A/N: Agh I finally finished writing this today, although I've been working on it since I uploaded chapter 3, but it was my birthday this weekend and I was mega-busy! I also got my first tattoo yayyyyy. ^.^ Also OMG DID YOU SEE THE SECOND EPISODE OF SEASON 2 GLEE? I felt like a twelve year old Twilight fangirl all the way through it I was so excited. Ugh. Anyway, without further ado, here is Chapter 4, 'The Weight'. Also go listen to this song on YouTube (Aretha Franklin's version) and tell me you wouldn't want to hear Quinn sing it. I DARE YOU TO.

Chapter 4 – The Weight

Quinn was worried she was finally losing her grip on her sanity. Her baby hormones were definitely responsible. She was going soft. She didn't like being soft. She didn't like having these feelings of friendship for people. Quinn Fabray had never needed friends before. Santana and Brittany were like property. Yes, she liked them, but only because they were the same as her. Out there to get to the top. And the three of them were at the top. Well, until she was impregnated with the bastard child she was carrying... But she had never really had an actual friend. Not someone she really cared about, or wanted to listen to, or worried for. These new emotions were all a little too much for her.

It had really started when Kurt was singing "A House is Not a Home". It was a song Quinn had always loved, particularly the Dusty Springfield version, and then all she could think about was how much she wished she had a home. Sure, she may be living with Puck, but that wasn't her home. Finn's house had never been her home either. And if she really, really thought about it, the Fabray household was just that. A house. She realised she was getting sick of putting on a front. She was letting her guard down, and taking off the mask she always wore around everyone. Even herself. She was evidently a fantastic actress as she had even been able to fool herself that she was happy where she was.

If she looked at her life hard enough she could see it was all lies and pretences. What did she ever really care about being popular for anyway? She wished she had discovered this sooner, and the people of glee club, too. They were helping her see things properly, although she knew she'd have trouble admitting that for a long time. In many ways her bitchy side was her, but only because she had invented that side of herself, and she knew it would be a struggle to shake it off, but she was willing to try if it meant she could feel okay in her own skin for once.

But first she'd have to deal with these strange new emotions. Right now it was longing, and jealousy. She longed to have somewhere she really felt comfortable, and longed for someone she could be comfortable with. Someone who she could be the new Quinn around. And she was insanely jealous of her fellow club members who all seemed to have that. They didn't care what people thought of them. At least, not enough to stop being who they were. Kurt, for example. He was so very gay, and everyone knew. He got bullied for it a lot, but he never once tried to hide it, or deny it. Even Berry seemed happy, despite having no friends and being incredibly short and annoying. She never lied to anyone about herself or her beliefs no matter how many slushies were thrown her way. Quinn knew this from experience, and she begrudgingly had to admire the honesty and passion the brunette had for everything she did. Quinn was beginning to understand that happiness came from being yourself, but she didn't like the fact that it really seemed as though it would cost her. It would probably cost her everything she had ever worked for until now.

The thing that was confusing Quinn the most was the concern she felt for Mercedes. Initially she had been outraged that two people so low in the school's popularity hierarchy were suddenly at the top and in her place as Cheerios, but not she remembered how hard it was. As a Cheerio you would bend over backwards to keep Coach Sylvester happy. Hell, if she asked you to, you'd probably jump from the top of a pyramid without a catcher, because the physical pain would be more bearable than the fury the woman was capable of unleashing.

Quinn was standing in the cafeteria trying to work out where she could sit today. She found herself starting towards the cheerleaders' table. She still did this every lunch time. Old habits die hard. She wasn't one of them anymore. She no longer truly fit in with any of the groups now.

She was contemplating smuggling her food out of the cafeteria and eating in the toilets or the choir room or something when Kurt's shrill voice caught her attention. She couldn't hear what was being said, but Kurt looked thoroughly pissed off and Mercedes seemed unable to look at him properly.

She continued to watch as Kurt left her standing there alone and join the Cheerios' table. Mercedes and Kurt were practically joined at the hop, completely inseparable much alike Brittany and Santana, but there they were seemingly fighting over food of all things.

Mercedes finally pulled herself together and turned to Brittany and Santana. Quinn was worried. It was though she was looking to them for advice. Something was definitely wrong.

When Quinn saw Mercedes' forlorn expression and heard Brittany say something about a 'teaspoon of sand' it suddenly clicked. Miss. Sylvester was trying to put the big girl on a diet to lose weight. Mercedes walked away from the couple still in line, abandoning her lunch tray entirely. Rage coursed through Quinn. She marched to the 'gleek' table and sat down in the one remaining seat and stared menacingly at her food, paying no mind to the other club members around her. She would have to talk to Mercedes about this, try to talk her out of it. It wasn't worth it. And she most definitely had to talk to the Coach. She was sick of that woman governing peoples' lives with her bullying.

She was so deep in her thoughts on how to exact her revenge on the cheerleading coach that she wasn't awate she was being spoken to.

"Hey," A small finger jabbed her in the ribs painfully.

"Watch it," Quinn muttered warningly.

"I know you're always rude to me, Quinn, but don't be rude to Tina. She asked you a question." The diva said, over pronouncing every word disdainfully. Jesse was on the side of Rachel, looking bored. Quinn glared at him, then turned her attention to the quiet Asian girl opposite her.

"Go on," She said as nicely she could. She smiled, too. At least... she tried to smile, but feared that it came off as more of a grimace. She really was trying to be nicer, but she was still angry with Kurt and B and S and Miss. Sylvester.

"I was just wondering what you thought of Kurt's performance the other day?" Tina asked cautiously. Quinn could feel Rachel's eyes boring into the side of her head with the silent threat; Be nice.

"I thought it was great. His voice really suited it. I like Burt Bacharach, already, so it was hard for me not to enjoy it, really..." Quinn answered. Four pairs of eyes turned to fix her with a look of confusion.

"Y-y-you're complimenting someone?" Tina's stutter had made a comeback she was so shocked.

"You like Burt Bacharach?" Rachel asked, a bemused expression on her face. She sounded surprised, but pleasantly so. Even Jesse had tuned into the conversation, a look of mile interest settling on his features. Quinn narrowed her eyes at him again, but he remained oblivious.

"Of course I do!" Quinn replied indignantly. "I know Dusty Springfield's version of 'A House is Not a Home' incredibly well, actually." There was a stunned silence.

"I never thought you would like that kind of music..." Artie said thoughtfully. Quinn was getting irritated now. They were all acing like they knew her, when they really, really didn't.

"Oh?" She questioned icily. Artie gulped. "What kind of music do you think I like, then?"

"Um... I guess I've never really thought about it. I sort of thought you've be more into modern pop. What with being a Cheerio and everything," He said simply. He was blushing madly, clearly afraid of her reaction. She didn't want people to be afraid of her, and the fact that people clearly still were was making her angrier.

"I was a cheerleader. Not anymore. You shouldn't be so quick to judge. Unlike the rest of the Cheerios, I am actually quite intelligent. And that goes for my musical tastes too. Do none of you know what my glee audition song was?" She was met with a long and uncomfortable silence. She sighed in frustration.

"So don't be so quick to judge me, then." She snapped, and rose from the table, no longer in the mood for food or her team mates. As she was leaving she heard Artie whisper "So what was her song then?" She whirled around in a flurry of long blonde hair.

"Say a Little Prayer. Aretha Franklin."

"Soul." Rachel stated. There was a faint and unreadable smile on her lips as she and Quinn locked eyes. Quinn nodded once primly and swept out of the cafeteria.

A Minute passed in silence as no one knew quite what to say.

"I'll go after her," Rachel said, softly. She received some very strange looks from the others around the table and remembered she wasn't supposed to want anything to do with the pregnant girl, given their tumultuous past.

"Well, no one else is taking the responsibility, and we did upset her. I mean, of all people to judge, we are judged the most so it's nothing buy hypocritical that we did it back to her! She has every right to be upset! Not to mention she's all hormonal and... and stuff..." Rachel trailed off, berating herself. 'And stuff' How inarticulate, she thought. She kissed Jesse on the lips distractedly and whirled around, following in Quinn's footsteps.

"Is anyone else weirded out by that?" Artie asked suspiciously, looking to Tina. Tina shrugged and without saying goodbye, Jesse left the table. He had nothing to say to these talentless fools, anyway.

Quinn wasn't sure what she was doing, but she was angry now. Not angry at the others. It was an easy assumption to make. Most of the Cheerios were described in the way that Artie has said, and quite accurately, too. So, no, she wasn't angry at them, but at herself for ever letting herself be associated with that kind of thing. She wished she hadn't spent so much of her life lying to everyone.

And she was really worried about Mercedes. Quinn knew how it felt to feel fat all the time, and Mercedes definitely did not need any more of her already low self-confidence taken away by Coach Sylvester.

She found herself in the choir room, and thought that perhaps if she threw herself into the dance steps she needed to rehearse for glee that afternoon, she might be able to distract herself from her worries for the rest of lunch. But dancing wasn't helping. She plonked herself wearily down on the piano stool, sighing heavily. Perhaps singing would help her. She had never been very confidant when it came to singing, which is why she never went for any solos and was content with just doing backing vocals. But that didn't mean she could get away with not practicing. Besides, working on her confidence surely wouldn't be a bad thing.

She ran through the list of songs she had to learn for glee but could not choose. Eventually she gave up and put her headphones in, choosing 'shuffle' mode on her MP3 player. A song that really hit home began to play, and Quinn almost felt as though it was playing for a reason. She opened her mouth and began to sing along, her breathy voice contrasting beautifully with the way it was actually sung.

"I pulled into Nazareth, I was feelin' 'bout half past dead,

I just need some place where I can rest my head.

'Hey, Mister, can you tell me where a girl might find a bed?'

He just grinned and shook my hand and 'No!' was all he said!"

She was dancing now too, her feet guiding her gracefully across the floor, even when pregnant the moves came naturally to her. She closed her eyes as she started the chorus, focusing solely on the music.

Rachel had moved down the corridor from the cafeteria trying to work out where the blonde had gone. She passed the auditorium, glancing in, but the jazz ensemble was rehearsing. She couldn't imagine that Quinn would try to seek refuge in there if it was otherwise occupied, so, on she went. The next on her list was Quinn's locker. She wasn't there either and Rachel sighed in frustration, turning into the girls' bathroom, praying she was here. Alas, no hormonal pregnant girl. All the stalls were empty.

The choir room. Rachel thought decidedly. She was sure that was where Quinn had gone. She marched decisively along the corridors and was about to enter the room dramatically when she saw who she had been looking for.

Quinn was stood in the centre of the room, facing away from the door. Rachel quietly opened the door, not wanting to make the other girl jump, but Quinn didn't even seem to notice. Rachel shut the door behind her, and took a tentative step forwards.

"Quinn?" She questioned. Quinn did not respond. Rachel didn't take kindly to being ignored – no matter how used to it she was, it still irked her – and she pursed her lips irritably.

"Qui-" She tried again, but stopped as Quinn replied. In song.

"I pulled into Nazareth, I was feelin' 'bout half past dead," The blond sang. Rachel stopped mid-step. She had never really heard Quinn sing before. She had always sung with others, always in the background. 'Swaying like props', as Quinn had once put it. Now she took the spotlight, and owned the stage.

"I just need some place where I can rest my head.

'Hey, mister, can you tell me where a girl might find a bed?'

He just grinned and shook my hand and 'No,' was all he said!"

Rachel watched, entranced by the a cappella performance before her. She knew Quinn could dance well, and still could even after she fell pregnant, but this was different. There was raw emotion in Quinn's voice, and whilst it wasn't strong in the way Rachel's was, it had its own unique beauty to it.

Quinn was still seemingly ignoring Rachel's presence and when the blonde turned a little, Rachel understood why. She could now she the headphone cables trailing from the girl's ears and leading to the MP3 player clutched tightly in her left hand, and it all made sense again. She was sure without a doubt that Quinn would stop if she knew she was being watched. So Rachel kept still, feeling a little weird for her voyeurism. She wished desperately that she could see Quinn's face, as she was sure it would make this better than it already was.

"I picked up my bag,

I went lookin' for a place to hide

When I saw Carmen and the devil

Walkin' side by side," Quinn sung with that wonderfully smoky voice of hers. Oh no, Rachel thought. There it was again. This always seemed to happen this way.

It happened when she first head Finn sing, it happened when Noah showed his male lead potential with 'Sweet Caroline'. It had certainly happened when she met Jesse and they sung 'Hello' together, and now here she was watching Quinn Fabray perform 'The Weight' and it was happening all over again. More so than ever before.

"I said, 'Hey, Carmen, come on let's go down town?'

She said, 'I gotta go but my friend can stick around!'

So!

Take a load off Fannie,

Take a load for free,

Take a load off Fannie,

Then hey yeah yeah...

Put the weight on me!" Quinn's voice broke slightly with emotion as she sung the line, but she held the note well nonetheless. Rachel's knees went a little weak and the lump in her throat intensified tenfold. The energy and emotion Quinn was pouring into her performance was incredible. She'd never seen anything like it. And she knew that it was because this was real. No matter how convincing Rachel's acting was, it was always a pretence. Quinn was singing with her heart and soul, real feeling, not emulated feelings, and she was doing it to help her. This is what music is all about, Rachel thought.

And then she discovered with horror that she had a crush on Quinn Fabray.