Standard disclaimer I don't own Glee or any of its characters.

s

Quinn sat in her hospital bed and nodded along politely as Rachel went over some of the plans that she wanted to implement for glee club this next week. It wasn't that she wasn't interested in what Rachel was saying, it was just that Quinn was so far out of her depth when it came to musical theatre, and show choir in general that she really didn't have much to contribute.

Rachel's parents had left them a while ago to set up the guest room for her, and Rachel had elected to stay and keep her company. "That is of course if you and my daddies don't mind." And Quinn found that she didn't. It was nice to not have to sit here all alone.

After coming back with breakfast, Maribel had to leave for her office as well, to get things started. Once she was done there, and if Quinn was okay with it, which she was, she was going to pick up Santana and Brittany from Brittany's house and fill them in on some of what was going on and then bring them by. She had also said that there was one other issue that they had to talk about, but that she had been through enough these past few hours and that it could wait. Quinn wasn't sure that she liked the sound of this other conversation that Maribel wanted to have, but she definitely wanted to see Santana and Brittany. She needed to apologize to them for how she had acted the last time she had seen them. Santana especially, she really needed to apologize to. Her friend had just been trying to help her and she had not only attacked her verbally, but she had thrown her help back in her face, and maybe if she had just listened to her then she wouldn't be in this situation. She just hoped that they would forgive her. She was so sick of being the kind of person who kept having to apologize to her friends because she kept hurting them, hopefully this would be the last apology between them for a long while.

It was a little after one and Quinn was a bit tired, but not enough to actually sleep, which was a good thing because she still had to stay awake for a few more hours yet. As Rachel continued to talk about a solo that she was working on, Quinn takes a second to consider just how crazy her situation is. She was in a hospital because her father had hit her hard enough to scramble her brain; she hadn't even been able to remember how to get to Santana's house, which was really scary when she thought about it, because she had been walking that route now for years. Both of her parents were potentially facing some serious jail time, and she still wasn't sure how she felt about that. She couldn't let this happen again, no matter what she had to protect herself, especially now. But they were still her parents, and she hated that things had come to this. And to top it all off she was pregnant and she was going to be living with someone who, up until recently, she had bullied. Her life was definitely taking some weird turns and Quinn couldn't help but chuckle.

"What's so funny Quinn? Oh no, am I boring you, I've been talking too much haven't I? I'm really sorry, it's just when I get started, especially about music, I tend to just lose track and I-"

"No it's fine Rachel, I was actually paying attention and you are probably right, you're the only one in the club who's vocal range could pull that song off right now, although Mercedes and even Santana could probably do it too if you coached them." Rachel tilts her head to the side as she considers that.

"I'm sorry," Quinn says, a self-depreciating smile on her face, "it's just, I was thinking about my life and I couldn't help but laugh at how messed up it is, you know. I think it's safe to say that I've just about hit rock bottom."

"Maybe… but really if you think about it, from this point forward you really have nowhere to go but back up." Rachel tries to throw in helpfully.

"True, but I haven't hit rock bottom quite yet, though. Still waiting for it to get out all over school, Quinn Fabray, school slut and hypocrite, knocked up and-"

"Don't say that about yourself!" Rachel says angrily, and Quinn looks taken aback.

"Why not, everyone else will be."

"I won't and neither will your friends, I don't know your whole story, but I do know you, or at least I do a little bit. And you made one mistake, that doesn't make you a bad person or a slut or anything like that. I said it before and I will say it again, because it's true, girls want sex just as much as guys. You had sex, so what? So have other people, and the only person who can say whether what you did was a mistake or not is you. Sex is a very personal thing and I find it morally reprehensible that people try and use it as a weapon. If you're a girl and you have sex, you're a slut, if you're a guy and you don't you aren't a real man. It's stupid and backwards thinking, because the only person who can say whether or not you are ready for sex, or if you should have it is you, you felt you were ready for it and so you decided to do it. Was it a mistake to not use protection, I would say yes, but I can certainly understand someone getting caught up in the heat of the moment, and just because this happened to you doesn't make you a bad person and I won't let you or anyone else say otherwise!" Rachel finishes angrily.

Quinn stares at Rachel in amazement, very sincerely touched by the girl's defense of her character. "…thank you, Rachel."

Rachel just smiles kindly, "I could get used to that."

"Get used to what?" Quinn asks in confusion.

"You saying my first name, you know, rather than man-hands, or treasure trail, or any other number of nicknames and even though Berry was a step up from those, it's nice to finally be on a first name basis." Rachel is so genuine in her answer, so completely without judgment or blame that Quinn doesn't know how to react or feel.

"Ra- Rachel… I really am sorry."

"Oh no, I didn't mean to make you feel bad, I was just saying that it was nice that we are finally starting to act like friends, and I hope maybe someday soon we will be."

"I… I think I would like that too." Quinn says softly, once again surprised by the enigma that is Rachel Berry.

"So about glee club," Rachel continues on, sensing that Quinn needed to move away from this topic.

s

xXx-Scene Break-xXx

s

The two girls continue to spend the rest of their time talking and getting to know each other a little bit better. They kept it light, favorite foods, favorite movies, that kind of stuff. Since Quinn would be living with them, both girls figured that they would learn more as time went on. It was three o'clock when the door to Quinn's room opens and standing there are Santana and Brittany. They both get a good look at Quinn's swollen and stitched up face and they rush over to her side as quickly as they can.

Santana gets there first and her hands gently cup Quinn's face as she carefully examines the injury, being super careful not to actually touch the injury. Santana lets out a quiet whimper and her eyes are watery.

"It looks worse than it is," Quinn tries to reassure her. "I guess that's the last time I tell my parents I'm pregnant huh?" Quinn says trying to make light of the situation and reassure her friend.

Santana's eyes flash with rage. "Don't you fucking dare joke about this, I spent all last night worried sick about you, about how you were doing and if you were okay, and you didn't even fucking call or nothing. And then when I didn't hear from you today, I was really scared, and then our parents wouldn't let us go and see you and I knew, I fucking knew, that something was wrong, but I didn't know what! And then I find out that you told your parents last night and that they almost killed you, you almost died!"

Tears begin to fall from Santana's eyes. "So don't you fucking joke about this, I am so mad at you right now for leaving like that, and I am so mad at myself for scaring you away. I hate your parents and I hate that you are in here and I hate that I don't know how to help you, and that everything I try seems to push you away and-"

Quinn's eyes widen in shock at Santana's words and she reaches up and pulls the girl down beside her and into a hug where Santana begins to cry into Quinn's shoulder. "No, sweetie, no, I am so sorry, you're right I shouldn't have joked about it. And you were right to tell your parents, I shouldn't have reacted the way I did and I am so sorry. I am so sorry I scared you like that. Please forgive me." Quinn says soothingly, Santana nods her head, but continues to cry.

A whimper off to the side draws Quinn's attention away from Santana and over to Brittany who is standing there awkwardly, her hands clasped in front of her as she is silently crying as well. "Come here B." Quinn says as she opens up the arm on the side opposite of Santana, and Brittany doesn't need to be told twice. She quickly and carefully crawls up onto the bed and cuddles up next to Quinn.

Quinn comforts her two friends, who had obviously been extremely worried about her. She looks over to Rachel who mouths to her 'I'll give you guys a moment.'

Quinn shakes her head and mouths back, 'It's okay, you can stay.' She then turns her attention back to her two friends.

"You guys are my best friends, and I should have been more honest with you two, I should have trusted you more. And maybe if I had done that and had listened to you I wouldn't be in this mess. I am so sorry that I haven't been a good friend to you lately. I have been pushing you away, and I am so sorry. I knew I could trust you, but it's so weird for me to be able to say that, and I didn't really know how to accept your help, but I promise I'll work harder at that and that I'll try and let you guys in more. I'm so sorry to have scared you and I love you both so much."

Santana and Brittany both nod their acceptance of Quinn's apology but neither girl moves from their spot next to Quinn for a few minutes, finally after a bit of time has passed, Brittany sits up and pulls back a bit from Quinn before she reaches out to Quinn's injury, almost like her touch could make it disappear, but before she does touch it she pulls her hand back. "Does it hurt?" She asks tentatively

"Not really, I'm on some pretty good pain meds, but I can't close my mouth all of the way, so I've got about a week, maybe two, of a soft diet, I need to avoid putting pressure on it as well, plus there are couple of other pills and antibiotics that I need to take in addition to the pain meds, oh and I have to ice it every couple of hours for like twenty minutes. That hurts, but it helps to reduce the swelling. Speaking of, Rachel could you hand me the cold compress?"

"Sure." Rachel replies as she does as asked, happy to help.

Santana pulls away from Quinn, and sits on the side of Quinn's bed, as she wipes away the tears and mascara from around her eyes. "Oh yeah, what are you doing here Berry?"

"Oh, I… um."

"She and her family were the ones who found me and brought me here. Rachel has been helping to take care of me." Quinn smiles at the girl.

Santana just nods her head in acceptance, but as she does she looks at Rachel appraisingly.

Brittany giggles. "I told you that you and Rachel were friends."

"Yeah, I guess you did. You can come closer Rachel." Quinn offers the girl an invitation. While she can't say that they are best friends, Quinn can definitely say that she considers Rachel a friend after the last few hours.

Rachel hesitantly takes a seat next to Brittany and is both relieved and pleased by the lack of snarky comments from Santana, who continues to study her. Rachel chooses to ignore it for now, but it is a little disconcerting.

"So, what happens now, what's next for you?" Santana asks Quinn.

"Well… I guess your mom does her lawyer thing, I'll have to make an official statement sometime within the next few days, and then Ben is going to do some investigating, but other than the chance that I may have to testify at their trial, I'm done with them."

"I know it's a stupid question but…" Brittany says as she bites her lip nervously, "but are you okay?"

Quinn smiles warmly at her friend. "It's not a stupid question B, and… I don't know… I really don't."

Brittany runs a hand lightly up and down Quinn's back.

"They're my parents… and…" Quinn tries to hold back her tears. "I don't understand… why did they do this?" Quinn allows the cold compress to fall away as she lowers her head and starts to cry. The physical act of crying causes the pain in her cheek to flair, but she ignores the pain. She leans into Santana who had shifted immediately so that she could hold Quinn and Quinn takes comfort in the presence of her friend, who holds her quietly for a few minutes.

Quinn soft voice is muffled against Santana but the three girls can hear what she is saying, clearly. "Your parents, Santana's parents, even Rachel's parents… they all have stood up for me, stood by me… tried… tried to help, but not my parents… not mine… and… I just don't get it!" Quinn pulls away from Santana and leans back while looking up at the ceiling angrily.

"Is there really something so wrong with me that my own parents would do this to me!?" Quinn looks to the other girls in the room desperate for an answer, wanting some kind of explanation, some reasoning as to why she had been abandoned so completely by her parents.

"No sweetie, no." Brittany says in a soothing voice. She takes Quinn's hands in her own. "It's them; it is one-hundred and twenty percent them. Completely and totally. Think about it, you have my parents and Santana's parents and even Rachel and her family all helping you, all wanting to be there for you. That's a lot of people who care for you, so the problem has to be them, it is them, if it was you do you think that so many people would love you and care about you."

Brittany raises Quinn's hands up to her lips and kisses them, before she continues speaking. "I promise you, as one bestie to another, it's them. You are beautiful and kind and you always help me out, and you're like the smartest person I know and I can always come to you when I have questions because I know you won't make me feel stupid. I love you and so does Santana and if there was something wrong with you we would tell you, we would be all like, stop doing that Quinn you're being a bitch or, or that hair cut is weird you should probably change that, because that's what friends do. So if there was something wrong with you, we would call you on it. But there isn't, it is so totally and completely them, and I never wanted to say anything before because they are your parents, but now I can. They aren't nice people, and after I had met them I was always surprised that you were so awesome because your parents and your sister weren't, they are the biggest jerks I have ever met, and I go to school with Azimio and Karofsky, so that's saying something. There is nothing wrong with you, so please, please don't' think that there is."

Quinn can only nod, not trusting herself to speak. She wants so badly to believe Brittany, but a little part in the back of her mind can't help but think that Brittany is wrong, that it really is her. Still she pushes that thought away and focuses on Santana who has started speaking.

"Britt is right Q, trust me, I call you on shit all of the time don't I? Do you honestly think that if there was something wrong with you I wouldn't have pointed it out to you in the most brutally honest way I could?"

Quinn laughs and wipes a tear away from her right eye. "Yeah, I guess you would have."

"Damn right! And speaking of something being wrong with you, run a comb through that hair, you look like a Doc Brown stunt double reject."

"Whatever," Quinn scoffs, never more grateful to have Santana and Brittany in her life than she is right now. "You're just jealous that even like this I'm still hotter than you."

"Shut up bitch." Santana throws back, both girls grinning at each other.

"And there goes that sweet moment." Brittany comments dryly and then all three girls burst into giggles.

Rachel watches the trio interact and is amazed by the friendship between them. She saw them at school, and they were always together. Even when they had boyfriends it was always those three, and then the boyfriend. But it wasn't until she got to see them up close interacting like this that she truly began to comprehend just how close these three were.

Rachel is brought out of her thoughts when she feels a hand gently shake her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Pay attention Berry, I said, let's you and I go get some drinks from the vending machine for everyone." Santana says rolling her eyes in annoyance at having to repeat herself.

"Oh… ok…" Rachel says, nervously, looking to either Brittany or Quinn to get her out of going anywhere with Santana. Despite what she had said to Quinn about wearing Santana down, Rachel had no doubt in her mind that the other girl hated her and that there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that the girl would actually consider being friends with her.

However to Rachel's dismay, both Quinn and Brittany were talking animatedly about something else and weren't even looking at her.

"Calm your tits Berry, we're just getting some sodas." Santana says standing up and walking to the door.

Rachel can feel her agitation grow. "Must you be so vulgar?" She asks in annoyance as she goes to follow.

"Must you be so annoying?" Santana throws back.

As the two girls leave the room, Brittany and Quinn both giggle. "Your girl is such a softy." Quinn teases fondly.

"Yes, yes she is." Brittany responds, the love that she had for Santana obvious by the look on her face and the tone in her voice.

Both girls are well aware that Santana just wanted a private moment with Rachel, but was too embarrassed to say it out loud in front of them. Santana could let her guard down around them if it was just them, but not if there were others around.

s

xXx-Scene Break-xXx

s

As Santana and Rachel are heading to a vending machine, Santana pulls Rachel into an unused room and shuts the door. Rachel's eyes widen in terror and she is certain that she is about to get beat up, so she quickly covers her nose, hoping that Santana won't hit her there.

"J-F-C, are you serious? Cool off Berry, I didn't bring you in here to beat you up. If I was going to beat you up, and I'm not saying that I can't or won't, I would just go up to you and do it, I wouldn't lead you into some kind of lame ass trap."

Rachel hesitantly puts her hands down, she takes a strange kind of comfort in Santana's bluntness, but she still takes a nervous step back. Santana had been looking at her weirdly ever since she had seen her in Quinn's room and she wasn't sure what to make of it and that made her nervous. "So… what did you want then?"

"You saved Quinn's life." Santana's face is dead straight and her voice is tight, lacking that usual undercurrent of sarcasm and almost dripping with tension.

"I… I helped out I guess, but really, I didn't do too much though… I mean I was there, but … but it was really no big deal." Rachel stammers, unsure of what Santana's point in all of this is.

"That's where you're wrong, it is a big deal." Santana interrupts. "Brittany and Quinn are the two most important people in my life and I would do anything to protect them and it kills me that I wasn't there for Quinn last night. My girl needed me and I wasn't there, I don't think you can comprehend just how much that hurts me that I wasn't there for her… but you were there. You took care of Quinn when she needed someone, so thank you. Thank you for taking care of my best friend."

Rachel nods her head in acceptance, surprised but pleased to see a softer side of the other girl, and she thinks that maybe becoming friends with her won't be as difficult as she first imagined.

"You took care of one of mine and I won't forget that. So I guess what I'm also trying to say is that I owe you an apology for some of the shit I've done to you, and I'll try to rein it in a bit from now on."

"Oh," Rachel says, once again surprised by Santana, she had not been expecting an apology. "Don't worry about it and now that you and I have taken this tentative step towards establishing a friendship I think that we should-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there midget. I get that you and Brittany are friends and from the looks of things you and Quinn are now as well, so we'll probably be seeing a lot more of each other, and I'm fine with that… mostly, but you still drive me up the wall. I'll stop hating on you… well I'll tone it down to a lower level because I don't do nice, but you have got to meet me half way here and stop making it so easy."

Rachel huffs in offense. "I don't know what you are talking about, what exactly is it about me that makes it so easy for you to pick on me?"

"Well for starters you dress like one of those 'To Catch a Predator' girls."

Rachel's eyes widen in outrage. "I do not!"

Santana just laughs. "Sure you do, but it's not completely awful, those skirts are hot. However, those sweaters of yours need to be burned, and burned immediately."

"What exactly is wrong with my sweater?" Rachel demands angrily. Here they had been, having a nice moment and then the girl had gone and ruined it by insulting her clothing. And then it hit her, this was exactly what Santana had done with Quinn back in the other room and Rachel had to work really hard to hold back the grin that was threatening to split her face. This was Santana's offbeat way of thanking her and accepting her into the group.

"… You're kidding right? Do you not see the giant fuzzy unicorn on it?"

s

A.N. So there you have it, chapter 15. It was kind of a filler chapter and it's a little short so I apologize for that, but I hope you still enjoyed it. Next chapter will be up on Friday.