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Best Prom Ever

"Ladies and gentlemen, your 2012 Prom Queen… Quinn Fabray!"

She didn't want this. She hadn't campaigned. No posters. No buttons. No schmoozing and ass kissing for votes. The students of McKinley High had shown her last year just exactly how much they thought of Prom Royalty and she had never felt so stupid in her whole life as when they announced Kurt as Prom Queen.

It was all a big fucking joke to them, and Quinn was certain that's what this was too. They probably voted Finn Prom King so that they could all have a laugh at the guy who was a notoriously terrible dancer being forced to dance with the girl in the wheelchair.

Quinn was still in the stupid chair when according to everyone she should be back up and walking by now. There had been no permanent damage to her spine nor any nerve damage, so there was no physiological reason why she couldn't walk and in fact she had sensation in her legs but she just couldn't will them to move and couldn't maintain her balance. She'd done all the physical therapy her body could managed but she still couldn't take more than one or two steps without face planting.

The crowd parted like the sea to make way for Quinn to get to the stage and accept the crown that she'd once desired so much but now felt like a joke to her. Reluctantly, Quinn wheeled herself towards the stage, but when she got there she realize that the eighteen inch high platform wasn't wheelchair accessible. She looked around for a low point where she could possibly bump herself up but she knew there wasn't one. Mike and Sam pushed their way through the crowd, presumably to hoist her up to the stage but she waved them off. She decided she wasn't going to sit and endure this. She held out a hand and waved Figgins over to her and then held out her hand for crown he had in hand.

Once she had it, she turned to wheel herself out of the gym as quickly as she could, but getting out wasn't nearly as easy as getting in. The crowd had knit itself back together, presumably in anticipation of the payoff of their joke.

Quinn sighed and turned once more the try to push out a side door which was much closer than the main doors. So what if going through it would set off the fire alarm? She really couldn't care less.

She'd only made it a couple of feet towards her escape before Figgins spoke again and she tried to ignore whatever was going to come out of his mouth but she was sort of right up against the speakers so that was impossible. "And your 2012 Prom King… Rachel Berry."

Oh God! Quinn thought. Her mind was suddenly flooded with the words Tranny Prom and Man Hands and RuPaul and a million other things that she's said and never really apologized. She knew Rachel had long since forgiven her for them but that didn't mean they didn't still hurt.

Quinn heard a choked sob come from the stage and laughter from the audience and then she saw Rachel's retreating form deserting the stage in the opposite direction from where Quinn had been trying to leave.

Without a thought, Quinn took off after her. Fortunately, for Quinn she had a few inches on Rachel and much more experience running from her years as a Cheerio so she was closing the distance between them quickly and Quinn caught up to her just before Rachel pushed out the door. "Rachel, don't run," Quinn implored as she caught Rachel's hand in hers. "You've always withstood this place like no one else." Rachel turned back to look at her with a look of absolute shock on her face but Quinn wasn't thinking about that yet. "You've gone through so much at this school. I've put you through so much and I'm so sorry for that, but you've always endured so well. You never broke no matter how terrible I was to you, don't let them break you now when we're so close to being out of here."

"Q-Quinn," Rachel stammered, "You chased after me."

"Um, yeah," she said, "I just don't want you to let them get to you. You've always been stronger than all of them."

"No, I-I mean, yes," Rachel said, "but what I mean is you chased me… on foot. Quinn, where's your wheelchair?"

Suddenly, Quinn looked down and for the first time realized exactly what she had done. When Rachel had fled the stage, Quinn had jump (not stood, but actually jumped) out of her chair and raced over halfway across the gymnasium and now stood perfectly fine in front of Rachel. "I… I don't know. I guess I had something worth getting up for. We can talk about it later," Quinn said, "Right now you have a crown to accept and after that I think you owe me a dance."

"You want to dance with me?" Rachel asked with a huge smile on her face.

"Who wouldn't want to dance with the Prom King?" Quinn said with a smile. Rachel smiled back biting her lower lip.

They made their way back to the stage together. Quinn finally donned the crown that she still hand in hand. The one that she'd given up on wanting a year ago but couldn't deny being happy at having won, even if it had been meant as a joke. Rachel walked up to Principal Figgins and silently assured him that she wanted the crown. He placed it on her head and she moved over to the microphone and spoke, "I'm terribly sorry for the emotional display, but I was just so overwhelmed that you all would honor me by making McKinley High's first ever female Prom King. Thank you all so much! Now if we could, I'd like to do what I know most of you out there would love to do, share a dance with our beautiful Prom Queen, Quinn Fabray."

Rachel stepped off the stage to stand in front Quinn and bowed extending her hand to Quinn. Quinn curtsied and accepted. Looking over Rachel's shoulder, Quinn was confused because it was supposed to be Mercedes singing "Please Don't Stop the Music" but Sam and Puck were both pulling their guitars on and quickly started playing Jack Johnson's "Better Together".

Quinn rolled her eyes when she caught Sam throwing her a wink. She looked down to catch Rachel staring up at her. "Best prom ever," Rachel said softly and Quinn couldn't argue her that in the least.