A/N: It feels good to be writing again. Here's Chapter 2 (already!). This is all I've got, buffer wise, but I promise to try to keep inspired with it. These two characters are really fun to write, albeit hard. Also, hooray for violent mood swings! I blame it on her baby hormones. Quick note, all chapter titles are names of songs which I think are either fitting just from their titles, or because the lyrics make sense when it comes to chapter content. Love to all those who get the references. If you think you know who did the songs, leave a review and tell me your thoughts! In fact, review anyway! I like to know if people are enjoying what I'm writing, or if they think it's the worst thing ever.

Disclaimer: No I do not own Glee, I only take credit for the parts of the plot I have rewritten for my own sick enjoyment.

Chapter 2 – All the Kings Horses

"I'm so sorry," Rachel stood before Quinn, eyebrows creased together in a frown of guilt and remorse, "I fully understand if you want to beat me up," Quinn looked up at Rachel sullenly, considering if it was worth it or not. The old Quinn would have done, but she was feeling less and less like HBIC as every day went on, "... if you can, just try and avoid my nose." Rachel finished. She took a deep breath, and stood tensely, eyes squeezed shut. Quinn pursed her lips, but made no move to harm Rachel.

"I'm not mad at you..." She breathed finally. Rachel opened her eyes slowly, disbelieving this was really Quinn Fabray who was saying she wasn't mad at her for possibly the worst thing Rachel had ever done. Rachel used to get tortured for simply existing, and at a time where she really had done something worthy of punishment, Quinn wasn't going to beat her senseless?

"All you did was what I wasn't brave enough to do. Tell the truth..."

"I-" Rachel started, then stopped again. She had never seen Quinn this way. She was in tears, and seemed to actually be opening up to Rachel somewhat. She had to help her.

"I was selfish when I told him... I wanted to break you two up so he would want to be with me," Rachel shook her head, knowing how stupid she had been. And feeling deep down that what she was saying wasn't quite true, but she wasn't really sure what her motive was just yet.

"And now neither of us have him." Quinn said with a wry smile. She shook her head, her blonde hair falling down around her face. She looked so vulnerable, and Rachel wanted desperately to comfort the ex-cheerleader, but she had no idea how, nor did she dare in case Quinn were to push her away and revert to calling her names again.

"I have hurt so many people," Quinn continued, and she had to stop to breathe shakily, trying in vain to hold her tears back, "Can you go now? I just really wanna be alone." Now the tears were flowing freely, and she really, really wanted Rachel to just stop being nice to her and buzz off and whine to someone else. Rachel sat for a moment, she moved her hand towards Quinn's knee, as if to squeeze it reassuringly, but she faltered and thought against it, instead just standing and walking hesitantly away. Quinn let out a sigh. At least she could be alone with her grief now.

"Hey," Puck said, as he sat down next to her. Quinn gritted her teeth, despair sinking in. Why was it so hard for people to see she simply wanted to be alone for just a few minutes?

"So, I know you're upset now, but I wanna be with you. I'm gonna do everything I can to be a good dad to our baby." Puck looked so sincere that Quinn couldn't help but smile at him in gratitude a little bit. This side of Puck was much nicer than the usual hormone-driven, testosterone-crazy boy.

"Thanks," Quinn started, unsure of how to go on, "But I honestly can't handle any more stress in my life right now. I'm gonna do this on my own. I know you don't understand it, but please respect it." She couldn't be near him anymore. She couldn't be near anyone, and her last words escaped her as a strangled whisper as she stood and left Puck sitting there on his own.

Glee was over for the afternoon. Everyone had already left, apart from Rachel and Quinn. The last echoes of the McKinley High students were fading away. Rachel was packing her bag by the piano, Quinn sitting on one of the chairs. She looked a million miles away, Rachel noted as she zipped up her backpack. Quinn's posture was stiff, and her eyes were glazed. The brunette cast a worried look her way before heading towards the door. She sighed, and turned. She didn't know why she wanted to help Quinn, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. Quinn fascinated her. Rachel found it easy to see through her. She knew Quinn was nothing like the person she was in school at heart, but no one else could seem to see this. She put her bag down and walked to the sombre blonde.

"Quinn?" She asked softly.

"What do you want, Berry?" Quinn said as maliciously as she could. Her voice was soft and held no real venom, though, and she wished she had the energy to be mean to Rachel.

"I-I was merely wondering if you were okay. You don't look like you are, Quinn. I'm going to offer my friendship once more and-"

"Berry, I'm going to tell once more, I don't want your friendship. I might start growing hair on my chest or something." Quinn was disappointed that was the best insult she could come up with. She sighed and Rachel sat down behind her.

"I thought you sang really well today, Quinn," Rachel ventured quietly. The blonde was glad Rachel couldn't see her face. She was smiling at the compliment. She was used to hearing the shorter girl give very roundabout compliments. Such as: 'you have a good voice, although occasionally sharp'. This was something new. She hated to admit it to herself, but hearing something completely positive from Rachel was good, because whilst Rachel was bossy, and loud, and overbearing and many other unattractive things, she was a fantastic performer. Better than anyone else in the club, and gaining her approval was so rare. Quinn grinned.

"Thanks," She said in reply finally.

"You're welcome," Rachel said hesitantly, "You look very tense. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Listen, Stubbles, I'm fine, really. I just want to... I don't want to go back to Puck's yet." Quinn squeezed her eyes shut, berating herself again. Why did she keep letting her guard down when the small diva was present? This was happening too often.

"I'll stay with you, if you like," Rachel offered. Her voice was hushed, expecting a harsh retaliation from the ex-cheerleader. There was a long pause.

"Alright." Rachel allowed a small smile, and put her hand on Quinn's shoulder. Quinn leapt, and the muscles in her shoulder tensed even more than they already were.

"You really are tense, Quinn. You know, you should take some time to stretch before and after performances. You'll feel much better if you're limbered up. I'm quite shocked, really. You were on the Cheerios, you should know all of this, right?"

"Berry, shut it. I said you could stay, not talk my ear off."

"I'm merely trying to help you. I promise you, you will feel better if you stretch more. You're all coiled up like a spring!" Rachel exclaimed, wishing she didn't always feel the need to talk and talk, especially when asked not to. She bit her tongue to stop from saying any more unnecessary words. Her hand was still on Quinn's shoulder, and the blonde was breathing quickly.

"I can help you," Rachel whispered. She didn't know why she wanted to help Quinn so badly. Sometimes she wished her fathers hadn't raised her to be so nice to everyone all the time.

"In what way?" Quinn asked wryly.

"Any way you like... But I can help with those tense muscles for now," Rachel said, leaning forward. Her free hand rested on Quinn's other shoulder. "Just take deep breaths, and I'll help work out those knots. It must be all the stress you're under," Quinn was struggling to breathe at all.

"Get your man hands off of me, Berry, I'm fine!"

"Clearly, Quinn, you are not. So stop it. Just give in. You know how persistent I can be. Here," She began rubbing Quinn's shoulders gently, pushing her thumbs into the tight muscles she found.

She suddenly realised she was really nervous. It was an unusual feeling for Rachel Berry, as she was never scared of anything, particularly not talking, or performing, but now she was nervous. She took a deep breath and swallowed, trying to calm herself a little. It had to be because Quinn would never normally talk to her other than to call her a nasty name, or to draw pornographic pictures of her in the bathroom, or shove her into lockers if Rachel happened to be in the same corridor as her, or laugh when slushies were thrown in her face. And not only was Quinn talking to her – well, sort of – but she was letting Rachel help her. Through massage. This was definitely something worth being nervous about. And now that Rachel had analysed why she was scared, she wasn't any more, because it made sense, and she just had to go with it and see how it went.

Quinn was also freaking out, much alike Rachel. She couldn't relax when Berry's hands were on her like that. It was disgusting. She might catch the gay from her two dads, and what if someone saw her here with IT? And why was she actually enjoying the almost comforting presence of the irritating drama queen? Surely she should be insulting her, or drawing horrible pictures, or pushing her into something or even giving her a slushie facial? But she didn't want to do any of that, and that was making her nervous. What was also making her nervous was the fact that now she had gotten used to Rachel's small hands tenderly kneading her aching muscles, she was able to relax slightly, and was realising that Rachel was really good at this, and that her neck didn't hurt so much now. She sighed, her body drooping, and she leant back into Rachel a little more.

An almost comfortable silence fell between them. Rachel was the first to break it, not surprisingly.

"I didn't really do it, you know," She said softly. Quinn was confused.

"Didn't do what?"

"Sleep with him. With Jesse I mean." Quinn felt a smug smile settle on her face. Good, she thought triumphantly.

"So you mean it wasn't a hypothetical 'erotic' make-out session, or Wiggles concert then?" She asked. It was strange to be teasing Berry in an almost friendly way, she realised. It felt alien to her, and unsettling.

"Clearly not, but you already knew that. And I couldn't do it. Thank you. For what you said, I mean. I might have done it if you hadn't spoken to me, and I really do think I would have regretted it. I don't think he's right for me anyway..."

"Really?" Quinn queried, unable to feign disinterest, "But he's just like a male version of you. I mean, he's arrogant, obnoxious, bossy, high maintenance... Surely you're the perfect match, right?" Quinn asked. She hadn't meant to be offensive, but it was hard to be nice to Stubbles, and plus, she was only telling the truth. Rachel stopped massaging for a moment.

"I don't know quite how to respond to that, Quinn. But no, I think we're too similar, and I don't think that works. I feel like I need someone who can match me intellectually and creatively, but I need someone to keep me grounded, too. I need someone to remind me I'm not a star – at least, not yet – and I need someone to tell me to shut up when I can't stop talking, or being rude about someone's performance when they've clearly put a lot of effort into it and-"

"Shut up, Man-Hands, you're doing what you just said you didn't want to do right now."

"Sorry," Rachel apologised.

"And why did the massage go away? I didn't say you could stop. And why did you tell Finn you did sleep with Jesse if you didn't? I thought you were always on about being honest to people, a little like how you were so honest with Finn before when you told him about Puck being the real father. You know what, Treasure Trail? I don't know why I'm even still in here with you. I fear that if I continue to breathe the same air as you, my baby might end up a boy after being exposed to the confusion of the two genders that you are." Quinn suddenly found the flashback she had been experiencing before Rachel interrupted was coming back full force, but now she realised she actually was mad, but only because Rachel was being a hypocrite. She also found she was standing now, bearing down on the small brunette in front of her, jabbing her finger maliciously into Rachel's face as she spoke. She may be pregnant, and no longer in her Cheerios uniform, but she'd be damned if she ever lost the talent she had for being intimidating. Rachel was grimacing slightly.

"Don't be such a hypocrite, Berry. You already have enough faults in that terrible personality of yours, and hypocrisy will do nothing to help you there. You rant on about honesty all the time, and then this? Screw that, Berry. That's not something to lie about." With her face flushed, and head held high she stalked from the choir room, glaring down an unfortunate freshman who was stupid enough to be in her way.

Meanwhile Rachel was still sitting in the choir room, utterly shocked. Quinn had gone from being her usual stand-offish self, icy and non-responsive, to someone who had seemingly shared in a moment of playful banter, to listening to Rachel's problems, and then back again faster than Rachel could reassure herself she really was going to make in Broadway. She was hurt by Quinn's words, which was stupid, as she should be used to them by now, but maybe it was because for just those few moments of nearly friendly interaction, she had let herself believe she might have found a friend, her first friend, and then had it snatched away from her as suddenly as it was given. She sighed, and squeezed her eyes shut. She was Rachel Berry, for goodness' sake; she didn't need Quinn to help her. She'd always been able to get through everything on her own before. She took a deep breath and followed Quinn's steps through the door. She needed to get home soon or else her dads would worry and also she still had her daily MySpace video to film and post. Friends would only tie her to this place, and give unnecessary doubts when it came to leaving for New York to become the theatrical sensation she was destined to be, right?