Chapter 2: Danland
Chapter song: "All The Things You Are" – Ella Fitzgerald
Time: August

Quinn's first class of her first day of her last year was English literature and she ended up sitting behind Rachel and Finn. Rachel kept caressing Finn's right arm and nudging her head at his shoulder and although a public display of emotions usually made Quinn feel uncomfortable – especially when the displayer was Rachel Berry – she didn't mind so much as Finn and Rachel were the only ones in the class she actually considered friends. And frankly she didn't really feel any grudge towards either of them any longer. Maybe she had grown a bit over summer. As soon as their teacher had ended his introduction and the students were left with worksheets, Quinn's ex and her former enemy both turned around.

"Hey," Finn said awkwardly tapping his finger on Quinn's paper.

She looked up and gave him a genuine smile. "Hi."

They exchanged a look of mutual respect and acceptance and maybe just mutual appreciation of each other's presence? Quinn thought when Rachel interrupted their moment.

"Quinn, it's so good seeing you again. We've been so busy dating, I haven't even thought about you during the summer. You look really good though, doesn't she look good Finn?" Rachel asked, obviously a little nervous about the situation of the three of them together. It's okay Quinn, you're allowed to find Rachel a little annoying without necessarily being back to your old hateful self, Quinn mused resting her gaze on the brunette.

"She does," Finn said calmly, not really affected by his girlfriend's tenseness. "How was Paris?"

Quinn turned her eyes to Finn and was quiet for a moment. She couldn't really think of a better adjective than the one she'd already used once that morning, so she simply repeated herself: "Magical." She smiled and then continued "You two really ought to go there sometime. Rachel, I think you'd love the Moulin Rouge," Rachel frowned a bit, so Quinn quickly added "it's a decent place... not like the movie. And Finn, I think you'd love the cafés there. They have a huge selection of Danish pastries."

"Thanks, but I think I'd rather get my Danish in Danland" Finn snorted.

"Denmark," Rachel and Quinn said in unison.

They all laughed.

The three of them continued their small talk until the bell rang. Then Finn kissed Rachel on the cheek saying he had to meet up with Artie before he hurried out the door. The two girls picked up their things and headed out the same way a couple of minutes later.

"Speaking of Artie…" Rachel began. "His party was-"

Quinn quickly figured out where this was going, and she didn't want to go there. "Oh yeah, I guess that was the last time we saw each other." Artie had thrown a come-together at the beginning of July partly to celebrate that they were done with junior year and partly to introduce his new girlfriend Anna: a Cheerio and also a senior this year. Of course Quinn had already known who she was, but she was a rather shy girl, so they'd never really talked. At the same occasion Puck had brought Maya and Sam had brought Mercedes. For Quinn it was an adequately frustrating evening as an end to frustrating year. She spent the next day with Santana and Brittany and the day after that she flew to Paris with her mother. "Anna is a pretty nice girl so I guess she and Artie make a good couple." Quinn tried to seem as oblivious as possible, but she was forgetting whom she was talking to.

"She is, and it's nice that Brittany and Artie are still friends. Though that wasn't exactly what I meant to talk about." Rachel said hesitantly as they were walking down the hall.

"I know," Quinn said sharply

"Look, I know Mercedes is your best friend and I know you aren't going to talk with her about this. I don't mean to be pushy, I just want to let you know, that I'm here for you if you need me. I know I talk a lot, but I can also be a pretty good listener," Rachel offered.

Quinn couldn't help but smile a little. "Well, thanks Rach. That's nice to know. I am okay though." She stopped at her locker and Rachel turned to face her.

"No. No, you're not," Rachel said firmly before she turned around again and headed towards her own locker.

Quinn was just about to argue, but the short girl was already out of earshot. She did her thing at her locker and then started to walk towards her next class. Unfortunately she ended up behind Sam and Mercedes who were holding hands.

Oh, you've got to be kidding me, Quinn thought as she slowed down her tempo. She had been a little bummed that the Glee Club didn't start until the second day of school as she had been longing to see her friends, but now, knowing that she'd have to face her ex and her best friend (former? She questioned herself), she was kind of dreading Glee Club.

When she looked up again, Sam and Mercedes were gone. Letting out a heavy sight Quinn continued to her next class.

Thank you for reading!
I know it's short, but I quickly loose my overview if I write something too long. The 'chapter song' is not necessarily a song featured in the chapter; it can also simply be the song I was listening to when I wrote the chapter/the song that inspired me to write this chapter - as is the case with this song. I mostly write the name of the song down for my own sake, so that I can bring forth the same sentiment when I start on the next chapter. Thank you very much for the story alerts and reviews. To the anonymous person: I've tried to space it out a little more, I hope it helps... though, given you didn't read the first chapter, you probably won't read this one. For the rest of you, then! I hope it's more uncluttered now :-)