All Around Me Chapter 2: The Artist in the Ambulance, a glee fanfic

Hello again everyone. Here is the second chapta of this story. I'm going to try to do something a little different than what I've seen done. I'm going to try to incoporate a song in each chapter to explain certain parts that I feel I can't do justice with words (if you didn't notice, the title of the story is a song from Flyleaf and the title of the first chapter is a song from Fall Out Boy). For those of you who have seen the movie "Across the Universe", you know what I mean. For instance, there's a song in this chapter that I feel like really encompasses what Quinn is going through at the time. I'll probably end up doing it every chapter, as long as you guys like it. Just let me know once you guys get this through with this and see how what I have in mind. If not then I'll try something either limiting the songs or trying to explain everything to the best of my ability, although I am much more musically creative than I am with words, but we'll just have to see how it pans out. I hope you guys like it either way.

Eeeeeeenjoy!

6:52. She lie awake staring at her ceiling, cursing herself that she's awake even before her alarm goes off. But this is the way it's been ever since she decided to fight her feelings with all her might towards one Rachel Berry.

Quinn Fabray had always known there was something special she felt towards the tiny girl. She just learned to downplay it with being a bitch; that was the logical thing to do, right? At first it was all fine and dandy, Quinn would ignore her until that was no longer an option and then either say or do something to the poor girl to put her back in her place for a little while longer. Even her relationship with Finn had been mainly a lie. Sure the blond cared for the boy but the real reason she started dating him was because he was popular and she wanted to be popular, so she put two and two together. She never intended on staying with him however, it was only when she saw Rachel show interest in her boyfriend that she knew she could play it to her advantage. And she did every chance she got. Whether it be interrupting the twos conversation while effectively lowering the brunettes hopes of them ever being together, or showing public displays of affection any chance she saw Rachel which would result in the girl running off somewhere in the opposite direction.

The messed up thing about it was that Quinn liked it, she liked it a lot. She loved having that power over someone like Rachel, someone who fought for everything she wanted, and many times got it. Quinn had something the girl couldn't have, no matter how hard she fought. It was the hold she had on the girl, the fact that she knew Finn would never leave her, especially for someone like Rachel, and how she could treat the girl like crap and no one ever questioned it, they just encouraged it.

But as we all know, that all has changed since freshman year. Quinn's world was turned upside down at the start of her sophomore year at McKinley High. She remembers it all like it was yesterday.

She had been at her locker, talking with Finn, Puck, Santana and Brittany along with the rest of the cheerios and football team. It was a normal first day of school with them talking about their classes and the upcoming football season and whatnot. Quinn and Finn were standing together, holding hands when she caught sight of her for the first time. Well, of course she had seen Rachel plenty of times over the years, but it felt like she was seeing her with new eyes, or something; she never could quite put words to it.

"Well then we have English together. Good, at least I'll know someone in there." Quinn said, inspecting Santana's schedule. Turns out that none of her other friends shared any of other classes. That's what you get for being the smart one I guess.

"Quinn you know everyone in this school." Brittany said looking between the two girls. "Why would it matter if Santana's in your class or not?"

"I just like having a good friend like Santana to keep me company during class." Quinn said, wrapping her arms around her friends shoulder with a wide smile. Which Santana quickly shrugged off.

"Don't be getting all chummy Q, I'm taken. Try not to be too heartbroken." The dark haired swung her arm around the taller blond. Both cheerleaders looked lovingly at each other and quite frankly, made Quinn want to puke despite the small smile that formed around the corners of her lips.

Ever since Brittany and Santana got together, things have been much calmer around the school. The McKinley student body was eternally grateful that the duo was together because this meant Santana Lopez was happier than usual, which in turn meant that there were less slushies going around and just an all around better feel around the school grounds.

"Don't worry S, I'll try n…" Quinn was cut off when her eyes drifted behind the two girls at the front door of the school. Her eyes scanned the girl walking in, ignoring the loafers and stockings and focusing in on the toned thighs that hid behind the barely there black skirt, to the round of the girls hips, jumping over the hideous argyle sweater to full lips, and piercing brown eyes looking right at back at her. She took in the long, straight brown locks of hair curling slightly at the bottom.

"Damn, when did Berry get hot?" Puck finally broke the silence.

"Seriously. What happened over the summer?" This came from Santana with Brittany nodding alongside her. "So anyway, what were you saying?" They all turned back to Quinn who was practically panting, her eyes still fixed on Rachel. It was only when Santana snapped her fingers in front of her eyes a few times that she finally shook out of it.

"What?" Quinn finally said after she was literally snapped out of her Rachel Berry trance.

Santana looked back over her shoulder at Rachel then back to her cheerleader friend. "Were you just ogling over Berry?" She said with a sly smile.

Quinn finally looked back at her friend as if she had grown two heads. "Is that a joke? She just looks different, it caught me off guard." Santana lowered her head keeping her eyes on Quinn's, effectively giving her the look. "That's all. I mean it." Santana just gave her a quick nod in understanding, but not at all believing.

"That's all." Quinn whispered to herself, trying to get her rapid heart and breathing under control. She looked to Finn, who had his seemingly permanent smirk on his face and took his hand in hers as he escorted her to class.

That was the start of it all, the beginning of the end for Quinn. Once she set eyes on Rachel that day, her life was turned around. She no longer desired to be with Finn for his popularity, or any boy for that matter, or to make Rachel feel bad about herself. She enjoyed joining glee just so she could see more of the diva in all her glory, contrary to reasons she stated for joining the club. Her heart soared when Rachel opened her mouth to belt out a solo, her eyes transfixed on the performer never seeming to get enough of the girl. Of course, she could never admit this, even to herself. She kept up her charades of keeping Rachel on the lowest totem pole in the school, using the girl's feelings for her boyfriend as her number one weapon, and the slushies tended to make an appearance every now and then when that didn't work. Or just when Quinn wanted something new.

That had been almost a year and a half ago. Since then, she had gotten pregnant, tried to mask the father as Finn, lost her boyfriend to the lie once the secret surfaced due to one tiny brunette in an attempt to sabotage their relationship in which she succeeded and now the blond had been alone ever since. All during the baby-gate debacle, Finn had a certain member of New Directions to lean on and have her kiss all his boo boos away while Quinn had no one. She thought at least Puck, the baby's father, would make some sort of attempt but he was too busy with Santana at the time to even be bothered with the blonds emotional breakdown. So Quinn did what she does best, pushed her sadness and vulnerability aside and instead opted to focus in on the other side of her brain, the side that always won out in her times of trouble, her bitchy side. But one thing always stayed constant, the one thing she couldn't push away as much as she wanted to, or didn't want to, and that was her feelings for Rachel.

She could never explain it, as much as she pondered the idea and tried to look into her heart for the reason, it just never added up. She didn't think about it too much, or for too long, in fear that it would take over her persona and she would actually be crazy enough to pursue her feelings for the girl. As a result, she just turned even bitterer towards Rachel. She no longer had that hold she once cherished and once took advantage of, and it drove her crazy. She learned to hate the girl because she stole her boyfriend and caused all this drama in her life in the first place, definitely not because her heart would swell when she heard her sing or saw her walk through the hallway everyday during school. And to add icing to her already shitty cake, they had to share every class together. Unfortunately at McKinley, there were more academically standard students compared to gifted kids which caused the faculty to clump all the gifted students in the same classes, hence the two sharing all their classes together. So Quinn was forced to sit and watch the brunette at the front of the room, taking copious amounts of notes, all while hoping one day her glares would finally make some sort of difference, but of course knowing they wouldn't.

And here she was now, still lying in bed exchanging looks with her clock waiting for the time to pass before she was forced out of bed to get ready for yet another agonizing day at McKinley High. Finally at 7:00 her alarm sounded to a tune on the radio and just when Quinn reached her hand over to shut it off, she recognized the song and a smile crossed her lips to just how close the sing hit to home. What a better way to express my teenage angst than through song? She turned up the volume of her stereo and made her way to the bathroom for her morning shower belting out the familiar tune.

It's like you're a drug
It's like you're a demon I can't face down
It's like I'm stuck
It's like I'm running from you all the time
And I know I let you have all the power
It's like the only company I seek is misery all around

It's like you're a leech sucking the life of me
It's like I can't breathe without you inside of me
And I know I let you have all the power
And I realize I'm never going to quit you over time

It's like I can't breathe
It's like I can't see anything
Nothing but you
I'm addicted to you
It's like I can't think without you interrupting me
In my thoughts
In my dreams
You've taken over me
It's like I'm not me
It's like I'm not me

It's like I'm lost
It's like I'm giving up slowly
It's like you're a ghost that's haunting me
Leave me alone
And I know these voices in my head are mine alone
And I know I'll never change my ways if I don't give up now

It's like I can't breathe
It's like I can't see anything
Nothing but you
I'm addicted to you
It's like I can't think without you interrupting me
In my thoughts
In my dreams
You've taken over me
It's like I'm not me
It's like I'm not me

I'm hooked on you I need a fix I can take it
Just one more hit I promise I can deal with it
I'll handle it, quit it, just one more time and that's it
Just a little bit more to get me through this

And with that out of her system she stepped out of the shower with a sigh of content and cleared the fog off the mirror looking back at her reflection as she toweled dry.

"Okay Fabray, pull it together. You're better than this. She's just a person; you can handle getting over her. You're a strong, independent woman who can handle anything the world throws at her; and God knows it's been a hell of a lot within the past year. She's just an annoying goody two shoes, over dramatic diva. You don't need her Fabray, not in the least." She finished combing her wet hair and threw on her robe to walk back down the hallway to her room. She turned her stereo down and walked into her closet to find her usual school attire, her mind still turning over Rachel. "So what if she has the most beautiful eyes you've ever seen? Who cares if she's so adorable when she gets so into a song when she's performing that you just want to scoop her up in your arms and kiss the living daylights out of her?" Wait, what? Quinn had to shake her head to still her thoughts from going any further. "You don't need her and that is final." With a quick nod of her head, she pulled on her cheerio uniform and headed downstairs for some breakfast.

"Good morning honey. Egg sandwich this morning?" Judy welcomed her in the kitchen with the sandwich already set down on the table along with her glass of milk.

Ever since Russell was out of their lives, Judy had really turned around. She finally realized she was practically living her life to suit her ex-husbands needs and was glad to be out of it. Turns out she actually had a knack for scrapbooking and had found a job as a personal scrapbook maker with her own website; there was more demand in it than what you think. She and Quinn had gotten back on track they moved back in with each other and things really couldn't be better between the two.

"Thanks, mom. And good morning to you too." Quinn gulped down her sandwich and milk and was out the door after a quick kiss on the cheek from her mother.

Once she got to school she took a deep breath before opening the car door to get out. This is the first day of the new you so let's get on with it. She walked through the doors scoping out to find Santana and Brittany like she does every morning when something, or more precisely someone, caught her eye. She had made it a point to avoid Rachel at all costs the past two weeks by studying where was at the start of the school day before the bell rang and sitting as far as possible from her in class, willing her eyes to never look in her general direction. She knew where she sat during lunch, which was never at the cheerios and jocks table for obvious reasons, so that wasn't as big of a deal as long as Quinn's back was to the small diva. Glee was bit more complicated seeing as how there are a limited number of places to hide out. But she made do with sitting in the far back corner while Rachel and Finn always sat front and center. She always told herself to not pay too much attention to Rachel, especially when performing, but that also proved difficult as she simply came alive during said performances. Somehow the blond managed to push through the rehearsals though, leaving as soon as Mr. Scheuster dismissed them and being the first one out the door.

Today however, Quinn caught one glimpse of brown locks and knew she was in trouble. Rachel and Finn always met at Rachel's locker, which was down another hallway from the front door, but they suddenly seemed to change their meeting place to Finn's locker which was conveniently the first set of lockers you walk by on your way in.

"Hey Quinn." The dopey boy caught Quinn's attention towards the pair. The blond froze, hoping to brush by the couple without being seen, and turned on her heel to face the two.

"Hi Finn." Don't look her Quinn. Be strong.

"Hi Quinn. How are you this morning?" The chipper voice said.

Quinn closed her eyes tight trying to think a way out of this situation. But she couldn't think of one fast enough as her good manners took over. "Hey Rachel. I'm good, what about you?" Weak, Fabray. Weak.

"I'm doing just wonderful, thank you for asking." Rachel gleamed back, her smile radiating off Quinn's cheerio uniform.

Quinn just gave her a tight lipped smile and nodded her head once. "So did you want something?" She asked, turning her attention towards Finn.

"Um yeah." The boy seemed to struggle to find words, shifting his weight as he looked down at Rachel and then back to Quinn. Quinn looked at him, urging him to continue so she can be on her way. "Can we talk about it a little later? Seems like the bells going to ring soon and I want to make sure we have enough time." Came the cryptic reply.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever Finn." Quinn was about to turn her back to them, not really caring what Finn was talking about, and quite pleased that she didn't pay Rachel more attention when her eyes deceived her. She caught herself gazing down Rachel's body, notably her eyes to her lips to her chest to her hips and finally her thighs. How the hell does she get away with wearing those things to school? It might have been a second, it could have been 30, she really had no idea just how long she was checking Rachel's body out before her body finally turned and her feet carried her away. She wiped the light sweat from her forehead, hoping neither of them noticed how worked up she had gotten from the small encounter. It wasn't until she finally reached the corner of the hallway that she turned away from them and shook out her arms and rolled her head in attempt to regain all her composure; or as much as she could at the time.

"Fuck." She breathed out. "This is going to be harder than I thought."

Song: "Addicted" by Kelly Clarkson
This part is just for my loving and adorable girlfriend: Boobs.