A/N: Thank you so much to all of you who have been leaving me the amazing reviews, I really, really appreciate them. I'm trying to do my best to follow the storyline that the show actually followed while throwing in my own twists at the same time obviously, but I can't get everything in there –I say this because the beginning of this chapter starts with Rachel having quit the club and having already joined up again, as well as Quinn already being off the Cheerios. So just not to confuse anyone. Hope you still like it :) –Kay.

Chapter 3-

Rachel was beginning to think that her crush on Finn was as pointless as any other crush she had in her life. Granted she really hadn't had that many, and maybe that was why with Finn she thought it would be different –they were totally musically compatible after all- but it didn't seem to be looking any better for her. The day that they had kissed in the auditorium before the welcome assembly a couple weeks ago wouldn't leave her mind. The fact that lately he seemed even more attached to Quinn than usual wasn't helping her to feel any better.

After Mr. Schuester had so cruelly given the Maria solo to Tina –when it was obviously destined to belong to one Rachel Berry- Rachel had quit the club, joining the school musical and landing the lead, naturally. It was where she belonged. Her talent was highlighted and properly appreciated, it was all the things that glee club wasn't giving her. At least, that's what she kept telling herself. It was a lot more lonely though, and she couldn't help but feel like even with Finn clinging to Quinn more lately, at least being in glee club he was there.

The other night when he'd taken her bowling, she had really thought that maybe she had a shot. When she'd jumped up and kissed him, he hadn't pushed her away, and after the fact he had practically begged her to join glee again. Of course, because it was him asking, she had, and for what? Only to find out that Quinn was pregnant and Finn only wanted her there for her talent. Devastated was the only emotion she could think to describe how she felt in the moment she found out. Any shot she had thought she had with Finn was completely lost in glee club's 'first official scandal', as Kurt called it.

Yet through her devastation –and anger, plenty of anger- instead of quitting glee club again like she thought she would, she suffered through it. So there she sat, through another day of rehearsals with Quinn singing her part. It was halfway through the first verse that abruptly the blonde rushed from the classroom, one arm wrapped around her stomach, another covering her mouth.

It was no secret already to the club that Quinn was pregnant, or much else of the school since Sue had found out and made a spectacle of kicking her off of the Cheerios and calling her a disgrace. Rachel remembered the way Quinn cried that day, the way Finn held her and tried to tell her it was okay even though he looked like he himself was far from okay. Now they were all getting used to her running out of rehearsals to empty the contents of her stomach.

Rachel looked at Finn who had rushed over to talk to Mr. Schue as soon as Quinn had left the room, probably saying something to look out for his pretty little girlfriend. Sam however seemed to get really edgy every time Quinn ran out the way she did. When he saw the look on her face he'd almost inch toward her as if he was going to be the one to comfort her and make her feel better. Now, letting her eyes focus on the blonde boy, Rachel realized that same uneasiness was there on his face now. Every couple of seconds his eyes would flick to the door to see if Quinn was coming back yet. The brunette got up from her seat and put a perfectly convincing smile on her face as she walked up beside him.

"You okay Sam?" she asked.

Sam raised a brow as he looked sideways at her and shifted on his feet, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You just look like you're kind of nervous or something." Rachel played off the statement with a light laugh to make it seem almost joking.

"I dunno why." Sam shrugged with one shoulder.

Rachel looked at him in a scrutinizing manner for a moment, receiving an odd look of confusion in return. The moment the door opened, Sam's eyes moved back to the blonde girl reentering the room. Quinn still looked a little green in the face and she still had an arm wrapped around her stomach. Finn hurried over to her, wrapping his arms around her and making sure she was okay. Rachel couldn't help but notice the way Sam's shoulders slumped the same way hers had a great many a time when she had witnessed the way Finn and Quinn were together. Did Sam like Quinn? Rachel moved her brown eyes back and forth between the two blondes for a moment, one giving the other full attention, the other barely acknowledging that. No way. she thought to herself.

When the bell rang, signaling their time to leave, Rachel rushed to keep up with Sam. She needed to test something.

"So Sam, this Friday night I'm having a musical movie marathon at my house. There will be popcorn and all sorts of good stuff, would you like to come?" she asked as she followed him down the hallway to his locker.

"Why are you talking to me Rachel?" he asked, "I mean, I get we're in glee together, but most times I make fun of how short you are behind your back and take Santana's advice to never talk to you so.. I don't get it."

For a moment she was verbally wounded, but after taking a deep breath she painted her typical, Rachel Berry smile on her face again.

"We're friends. Friends can have movie nights with friends can't they?" she offered.

Sam looked passed her down the hall and his jaw tightened. Rachel turned to glance over her shoulder just as Quinn and Finn were finally coming out of the choir room, their arms wound around each other. Hey eyes narrowed a little bit in thought before she turned to look at Sam again as he shut his locker.

"I think it'd be kinda weird Rach, sorry." He muttered, still looking at the blonde girl retreating down the hallway.

It was time to cut the beating around the bush that she was doing. She needed to get right down to the point to seal this plan that had the wheels in her head turning.

"Look Sam, it's obvious that you and I have something in common." She said.

Sam's eyes finally moved back to her, full of confusion, "And what's that exactly?"

"We both currently like someone that we can't have." She replied.

His eyes flicked down the hallway again just for an instant before looking back at her. He shifted on his feet and pursed his lips.

"So? What's your angle?" he asked.

"Jealousy." She said, and when she received a furrowed brow in response, she decided it would probably be best to go into further explanation, "I like Finn and it's pretty obvious you like Quinn. Now with all this baby drama involved I don't know how willing the two are to part from each other-"

"Let's not even bring the baby drama into this. Please." Sam mumbled looking down and swallowing thickly.

Rachel kinked a brow and stared at him silently for a minute before continuing in her previous explanation, "All we can do is try. If the two of us make it look like something's going on between us, they're bound to notice, and once they notice that means we'll have their attention. I should probably be feeling terrible about the fact that I'm willing to steal Finn away from the girl who's carrying his child-"

"Rachel." Sam snapped, giving her a glare.

She wasn't sure why he was so touchy about the pregnancy thing, maybe it was something he felt guilty about too and didn't want continuously brought up. She could understand that to a certain point.

"So are you in?" she asked, a tinge of hopefulness in her voice.

The blonde boy looked down the hall again and Rachel's impatience nearly had her snapping at him to stop stealing glances down that direction, but she controlled herself. She knew what it felt like to stand and witness that, to see it and wish she was the one that Finn was smiling down at and saying sweet things to. She imagined Sam felt the same way about being in Finn's shoes. After another moment of his face taking on a thoughtful expression, he looked at him.

"Fake date you to make them jealous right?" he clarified.

She nodded, "Precisely. Not only will this hopefully work to our advantage, it will totally give me great acting practice for the future."

Sam pursed his lips for a second and then nodded once, "Alright, I'll do it."

Rachel grinned and clapped her hands together as she bounced in place a little bit. Santana huffed out a sigh as she came out of the choir room door behind the smaller girl.

"Sam, I thought I told you not to talk to the gremlin." The Latina muttered with a sneer.

Rachel inched closer to Sam and grabbed a hold of his hand. It felt odd to hold his hand, and Sam must have felt that weirdness too because he hesitated before he squeezed her small hand back and met Santana's gaze.

"Sorry San, Rachel and I are kinda together now." He shrugged with a half smile.

Rachel was proud of him as he walked away from the dark haired girl gaping at them confusedly, even ignoring the questioning look that Puck gave him as he too came out of the choir room. Sam might have been able to pull this off better than she thought he could.

.

Quinn flinched a little bit as the obstetrician squirted the cool gel for the ultrasound onto her stomach. This was the first appointment she and Finn were going to together, she had already been to two on her own. If her calculations were right, based on when she'd slept with Sam at camp she was already at least three months pregnant, maybe even four. That would explain why there was already the tiniest hint of a bulge in her belly. Finn sat beside her on one of the rolling stools in the room and his hand squeezed onto hers. Today was the day they were finding out whether the baby was a boy or a girl. At first she had questioned Finn's excitement, but then after thinking about it she could understand. He thought it was his baby, of course he would be excited to find out what it actually was.

As anxious as she might have been to find out the sex of the baby, Quinn wasn't anywhere near whole heartedly into it. This baby now growing inside of her was slowly taking everything away from her. She had been completely humiliated when Coach Sylvester had kicked her off of the Cheerios and said the things that she had to her. All she had now was Finn and glee club, and glee club wasn't even on the list of things to make her look good. She didn't want to be 'that pregnant girl' at school. Sure, there were a few other girls on campus who were pregnant too, but it was different. Everyone knew who she was –captain of the Cheerios, president of the celibacy club, she'd made a name for herself. That name was totally destroyed now.

Of course, there had been that completely out of the blue, not to mention beyond strange phone call that she had gotten from Mr. Schuester's wife, Terri. Terri wanted her baby, which Quinn found a little odd considering the woman was supposed to be pregnant herself, but then she'd been informed of the details. A hysterical pregnancy. She wished that could be the case for herself, but the beating heart and moving little pea pod on the ultrasound monitor proved that point to definitely be false.

"It's a girl." The doctor announced with a small smile.

Quinn's eyes moved over to Finn beside her to measure his reaction. He was looking back at her, seeming to do the same thing, only he had more of a smile on his face than she did. She bit her lip and raised her eyebrows.

"A girl." She said.

Finn nodded, "A girl."

The gel was wiped off of her stomach and another appointment was made for a month later for another check up and ultrasound before the doctor told them they were free to go. Quinn let Finn go ahead of her to tell Mr. Schue in the waiting room the news so that she could ask the doctor for clarification on how far along she was. The doctor had looked at her like she might be crazy at first but then told her that she was fourteen weeks along, nearly four months. By the time Sectionals rolled around for glee club in a little less than two months –in December- her baby bump would be way farther out than she had ever wanted her stomach to be in her life. After muttering another thanks to the doctor she went out into the waiting room with Finn and Mr. Schue. Mr. Schue was only there for moral support, but for some reason –probably having to do with her plans to give her baby to Terri- looking at Mr. Schue made her feel uncomfortably guilty. It was a level of guilt she still didn't even quite feel with Finn, almost as if she had managed to convince herself too that Finn was actually the father of the baby.

Mr. Schue dropped them both off at the Fabray's house since Finn's truck had been parked there since right after school. Quinn immediately ran to the mailbox, seizing the medical bills she had been hiding from her parents. Obstetrician checkups were not cheap, and even though she had only gone to a couple on her own, they kept sending the bills again and again, awaiting their payment. She flashed the envelope to Finn, a frustrated look on her face.

"These keep coming Finn, I can't hide them from my mom and dad forever. One of these days they'll find them if they don't get paid off soon." She snapped.

Finn grimaced and ran a hand through his hair, "I've looked for jobs but it doesn't seem like anyone's hiring right now."

She shoved the envelope at him, pressing it against his chest.

"Look harder." She snapped before turning on her heel and going inside her house.

The next few days of the week and then the weekend went by agonizingly slow, but that seemed to be normal for just about every day now, Quinn noticed. After not getting anything from the doctor's office on Thursday and Friday, she had thought that maybe they were in the clear for a while, but then when the mail came that Saturday she barely had snuck the bill out of the mail sitting on the kitchen table before her mother sorted through it. That was what had initiated the fight between her and Finn on Monday morning, luckily they were alone in the choir room at the time.

"My mom was literally this close to finding the bill Finn!" she raised her voice, using her hand to make a gesture to how close her mom had actually been.

"I told you I've been looking for a job, but I can't find anything!" he argued, looking down at the most recent bill she'd thrown at him.

"And I told you to look harder! How do you expect to help me raise a baby when you can't even help me take care of things before she's even here?" she shouted, throwing her hands up in frustration.

Finn's face contorted into an expression of frustration as well, "I'm doing the best that I can Quinn, you could at least give me credit for trying!"

"Trying isn't getting these bills paid." She folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot impatiently, "If you can't work out this simple little thing, then maybe we should just split up."

With that she turned on her heel and stalked out of the choir room into the hallway. Seeing a couple of her old teammates in their Cheerios uniforms only made her frustration that much stronger, adding to it a sort of sadness too. Santana noticed her as she stalked down the hall and asked if she was okay, but Quinn just brushed off her best friend for the moment. She needed someone else to take this out on. Finn was acting like a child and you could only scold a child for so long. Where was Rachel when she needed someone to torture?

Quinn froze in her tracks in the center of the hall as she found exactly who she had been thinking about. Rachel. And she was… Quinn tilted her head to the side a little bit, a look of utter confusion coming to her face. With Sam? She didn't waste any more time on her way down the hall toward where the two of them were holding hands and smiling as they talked to each other.

"Sam." She got out through her teeth.

Sam's smile that had been directed at Rachel faltered a little bit as he looked up at her. He looked down at Rachel again and muttered something along the lines of how he would see her later after class then kissed her cheek. Quinn felt like gagging.

"What's up Q?" he asked.

"Q? Since when do you call me Q? And since when are you dating RuPaul?" she asked quickly.

"Her name's Rachel actually." Sam corrected, only making her more irritated. "Was there something you needed Quinn? I've gotta get to class."

The usual sweetness in the tone he used with her seemed to be lacking today. Could it actually be possible that he liked Rachel? No, there was no way. It couldn't be true. They were dating, but that didn't mean he actually liked her right? Though dating Rachel would practically be like committing social suicide, she couldn't understand why Sam would willingly do that when he was on the football team and glee club already destroyed some of his game. Maybe he really did like her… Quinn scowled in distaste momentarily and folded her arms, face forming into a sneer.

"Actually, I thought you might be interested to know that I've found someone who's going to adopt my daughter. That's all." She snapped, then turned to walk away from him.

It seemed like even less than a second after she had turned she heard his locker close and felt his hand around her wrist. He pulled her around the corner where there were less people passing by and looked down at her curiously.

"It's a girl?" he asked softly, and it was obvious he was only talking that quiet to prevent his voice from cracking.

Quinn couldn't help but relax a little bit. There was a certain vulnerability about Sam, and it was different than the whiny and childish vulnerability of Finn. Sam always seemed to show he cared, and even through that, through the fact that he was trying to seem strong and like he was this tough guy that could handle just about anything, he showed that he couldn't. It almost made Quinn feel bad. Almost.

She nodded slowly, looking down at their feet instead of at him, "Yeah, it's a girl."

One of Sam's hands reached out and rested on her barely there baby bump hidden underneath the loose white sweater she wore. Quinn swallowed and looked down at his hand. She found an odd sort of comfort in that, his touching her. Finn was always so fumbling and awkward. In most instances lately he didn't do much other than hug her or hold her hand. Even kissing her didn't happen that much anymore. It was like he was afraid of the whole idea of her being pregnant physically. Sam's hand was warm and calm against her stomach, it was so different in all kinds of good ways. She couldn't help but make all kinds of comparisons to Finn what with her recent frustrations with him. She shook her head a bit, clearing her thoughts and pushed his hand away from her stomach, looking around to make sure that no one walking by had actually noticed.

"Don't do that." She whispered harshly.

"Don't do what?" Sam questioned.

Quinn's eyes narrowed at him, "You know what. Don't try and be all.. comforting and sentimental with me. We're not together. I'm with Finn, this is mine and his baby."

Sam shook his head, "No."

"No?" Quinn raised both her eyebrows.

"Quinn, come on. You can't just keep this from Finn forever, you should just tell him. Then you and I can be together. I can take care of you." He said.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Finn's taking care of me just fine." She lied.

"And what about the baby? Is Finn really gonna take care her too?"

"Finn doesn't have to! Didn't you hear me? She's already got a family waiting for her, they'll be the ones to take care of her."

Sam's jaw tightened, his teeth clenching together as he shook his head and looked passed her for just a moment before his eyes met hers again.

"And you didn't think that maybe I deserved some kind of say in all of this? What if I don't want to give my baby up?" he countered.

Quinn's eyes narrowed and turned into an icy glare, her hands squeezing into fists at her sides, "You're not carrying this baby, you're not the one that has to deal with all the ridicule and the stares and the pain and the costs that come with this pregnancy. Finn is the father, and Finn deserves a better life than having to be a teenage dad. I deserve a better life than having to be a teenage mom. So no, you don't get a say. This is my choice."

Sam looked hurt for a moment and his mouth opened and closed a few times like he was trying to think of the right thing to say. Finally his expression changed to one that was pretty close to matching her own –frustrated, angry- still with that hurt mixed in.

"I won't let you." He said through his teeth.

Quinn felt tears stinging her eyes, a lump rising in her throat. She blinked a couple times and bit down on the inside of her cheek before speaking up again so she didn't immediately start crying.

"Fine. Go ahead then, Sam. Go tell everyone all about the mistake we made this summer, go tell them all that you're my baby's dad and that I'm lying to Finn. Just go and ruin my life further, go on, do it." She muttered, keeping her voice low both so to make sure she wasn't heard and to ensure that her voice didn't give her emotions away.

She could have blamed it on some kind of pregnancy hormone probably, but the fact of the matter was she really did feel hurt. She knew that it wasn't necessarily fair to Sam to keep him out of things the way that she was, but she thought that he of all people would have been the person to respect what she wanted, even more than she expected Finn to. It was a different level of expectation between the two. Sam's face fell and she could almost read the immediate regret that came across it.

"Quinn I'm-"

"Forget it." She cut him off and walked away from him, hurrying to the nearest girls room so she could lock herself in one of the stalls to cry on her own.