had a voice like an angel, the kind that swallowed you whole, like Jonah and the whale and a painfully sincere smile that showed all of its teeth and wouldn't leave Quinn alone, no matter how much she tried. Quinn stopped rubbing her eyes and took a deep breath. It was Rachel, who had kissed her and made her orgasm in the auditorium. So, it was Rachel, who was a girl.

"You are a girl."

"Yes," Rachel responded.

"But you have a," She felt her cheeks flush and she almost whispered, "a penis and a vagina."

There was no pink on Rachel's face, and she scratched under her nose briefly, "Yes. Well, not much of a vagina. It's more like a -" she paused. "Never mind, yes, I do.

"It is a fully functioning penis, equipped with the ability to get women pregnant."

"Apparently so."

"Right. And now I'm pregnant and it's not Puck's and it's not Finn's; it's your baby."

Rachel blinked, "Yes. I suppose it is mine." A few seconds passed before Rachel abruptly paled. Granted, she was darker than Quinn still, but she blinked a little slower.

Quinn reached out and took Rachel's hand. Rachel rubbed under her nose and said, "Oh."

Then, with a little more feeling, "Oh! Wow."

"Yeah," Quinn said. "Wow." That was an understatement if ever there was one.

Rachel looked pensive, before saying, "Are you going to have an abortion?" Her voice was small.

She resisted the urge to ask her what the sense in that was, to tell her she was pregnant and then go for an abortion and instead she shook her head, "No. No, I can't. It's not an option."

They were quiet for a little while and Quinn saw Rachel looking at her from her peripheral vision. She turned to look at Rachel fully. Her eyes were practically sparkling as she looked at Quinn's face, then her stomach. Her voice was hushed even as color began to go back to her face, "You're having my baby."

"If you start singing that song, I'll hit you."

Rachel gave her a hurt look. It was doubled by the large, dark eyes, the pouty bottom lip, and the curve of her overlong black lashes, and Quinn wondered how anyone had ever managed to deny her anything. God, it probably explained the thing with Finn and why she was so spoiled. Who could resist a face like that? "Even I'm not that insensitive Quinn. Singing doesn't help everything, as much as I'd like to believe otherwise."

The bell rang loudly, before Quinn could say anything, and Rachel stood before pulling her up and hugging her tightly. "We'll get through this," Rachel murmured to her. Her breath was hot on Quinn's ear before they separated. "Will your parents be supportive?"

Quinn didn't even think before shaking her head, "They'll throw me out."

Rachel looked aghast, "But you're their child!"

Quinn gave her a sad smile, "I know. Not everyone's parents are all gung-ho about everything."

A flush crawled up Rachel's neck and she blinked quickly. "Would you like for me to tell my fathers ahead of time, just in case?"

Quinn bit her lip to keep from saying no, because seriously, what else could they do, who would she stay with otherwise?

"Would you get in trouble?"

"Yes. I'll likely get into less than Noah, but I promise to own up to my responsibility."

Quinn frowned, "What does Puck have to do with anything?"

"He's my god brother. The Jewish community of Lima is very small, but we're very, what's the term, tight. But as he's very embarrassed of me, he has pretended not to know me since elementary school. He's also older than me, so he's supposed to take responsibility for certain things, i.e., hosting the party where I had sexual relations."

Quinn winced in sympathy. She wanted to ask how anyone could be embarrassed of Rachel but knew the answer was none of her business but also obvious. She could answer the other question though.

"If you're going to get in trouble, don't. We'll tell them when we get to it. But for now, can you please keep things quiet? I don't want anyone to know, not yet."

There were a few moments of silence.

"As you wish," Rachel said. "But does Finn know you're pregnant?"

She nodded, "Yeah. And he also thinks he's the father."

Rachel looked ready to protest but Quinn continued, "No. I'll tell him, I promise. Just, for now, it's easier. After everything settles down, I'll tell him."

"Swear?" Rachel asked. She looked ready to hold out a pinky, but instead Quinn leaned forwards and kissed her cheek. There was the faint twinge of sandalwood there and Quinn lingered for a few seconds. That was the only real promise she could give her and that was that she would try. Rachel beamed at her, big and sweet, and nodded. "Okay. Trust me, I'll help with this."

Quinn nodded, "Okay."

The two minute warning bell rang and only now did she hear trooping feet from the cafeteria. Rachel took the handle of her pink book bag and said, "I'll call you tonight."

Quinn smiled at her. It disappeared once Rachel was out the door. There was very little to smile about in this situation. She was pregnant from Rachel, lying to her boyfriend, and going to be kicked off of the Cheerios. She was going to be homeless and, for all intents and purposes, if not gay, at least bisexual. She balled her hand into a fist and took her book bag off the bed before heading towards class. The late bell rang over her head just as she entered the class. Finn weakly smiled at her and she took the seat next to him.

It was lecture day, thankfully, so she quickly pulled her notebook out and started writing. She watched her slanted handwriting and thought about Rachel's handwriting, loopy and curled.

Finn pushed a note across the table. In his boyish scrawl read, "Why are you smiling?"

She shrugged and tried to make her face blank. It wasn't hard; all she had to think about was his kissing Rachel and something cold slithered around her midsection. She wasn't sure if it was good for her to be so angry and resentful towards others but she felt justified in this action. She'd had Rachel first, hadn't she? She'd been Rachel's friend in elementary school, not Finn. She'd had Rachel two weeks ago in the auditorium and a month ago at the party.

She'd had Rachel for those few minutes in the clinic, when they were connected by the promise of a fetus.

She'd have Rachel forever if she kept the baby.

Glee practice was unusually quiet. Normally Rachel led them all and started arguments but today she spent it biting her lip and glancing at Quinn. Quinn spent it trying not to look at Rachel or Finn, knowing she would either smile or burst into tears. Puck kept giving her sympathetic looks that only made her angry. Finn only looked gassy. Even Mr. Schue, who was normally in his own world, saw the tension.

His professional response was to give them an assignment about feelings.

He sat on top of the desk in the choir room, clapped his hands once and said, "Alright, I know you guys are teenagers. I also know that under those bright, smiling faces, you have a lot of feelings you don't feel comfortable expressing under normal circumstances. But this is Glee and in Glee, we sing about what we feel. So today, everyone's going to the library to look up songs and on Wednesday's meeting, we'll sing."

Seeing they still looked apathetic, he added, "And I want everyone to get out of their comfort zones. Kurt, Rachel, no ballads. Puck, Finn no classic rock. Mercedes, I'd like for you to move out of Motown and other African-American singers. You too, Quinn, Artie, don't think I haven't noticed. Tina, please sing, don't just mouth the words or whisper. Your solo last week was rather… unusual. Santana-" Here he paused because she was glaring at him fiercely. He tried not to look intimidated and failed. "Just, keep doing what you're doing. Brittany, we'd like to hear you sing sometime soon, okay?"

"Alright, Mr. Schue," Brittany mumbled, texting on her phone. Santana looked at her phone and laughed, nudging Brittany gently with her shoulder.

He checked his watch and then hopped off the desk, "As for the new boys, this will be your chance to show us what you have. Let's head to the library. Stay together and no wandering off, please." New boys? She turned and saw the black kid and the Asian boy he was always with talking softly, hovering behind Puck.

Santana muttered something that Brittany responded to in what sounded like Spanish. She wasn't aware that Brittany had ever learned anything beyond English and the most basic of Dutch. Quinn's raised an eyebrow at Santana, who shrugged. Quinn turned around and caught Rachel's eyes. She looked thoughtful, again, biting her full bottom lip in a way that made Quinn uncomfortably aware of how pretty it was. They turned away at the same time as they entered the room.

The library was quiet, mostly because she was fairly certain no one in McKinley actually knew that it existed.

"Hey," Finn said over his shoulder as he searched for a computer desk that wouldn't hurt his knees, "Did you know you can check out stuff from here? Like books and CDs and junk."

Brittany's eyes were wide, "Whoa, really? Like, for free or like a membership?"

He nodded, "For free." Her eyes became larger and he added, "Yeah, I was surprised too."

Puck looked at them, shook his head, and said, "Dude, I may not know what the Hell a prostate does but even I knew that. Shit. What's your GPA?"

They looked at him blankly, before Finn asked, "What's a GPA?"

Brittany turned to Santana, "Is that like a new navigator thing?" Puck turned away and hurried farther up the line until he was between Artie and Toyota, or Ferrari, whatever her name was. She didn't really blame him either.

Santana shook her head and mumbled something in her ear. Brittany's face cleared, "Oh, yeah. One of those things colleges need or whatever, right?"

"Yeah. Yours is a 3.0, don't worry about it, you'll go to school somewhere."

Brittany gave a relieved grin, "Cool. What's yours?"

"A 3.6."

"And yours Q?"

"4.0." It hurt to get out. She had worked hard for those grades and now she was pregnant and it would mean nothing.

Brittany nodded then bit her lip and asked, "What's the highest you can get?"

"A 4.0." Her jaw felt tight. She wasn't sure she could get anything else out.

Brittany only looked cheerful, "Awesome. Maybe we could go to the same college."

"Maybe," Santana smiled.

Mr. Schue gave them a look and they quieted as they searched for songs. She knew automatically that they would look for pop songs but she didn't really want to go down that avenue. She pulled her iPod out and searched through her artists. It was mostly composed of Motown, things her parents had listened to and she had an affinity for. She had a few hip-hop songs and alternative bands but nothing really stuck out to her.

She turned to Santana and tapped the work space in front of her. "Name your top five favorite artists, outside of pop."

Santana scowled, "Bitch. How am I supposed to know?"

"Because they're your favorites."

The darker girl shrugged but screwed her face up in thought, "Alright, um. Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Lil Wayne, Interpol and Stars."

She quirked an eyebrow, "Stars?" It sounded like something Rachel would like on principle alone.

"They're Canadian, but the shit. You'd think they were from a cool country."

Searching for them showed they had an extensive list of songs for her to use, but nothing interested her, especially as a solo performance. A lot of them were filled with feelings but nothing she'd have felt comfortable expressing in front of so many people. Finally she gave up and just printed out the music for that stupid Christina Aguilera song. It was pretty much the default of everything, so she would be fine.

Rachel was at the printer just as she walked up to it, dollar in hand to pay for it. The top of it was open and she was nearly lost inside the mechanics, fiddling with something. When she closed the top and pressed the green button, it whirred to life and printed without Rachel having to pay. Her mouth opened and closed, "How did you do that?" Everyone she knew had tried. Hell, even the AV geeks had tried and it'd never worked.

Rachel turned around and, when she saw it was Quinn, placed a finger over her mouth with a wink. Rachel pressed the link to her music and it printed as well, with no prompting. "I have many talents," Rachel smiled at her. She had dimples in both cheeks; her right one was slightly deeper.

Quinn looked at the paper to keep from smiling back at her. She thought Rachel's were cuter than her own. Maybe the baby would have them. She was still thinking about how Rachel's face, with her strong jaw line contrasting her delicate looks, looked when she smiled on her way to her car when Finn said, "So, you wanna go?"

She frowned at him. She hadn't even known he was walking with her. "Go where?"

"To BreadstiX on Saturday. It's been like a month since we went anywhere together, so I thought we could have a date before I have to get a job." He smiled. He had dimples too, but not the same adorableness of Rachel's.

"Sure," She smiled at him. It would feel nice to go out for once. Maybe before that, she could go to Rachel's house and make up for the past Saturday. It was only Monday though, so she had a ways to go. She was finishing her homework when her mother popped her head in, "Quinn, have you seen the portable house phone? Your father has been looking for it." She rolled her eyes. "The man has two cell phones but he still worries about it."

She bit her lip, "Yeah, here." She handed the phone to her mother, whose eyes widened.

"How long has it been in here? The battery is nearly dead."

Quinn shrugged and turned to look at her homework. Once her mother was out the room, she called Rachel's phone. If she called now, her father couldn't yell at her for speaking to Rachel.

"Shalom, Quinn. I see your phone is in service once more."

She smiled, "Hey. Just thought I'd call you since my dad has the phone."

Rachel's voice took on a more teasing tone, "Oh, I see how it is. You only called me because you to."

Her smile widened and she pushed away from her desk to roll onto her bed. "Exactly. Nice to see you understand how I operate."

Rachel chuckled softly before asking, "How are you feeling? Honestly?"

Quinn bit her lip then sighed, "Tired. Just, all the time. I nap more but I'm so exhausted all the time. I'm going to have to quit the Cheerios soon, aren't I?"

"Yes, but you should be fine for another two or three weeks so long as you don't get dropped unexpectedly. I know it's important to you. You're due for an ultrasound soon, if my research is correct."

She sighed softly, "But how? I'm broke, Finn's broke, so are you and none of our parents are going to pay for it."

"I know. I promised you I would help you take care of our baby, and I intend to do so. I've looked at jobs and there's a prospective one I have an interview for tomorrow at a vegan café, a small one that won't ask questions. They pay nicely and even without Finn's help, we should be able to gain a doctor within two weeks. There's a clinic I was looking at earlier. It's in Akron, they are anonymous, but with interns and professionals and at a much cheaper price. It's about three hundred dollars for each ultrasound. Delivery at a hospital is more expensive, but we can do it."

"That was sweet Rachel," Quinn said softly, "But I didn't mean for you to help like that."

It was quiet on the other line. "Oh," Rachel finally replied. Her voice was flat again, bland. "Well, what did you mean?"

She hadn't actually meant for Rachel to help at all, just said it to make her feel better. If she had her own way, Rachel wouldn't have had a thing to do with it, but she was absolutely determined so she had to come up with a story quickly.

"More like someone I can vent to," Quinn tried to explain, making it up as she went along. "Finn and I are going to take care of the baby but you'll be involved, just like as a…"

Rachel's voice was stiff, cold, "Are you suggesting I act as a surrogate for you and Finn?"

"No, no. It's nothing like that," The blonde rushed to explain. "I just think even Finn is going to notice when the bills magically get paid without his having a job. And it'll be much easier to explain, once everything's in the open -"

"What's this really about, Quinn?" Rachel asked her. "Because I know you aren't suggesting that we tell everyone at the school about one of my differences, otherwise you would have said it. This beating around the bush thing doesn't suit you."

Quinn bit her lip. Time for the big guns: the truth. "I mean, you have a future Rachel. Finn might play football in college, but he'll come back to Lima. I'll make it out and then come back. You can get out of Lima, out of Ohio and never look back."

She laughed shortly. It was a barking sound, "I mean, honestly, you probably will never even pause to think about anyone from here, you'll be so busy singing your heart out each night. You won't remember what it's like in the summer, or the first snowfall, or when a big rainstorm hits or after a hard game when everything smells like-" She bit her lip. Rachel had been excluded from most of the social functions and had probably never gone to a game. "Who would you think about, out of everyone here? No one, right?"

She didn't give Rachel time to respond, "Right."

Her voice was quiet, contemplative almost. "I would think about you. I already do."

"Were you thinking about me when you kissed Finn?" She snarled. She rolled over onto her other side and punched her pillow, wishing it was Finn's face, then Rachel's face, then her face for chasing them towards each other.

"If I answer yes, will you calm down? You're getting riled up and it's-"

"What? Not good for the baby?" She wondered how many times she was going to hear that, if she would ever come to resent those words. She hoped not.

"That, and not good for you. Negative energy is much harder to get rid of than positive energy, or so my charlatan of a therapist says. Damned hippie."

Rachel was trying to make her laugh, she could sense it. She rubbed at her eyes and found she couldn't say anything.

Quinn pressed her nose against her pillow and tried to think of what sandalwood smelled like but her fabric softener kept getting in the way. Rachel was still speaking but it was a quiet, buzzing noise. She smiled a little and pressed the end call button. Rachel called her back three times, but Quinn was already asleep.

The next morning when she looked in her locker the prenatal vitamins were sitting next to Theodore. She threw the pills away and fixed his bowtie. His button eyes seemed to be disapproving. She slammed the locker door in his face. She didn't have Rachel in class that day, so it was much easier to avoid her by hanging out with Finn, who was confused but happy with the attention. He babbled the entire time about video games and football and these new sneakers he was thinking of getting. Finally, towards the end of lunch, he said, "Oh! Forgot to say, I got a job at Ray's Supermarket today. I sent out the thingy yesterday and they called back this morning before I left for school."

She raised her eyebrows, "Well, that was fast." There was no way he had done that by himself.

He gave her a proud grin, "I sent a picture of me in Artie's wheelchair, 'cause Rachel said to, and at first I thought they would have been like, "No way," but they hired me really fast. But, like, I need one now, but Puck said he would steal one from the hospital his mom works at for me."

Apparently, Rachel was still going to help her, and Puck was her accomplice. And she'd known his name was something like that. She hoped it was short for Arthur and not actually Artie.

He took her hand in one of his huge ones and smiled, "See? I told you Glee was a family."

Really? She'd never heard him say anything like that. In fact, all he did was complain about how they practically stalked him and the gay kid seemed to like him, and sing the praises of Mr. Schue and Rachel.

"And I told Mr. Schuester about the baby," He continued. Seeing her darkening face, he hurried, "But he's super cool, he won't tell anyone at all! Plus, his wife is pregnant so our babies would be the same age. They could, like, go on play dates or whatever and be friends."

"Oh, oh!" He was practically shaking with excitement. "They could have matching names! Like Chip and Biff! How cool would that be?"

Finn walked her to her next class, holding her hand, and briefly brushed his hand over her flat stomach before going to his own class. Something squirmed in her stomach unpleasantly but she ignored it in favor of trying to think. Finn was getting attached and Quinn wasn't sure if she would keep the baby or be able to take care of it. This could all blow up in her face and quickly at that. Telling him that the baby was Rachel's was obviously not an option and she wouldn't put Puck in that position. Still, she was in trouble. God, what could she do?

The first course of action, obviously, was to make sure Rachel didn't tell him anything. When he walked by her in the hall, seeing as he didn't look like a nuclear bomb had just gone off in his house, and that Rachel was walking around with a brooding stare, it seemed apparent that Rachel had left it up to her, just as she promised. Puck shadowed her in the halls, but they shared the same class, so it wasn't as if she could say anything. She was just setting up for the history notes when a piece of folded paper was flung her way.

"I know."

She bit her lip and glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. He caught her eyes and mimed moving his hand up and down extremely fast, just below his waist. When she looked up to his mouth, she caught what was either the tail-end was of very, Berry, or cherry. Her ears and cheeks burned. She had an idea of what he was saying and turned hastily around. Luckily, Mr. Backs was still gesturing to the PowerPoint, talking about ancient Greece's accomplishments but a couple of kids were looking their way. She glared at them and they turned hastily. Their attention was further caught by Santana and Brittany coming into the room.

Mr. Backs gave them an exasperated look but they handed the official Cheerio's pass. It was probably about their 'sloppy' uniforms. They each took their seats and she noticed too late the paper still on her desk. Santana reached out and took it, and turned around, brows furrowed, gesturing to the paper. She shrugged and tried to look casual and focused on the lesson. Santana tried to tap her and gain her attention, but each time she raised her hand to ask a question, no matter how mundane. Mr. Backs seemed more enthused now that someone was actually paying attention, and went a little faster.

The downside was that they finished the lesson early and she couldn't ignore Santana any longer. Santana gestured to the note, "What's up with that?"

She shrugged, faking casualness, "It's just Puck. Who knows with him?"

"Then why'd you ignore me? I mean, who gives a fuck about Arthur the great?"

"It's Alexander."

"Whatever. He's dead now."

"And we weren't covering Alexander the Great, we were covering Plato. He's next class."

Santana looked disdainful but when she said, "Nerd," it was almost fond.

They headed to the field. Quinn's heart pounded when she saw Rachel sitting in the bleachers. It appeared that Ms. Sylvester had seen her as well because she turned and used her bullhorn to shout, "Berry! Get your loser stink off of my field!"

Rachel called back, "I'm waiting to be picked up. This is the only place with clean seats."

"Out!"

"My sweater is white!"

"OUT!"

Quinn looked at Santana, who looked back at her. Both of them had wide eyes. Sure Coach Sylvester was sort of crazy, but she'd never yelled like that before. Rachel wasn't that bad, was she?

Rachel, apparently, wasn't an idiot and ran the better part of the football field to the entry way of the locker room. She tried to look for Quinn, who bit her lip and trained her eyes downward. She still hadn't accepted her calls and this would be beyond awkward.

"What's up with you and Berry lately?" Santana asked.

She shrugged, glancing upwards then back down, "Nothing."

"Sexual tension," Brittany said. Her voice was bland, as if it was an everyday observation.

Quinn gave her a horrified look but Santana burst into almost hysterical laughter.

"You're right, B! I don't know why I didn't think of that."

"Maybe because it's not true?" Quinn replied.

Santana ignored her, "You guys have had that vibe since like ninth grade. Weren't you the one that started picking on her, calling her names and whatever?"

Quinn rolled her eyes, "That was you." It was a bitter reminder that people did forget that for more than three months she'd avoided Rachel like the plague before succumbing to peer pressure.

"Oh, yeah. Weren't you the one that coated her with the Slushy machine and then threw her in the dumpster the day before they dumped it?"

"I had no idea that happened, but it was probably you."

Santana frowned briefly before smiling brightly. It was weird how the happiest Santana ever was had to involve mischief or Brittany, but Quinn was fairly certain it was more her nature than a cry for help since she'd been that way since daycare.

"Yeah, it was me. I blamed it on you because I figured you wouldn't get in trouble. I'm a fucking genius."

Coach Sylvester blew her whistle and they surged forwards into a run. She worked them hard that day. Not as bad as when Glee club had first started, but there was a noticeable difference from yesterday, according to her burning calves.

She was sweating and exhausted when she went to her car. Puck was standing by his truck and approached when he saw her. When he was close she asked, "What do you want?"

He sighed, "This kills me to say, but I'm Rachel's god brother, so I know that she's got girl bits and boy bits or whatever, and I care about her. I also know that you are who she lost her virginity to, and seeing as you're preggers and locked up tighter than fucking Alcatraz, it's really likely that she's the daddy, unless Jesus came down. And this is likely her only chance to be a daddy or a mommy, so don't count her out."

She tried not to take offense and instead focused on the least embarrassing part of the conversation.

"What do you mean her only chance? She's fifteen!"

"Fourteen," He corrected her. "Her birthday's in December." Great, she was a child molester too, then.

The teenager leaned against her car. "And just think; if you weren't drunk, would you have fucked Rachel knowing she's a visible intersexual? That below her dick there was a pussy? Would you have fucked her knowing she thinks like a girl and feels like a girl, but she's got a dick and pisses standing up?"

Her face turned pink and she bit her lip. Did he have to be so crude? After a moment, she shook her head, "No."

"Right. There are not a lot of people that would like that and there's none of them here unless you count Brittany, and Santana would rather cut off her leg than give that up. And unless she gets really lucky in New York at a few parties, this is likely to be her only child. Everybody else here can fuck up a few times and have a few scares, but this is her only chance. Like, she can't even ask a brother or sister to donate if she gets in a relationship because her parents were too scared it would happen again to try and no one knows where the fuck her bio mom is, so she's screwed on that side too."

She made her face cold and impersonal to keep from crying. It was starting to feel a lot like she didn't have a choice in the matter. "What does that have to do with me?"

He clenched his jaw, "You're a bitch, Fabray. But what I'm trying to say is that she's a much better parent than I would be and she's gonna try her little heart out. Hell, she's a much better person than me or Hudson. That's not fair to that kid if it has Finn as a role model instead of Rachel. He plays video games while she volunteers at the community center with all those bad ass kids, who love the ever-loving shit out of her."

He looked at her face again and sighed, "Just, think about it, alright. The only reason I'm talking to you is because she told me you were gonna let Hudson be the daddy and that's not right. Even if you don't want her, would you let her at least come and visit?"

"I'll think about it. Now leave."

Puck shook his head, "I don't know what she sees in you. Whatever, I tried."

Quinn got into her car, turned the air conditioner on and closed her eyes. What did Rachel see in her? She let out a deep sigh and then screamed when a woman sat up in her front seat.

Terri Schuester's babbling was like being with Coach Sylvester, except her crazy wasn't channeled into anything but adopting babies. The only really good thing she'd done was give her a bottle of prenatal pills. On closer inspection, she saw they were the same kind that Rachel had given her. She knew not to spit in God's face, so she popped two in her mouth and took a swallow of warm water from the water bottle in her Cheerios bag before peeling the label off of it. She couldn't keep them in the car without someone finding them and her mother would just think they were aspirin. Probably. Hopefully.

She pulled her phone out and called Rachel. There was a lot of background noise when Rachel answered, "Quinn?" She sounded hopeful.

"Where are you?" She demanded.

"I'm at the community center. Do you need something? Are you hurt?" There was a brief pause before she yelled, "Lacey, get off of Richard!"

Quinn hung up and placed her head in her hands. It was just her luck for Puck to be right, for Rachel to be just as great as he'd said. She drove home and took a long shower once she got there. She scrubbed her head until her scalp hurt, pulled on her pajamas, and did her homework. She stayed in her bed, phone underneath her pillow until the next morning, ignoring both dinner and her phone calls.

She woke up at four in the morning because of her morning sickness. She wondered who was more likely to hold her hair back, Finn or Rachel, and decided to stop comparing them because that only led to crazy thoughts. But it didn't stop, not even when she got up for school, so on the way to school, she dialed Rachel's phone. It went to voicemail.

"This is Spencer Berry; you may also know me as Rachel Berry. Please leave your name and number and I will get back to you at the earliest convenience. Thank you."

There was the beep of the tone and she said, with no preamble, "You have one chance. One. You mess this up and Finn's the father, no ifs, ands, or buts'."

At the end of first period there was a single text, and it was from a number she didn't recognize.

Thanx fabray

After a moment she realized it was Puck and texted back.

Dont let her screw this up.

I wont

Finn looked down at the phone and whispered, "Who are you texting?"

She shook her head, quickly deleting the texts, "Nobody. What song are you singing for glee club?"

He shrugged a little, "I don't know. Normally, Rachel helps me pick, but she's really been into helping me with the baby stuff and I can't do the songs I like, so I'm gonna ask Mr. Schue during lunch."

So that was how Rachel was getting this around Finn. He probably wouldn't even mind if she started paying some of the bills, the moron. "Is that fair? I don't think anyone else is going to him for help."

Finn looked a little surprised, "Really? He said that if I ever needed him, I could just ask." He tried to be smooth, but it was really apparent when he slung his arm over her shoulder. He was hot from his constant jacket, but not the way she liked it. He wasn't as warm as Rachel normally was, and she shrugged from underneath it to say, "Sorry. I haven't been feeling well."

His shoulders slumped, "Oh. Sorry." He lowered his voice, "Um, you have morning sickness, right? That's why you always leave during Glee, right?"

She nodded at him, "Yeah." It was, unintentionally, of course, another notch in Rachel's favor. She'd never asked any dumb questions like this before.

He seemed to hunch down more, and his voice was even lower, "Oh. Is there anything I can do about it?"

"Can you stop your fetus from attacking my stomach or bring me some anti-nausea medicine that won't affect the baby?"

He bit his lip then whispered, "Stop that, baby. Your mommy needs to rest."

There was a sudden surge of nausea so strong, she had to place a hand to her mouth as she rushed to the bathroom. By the time she was actually there, it had passed, but she was breathing a little heavier than before. She took a few moments to rinse her mouth out, just in case, and then, after checking to see that all the stalls were empty, said to her stomach, "I get it. Just give me a few weeks to sort everything out, I promise." Apparently, the baby understood that it was a load of bullshit the same way she did because there was another brief moment of nausea before it calmed into a sort of irritability.

She headed to class again and saw that the other students were whispering. As she walked to the desk, she heard snatches of their conversations. "Bulimia?Pregnant? Sick? Cancer? Dying? Pregnant?" Her face moved into the blank look she'd given Puck and sat next to Finn, who looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry," He mumbled. "I guess the baby doesn't like me much." She didn't say anything and his face fell.

They were quiet for the rest of the class and he didn't walk her to her next class. Math was boring as usual, and she doodled on a sheet of paper after she finished her work. Mr. Gilbert graded work extremely fast and handed her the assignment back. In red it said "29, check last problem. Switch to pencil."

The instant Quinn looked at it she knew she'd missed a decimal. It wouldn't affect her GPA but she always tried to get all the questions right. She rubbed her eyes, balled the paper up, and then continued with her doodle until the bell rang.

Mr. Gilbert stopped her briefly, "Miss Fabray, you normally don't make mistakes like that or come to class late. Is there something bothering you?"

She shook her head, "No, sir. I've just been feeling a bit under the weather lately."

He nodded, "Well, get some rest. Remember, we have that test on polynomials on Monday, and I won't be here Friday."

Quinn nodded, "Yes, sir."

Finn wasn't waiting for her outside the classroom, but Puck and Rachel were. They weren't talking and weren't looking at one another. She wondered if they had more of a relationship outside of school, for Rachel to tell Puck about losing her virginity and for Puck to actually, somewhat, come to the rescue. Taking a glance at them, she saw that they had similar standing positions, with their shoulders pressed against the wall and their arms crossed. Granted, Rachel at least had some books, but Puck just looked bored. Neither of them acknowledged her as they walked behind her to the choir room. She could tell they were following her because of the clack of empty spray paint cans in Puck's book bag and the clatter of wheels from Rachel's pink monstrosity.

Once she was in the choir room, Rachel moved to sit in the front and Puck moved to sit near the back, with Finn, who didn't look at her, as if they hadn't entered at the same time. Quinn took the seat next to Brittany because otherwise Santana would ask her about why the other two teenagers had been behind her. Mr. Schuester came in a little earlier than usual, sat on top of the piano and clapped his hands. The piano guy gave him a dirty look but didn't say anything.

"Who'd like to go first?"

Finn raised his hand and clumsily made his way down. Mr. Schue hopped off the piano and clapped Finn over the shoulder, "Good initiative, Finn. Remember guys, Sectionals is going to be on us soon, so we need to make sure we have our solos, duet, and group number down."

Finn handed the pianist the music, cleared his throat, and said, "I'll be singing Diana by Paul Anka. This is for a special someone."

Quinn dropped her face into her hands and she heard Santana say, "Is he serious with this shit?"

"Santana, language please," Mr. Schuester said. "Go ahead, Finn."

It was the worst two minutes of her life. His voice cracked somewhere in the first half a minute and she could hear Puck say, "This is the single gayest moment of my life." Hummel responded, "I concur." They glanced at each other and laughed.

When she peeked out through her fingers, Rachel had her hands over her mouth and had pressed her face onto Artie's shoulder to keep from laughing, and he had covered his face as well, shoulders shaking. Both of the Asians were recording it on their phones and the Black guy was covering his face as well, although this looked like sympathetic embarrassment rather than just not watching the train wreck. When he finally finished, he beamed at them all. Mr. Schue smiled at him, "Great job, Finn. Who's next? Quinn?"

Quinn tugged the music out of her book bag and handed it to the pianist.

She was midway through the song when she was suddenly hit with a bout of nausea so strong, she had to run to the bathroom. Almost as soon as she was in the stall, someone was behind her with a wet paper towel. She caught a glimpse of the clear polish and short nails and knew it was Rachel. Her hurling stopped briefly and she said huskily, "I hate you. So, so much."

"My advice is to get over it. We're in this together, whether you like it or not."

Quinn wanted to respond but leaned over and vomited instead. When she finished, she panted and placed her head against the cool porcelain of the toilet. Rachel cleaned off her face and handed her a bottle of water from the side of her book bag. It wasn't cold, but it was a relief.

"Why'd it have to be you?" She asked.

Rachel swallowed, licked her lips, and rubbed under her nose before saying, "Your voice was magnificent until the nausea kicked in. I'd like to think of it as the baby encouraging you."

"Why you?"

Rachel was wringing her hands, and they started to flap around when she said her impassioned speech. "I don't have a clue. I would rather you didn't have to go through this at all but I really would it rather be me than say Finn or Noah."

"Why?" Quinn said. She struggled to sit up some and Rachel bent to help her, supporting most of her weight. She jerked out of Rachel's grip once she was up and said, "Why would you rather it be you? Anyone else wouldn't have cared."

Rachel swallowed again. Quinn looked at the slight bobbing of her throat and she wondered what the skin tasted like there. She reached out slowly and took Quinn's hand, lacing their fingers together. It felt like two puzzle pieces in place, like a match.

"Because I would rather you didn't have to go through this at all. I'm probably not going to be the best in this situation, but I'd rather be here with you than standing on the outside looking in."

Quinn bit her lip and pulled Rachel closer to hug her. "I don't hate you," Quinn mumbled. Rachel let out a quiet laugh, "I didn't think you did."

Rachel was soft, yielding, and her hair smelled like watermelon and sandalwood; it was stronger than the whiff on her cheek she'd caught before. Rachel's arms were warm around her waist and she felt a gentle kiss against the underside of her jaw before she nuzzled her nose against Quinn's collarbone. "You smell nice," She murmured. Quinn pressed a kiss of her own to Rachel's hair. It was a little more curled near the roots than it was last time, and she wondered if Rachel had gotten a slushy thrown at her today.

They were still hugging when the Asian girl came in and looked at them, wide-eyed. "U-u-u-u-um, s-s-s-sorry. W-w-w-we want-t-t-t-t-ted t-t-t-t-t-to sssssseei-i-i-i-i-i-if y-y-y-y-you we-"

"It's ok," Rachel finally said to her. She didn't sound irritated, like Quinn would have, just cautious, blank, and slowly pulled herself away from Quinn. The blonde had to resist the urge to whimper and instead placed her mask on quickly. It cracked a little when Rachel tightened the hold she had on her hand and said, "Come, Quinn. We can continue our conversation after Glee."

Rachel made to unravel her fingers but Quinn clung to her hand. It felt like something would come apart and drift away from her if she let go. Rachel's thumb brushed against the back and, after determining that Asian chick wasn't paying them any attention, Quinn lifted their hands and kissed the back of Rachel's hand. Her hand was soft and gentle. Rachel did the exact same thing on the exact same part of her hand. When they were almost at the choir room, she finally let go.

"Are you okay?" Mr. Schuester asked as soon as they entered.

She nodded, "Stomach bug."

He nodded slowly, "Oh, yeah. Finn told me about it. Shouldn't it be over by now?"

Her jaw clenched and Rachel interrupted, "Mr. Schuester, is that really appropriate for this time? Quinn is fine and we can continue with the assignment before we work on a set list for Sectionals." She sounded defensive, almost, but her eyes were dark, angry, just for that brief sentence he'd said before they went blank.

His mouth gaped open for a moment before he plastered on a smile, "Right. How about you sing next, then?"

"Fine."

She didn't sound enthusiastic.

Rachel headed to her book bag as the two other girls headed to their seats. Quinn wasn't even fully comfortable when the brunette strode back over to the pianist and handed him the music. He gave a brief glance at it before saying, "Nice, I can see where you made some changes."

There was a moment of absolute stillness before Rachel's mega-watt grin practically split her face and there was an influx of light.

"Jesus Christ," Santana muttered. "What, does she only have two settings: pissed and happy?"

Quinn bit her lip to stop herself from saying, "No, she's so different from us. She feels all these things and she tries so hard and I keep pushing her away to keep her safe and she keeps coming back, like a fucking yo-yo. And she's about to sing, so shut your face."

What she did say was, "Whatever. You'd think you had a soul all the talk you did about God."

Santana rubbed her chest, "Ow. I should get you declawed, kitty."

"I should get you put down, stray."

They both quieted when the piano guy started to play on the crappy piano, knowing otherwise their next songs would be out of tune and cruddy.

Rachel leaned against the back of the instrument before announcing, "I will be singing the song 'Open Your Eyes' by Andrew Belle. This is an edited version because the original is much more musically inclined."

Quinn bit her lip as she listened to Rachel sing. It was fairly obvious she had taken this assignment seriously, not like her and Finn. Was this how she really felt? Her mouth was starting to hurt so she moved to her thumb as Rachel sang, "I will try to be all that you need me to be." There was a very brief pause before the next line was said with such emotion that she felt shivers across her back, "She'll be a star now, I will follow her lead. She'll be a scar now, I will still let her bleed."

When Quinn pulled her thumb out of her mouth, there was a deep bite mark with blood leaking from it. She put it back in her mouth and sucked the excess from it, then tucked it into her fist. It was amazing, the feelings Rachel could evoke with just a piano and her voice, the same as all those years ago. She looked down at Rachel, met her eyes, and found she couldn't look away. Even from across a room, Rachel's eyes conveyed all her emotions, her hopes, her dreams. Those were eyes she could lose herself in.

She was still staring at her eyes when Brittany stood and clapped enthusiastically before everyone else started to clap. The song was over, then. Rachel beamed at Brittany, dimples and teeth on full display, before releasing it on Quinn, who found she had to smile back and then cover her face, because God, it was embarrassing to smile that widely at someone when you weren't Rachel 'Painfully Sincere' Berry.

Santana quirked an eyebrow at her and she shrugged, "She's annoying but good."

"I guess. If you're into that shit."

She reached into her book bag and pulled out a book. Nobody would be as great as Rachel, obviously. Maybe finishing the last chapters of The Hunger Games would be more productive. She was just finishing with Katniss' adventure when Rachel cleared her throat and said, "Good book?"

The choir room was empty and Rachel was sitting next to her. She blushed and closed the book, "It's alright. I actually feel it's a little kiddy, but it was entertaining."

Rachel smiled, "That's all we can hope for."

Things were quiet for a little while, before Rachel said, "I'm going to tell you something that I've been feeling incredibly selfish about since I first found out you were pregnant. I need you to not resent me for it."

"I can't promise that, but I'll try."

"I'm glad that I slept with you because I know if you'd slept with anyone else, things would have been different in all the ways that they shouldn't have. I'd have been chasing after Finn, convinced that he was my one and only, you'd have probably had sex with Noah and have a venereal disease as well as a pregnancy, Noah and Finn would have fallen out and it'd be one of the worst kept secrets in Glee. You'd have been ostracized and hurt and lonely, and I'd have been the same, but here we could be ostracized and hurt together."

She bit her lip, "I'm glad because this means I can at least pretend we have a relationship."

Quinn's breath caught and all she could gasp out was, "Rachel."

Rachel wiped under her eyes and then her nose. She'd been rubbing under there so frequently now, that the skin was pink and actually looked irritated. She lifted her hand to rub again but Quinn pulled it down, tilted her head a little, and kissed the area gently. It was rough under her mouth, but it was part of Rachel so she didn't move for a few seconds. Rachel stilled and grinned at her afterwards.

"Stop rubbing it, you're peeling."

Rachel blinked and tilted her head as her brows furrowed together. She looked like a confused puppy. "I've been rubbing under my nose?"

"Yes. You do it all the time, like when you're thinking. You must have been doing it throughout Glee."

Rachel touched under her nose, felt the peeling skin and pulled her hand back.

"Sorry."

Quinn shook her head, "Its fine. I just don't want you hurting yourself."

She placed the book in her book bag.

Rachel wanted a relationship, but Quinn couldn't give her that, couldn't even contemplate giving up the minor status that Finn would keep her with once she was pregnant. Rachel had talked about being ostracized and hurt together, but Quinn couldn't do that. She was too much of her father for that; she would drag Rachel into the pit full of miserable feelings with her and never let her see day again. All she could give her was what she'd already had, what was used and soon wouldn't even be her own anymore: her body.

She knew Rachel, knew the perfect way to get her in bed would also be the simplest; some pretty words, even if they weren't her own. Quinn then pulled a much smaller book out and handed it to Rachel as she said, eyes partially closed, "Tell me about the dream where we pull the bodies out of the lake and dress them in warm clothes again. How it was late, and no one could sleep, the horses running until they forget that they are horses." It was a gay oriented book; Rachel would know what she meant, even if Quinn didn't all the time.

Rachel's eyes looked like twin stars, with such brilliance that it was impossible to look at her head on and her mouth was a perfect little 'O' of such a beautiful, blooming pinkness that Quinn couldn't finish, that she found herself holding onto Rachel's cheeks and kissing her so that her bottom lip was between Quinn's. Rachel dropped the book as she made a little noise, adjusted her position and placed one hand on Quinn's hip and slid the other into her hair, pulling the scrunchie for her hair out so that it hung downwards. She scratched with her short nails on Quinn's scalp and Quinn nearly jumped, before parting and moving to straddle Rachel's lap. Quinn opened her mouth and Rachel's tongue darted in. she tasted like vanilla and almonds. It felt like fireworks and bonfires were sprouting up everywhere; like they had found the eye of a storm and couldn't move, wouldn't budge, as everything went to Hell around them.

It felt perfect, like this was the last great thing that they could do, that there was an urgency that they continued to feed to one another with each sound and quiver and shake. Her hands were trembling as she unbuttoned Rachel's sweater to touch some of her perfect, soft brown skin. It was hot, like touching an electric blanket, and she had to part to breathe more fully in her mouth. Rachel nipped at her throat then placed the flat of her tongue to it and drew back to blow cold air. Quinn squirmed, moaning, "Oh, God."

Rachel moved her head back, and her pupils were blown while the ring was a perfect molten color, almost orange, like deep honey, and her mouth was a bruised red as she asked, "Are you alright?"

Quinn didn't answer, just drew Rachel mouth back to her neck and bucked her hips as Rachel sucked another part of her neck and somehow placed her hands under her top so that her nails were digging into her lower back. When she moved her mouth, she ran her nails up and down her back. Quinn pushed her head away gently and made quick work of her sweater so that the light blue Oxford shirt was on display.

"What's with you and buttons?" Quinn muttered and hurriedly undid that as well so her bra was visible. Her mouth watered; Rachel's breasts were perfectly sized for her hands and she ran her thumbs over the prominent nipples. Rachel's hips jerked and her eyes screwed shut, even as she pulled her closer. Her penis was making a tent in her skirt and Quinn was so wet it was embarrassing.

One of Rachel's hands drifted to the front and cupped her left breast. Quinn moaned. "Take off my shirt," She panted. Rachel unzipped it and threw it to the side and then her bra without asking. She dropped her head and sucked one of Quinn's nipples. Quinn couldn't even moan, could only let her mouth drop open. When Rachel nipped at it, like she had her neck, Quinn groaned and pushed herself away to undo her skirt. She managed to glance at Rachel and there was a new gush of wetness at the sight of Rachel.

Her hair was messy and her face and chest pink-tinged. Her mouth looked bigger, fuller, and pink from her sucking. The discarded shirt and bra drew her attention downwards and her eyes widened. The bulge she'd felt looked indecent, almost pornographic, really. She stepped closer to Rachel and said, voice gravelly, "Unzip your skirt and push down your underwear."

The brunette did as asked hurriedly, nearly tripping over herself, and then stood uncertainly. She looked unfairly young and virginal, even if her penis was leaving little clear trails of liquid on her defined belly, drifting down into the depressed valley of her navel, but when she bit her lip and looked up at her through her long, black lashes Quinn stepped closer and kissed her again. Rachel placed her discarded clothes on the chair then moved her hands to Quinn's hips and sat on the chair again, spreading her legs. Quinn climbed on top, placed her hands on Rachel's shoulders, and gasped as she sat on Rachel's penis.

Rachel's thighs were trembling and Quinn bit at her collar bone, noting that she tasted like sour apples sprinkled with salt, before hissing as she dragged herself upwards and then down, again and again. Gradually, the uncomfortable feeling passed until she was filled with pleasure and Rachel would thrust upwards as much as possible while she went down. The chair started to squeak when they sped up and Rachel bent her head to take her left nipple into her mouth and flicked the other with her hand. She switched after a few minutes, and after a while, she moved her head and blew on the nipple, Quinn clutched at Rachel's long hair and let herself fall over the edge.

When she opened her eyes again, Rachel was still thrusting into her, leaving her with tiny aftershocks before she felt another source of liquid trickle into her, almost a minute later. Rachel was gasping harshly into her ear, eyes shut, as she shook before stopping. Quinn kissed her eyebrows and then her slick forehead. The locks on her forehead and temple were curling from the humidity and she played with them.

It took a few more minutes before Quinn got off of Rachel and helped her stand up. They looked down at their sweaty, fluid covered bodies before Rachel asked, "Would we be able to make it to the locker rooms?"

Quinn thought, "If we run."

They looked at one another, grinned, and grabbed all of their things before rushing to the locker room. The only people left would be the Cheerios and the football team, and they were on the field, thankfully, and they washed quickly before jogging to Quinn's car, dry and clean. They were still giggling and Rachel managed to wheeze out, "Never in the choir room again. I'll never be able to look at that chair again."

Quinn didn't protest that there would be no next time, just pouted, "I'm the one that has to sit there."

They stood on opposite sides of the car and Quinn asked, "Do you have a way home?"

"Today is a Wednesday, so I normally walk."

Quinn raised her eyebrows because Rachel looked like she was about to fall over before she said, "Get in. You've had enough of a work out for today."

Rachel smiled sweetly and sat in the front seat. The book she'd given her was still clasped in her hands. She hadn't even seen her pick it up in the choir room.

She bit her lip and then began to speak, "I found it over the summer, in this book store in Columbus, when I stayed with my sister for a few days. I read it on the way back and I planned to read it again yesterday, but class was actually interesting. I've written in it and there's some high lighting from the previous owners, but it's very readable."

Rachel looked touched and kissed her hand before placing it on top of Quinn's as they were in traffic. "My house is 68 Grant road," Rachel said.

Quinn wasn't familiar with the house, but she knew the area. It was middle-class, in the very middle, where people paid their bills on time and they had grass for their kids and grandkids and they weren't in debt up to their eyes, but their waists, sometimes just their knees. Her family was a higher status, but maybe her father wouldn't disapprove too much if Rachel came over as her friend every once and a while.

When she glanced at her at a stop sign, Rachel was reading already, the tip of her tongue caught between her teeth and her eyes narrowed in concentration. The ends of her hair were just drying and looked impossibly soft, and in the light from the window, were a wheat color. She didn't say anything for the rest of the ride, until they pulled up in front of Rachel's house. It was a little larger than the house she'd seen before but likely only one other room and a basement. There weren't any cars in front, but there was the bike she'd seen before, leaning against the garage. It looked like it'd been run over multiple times and the spokes were bent beyond repair.

Rachel saw where she was looking and her shoulders slumped a little before straightening too much as she said, "You should see the other guy." It fell flat as her voice was deadpan. Obviously, it wasn't meant in a joking manner. She wondered if Rachel and Puck had ever gotten into serious trouble before, if they really had gone after whoever had done that to her bike.

Quinn's voice was quiet, "Does this happen often?"

Rachel bit her lip, obviously fighting about whether to say the truth or not, took a couple of extra seconds by tucking her hair behind her ear, but nodded, "Yes." Quinn almost didn't hear because she was focused on how cute Rachel's ear was and how the little diamond stud glimmered in the light.

She smiled winningly, with such confidence that Quinn almost believed it was real. The thought was snatched out of her head as Rachel moved her head and kissed her again.

"You'll get the book tomorrow," She said, before leaving the car.

Quinn watched her unlock the door and only drove off when the brunette waved and stepped inside. She drove home, thinking of the broken bike and Rachel's breasts, and was around the corner from her home when she realized Rachel really was Jewish. She was still laughing when she entered the house and realized her mother was on the couch. It died in her throat and she had to clear it twice to speak.

"Hi, mom."

Her mother smiled a little, "Hello, Quinn. You're coach called today and said you weren't at practice."

She moved from foot to foot. Truth be told, she'd forgotten completely about Cheerios practice. The lie came easily, "I was at Glee, and the captain wanted to talk to me a bit more." She tried to think of what Rachel had told her and said, "She said I had talent but that I needed to practice my breath control and scales more, so I did it with her."

Judy's smile grew a little. Her mother had wanted her to go into something musical, if she recalled correctly, as she was much less likely to be physically disfigured at a piano or violin, but Quinn had always been more physical, so cheerleading it was.

"That's nice. What's the name of this captain?"

She wanted to say Rachel's name but knew that it would be the worst thing she could do, knew she'd be too soft and aching, and instead suddenly remembered the Black girl's name, "Mercedes Jones."

"She's Protestant?"

It was one of the first questions her mother always asked, right after her father's, "Better not be some rag head or dirty Jew."

"Yes, I believe so."

Her mother frowned a little, "I haven't seen her at our church."

Quinn shrugged, "I think she's Baptist, I don't really remember."

Seeing her mother's distasteful look, she said, "Better than Lutherans." Her mother thought Lutherans were the scum of the Earth, just barely above Satan himself.

Her face cleared and her smile was back, "Well, I suppose you're right, Quinn. Would you like a snack? I found this delightful recipe for something called vegan cookies. They have a much lower fat and calorie intake than the normal ones. You almost can't tell."

The operative word, as it turned out, was almost. If she'd eaten them without her mother saying anything, she wouldn't have been able to tell. Now, she was trying hard not to taste the difference, but she could just hear the little voice in the back of her head listing what was different. Quinn only finished one before pushing the plate away and saying, "I think I'll head to my room now. I've got a lot of homework."

Her mother smiled, "I'll pack some up for you tomorrow, then."

She was already partially up the stairs but called down, "Thanks, mom."

She buried herself in the books, writing until her hand ached and she massaged it before going downstairs for something to drink. Judy wasn't in the living room or the kitchen, so she took a banana off of the kitchen counter and grabbed a bottle of water before heading back upstairs. She finished up her homework just before her cell phone rang. She picked it up and smiled at seeing it was Rachel.

"Hi," Quinn said, putting her homework in her book bag.

Rachel spoke, "Shalom, yafah."

"Yafah?"

"It means 'beautiful.' If you dislike it, I could call you nesichah, which is princess."

She laughed a little, felt a soft flush crawl up and abandoned her book bag to lay on her bed, "Either is fine, Rachel. Although I have the feeling you're trying to get me to speak Hebrew."

"One word at a time, yafah," Rachel said. "Speaking of words, I was quite pleased with that book you gave me."

"You finished and did all your homework?" Quinn asked. She wouldn't have taken long with the book, it was just over sixty pages, but there would definitely have been a larger amount of time before Rachel called.

"Well, yes. I admit, it was a struggle to only read it twice but calculus seemed more important."

She sat up, frowning at the phone. Jesus, only read it twice. And for her to have completed all her homework, how fast did she work? She asked, "Rachel, what kind of classes are you taking?"

Rachel rattled off a list of classes and at each name Quinn felt a little more surprise. The only two classes she had with Rachel were also the only two classes she had in their grade group. The rest were twelfth grade classes, honors and AP.

"How'd you get into those classes?"

"My fathers sent me to a private middle school which had a program were you could get high school credits early. I finished two years that way. The only ones they didn't offer were PE and my English requisites."

Quinn bit her lip, "Well then how aren't you number one?"

"I had a 'B' in my ninth grade English class because of a project."

"What was it?"

"I had to make a family tree of my mother and father. When I told the teacher I had two gay dads and that we'd never done a DNA test to find out which father was my biological father, she told me to do both then. It was a ten generation project, and one of my father's is African-American, so we could only go back four before we got to the slave ship. I received an F, which put my grade at a high B."

So a lucky coincidence had given her the edge over Rachel. The thought was less comforting than she'd have otherwise thought.

"Quinn, you're being awfully quiet. Are you alright? Is your stomach hurting?"

She shook her head and then realized that Rachel couldn't see it, "No, just thinking." She smiled suddenly and said, "The baby's going to be smart then." There, that was a plus. If it was Puck or Finn, she'd have had to worry about them passing on their genes but now she was at least reassured that her genes wouldn't have to work doubly hard.

"I hope he or she looks like you, though."

Quinn frowned again and asked, "Why? You're gorgeous." She sucked on her top lip because God, how embarrassing to say that. Rachel was beautiful but she never said that to anyone, let alone another girl.

Rachel laughed. It was cold, scoffing, and bitter. "Are we talking about the same girl, Quinn? I get picked on all the time for my face and, and my hands and… just, everything about me. At least if the baby looked like you, that ridicule wouldn't happen and I could just pretend to be the unfortunate looking partner, like other people do. Our baby would be gorgeous, if he or she looked like you."

Quinn swallowed, "You're beautiful. I'm sorry I ever picked on you, but you need to know that there is no one that's more beautiful to me than you."

"There's no need to spare my feelings Quinn. I know I'm not conventional looking, but there's no need to lie."

Her voice sounded more desperate, almost pleading now. "I'm not lying. You're beautiful, Rachel."

She sighed. It was like static through the phone, like giving up, like letting everyone win. "Quinn. Tell me the truth. I know it's only my penis that you like." She sounded sad, desperate and Quinn couldn't take it anymore.

"No, it's not!" She yelled. "I like all of you! I like the way you're dimples only show up when you smile like no one's looking, and how your eyes are the warmest brown I've ever seen. I like your hair when it's soft and curly, and when you straighten it, and when it's brown and how it's this light color in the light. I like your hands and-."

She took a deep breath and softened her voice. "I like your jaw line and how when you get mad or scared, you straighten your shoulders and clench your teeth. I like how when you're nervous, you rub under your nose and how you always know what to say, even when you don't. I like when you sing and how put effort into everything."

Rachel didn't yell back. She only took a deep breath and said, "Then why didn't you ever respond? Why didn't you just say you didn't want a relationship with me?"

Quinn bit her lip. Time for the truth. "Because I don't want to lie to you anymore. I want you to love me, I want to love you, I do want a relationship, but I don't deserve you, Rachel. I'm not going to make you the other woman in my life while I parade around with Finn. You deserve better than me and better than him. You need someone who will love you openly, who won't let someone else pretend to be the parent of their baby."

Rachel was quiet but then said, "What if I don't care?"

Quinn hesitated.

"Well, one of us has to have some standards."

Rachel huffed a little, but she sounded curious. "What if I just want you, any way I can have you? What if I just want to love you and our baby, and damn the consequences?"

Quinn swallowed. "We'll figure something out."

"Do you promise?"

Quinn didn't hesitate, not this time. "I swear."

Rachel was quiet for a little while before she said, "I got the job. I'm going to have to quit Glee for the most part, though, with these prospective hours. I intend to go to competitions, but mainly as someone in the background."

"That's good." It was. Without Rachel, it was extremely unlikely that Glee would place well enough in competition to keep going and it would leave her off of Ms. Sylvester's radar completely until she rejoined the Cheerios after she had the baby. "I think Finn is working too, but his hours aren't so bad."

As if summoned, she heard the beep of an incoming call. She pulled the phone away and sighed. It was Finn. She put it back to her ear and said, "I'll call you back, Rachel, Finn is on the other line."

"Sure."

She switched over and said, "Hello?"

"Hey, Quinn. I was just calling to see if you would mind rescheduling our date? I found out that I work on Saturday. Maybe Friday night instead? "

Quinn bit her lip. She'd forgotten about going out with him, "That's fine."

Finn let out a relieved sigh, "Thanks. I only found out on Monday."

"It's fine, Finn," She repeated herself again. Today was Wednesday and he's seen her during the day.

"Ok, well I gotta do my homework."

"Finn, it's passed six o'clock. You haven't done any of it?"

"Well, I've done the work sheet for the science class while I was waiting for Puck, but nothing else."

"Finn, you need to do your homework. How are you supposed to get a better job or go to college if you're just barely passing high school?"

"Quinn, get off my back, I'm doing the best I can. I don't see you getting a job."

She closed her eyes, praying for strength. "I'm pregnant. The things I can do physically are going to be extremely limited in a few months and no one's going to hire me if they're worried I'm going to have the baby on someone's shoes at any moment. Besides, too much stress might cause a miscarriage."

"Oh. I didn't think about that. Um. Well, who were you talking to earlier?"

She bit her lip and decided that there was no problem telling the truth. "I was talking to Rachel, from the Glee club."

He tried to sound casual but she could hear the jealousy and confusion his voice. "I didn't know you two were friends. Didn't you call her a bunch of names?"

Quinn winced, and thought about the kiss the two had shared and the furious sex that she and Rachel had engaged in earlier in the choir room. Was it really cheating when they had feelings for the same girl?

She fought to tone down her words and instead said, "She's alright. I guess I've gotten used to her now." That was one way to describe it.

He cleared his throat, "Oh. Well, I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Yeah, Finn. See you tomorrow."

"Ok. Um, I love you," He said. He almost sounded sincere. She smiled; it was nice to know someone did love her. It wasn't anything like Rachel's love, nothing like the luminosity in her eyes and the softness of her skin, but Finn was sweet in his own way and meant it. She remembered the first time he'd told her that and how he'd shrunk down and given her a boyish smile after it.

"I love you too," She said. Just not like how I love Rachel. She waited until he hung up and then switched over to Rachel's call. She was humming something, and Quinn waited to hear if she would sing but she only hummed.

"Rachel?" She called.

"Yes, I'm here. I'm sorry, I began to make my bed and almost completely forgot you were there."

Quinn smiled, "I'm that unimportant?"

"You're very important, but cleanliness is next to godliness. Speaking of Godliness, what religion are we raising the baby in?"

She closed her eyes. Things were moving fast again, so fast. She wasn't ready to discuss that and said so.

"That's fine, Quinn. We have approximately thirty-two more weeks and once you see the beauty of Hanukah, you'll agree to raise him or her in a dual faith home."

That was a strike of good luck. She could at least pretend that Rachel was her friend, if she were Protestant. "What other religion do you practice?"

"We're Lutheran."

Quinn winced. There went her chances of finally getting a break. She opened her mouth again to speak, but someone knocked on the door and her mother poked her head in, "Dinner in ten minutes, Quinn. Wash your hands and get off that phone."

She responded, "Okay, Mom." When her mother left, the blonde said, "I have dinner now, so I guess we'll talk later."

Rachel sounded a little muffled, "That's fine. See you tomorrow, Quinn."

She smiled again, "Shalom, Rachel." She ended the call on Rachel's laughter.

Quinn was distracted throughout dinner but neither of her parents said anything about her mental state, although her mother glanced at her stomach and made a disapproving sound. Quinn had to resist the sudden bout of paranoia because there was no way that her mother knew when she was six weeks along. The girls that saw her every day in the locker room couldn't even tell, although that might have been because most of them were still on that all-liquid diet and could barely tell what up and down were.

After dinner she took a bath and put her pajamas on to curl up under her sheets and read. She found her attention straying after a few chapters and finally gave up to check her MySpace. There were fifteen new friend requests, thirteen from boys at her school she didn't know, one from Artie, and one from Brittany. She'd already added Brittany, but it was likely she'd locked herself out of her account again, so she added Brittany and Artie. She looked on Rachel's page and smiled at the sight of the new music video, only minutes old. It was pretty obvious she'd just gotten out of the shower; her hair was curling around her face and she was dressed in a tank-top and a pair of lounge pants. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, a guitar on her lap.

Her mouth fell open once Rachel started to sing. It was the same song from Glee but if she'd thought she was being emotional before, now it was a totally different type. She sounded desperate and haunting, like she really had lost everything. She started crying almost half-way through and she replayed the video again and again, just to hear her. When she looked at the time, she realized she'd spent almost two hours listening to the song. She clicked the refresh button and she rubbed her eyes when she realized she'd listened to Rachel's video fifty-three times.

She closed the window and shut down her laptop. Quinn put it to the side and turned the lamp off to snuggle under the covers.

During school the next day she looked to find Rachel was speaking with Mr. Schuester. Mr. Schuester looked hurt, devastated really and he placed a hand on her shoulder. Quinn wasn't sure if she was going to crumble or hug him, but all she did was bring her books closer to her chest and turn. When she saw Quinn, her eyes practically glowed in pleasure, that delicious golden color again, but all she did was give a discreet nod before she moved past her to the next hall. Quinn tried not to feel hurt, because after all it was her own fault. She couldn't have it all, not even both of them; the boyfriend and the girl with the stunning smile that had gotten her pregnant.

Quinn followed her, dodging through the crowds of people before she saw Rachel approach a taller brunette and tap her on the shoulder. Their conversation was short, perhaps only a minute, but the taller brunette bent down and hugged Rachel so tightly that it looked like they would merge. There was a relieved look on Rachel's face but nothing suggested that it was sexual or romantic. Still, Quinn found herself hoping that the other girl would get off of Rachel or loosen her hold or something, she was practically clinging. Like a baby ape. A baby ape with a really charming smile, and a cute pixie cut that showed off her neck, and really grey eyes, the kind that were sometimes blue and sometimes green, with ridiculously nice facial structure, but a baby ape nonetheless. A baby ape that was making Rachel smile.

Quinn shoved past the rest of the students to go to her class. She was mid-way there when she realized that it was her lunch break and doubled back to the cafeteria. Santana took one glance at her and asked, "What did Finnept do now?"

Quinn shook her head and slammed her lunch box on the table before taking everything out with controlled motions. When Brittany sat down, she handed her the cookies and the juice box. Brittany grinned, "Thanks, Q!"

Quinn took a bite of her sandwich and wished she hadn't. She absolutely despised tuna and dropped it back in, only for Brittany to take it out and eat it.

She looked at Santana, who covered Brittany's ears and said, "She's been on this wasteful food thing. Apparently, one in five Americans is suffering from hunger, while the other three quarters are fat as Hell. I think it's a load of shit, but whatever, she, Jones and the endangered white rhino are trying to make up for it." By rhino, she meant Lauren Zizes.

"I can still hear you," Brittany pouted.

"I know; I just like your ears. They're really warm."

"No, your hands are just cold."

Santana pulled her hands back and held out a hand for Quinn, who sighed, but touched Santana's hand briefly before jerking back, "Your hands are cold."

She scowled and started to rub her hands together, "Fuck both of you. Hard."

Quinn laughed and felt the normalcy settle in her chest. This was better; normal, perfect. No talk about Rachel, or babies or relationships and daddies. Just her and her friends.

Finn waved at her from across the cafeteria and she wiggled her fingers back at him. He gave her a goofy grin and she smiled back. She felt a little guilty when she saw the bright green sweater to the side and then saw it move farther away. Only two people would wear something that disturbing: Artie and Rachel, and considering that Artie was already being pushed into the trash can, it could only be Rachel.

Quinn picked at her little salad before pushing it away. She wasn't sure she could stomach anything else. Brittany looked between the two of them with a conflicted face before asking, "Neither of you are eating today?"

Santana shook her head, "I won't be the flyer if I don't lose another pound by practice today, so I should be down by now."

Quinn slumped a little, "I'm just not hungry. Don't worry, I'll have an extra helping at dinner." Brittany looked a little skeptical, but nodded anyways. She nibbled on a few carrots then felt the sudden urge to pee and got up to go to the restroom. Santana trailed afterwards and seemed surprised that she actually used it.

As it turned out, it wasn't a lie. Dinner was only chicken and mashed potatoes, but she felt like she was starving and left nothing but scraps on the two plates. Her father had laughed at the sight and when her mother pursed her lips to say something only told her, "Its fine, Judy. She's going to throw it all up anyways, remember?"

Her mother nodded stiffly, but turned to the kitchen in order to wash the dishes. Quinn tried not to take offense. She had never been really overweight, just a few pounds in her early elementary school years, but her bone structure was slightly different from Frannie's, so she always looked like she weighed more. Quinn and her father shared a piece of cake, like they had when she was younger, and he gave her a glass of milk with just a touch of honey before ruffling her hair. She wondered what had come over him, to be so carefree and gentle with her now, and decided to leave it alone. Maybe it would transfer over when she told him she was pregnant. She almost snorted in disbelief at her own thought. When she reached her room, she turned on her laptop and decided to start off simple by going to Google and typing in 'pregnancy.' She sighed when she saw all the links, but started to open the links that looked promising. She didn't get very far before she went to the bathroom.

The next day she was somewhat pleased to see that Rachel was in the bathroom during lunch when she exited a stall. There were two other girls, but the instant they saw her they left quickly. She washed her hands, singing the ABC song under her breath, when Rachel spoke.

"Was that really necessary?" Rachel asked. Her voice was quiet and she was washing her cardigan in the sink. It was orange with blue stains on it. The sleeves of her oxford were rolled up to the crook of her elbow and the white looked good against her skin, even with the tiny blue dots, rather than making her seem washed out and faded, like it did Quinn.

Quinn shrugged, "I didn't tell them to leave." She looked down at the sink and asked, "Who was it?" It was only out of a morbid sense of curiosity. For the most part she had very little control over the Neanderthals on the sports teams, unless it was football and only if they liked Finn, which was unlikely. Santana was much more threatening, either through pure intimidation and physical violence or withholding sexual favors.

"Azimio Adams," She responded. Nothing Quinn could do, then. She watched the brunette continue to scrub before reaching out and grasping her shoulder. "Rachel, it's not going to come out. Just leave it."

Rachel's shoulders slumped and she mumbled, "I just bought this last weekend. I was going to announce to Glee that I would be stepping down temporarily and I thought it would make a nice, lasting impression." Rachel balled it up and stuffed it into the small trash can. It took up so much space that the lid didn't close.

From what little she could see, the sweater would be better off in the trash but she only said, "It'll be okay." Rachel still looked dejected so she added, "I'll take you to get one on Saturday."

Rather than jump at the thought, like she'd thought, Rachel looked at her with cautious eyes. "Is this going to be like last time? I don't want to make you upset and then you don't go again."

Quinn bit her lips but nodded. "Swear. Promise. You can even come to my house so I don't have an excuse." Rachel wouldn't, though. She believed in Quinn like that, even when Quinn hadn't given her a real reason. She wondered if that made them both stupid.

Rachel gave a tiny, hopeful smile and said, "I'm going to hug you now."

She was warmer, somehow, without the sweater and her hair smelled like watermelon shampoo. Quinn pressed a kiss to her slightly damp locks when they parted and Rachel stood on the tips of her toes to give her a very chaste kiss on the mouth. It felt like a prayer. She walked next to Rachel part of the way to her class. It was on the other side of the hall, of course, but every time she looked to the left and saw Rachel looking at her, she had to smile. They went down two separate halls but they had to cross each other to get to the one they needed to. Rachel had a pleased, small smile and gave her a wink but gave no indication otherwise that she'd seen Quinn.

She tried not to feel hurt. It was her own fault, of course, because if she told the truth, she could always have Rachel. Well, maybe not always, but definitely for the rest of the pregnancy and maybe for eighteen years. She wondered if she was having a boy or a girl, then ignored it in favor of heading to class.

Quinn caught a glimpse of Rachel as she was leaving the bathroom, wearing another of her Oxford's, this one light blue, long black pants for once and black sneakers. Glee was undeniably boring without her. No one but Mercedes and Kurt really noticed she was gone but all they did was say something about solos. Puck seemed too enthralled at the look of the other girl to see that his god-sister wasn't there. The girl was named Casey Richards and pretty good, sort of a folksy singer, which meant Rachel would still have to go to Sectionals if they needed someone to sing a ballad besides Mercedes. Puck immediately started to flirt, but she looked almost conflicted and dodged some of his attempts. He didn't give up, pulling out some lame pick-up lines before she said, "Aren't you Rachel's god brother? Shouldn't you talk to her about that?"

Things got quiet and everyone turned to Puck.

He only shrugged, "Why? No big deal, it is not like you two dated or anything. I mean, who didn't have a crush on Ray?"

Casey looked a little disappointed that it hadn't worked but Quinn's jaw clenched. She wasn't even dating Rachel and she didn't want anyone to say anything like that at all about her. Kurt and Mercedes whispered to each other and she could hear a few words thrown around more than a few times. Bisexual. Lesbian. Slut. She moved from clenching her teeth to biting the inside of her cheek to keep from getting upset and getting into their faces. Mr. Schue finally stopped them and they practiced some for Sectionals. As it turned out, Quinn had the female lead. She'd tried to nail it, like Rachel probably had in her sleep, but she ran out when her stomach rebelled. Rachel had held her hair back when she was vomiting and now she felt spoiled. It was obvious Finn would stand around hopelessly and looked to see if someone would follow her.

He was just starting to leave the room when she entered. He looked awkward and placed one of his large hands on her back, "Are you ok?"

She nodded and lied easily, "Fine." He walked her back to the choir room, where Mr. Schue and the other students looked worried.

"You still have that stomach bug, Quinn?" Mr. Schue asked. She nodded and wished Rachel was there to distract him again. The Asian girl whispered to her, "A-a-a-a-are yo-o-o-o-ou ok?"

It took Quinn a moment to remember her name before she said, "Yeah, I'm fine, Tina. Bad lunch. Thanks for asking." Not really. If Tina was starting to notice the frequency of it, something would have to give. She'd be gaining weight soon and it was hard to be anorexic and fat.

Tina nodded but turned to look at Mr. Schuester. Quinn did actually try to focus, but she felt her phone vibrate in the front pocket of her book bag. The blonde smiled because she knew exactly who it was.

I've been at this job approximately fifteen minutes and I'm bored out of my mind. I hope glee is doing better in my absence.

Quinn smiled at her phone and immediately texted back.

No. This new girl isn't as good as you.

Of course not, Quinn. Talent like mine comes once in a century.

What about Barbra Streisand? Isn't she the most talented ever?

Barbra's talent comes once in a lifetime. Completely different from my own.

I'm going to have to watch her n now, aren't i?

Yes, although which movie will be up for debate.

Quinn bit her lip in thought.

Which is your favorite?

I am partial to Funny Girl, but we should have The Way We Were if you'd like something a little more romantic.

She smiled when she thought of something. We could watch both. It would give them more time together.

If you have most of the day to dedicate to it, then yes.

Santana tapped her shoulder and she looked up to see Mr. Schuester's disapproving eyes. "I know this is only a club, but would every one please pay attention. Since I treat everyone with respect, I'd like for everyone to treat me as such."

Quinn pretended to look chastised and hid it in the palm of her hand. As soon as he turned, she texted Rachel again.

Even when you aren't here, Mr. Schue is ruining lives. Can't text you anymore, sorry.

Of course he would. I'll talk to you later.

Have fun at work.

Hahaha.

There wasn't a large amount of choreography she could do that didn't result in her getting overly dizzy and her balance was off, as it had been for days. Even the Cheerios didn't have this many damned twirls. The Asian guy had to catch her three times before Mr. Schue recommended she sit down and practice at home. "Brittany will help, I'm sure. Right, Brittany?"

She gave him a vague hand gesture that might have been a thumbs up but might also have been a shadow puppet, never turning from Santana.

"Brittany?" He asked, a little more insistent.

"Yeah, Mr. Schue, I gots this," Brittany grinned. She sounded so much like Santana that everyone started to laugh and Santana bent her head to ruffle her hair. When practice was over, they headed to Cheerios practice. It was really just tightening of the routine, so Miss Sylvester wasn't there long and Quinn dismissed them shortly after. When she switched out her books, she found the little poetry book, and slipped it into the front of her book bag.

Brittany got into the car with her and they drove to Quinn's house. Quinn went upstairs and changed into more appropriate clothing, taking the moment to use the bathroom again. They pushed most of the lighter furniture out of the way in the living room, because it had more space, and collaborated on the couch. Brittany taught her the steps acapella, not even humming under her breath, her blue eyes narrowed in focus. Dancing was really the only thing Brittany took seriously, she mused, as she took the dizzying step slowly.

She was just putting the entire dance sequence into one when Brittany said, "You are pregnant." She sounded sure, but a little sad as well.

"Wha-"

"You're pregnant," She said. She was biting her lip and her brows were furrowed. "You could have told me, then. I mean, it's only me and Santana."

Quinn took a deep breath, "I didn't want it to be true, is why. I'm sorry I lied to you, but the baby has to be a secret so I don't get kicked out."

"You could stay with me," The taller girl suggested.

"You have enough trouble without me there too, Brit. I don't even know if I'm keeping the baby."

Brittany didn't say anything else about it, so Quinn started the dance again. Brittany just corrected her steps again the next time she was wrong. It was only after she did the dance three times in a row with no issues, did Brittany leave. She stretched her long body and said, "We should put the stuff back, you've got it. There was only one dance, anyways"

Quinn nodded and they set to work again. The couch was the easiest part but they couldn't remember where, exactly, the coffee table had gone. Was it dead in the center, closer to the TV or closer to the couch? They tried all three, worrying about Judy's response, when Quinn remembered it went between the loveseat and the sofa, then tried to see if it was closer or farther away again. They finally settled on the center, because there was no way to go wrong with that.

She was walking Brittany out when she asked, "Is it Finn's?"

Quinn shook her head, "No."

"Is it Puck's?"

"No."

Brittany sighed in relief. "Okay. The baby might not be stupid, then."

Quinn laughed, watched her get into Santana's car, and headed upstairs for a nap. She was curled up tightly, snoring heavily, when her mother closed the door behind herself. The snap of it startled her awake and she rubbed at her eyes, mouth dry and spit stale. "Mom?" She croaked out.

"Sorry, Quinnie, I'm just getting the laundry. Make sure you finish your homework, okay?" Judy pulled the hamper out as Quinn swung herself out of the bed and to her book bag. Only her biology class had homework, so she quickly answered the questions and turned to her laptop afterwards. She had to see what week seven was supposed to be like. Beyond the nausea and frequent urination, she wasn't experiencing much. Then she recalled Rachel sucking on her breasts, and pinched herself, just to see if she was more sensitive. Quinn squeaked and ticked that box off as well. Bloating was expected soon, and Cheerios was starting to look more and more dangerous. She was the captain, at the top of the pyramid, and also the most envied. It wouldn't be the first time she'd been dropped deliberately, but this was more than just her.

She bit her lip and headed downstairs. Her mother was digging around in the fridge and she said, "Mom, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," She said. Her voice was muffled, then she pulled back, a cabbage and a few carrots in her hands. "Ask away, Quinnie the Pooh."

Quinn rolled her eyes at the nickname and said, "What if I quit the Cheerios?"

Her mother frowned. "Why would you quit? I thought you loved cheerleading. You've wanted to do it since you were little."

She leaned against the doorway between the kitchen and dining room. "Yeah, but I want to go to college more. It's harder for me to finish my work when Coach Sylvester is pulling us out of class to make us run laps."

"I thought she stopped that?" Her mother was bent over the carrots, peeling them with the flat of her knife in even strokes.

"It's an example. But, you see what I mean?"

Judy hummed, as the pile of shavings grew larger. "You'll have to sell your father, though. I take it you're staying in that little singing club? What is it, joy?"

"Glee, mom."

Judy made a sound. "Yes, yes. Finn's in it and the football team, right? How is he keeping up with school?"

Quinn grimaced. Finn was pulling in too many C's and D's to stay afloat. "Not good. He might not be up for academic eligibility next quarter."

"You aren't tutoring him?" Her mother asked. She sounded disappointed, a little.

"He doesn't want me to. I guess it's embarrassing, or something." Puck and Brittany sure didn't seem to have any issues going up to Santana for help.

Her mother rolled her eyes, "Well, that's dumb of him. Your father may be proud, but he was never prideful enough to fail." Her mother peeled the first few leaves off of the cabbage and then started to cut it into chunks.

"If he's spending so much time on the football team and with glee, how is he doing in Glee? I've seen the football team, so there can't be much practice in that."

Quinn gave a short laugh and said, "I'm not sure in Glee. It's not really a competitive thing until later. I mean, I guess he sounds a little better but he's not as good as some of the other guys."

Judy pursed her mouth, "I suppose that your leader must see something in him."

Quinn shrugged, "I guess."

"Perhaps it's the same thing you see in him," Judy smiled.

Quinn muttered, "I hope not," then laughed at her mother's scandalized face. "I'm joking, mom. Mr. Schuester's probably seen more of him than I have."

"Out!" Her mother laughed.

Quinn couldn't even look ashamed, as she laughed going up the stairs. It was just before six, so she texted Rachel.

What's up?

The text took a couple of minutes to come in.

The college crowd finally came in so I'm working. How are you?

Tired. I'm turning in my uniform on Monday, if I can convince my dad.

And if you can't?

Then I'll have to quit anyways. She hesitated for a moment then sent, I told Brittany I was pregnant.

Did it go over well? Did she hurt your feelings?

Quinn chuckled a little. It was almost as if Rachel didn't know Brittany. She stopped laughing when she realized that Rachel didn't know Brittany. She knew of Cheerio Brittany, the one that called her names and insulted her clothes and attitude, but not the cheerful, caring girl that she knew.

No. But I bet if she did you'd kick her in the shin.

I will ignore that jibe at my height and instead reply, undoubtedly. I'm glad you have a confidant though.

Me too. I'm just wondering how soon until Santana and the whole world knows.

If it helps you feel better, go ahead, just don't dwell. I'm here if you need me.

Quinn smiled. I know.

She was waiting for a response when the phone chirped to show that Finn had sent a message.

Gt comin 4 our date 7.

She sighed a little. She'd only have an hour or so to get ready. Why'd he have to text her so late? Rachel wouldn't have done anything like this at all. She took a deep breath and said to herself, quietly, "You will not compare them, you will not compare them. You will go out and have fun with Finn tonight. You will see what will happen tomorrow with Rachel. But you will not compare them."

Finally calmed, she texted him back.

Ok.