The Choices We Make Chapter 8, a glee fanfic

Standard disclaimer, I do not own Glee or any of its characters.

"That stupid Mohawk," Brittany giggled.

"Oh God, I know right, it just kind of sits there like road kill."

Brittany breaks down and starts laughing so hard that she actually turns red, and her reaction gets Quinn going and soon both girls are rolling around on the ground laughing like a couple of fools. But it felt great.

It was one in the morning and while the sleep over had started off as a bit of a downer, Quinn had managed to get Brittany's mood up and before too long they were both laughing and screeching and just having a great time. Quinn and Brittany had just spent the last hour talking about all of the stupid things that Puck did and thought were cool, but really weren't. It made Brittany feel better and it was very therapeutic for Quinn.

After settling down a little, Brittany crawls over to Quinn, both girls still giggling, and snuggles up with her on a beanbag chair.

"Thanks Quinn, this has been really fun."

"Of course it was fun," Quinn says in mock offense. "You and I are the two most awesome people in the world."

"Hell yeah we are!" Brittany pauses for a moment and gets a kind of far-away look on her face, obviously thinking about Santana, and Quinn pulls her a little closer.

"Hey, where did you go just now?" She asks softly.

"It's nothing," Brittany mumbles sadly.

"You want to talk about it?"

"I can't," Brittany whispers.

"Why not? You know you can talk to me about anything."

"I want to but…"

"But what, sweetie?"

"I promised I wouldn't."

"Oh," Quinn says understandingly, before thinking of an idea. "Would you mind then if I told you a story?"

Brittany looks at her friend weirdly but nods her head slowly in confusion. "Okay?"

"You see, I have these two friends, one of them is this totally awesome, badass, dancer chick, who is like my sister." Brittany smiles at this. "You don't know her, but her name is… Whitney, yeah her name is Whitney." Brittany giggles. "So anyway, my friend Whitney is totally into my other friend, this fiery, totally smokin', fierce, fun, and protective girl named… let's call her Sandra, you don't know her either. So anyway, my two friends are totally into each other, and they make the most awesome couple ever, I'm hoping to be Maid of Honor at their wedding someday." Brittany lightly sniffles here.

"But you see, my two friends are going through a bit of a… well you could call it a rough patch, Whitney is ready and willing to go public with their relationship, she doesn't want to hide anymore, she loves Sant- I mean Sandra, but she's feeling tired of being like this, dirty little secret. Sandra, however much she loves Brit- I mean Whitney, and she does, trust me I can tell, just isn't ready to make that kind of leap yet. So sometimes she makes stupid decisions that sometimes hurt Whitney.

"Like just recently she went off to be with her beard, not her boyfriend, beard, rather than hang out with Whitney. His name is Douchebag Von I'mAManWhore." Brittany stifles a sound that is somewhere between a laugh and a sob at this and then nuzzles in closer to Quinn, who starts to stroke her friend's hair. "Anyway, both Whitney and I know that Sandra doesn't love this guy, I mean who could, his last name is I'mAManWhore, but she's scared and not quite ready to make the full leap into to being exclusive with Whitney. Now I do try to talk some sense into Sandra, but Whitney and I can both attest to the fact that the girl can be a bit of a hard head, and I'll keep trying to talk sense into her. And I truly believe that one day soon it will work, because Sandra really does love Whitney, but until then my friend Whitney is feeling really hurt and sad right now.

"So Brittany, how would you suggest I go about telling Whitney that I know what's going on and that I'm there for her if she ever wants to talk about it or just needs a shoulder to cry on? How can I let her know I'm there for her when technically I'm not supposed to know about the situation, and Whitney has promised Sandra that she wouldn't talk about it, that for now they would keep it a secret. Because I love Whitney and seeing her sad really hurts and I just want to make it better for her." Brittany is silently crying now.

Brittany clutches at Quinn's shirt and whimpers. "Why is Sandra so ashamed to be with Whitney? I don't understand, is there something wrong with Whitney, is she too stupid or not pretty enough?"

"Oh no sweetie, not at all. Whitney is one of the best people in the world, she gorgeous and absolutely brilliant in her own way. I'll tell you right now, Whitney is about as close to perfect as anyone can get," Quinn says soothingly.

"Then why doesn't Sandra want to be with her, why is she hiding and going out with this Douchebag guy, when she supposedly has all of these feelings for Whitney?"

"Because sweetie, despite the tough front that Sandra puts up she is scared. They live in a place where people aren't as accepting of what they have as they should be. She's afraid that something bad will happen if they come out, and when Sandra gets scared, she sometimes makes bad decisions, so she went out with this guy to maintain the cover I suppose."

"Well why does she have to go out with someone else, couldn't we… I mean, couldn't they just not date anyone, and then exclusively not date each other, and then when Sandra is ready come out, they could come out together? I think Whitney is tired of being the second choice, I think she's scared that Sandra won't ever be ready, that she will always be Sandra's second choice, and Whitney doesn't want to spend the rest of her life as something that Sandra is embarrassed of. Whitney doesn't want to force Sandra into anything, she just wants some sign that Sandra is as committed to the relationship as she is… or at least that's how I think Whitney feels anyway."

"I…" Quinn isn't sure what to say to this and tries to think of something that could make this situation better.

"It's okay Quinn, Whitney isn't expecting an answer, that's between her and Sandra, she just needs to vent to someone, that's all."

Quinn smiles sadly, "Well then how do I let Whitney know that I'm available?"

"I think she already knows and is so grateful to have you in her life, I think that she loves you almost as much as I do and that she feels, or will feel, a lot better after having talked to you, that she is grateful that she can turn to you."

They stay there together just dozing off, and just before sleep takes Quinn she hears Brittany whisper to her. "Thanks Quinn."

xXx- Scene Break-xXx

The weekend came and went and while Brittany was still a little down for most of it, it helped that she was able to talk to Quinn about it, well about Whitney and Sandra anyway. It was a tiny loophole that her friend had provided her so that she could still get it all out there and keep her promise to Santana. Santana probably wouldn't see it that way but Brittany needed someone to confide in so she didn't feel too bothered by it.

They were in Santana's car driving to Carmel High to go speak to Dakota Stanley. Rachel had gone and talked to Mr. Schuester about glee club earlier today and he had finally agreed to let them hire the man, also as a plus to her, Finn and Rachel were no longer speaking to each other and Finn was even threatening to quit the club if they went through with this. So it seemed like she no longer had to worry about those two.

Quinn was in the front seat and Brittany was lying down in the back and the silence was getting a little awkward. Santana knew that she had hurt Brittany's feelings by being with Puck for the weekend instead of her but she wasn't willing to admit she was wrong or even talk about it with Quinn there. Brittany was starting to reconsider her feelings for the girl. She loved Santana and while she didn't want to force the girl into doing anything she wasn't ready for she did want some kind of sign that Santana felt something for her, that she wasn't just some booty call to be used whenever it was convenient.

"Sooo…" Quinn finally breaks the silence. "Do you guys want to come over to my place tonight, my parents are out and Finn has a family thing?"

"I'm up for it, but Santana probably has to go hang out with Puck." Brittany says angrily.

"The fuck, Britt's he's my boyfriend… besides," Santana looks in the mirror at Brittany trying to convey to the girl to shut up. "What do you care what I do with my boyfriend?"

"Then what does that make me!?"

"You… you're… Please Brittany not right now," She looks nervously over at Quinn.

"No, pull over, we're handling this now."

"Brittany-" Santana pleads.

"Now!"

Santana pulls over and the three girls sit there in silence before Quinn finally speaks up. "So… I'll just, you know… step outside, and give you a moment…"

"Thank you Quinn." Brittany says.

Santana gives her a look begging her not to leave. Quinn takes her hand and gently squeezes it before leaving the car. Just as she's about to close the door she looks at Santana and says. "You're braver than you think." And with that she closes the door and steps away, taking a seat on a nearby rock. She sends up a little prayer and hopes that the two can work this out.

She sends out a quick text to Rachel, letting her know so that she can tell the rest of the group that the three cheerios would be a little late.

From: Rachel- What Why!? Do you have any idea how important this is!? The future of our club is at stake and as a member you need to be here for this! You guys need to get here now!

Quinn rolls her eyes at the girl's dramatics

From: Quinn- Don't worry we'll be there soon, we're just having some car troubles.

From: Rachel- Are you guys okay!? Do you need assistance, should I call someone, my Daddy knows things about cars should I call him?

From: Quinn- Don't worry, it's just a flat tire, changing it now, we'll be there soon.

'I hope.' Quinn thinks to herself as she glances over to the car and see's that both Santana and Brittany are crying.

It would be 45 minutes before Quinn heard her name being called. She had stopped watching them about 20 minutes ago and had started playing a game on her phone. However that was going to end soon as her battery was about to die.

"Quinn! Come on we're already late," Brittany calls out to her from the front seat, a huge grin on her face, her face a little red and puffy from crying, but she was smiling and so Quinn grinned back.

She gets into the back and looks between them. "So everything okay between you two?"

"Quinn… I have something to tell you," Santana says hesitantly before taking a deep breath. "Quinn… I'm gay, I'm gay and I'm in love with Brittany."

Santana is watching her nervously for a response, so Quinn leans forward and hugs her, placing a kiss to her forehead. "Santana, I am so proud of you," She whispers. Yeah she already knew, but Quinn was the first person that Santana had ever told, this was a big deal for her, and she really was proud of the girl.

"I… I've never told anyone that." She laughs as happy tears fall down her face. "I'm… I'm gay, and I love Brittany." She turns to Brittany. "I love you, and I want to be with you, just you. I'll break it up with Puck tomorrow."

"I love you too," Brittany croaks out.

"I'm not ready to be fully out, I'm just not. I can't do this publicly, and I'm not even ready to tell my parents yet, but I promise that I won't date anyone else, it will be just you. I… I hope you can be okay with that?" Santana seems nervous.

Brittany takes Santana's hand in her own. "That fine." The girls stare into each other's eyes longingly and it's about ten seconds before Quinn decides that it's getting awkward.

"Oh go ahead and kiss you two, you're getting disgusting," Quinn jokes.

Both girls laugh and then lean over and kiss. It's a strange sensation for Quinn. She is so happy for the both of them, she's glad that they have worked things out and are together, but at the same time watching them kiss, she feels like her heart is in her throat. It's a weird sensation and she isn't sure what to make of it. So she pushes it to the back of her mind and focuses on the joy.

When the two pull apart Santana turns to Quinn. "You're the only person who knows, so please, please don't tell anyone. You're my best friend and you kind of knew already, but I wanted you to know officially, you know? It was important to me that we told you first, but you can't tell anyone else okay?" Santana looks nervous, like she almost can't believe that Quinn's really okay with this.

"Of course not San, I promise, and if you guys need help or just need to talk, I'm here."

"Thanks for being so cool with this. About me… you know…" Santana bites her lip nervously.

Quinn just reaches over and squeezes the girl's shoulder affectionately.

"Yeah, Quinn kinda rocks," Brittany says, lightening the mood.

"What you mean 'kinda'?" Quinn says jokingly.

"Right, totally rocks," Brittany agrees.

"Alright bitches, let's get going!"

xXx-Scene Break-xXx

8,000 dollars! 8,000 dollars for a single freaking number! Plus a 10,000 dollar bonus fee for placing in the top three. That part didn't bother Quinn so much, they weren't going to be around long enough to ever compete, but the 8,000 dollars presented a problem.

She was currently at home laying on the couch and watching TV; her father had locked himself in his study and wouldn't likely be coming out anytime soon. Her mother was out at a book club, 'book club.' She scoffs, trying to think of the last time she had actually seen her mother pick up a book. No this was a weekly, gossip get together, that they liked to pretty up as a book club.

She had no idea what to do about this money problem. Santana and Brittany had both said that they would try to think of an idea, but they were hanging out together tonight, alone, so she didn't expect them to even remember her name, let alone come up with a way to collect 8,000 dollars. The other glee club members had been so disheartened by the news that she doubted that they would come up with anything either.

She was aimlessly channel surfing trying to think of something, anything that they could do or sell to get that kind of cash. Hell she even considered asking her parents, but that was not something she was willing to do at this point, and hopefully it wouldn't ever come to that. She could just imagine how that conversation would go. It would probably work out just as well as when she had told her father that she had joined glee club.

She's about to switch the channel again when something catches her eyes. It a scene from some old 80's maybe early 90's movie and it's a bunch of mostly naked cheerleaders washing a car…. "Holy shit!" She exclaims.

That was it, it was perfect. No, she had never thought she would participate in something as cliché as a "sexy" car wash, but damn it that could work. She would just need to get coach Sylvester involved, but that wouldn't be an issue. They would wear their swimsuits, and cheer skirts and then charge what would be an exorbitant amount of money from the perverts that would show up. It could work. She jumped up and grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and then began to work out how many cars they would need to wash and how much they would have to charge in order to reach their goal.

xXx-Scene Break-xXx

It had been rather easy to set the whole thing up. Once she had explained to coach Sylvester her plan and why it was necessary, the woman had made it mandatory for all cheerios to show up, threatening to cut anyone who didn't. She had even gone so far as to set up and organize the whole thing for her. She got them a prime location, had gotten them the necessary supplies, and had even somehow worked out an advertisement with a local radio station to draw attention to it.

And they were certainly rolling in the doe. They had only been here for about two hours and they were already up 3,000. It was pretty impressive. She glances over at Santana and Brittany who are at the next car over laughing and giggling with each other and lets out a wistful sigh. She's happy for them but she can't help the longing she is feeling. Maybe it's because her and Finn are in a really rocky place right now, he doesn't seem to be into Rachel anymore but he doesn't seem to be turning that attention back to her.

He hadn't even showed up to help with this. He had joined Mr. Schue's group, the Acafellas and had told her that while he wasn't going to quit glee, he also wasn't going to do anything to support the decision to hire Dakota Stanley. Worst of all, it seemed that Puck had joined up with them as well. Apparently a lot of older women showed up to these shows and they were Pucks current flavor of the month. And since Santana had broken up with him two days ago, he had seemed a little more restless as he trolled for women. Still as long as he didn't say anything to Finn, it didn't matter to her what he did, and if being in the Acafellas kept him busy and away from her, then she wished the group a long and successful future.

"Excuse me, Quinn." Quinn looks over to see a nervous looking Rachel Berry. She's wearing a simple dark blue one piece and is biting her lip. "Can I talk to you?"

"What do you want Berry?"

"Look I know you don't like me and… recently; I'll admit… that I have given you good reason not to, but… I just want to thank you. You've gone above and beyond what anyone expected for this club, you've organized all of this. Glee club really has a chance at being something special here and it's partially because of you so… thank you."

Rachel's gratitude is like a punch to the gut, every action she has taken so far has been to destroy this club. "No Rachel don't tha-"

"I know, I know, you only did it for Finn and Brittany. I get that, and I know that this doesn't change anything between us. But you still helped me, no matter how inadvertently or even reluctantly. So thank you. This club means everything to us, to me. I guess I can't speak for everyone else, but for me this club is a chance to shine, to stand out… to finally… maybe make some friends." Yeah, that punch to the gut feeling Quinn was experiencing just evolved into a twisting knife.

"To the rest of the school we're just a bunch of losers, but in glee club it's different. I can shine, I can be a star and I'm with people who can understand that. It's nice to have a place to go where I'm not looked down on. So you may not think it's a big deal, but you doing all of this, it means a lot to me, so I guess I just wanted you to know that."

Quinn looks away unable to continue looking into the earnest eyes of Rachel Berry. "It's fine Rachel, really, don't worry about it."

"Okay, I'll leave you alone, just really, thank you." And with that Rachel turns and leaves. Quinn watches the girl go, just kind of staring off into the distance. She gasps loudly and jumps, startled when someone taps her shoulder.

"Ah ha ha ha, what's up with you?" Santana cackles. "What did the dwarf-oof" Brittany elbows Santana. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry, geeze," Santana mutters under her breath. "So what did Berry want?" Santana asks, while pointedly looking at Brittany.

"She wanted to thank me." Quinn says with regret in her voice.

"Thank you?" Santana asks.

"For helping out the glee club." Quinn explains and a look of understanding crosses Santana's face.

"Oh yeah!" Brittany squeals before hugging Quinn. "I can't believe I forgot to thank you as well. You've been amazing about this whole glee club thing. I know you just joined for Finn but you have worked so hard to make it awesome. You organized this whole car wash to help pay for a new dancing coach for us, you've gone out of your way to support me and Rachel during meetings. You've been great, so thanks Quinn, you're an awesome friend." Brittany releases the hug and tugs on Santana's hand. "C'mon San, I want to go wash that red car."

Brittany skips away a little oblivious, but Santana hesitates as she watches the stricken look on her friend's face. Quinn just motions for the girl to go, a fake smile forced onto her face.

"Quinn, look you're doing what you have to-"

"Hurry up San!" Brittany shouts over.

"Go," Quinn leans over and whispers, "be with your girl."

Santana hesitates for a moment and then Quinn waves her off dismissively, a smirk on her face. Santana laughs and then takes off after Brittany.

xXx-Scene Break-xXx

Quinn did her best to not bite her lip or even show any type of emotion. This is what she had been working towards and it was finally about to come to fruition. It was only five minutes in to their first practice with Dakota Stanley and the man had managed to not only insult almost every member of the club but he had actually driven all of them to get up and leave. Five minutes was all it took, just like she had predicted. The man had pointed out every flaw and insecurity that each member of the club had and they weren't going to put up with it.

Glee club was finally over; this was exactly what she wanted. Things could go back to normal, she wouldn't have to come to this place and try to make nice with people that she wasn't friends with. She wouldn't have to worry about what being in this club was doing to her social standing, coach Sylvester would finally get off her back. And she would no longer have to have anything to do with Rachel Berry. Things could be normal, just like they were before Finn joined this damn club.

So why did she feel so awful? Why, as she was watching Stanley tear down the people in this club did she feel like her heart was constricting. Why did the looks of confusion on Artie's and Tina's faces affect her so personally, or the look of disbelief on Mercedes? How come she felt like Finn's anger and Kurt's offense were zeroing in on her heart?

A look to her left showed that even Santana was feeling affected by this. She wasn't showing any emotion on her face, but if you were as adept at reading Santana as Quinn was, you could see the disappointment in her eyes. And Brittany, Brittany who didn't have any idea about how to hide her emotions, the look of hurt and betrayal and confusion as she watched this club fall apart felt like a vice on her heart.

And finally Rachel, she couldn't tell you why, but Rachel's reaction was the worst. After being subject to Dakota Stanley's criticisms, finishing them off by telling her that she needed a nose job, the young diva held her head up high and began to march from the room with as much dignity as possible. But what made it bad for Quinn is that she could see that the girl had lost all of the fight that she had. Rather than a look of righteous indignation, like she usually wore when she marched from the room in a huff, she was biting her lip, her eyes were watering and Quinn could tell that it was all that the girl could do to not rush from the room crying.

She hated Rachel Berry, didn't she? So why did that girls reaction affect her so much worse than even Brittany's? The answer was simple, Rachel was a fighter, just like Quinn was, she knew what she wanted and she went for it. And seeing someone who was so like her where it mattered, seeing someone like that just give up and lose all of their fight, it was like looking in a mirror. This club meant everything to the people here, and she had just destroyed it.

And what about herself, even she was starting to enjoy this place. As the days and weeks passed she had found herself looking forward to coming here every day and singing and just spending time with her friends and boyfriend, as well as the other members of this club. As she watched the members of the club leave the room, in various degrees of distress, Quinn knew she had to stop this, but how, what could she do? And what about coach Sylvester, if this didn't happen the woman would give her hell. Assuming she managed to keep her position on the cheerios, let alone her spot as captain, the woman would make her life a living hell. The psychotic woman was determined to destroy this club, and if that didn't happen, if Quinn failed to do this, then she could expect every single day to become a brand new experience in pain. Coach would make sure of it. She had no choice, she had to let this happen.

Yet despite this, when Rachel reached the door, ready to walk out of glee club for the very last time, Quinn couldn't stop herself. No matter what the consequences, she couldn't let this happen. She had a choice to make and she knew what the right thing to do.

"Rachel! Wait! Everyone, just stop and hold on a second!" Every head in the room turned towards her, all of them wondering what Quinn wanted.

Quinn takes a deep breath and steels herself for what she is about to do. She puts on her most fierce head bitch face on and thinks dejectedly. 'Oh God, I know I'm going to regret this.'

"Mr. Stanley, your services are no longer required. We have paid you 8,000 dollars to come and choreograph a winning number for us, not, to tear us down. We have enough people here who want to do that, we don't need someone inside who does the same thing."

Quinn turns and looks around at each member in the eye, quickly moving past both Rachel and Brittany, who are looking at her with such adoration that she wants to cry, because she knows she doesn't deserve it. "Please, stay."

"Barbara Streisand." Rachel says smugly, and everyone looks at the girl in confusion, because while it was well known that the girl tried to work her into every conversation, nobody was sure where she was going with this.

"What about her?" Dakota Stanley asks rudely.

"When Barbara was a young ingénue, everyone told her that in order to be a star she would have to get a nose job. Thankfully she refused."

Stanley looks warily from Quinn to Rachel and scoffs, "Where is this going, Yentl?"

"Where this is going is that Quinn is right, we don't need you." She turns and faces the rest of the club. "Let's face it; we're never going to be the dancers that Vocal Adrenaline are, that's not why we're going to win. We'll win because we're different, because we're special." As she is saying this she is making googley eyes at Finn and he is returning the look with just as much intensity.

'Yep, already regretting this.' Quinn thinks in annoyance.

Mercedes smirks, "They told J-Lo that her booty was too big." She then takes her place right next to Rachel.

"Curtis Mayfield was more successful after he became paralyzed." Artie threw in, rejoining the group, with Tina following him.

"Jim Abbot." Finn joins in, still looking at Rachel. "He was a one armed pitcher for the Yankee's, he threw a no hitter."

"Okay, so misfits, spazzes and cripples can make it too, what's your point?" Dakota asks angrily.

"The point is, we don't need you." Brittany says, still looking at Quinn gratefully.

Rachel steps up right next to the man and smirks. "And I'm taller than you." She says smugly.

"Barely…" is the grumbled reply.

Once Dakota Stanley took off in a huff, completely embarrassed about being fired, the group lets out a cheer. They all laugh and hug each other, excited about the prospect of getting glee back to the way it was before they decided to hire that guy, and back when Mr. Schuester was here. Well everyone was, except Quinn. She had taken a step back and was quietly making her way to the door, hopefully before anyone could notice she was gone.

"Hey Quinn!" Finn shouts, bringing the attention of the club back to her, as he dashes over to her. "Where are you going?" He asks, smiling. "You saved the day, we should go celebrate."

"Yeah Quinn, you totally showed that guy!" Mercedes shouts from the back. "You rocked girl!"

"Totally!" Brittany agrees excitedly, rushing over and enveloping the girl in a hug.

"Brittany's right Quinn, if you hadn't stepped in just now… well the rest of us were ready to give up. But not you, you stood up for this club, you're a hero." Rachel says sincerely, and Quinn flinches at the word.

She's no hero, all she was, was too much of a coward to go through with a plan that she had set in motion. At the very best, most generous outlook she could say that she had somewhat redeemed herself for trying to sabotage the club.

"Please don't say that…" She mumbles.

Finn leans down and kisses her passionately. "Yes, you are." He says to her, grinning from ear to ear. "Even though it didn't work out with that guy, you've spent the last 8 weeks trying to make this club the best that it could be. Yeah that guy was a jerk, but you didn't know that, and when we were all ready to walk away and give up on this club, you didn't. You stood up to him, and we're stronger for it. You're amazing."

"I… I have to go." Quinn says, trying to keep her composure, but her voice is cracking. She turns to leave once again and this time everyone lets her. Everyone, watching on in confusion except for Santana, who understands how Quinn is feeling. She doesn't agree with it, Quinn made it right as far as she was concerned, but she understands it.

"W-w-w-what was that all about?" Tina asks in concern. "Is sh-sh-she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine; she just doesn't like all the attention." Santana quickly lies, covering for her friend. "You, midge-ouch!" Santana yelps, when Brittany elbows her for calling Rachel that. "Right, sorry, Berry, you and the rest of these guys figure out a way to get Mr. Schuester to come back full time, Q's done enough now. I'll go talk to Quinn, she's fine don't worry about it, and don't mention it." Santana orders them.

"Wait, I'll go talk to her, I'm her boyfriend." Finn volunteers, and it's all Santana can do to just sneer at the boy.

"You know what, Finnept, you're the last person who's in any position to be offering to help her."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

It's on the tip of her tongue to lay into the guy. Just to go after him for all of the crap that he's been putting her best friend through. But she had promised Quinn that she would support her decision to be with him. It was a stupid decision and a stupid promise, but she had made them none the less.

"Nothing." Santana grumbles. "Just trust me, she'll want to talk to me more than you right now, I'll have her call you later. Quinn's just having a stressful week, that's all. Let me handle it."

Finn reluctantly agrees, while the rest of the group all nods in understanding, except Brittany who looks at Santana suspiciously, because while she didn't know what was up with Quinn, she knew that what Santana had said wasn't the whole story.

The two cheerleaders leave the choir room behind to go catch up to their friend. "San, what's up with Quinn?"

"Look B, why don't you head back to the club and celebrate with the others, I can take care of Quinn on my own, and then we'll catch up later, okay?" Santana suggests gently.

"She's my friend too San, and I don't know what's going on, but I know for a fact that that wasn't about just having a rough week. She looked guilty, like she was hiding something…. Is it her parents, did they hurt her again!?" Brittany screeches quietly, already starting to see red at the thought, and reaching for her cell to call her daddy, to have them arrested.

"No, Britt's it's not that, trust me I've been hyper vigilant about watching out for that. It's something else, I'm pretty sure I know what's up but it's kind of a secret… and I don't know if Quinn will want to tell you." Santana finishes apologetically.

Brittany halts abruptly. "What!? Why not!? We're besties, we don't keep secrets, did I do something wrong, is Quinn mad at me!?" Brittany feels a little sick at the thought, mentally going over their interactions the past few days, and trying to remember where she may have screwed up at.

"No baby, of course not." Santana hurries to reassure the girl.

"Then I want to help her, let's go." Brittany states firmly.

"I too, would like to accompany you." They hear a voice state and when they turn around they see Rachel Berry standing there, having followed them.

"Why the hell would you want to come, Berry? You and Quinn aren't exactly friends, she goes out of her way to mess with you and we all know that you've been trying to mac on her boyfriend? So what the hell makes you think that Quinn would even want to see you, let alone talk to you?" Santana asks, angrily taking a step towards the girl.

Rachel takes a step back, hastily, when Santana moves towards her, but stops after the initial step, and then stares defiantly at the Latina. "I know that I may have made some questionable acts towards Quinn, just as she has towards me, but I feel that recently we have made strides in coming to an agreement with each other. Plus Finn is worried about her, and asked me to go and check on her, he doesn't seem to trust you." Both Santana and Brittany scowl at that, "And finally she is a member of glee club, and while we may not be friends, her actions have really helped me and if I can return the favor then I would sincerely like to."

"Ugh, fine whatever. But you stay the hell back, and if Q wants you gone, you're gone. Got that!" Santana tells Rachel angrily, before turning to Brittany, her features softening, knowing she can't win an argument with the girl. "Fine B, you can come too, just don't be too mad at her."

'Or me.' She thinks, because while she hadn't actually planned anything, she had known what Quinn was up to and had fully supported Quinn in her efforts.

They catch up to Quinn as she's heading towards Coach Sylvester's office, she's dressed in a white sundress and a dark blue cardigan, her cheerio's uniform neatly folded in her arms.

"Q, what the hell are you doing?" Santana asking what the other two girls are thinking. "What are you doing with your uniform?"

Quinn shrugs carelessly. "I'm resigning from the cheerios."

"What!? Why!?" Brittany asks startled by this revelation. "Is this because of glee club!? Because you can do both, you have been doing both!"

"I'm resigning from glee club as well, so you see, I can't do both." Quinn says smiling glibly, acting as if nothing was bothering her.

"You're resigning from glee club!? After all of the work you put into it! Come on Quinn, don't quit, we're a team, we need you!" Rachel shouts.

Quinn scoffs, "A team, yeah right. Trust me on this Rachel, Brittany, I am the last person in the world that you want to be on your team."

Brittany takes one of Quinn's hands in her own, "How can you say that, you've been amazing. In glee, in cheerios, you always look out for your teammates. There is no one better to have on your team than you."

"Brittany…" Quinn lets out a frustrated sigh. "Britts, I was trying to destroy glee club. Coach Sylvester came to me and asked me to destroy the club so that she could get back her full budget. I agreed. I chickened out in the end and couldn't go through with it. Coach is going to kick me off the team now, so I'm resigning from the cheerios before she can kick me off the team. And as for glee club, well… you can't really say I was ever a part of it, considering I spent the entire time trying to destroy it."

Brittany looks at Quinn in shock as she drops Quinn's hand and takes a step back, her eyes beginning to water. "How… how can…. How could you? You lied from the beginning? All those times you helped me in glee club, the idea for hiring Dakota Stanley, all of it…?"

"I'm sorry B, I didn't want to hurt you-"

"No! You didn't think about me, you were only thinking about yourself, how could you do this?"

"Britt, she was just doing what she thought was best, what she thought she had to." Santana steps in gently.

Brittany turns and looks at Santana furiously. "Did you know about this!?"

"No, she had no idea, it was all me." Quinn interrupts.

Brittany gives Quinn, one last look of betrayal, before running away.

"Brittany!" Santana calls out.

"Go." Quinn says smiling sadly at Santana.

"What about you, it… you're hurting right now too."

"Go. San, I'll make sure you keep your spot, now go."

Santana hesitates. "Quinn, I don't care about that, not right now-"

"Go San, she needs you."

Santana gives her one last look, an internal battle going on in her mind about whether to leave or not. Quinn motions one last time for Santana to go and the Latina listens. Quinn watches her chase after her girlfriend and then turns to Rachel.

"So, you're still here? Do you still want to tell me that I'm a hero and that you want me in glee club, or maybe you want to tell me what an awful person I am, call me a bitch. Go ahead, you wouldn't be wrong." Quinn shrugs.

"No, I don't think you're a bad person." Rachel says kindly and Quinn stares at her in shock. "I think that you were in a rough spot and you made some poor decisions, but ultimately," Rachel takes a step closer to Quinn and smiles. "Ultimately, you made the right choice. When the moment came you did the right thing."

Tears begin to fall from Quinn's eyes. "I've been awful to you; I've manipulated you, why are you being so nice to me, why do you care?"

"Well I haven't exactly been a saint either… I kissed-"

"I know." Quinn interrupts and Rachel looks at her in shock.

"How?"

"I saw you, it's part of the reason why I joined glee club in the first place, to keep an eye on you, and it's partly why I tried to destroy it as well."

Rachel looks down ashamed and then looks up at her bashfully. "So you see, neither of us has been particularly nice to each other."

"I guess not." Quinn manages to chuckle.

"Look, I can't do anything about your whole cheerio situation, but… I can do something about glee. Please don't quit, please stay. I know you weren't really into it before, but something must have stopped you from going through with your plan, something must have made you want glee club to continue. So please, don't quit."

"Rachel I…"

"Please Quinn."

"I'll… I'll think about it."

"Okay, I just… I hope to see you in glee tomorrow."

After Rachel leaves, Quinn continues on her way to coach Sylvester's office. She's going to turn in her uniform and resign from the cheerios rather than be kicked out. Hopefully she will be able to keep some of her dignity. After that, well, she'll get to work on getting Brittany to forgive her. Her friend was angry and hurt, and with good reason. She wasn't quite sure where to start though, her and Brittany had never really fought before, but Quinn figured their friendship was strong enough to withstand this. It might be a little awkward for a while but they would be fine.

She knocks on Sylvester's door and waits for the woman to call her in; she is nervously tapping her foot in anticipation. When she hears "Enter." She takes a second to compose herself and then confidently enters the office.

"Coach Sylvester." She greets the woman.

"Q," She eyes the younger girl's uniform. "What are you doing out of uniform?"

"I'm here to resign from the cheerios. Glee club is still on, my plan failed. So rather than let you kick me out, I'm resigning." Quinn takes the seat opposite of coach Sylvester who is watching her with polite interest. "If you want my opinion, Santana will make a great new captain. She knows the different parts, she's a great tumbler, and most importantly the girls on the squad that don't respect her, fear her. She'll be able to keep people in line."

"That's a fascinating story Q, however there is one problem-"

"Santana didn't fail," Quinn interrupts. "I acted alone, it was my plan that failed, and she shouldn't have to leave the squad due to my mistakes."

Sue Sylvester just raises her eyebrows, unimpressed. "I was going to say, before you so rudely interrupted me, that I am not accepting your resignation."

"What? Why? You said that if I didn't destroy glee club you were kicking me off the squad."

Sylvester just rolls her eyes and places her hands behind her head in a relaxed manner, and starts to swivel left and right on her chair. "I just said that to get you motivated. Fear, I have found, is the best motivation that you can give a student. Fear is how you raise children to be the sheep they need to be in order to survive in this world. Now some people, like myself and maybe someday you, rise above that and become rams, but-"

"Don't you mean some people become wolves?" Quinn asks, amused by how crazy the woman could be sometimes.

"Don't be gross Quinn, wolves eat sheep, if people changed from sheep to wolves that would make them cannibals, and do you know what would happen then? Anarchy."

"Besides, and if you ever repeat this you'll find yourself waking up in the middle of a field in Ecuador with no memories of who you are or how you got there, but I need you, Santana, and Brittany to take nationals. This year's crop of girls just can't hack it without you." Coach Sylvester suddenly leans forward and glares at the younger girl. "So go home, get over whatever it is that's bothering you, and don't you ever let me see you out of uniform again. Dismissed."

"Yes, coach, thank you coach." As Quinn goes to leave she is stopped by Sue's voice.

"Oh don't thank me Q, you still failed me and until I have that national's championship trophy I plan to make life very interesting for you."

Quinn lowers her head in defeat and then raises it defiantly, "I look forward to it." She then turns and leaves.

xXx-Scene Break-xXx

When Quinn got home the first thing she did was send a text to Santana.

From: Quinn- So is B still mad at me?

She only has to wait a minute for Santana's reply.

From: Santana- She's cooled down, she was hurt and she is still a little mad but I think once you guys talk it out you should be good. And I've been talking to her as well, she's just feeling a little betrayed, you guys will be fine though.

From: Santana- Hey Q, I'm going to tell Brittany about my involvement. She shouldn't just be angry at you I was a part of it too, and since we're both off the cheerios now, I figure it's better to tell her now, rather than let her find out from someone else later.

From: Quinn- If you want to tell Brittany go ahead, but I don't mind taking all of the blame and you really didn't do much. However you don't need to worry we're not off the cheerios, I talked to Sylvester, life will be interesting for me for a while, but you should be good.

From: Santana- That's good to know, I'll still talk to Britt and I'm still going tell her, I don't want to keep any secrets from her, and besides, despite what you may think it wasn't just you who did this, I did it too.

From: Quinn- Thanks San, hey if B isn't too mad at me tell her that I love her and that I'm sorry.

From: Santana- Of course I'll tell her, I'll see you tomorrow Q.

From: Quinn- See you tomorrow.

xXx-Scene Break-xXx

As Quinn lay in bed that night she couldn't sleep. She rolls over and checks her clock, it's now officially 2 in the morning and she just can't shake the thought that something is wrong. She just can't recall it. She's missing something and she just can't figure out what.

She rolls back over and lets out a frustrated sigh. Tomorrow was going to suck, no sleep and a vindictive coach Sylvester, plus she was going to have to do some serious groveling to get Brittany to stop being mad at her. Yeah she couldn't possibly imagine how tomorrow could possibly get any worse.

Quinn rolls over and pulls the cover over her head, and finally, just as she's about to fall asleep her eye's shoot wide open and she quickly sits up. She knows exactly what's wrong. Something that should have happened, hasn't. She was late, like really late. This shouldn't be possible but she has to be sure.

Quinn quickly jumps out of bed and throws on a pair of sneakers, not even bothering to change out of her PJ's. She sneaks into her parent's room and snags her father's keys and takes his car, quickly making her way to the store. Once there she grabs a box of home pregnancy tests, doing her best to keep calm. She completely ignores the snooty and judgmental look that the cashier is giving her. Her mind is completely focused on hoping and praying that this was just a scare, that she wasn't really… well… that. It happened once, just once and Puck had said that he would handle the protection. She couldn't really be pregnant could she?

xXx-Scene Break-xXx

Quinn stared at the little plus sign in horror, desperately trying to will it away, praying over and over again that it was a mistake and that it would magically change, but she knew that it would do her no good. That nothing she did or said would change what was happening. This was her third time taking the test and each time it had come back positive. There was no doubt about it, she was pregnant.

Her! Quinn Fabray, youngest captain of the Cheerio's in over a decade, the founder and head of the celibacy club, was pregnant.

How could this have happened? Okay, she knew how it happened, but not 'how' it happened. She remembered she had asked about protection, and Puck had said he had it… no, wait, oh God no, he had said 'don't worry about it.' How could she have been so stupid?

Quinn sinks to the bottom of her bathroom floor in a daze. It just didn't register, she was pregnant, and she couldn't be, she just couldn't. What was she going to do? Her life was over.

Tears begin to pool in her eyes and she rests her head on her knees and begins to cry silently, her body shaking with suppressed sobs, as she tries to make sense of everything, tries to figure out where it had all gone wrong.

A.N. Alright, so this chapter was a pain in the ass to write and I'm not particularly happy with how it turned out. But I don't know that I could have written it any better and so I apologize, but hopefully you all aren't too disappointed.

I had to get through a lot of things in this chapter, I needed to cement the Un-Holy Trinities place in glee club, I needed to get Santana and Brittany officially together. Please remember that Quintana is end game, it's coming, and it will happen, just not yet. And finally I needed Quinn to discover that she was pregnant. That was a lot to do in just one chapter, so that's why it's so long. I try to keep my chapters around the 3 to 4,000 word mark, and while I won't say that this will be the longest chapter I write, there is a pretty good chance of it. Chapter 8 ends with us catching up with the Quinn in the first scene of this story. You can see that I used the first paragraph of the story as the last scene for this chapter as a kind of way to bring the story full circle. From here on in, things start to get interesting.

Chapter 9 will be up next Friday.