Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"

A/N: The prompt for this one was: Faberry one-shot that starts out Finchel where McKinley has its first ever High Sadie Hawkins Dance where Rachel refuses to participate in something that lowers women, and Quinn wants to ask her out.

This is set somewhere after "Michael" but before "On My Way", basically Finchel are engaged but haven't tried to get married yet and Quinn's not in the chair.

The Sadie Hawkins Dance

It was announced on Monday that there was going to be a dance to raise money for the library to fix the damage and replace the books that were destroyed in the fire that arson investigators had said started in the Fiction-M Section. That much was all well and good as far as Rachel had been concerned. She enjoyed dances as much as any girl, but then it was announced that it was a Sadie Hawkins Dance. That she did not appreciate.

They were in the choir room, early for Glee Club the next day when Finn said, "So I went to go pick up the tickets to this dance thing but they wouldn't let me buy 'em cuz I'm a dude or whatever and they said something about a girl named Sadie and I don't know who that is but apparently the idea is that the girls ask the guys to the dance, so…"

"And we won't be going," Rachel interrupted him.

"What?" he responded quickly, "Why not? Did… did I do something?"

"No, Finn," Rachel said, "we're fine. I just refuse to take part in something that reinforces archaic gender roles. It's insulting to women."

"No, it's not," Finn countered, "Cuz see, the girls ask the guys. It's like totally effeminate and stuff."

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Firstly, you mean feminist, and secondly, it isn't feminist because it passively reinforces the stereotype of the traditional boy-girl paradigm by saying that 364 days out of the year women are to be subservient to men and have to wait to be asked on a date but on this one special day of the year women are allowed by their male counterparts to take the lead in their relationship. It's insulting and degrading to strong, independent women everywhere and I won't be a part of it. I didn't need permission from anyone when I asked Sam to Prom last year."

"Yeah, I really don't like to think about that night too much," Finn said.

"Yes, well, I can understand that. You and Jesse did rather humiliate yourselves that night," Rachel said, "not to mention embarrassing Quinn and myself, but all-in-all I look back on the night pretty fondly. All of my friends were there, until some of them got thrown out, we all looked great, we danced and sang and had lots of fun."

"But you were with Jesse," Finn said softly but not so softly that Rachel didn't hear it.

"And what?" she responded, "Am I not allowed to have fond memories that don't center around you?"

"No, that's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I just mean that… it wasn't perfect because we weren't there together and this dance could be if you would just get over whatever it is about asking me that you don't like," Finn said.

"Get over?" Rachel echoed indignantly, "You know what Finn? The only reason that Prom isn't a perfect memory for me is because you chose to start a fight with Jesse because you imagined him to be doing something offensive. In point of fact, all Jesse was actually doing was telling me that he thought I was exceptionally beautiful when I laugh. That was what got you thrown out of Prom and thus sullied a wonderful night. And I'll not as you say 'get over' my ethical and political beliefs so that you can try again to have some perfect high school memory. If you wish to go, then go, but I'll not be joining you nor do I believe that I'll be by your house tomorrow night either."

"Wait," Finn said, "So if another girl asks me to the dance, I can say yes?"

"Excuse me?" Rachel said loudly enough to grab the attention of everyone in the room and most of the people in the hallway outside it as well. She shot up out her chair to stand over him. "How could you even think that it was okay to ask if you could accept a date from another woman?"

"You said-"

"I said you could go to the dance," Rachel said, "I meant, either alone or with your friends. The fact that you could even entertain the idea of going on a date with anyone else…" Rachel held up her left hand, "You and I clearly have very different ideas of what this ring means," Rachel quickly slid it off her finger, "and you should take it back until you can be sure that our definitions of marriage are the same." She held the ring out to him but he just stood there looking angry her for some reason. When he wouldn't take it from her, she threw it at him bouncing it off his chest and stormed out.

X X X X X

Two hours later, Rachel was at home, flopped out on her bed, face down, crying her eyes out. Her fathers hadn't made it home yet. Her phone had rung several times, mostly Kurt, but she hadn't felt ready to answer questions or talk about anything yet so she had ignored it. She'd worked through being angry at Finn and hurt by him entertaining the notion of dating someone else and she was just coming around to feeling stupid for not just saying yes to the stupid dance in the first place when her phone buzzed again. She was expecting to hear Kurt's voice singing "Le Jazz Hot" or Mercedes singing "Ain't No Way" from the weekend they'd played around with home recording equipment, but instead it was TLC singing "Unpretty".

Rachel grabbed her phone. "Quinn?"

"Rachel, thank God," Quinn said with obvious relief in her voice, "Are you okay? We've been calling for hours."

"I'm fine, Quinn. I just don't feel like talking on the phone, okay? I'll see…"

"Good," Quinn interrupted, "because I'm standing outside your house with two armloads of vegan junk food and movies. I can't even lift my hand up far enough to ring the doorbell, so come let me in."

"You're what? You're here?" Rachel finally pushed herself up off the bed to look out the window. Because of the angle from where she lay, she couldn't see Quinn but parked in the driveway behind her car was Quinn's red Beetle. "I'll be right there," Rachel said hanging up the phone. Rachel made her way out of her room, down the stairs to the front door yanking it open. There on the porch, as she'd promised, was Quinn bearing multiple bags full of groceries.

"You're still in your school clothes," Quinn said as Rachel waved her in, "Where's the kitchen?"

"This way," Rachel said leading Quinn in the right direction, "and what should I be wearing?"

"You don't wallow about a break-up in a dress and flats," Quinn said, "You wear sweats or pajamas or yoga pants, whatever you have that comfortable. Go change. I've got three flavors of vegan ice cream, and we'll make vegan chocolate chip cookies and vegan brownies and pig out while watching movies."

As smile stretched across Rachel's weary face, "Quinn, you don't have to do all this," she said.

"Of course, I do," Quinn said, "This is what friends do when they break up with someone. You didn't do anything like this the last time you and Finn broke up?"

"I…" Rachel bit her bottom lip and looked down, "Last time, I, uh, I didn't have…"

Rachel trailed off and Quinn figured it out, "You didn't have any friends," she said. She quickly set everything down and closed the distance between them wrapping Rachel in a hug which Rachel quickly returned. "I'm sorry you had to go through this alone before, but you're never going to be alone again, do you understand me?" Rachel nodded against Quinn's shoulder. "Now go put on something comfortable, sweetie, then get back down here and help me because I've never baked vegan cookies before and somehow I suspect you have."

"I have," Rachel said, "I shall return."

X X X X X

Twenty five minutes later the cookies were baked, the brownies were in the oven, and the non-dairy ice cream had been served, strawberry for Quinn, coffee for Rachel, and the girls were about to settle in to pig out but first Rachel was looking over the stack of DVDs that Quinn had brought along. "I've seen most of these," Rachel said, "Except for… What's Imagine Me and You? I mean, I'm familiar with the classic Turtles' song obviously, but…"

"I don't know," Quinn said, "Brittany gave it to me a couple of weeks ago, told me I needed to watch it with you. She wouldn't say why exactly. I hadn't even given the movie another thought until I was loading up to come over here."

"Is Brittany's taste in movies reliable?" Rachel asked.

"Usually," Quinn said, "She has a strange affinity for the High School Musical movies but I think that's just because she had a crush on Zac Efron… or Vanessa Hudgens… or possibly both." Quinn looked over to Rachel to see biting her bottom lip, obviously blushing. "Oh my God!" Quinn exclaimed suddenly, "You have a crush on Zac Efron."

"I…" Rachel gasped, "I do not!"

"You so do," Quinn said with a huge smile on her face.

"Shut up," Rachel said barely suppressing the urge to laugh, "I was twelve years old when High School Musical came out. Of course I had a crush on him."

"Uh huh," Quinn said, "Sure I'm sure you had a crush on him. Yes, I'm entirely convinced that it's past tense."

"Aren't you meant to be making me feel better?" Rachel said with a big fake pout on her face.

"Just because you aren't laughing, Rachel, doesn't mean I don't know you don't want to," Quinn said, "Ergo, I am making you feel better."

Rachel was fighting a losing battle with the smile stretching across her face. "Can we watch this?" Rachel asked holding up the DVD case that somehow started them down this line of conversation, "It's not going to have talking animals in or anything so horrible as that, is it?"

"It should be fine," Quinn said.

X X X X X

When the credits began to roll, Quinn looked over to Rachel who was staring open-mouthed at the TV screen. "Rachel, are you alright?"

"I…" was all that came out of her mouth. She still hadn't moved or looked away from the rolling text on screen.

"Did you not like it?" Quinn said, "We can watch something else, one of your musicals if you want."

"I… my…"

"Rachel, look at me," Quinn said, "Please look at me." At some length, Rachel finally turned away from the TV to look at Quinn. "Is something the matter? Did the movie upset you? I mean…"

"That was my life," Rachel said.

"What do you mean?" Quinn said.

"That," Rachel pointed back at the TV which was now back to the DVD main menu, "That was 95 minutes of my life. I am Rachel. Finn is Heck, and I'm not in love with Finn anymore than she was with Heck. It was… we were just comfortable with each other. It was comfortable companionship, nothing more, and I was going to marry him just like that Rachel did. I can't settle for comfortable, Quinn, I'm an artist. Comfortable isn't good enough, comfortable doesn't win Tonys." Rachel suddenly popped up off the couch and started pacing the room. "Before you showed up today, I was already halfway to taking him back already and he hadn't even tried. How did I get like this? This mopey, little love sick girl? Who is that? She's not Rachel Berry, that's for certain." Rachel looked back to the couch were Quinn was still sat with a proud grin on her face. "What?" Rachel asked.

"Welcome back," Quinn said.

"Back?" Rachel looked at her confused, "What?"

"Like you said," Quinn replied, "The girl walking around here the last few months, singing "Without You", getting engaged to her high school boyfriend, she's not the Rachel Berry I knew and admired. I'm glad to see you again."

"Admired?"

"Are you just going to keep repeating the things I say all night? Because if so that could get entertaining really quickly," Rachel remained silent, "Yes, Rachel I admire you. I admire your talent, your drive, your ambition, and most of all I admire the way you've always taken everything that school has thrown at you, literally and figuratively, and never let it get you down. That's why this whole Finn thing had me so distressed with you. It felt like you were getting yourself so far down over, let's face it, a thoroughly average guy, and you deserve so much more than that, more than him."

"I know," Rachel said, not even slightly convincing herself much less Quinn, "I just… What if… what if I can't do better? What if no one else wants me? He could be my only shot at…"

"He's not," Quinn interrupted, "There are other people out there that are ready, willing, and able to love everything about you, the good and the bad, people who won't make you feel bad for being ambitious and driven to succeed, who won't talk down to you constantly, and I'm sorry but people who aren't going to peak in high school."

"And where are all these people, Quinn? What are they waiting for?"

"One of them is sitting right in front of you," Quinn said. Rachel looked confused momentarily, "If Brittany had wanted you to see the movie so that you could see the parallels to your life then she'd have given it to you, but she didn't. She gave it to me so that we would watch it together. You're not the only one who just had her life played out on screen. Hi, my name's Lucy, which is close enough to Luce, and I'm crazy about a straight girl named Rachel and I don't know what to do about it other than just be your friend and be satisfied with that."

Rachel's mouth gaped open at this confession. The words hung heavy in the air between them. Rachel eventually shook off her stunned expression and said, "Really?" Quinn nodded, "And were you ever going to tell me?"

"I honestly don't know," Quinn said, "I kinda thought I'd wait and see how things went when we were off to college. Yale's not that far away from New York, you know?"

"Just under eighty miles, a scant two hour bus ride," Rachel said, "Yes, I may have looked that up as well."

"I just… I really like being your friend, Rachel. You know, we went through so much to get to where we are, I didn't want to risk making things weird between us by telling you about feelings I didn't think you could or would reciprocate. I mean, I get that you're straight and all. I just thought you might get into an experimental phase in college like a lot of girls do, and…"

"Who said I was straight?" Rachel asked.

Quinn furrowed her brow and said, "Um, I dunno, Finn, Jesse, and Puck. Oh, and Sam… and Blaine… Mr. Schuester."

"Oh, yes," Rachel said, "and what did Brittany have to say on the subject of my sexuality?"

Quinn's famous arched eyebrow shot up, "What would Brittany have to say on the subject?"

"Being the only girl that we both know that I've kissed, I'd imagine that she would be a prime source of knowledge and might well dissuade you of your heteronormative assumptions." Quinn said nothing, so Rachel filled in the blanks, "It was last year during the brief Bieber Fever outbreak at school when I was trying to make myself into a fashion icon. She was at my house looking through my clothes and sort of shocked me by changing in front of me, and well, she's incredibly sexy and she caught me staring, and proceeded to kiss the life out of me. An hour or so later, we were disrupted by the arrival of my fathers. Once we were apart, I managed to remember that she was with Artie at the time and put a stop to it."

Quinn smiled and said, "You little hussy. Wait, you said Brittany was the only one that we both knew. There were others?"

Rachel grinned and finally sat back down next to Quinn, "The others were all at Theater Camp, the summer before sophomore year," she said, "It's practically a summer camp tradition. None of them were particularly skilled, but then I probably wasn't either. Up to that point my only experience was when I had kissed Jacob Ben Israel when we were five years old."

"That's…"

"Yes," Rachel said, "that's why he's obsessed with me. To my knowledge, I'm still the only girl he's ever kissed, but that's all wildly beside the point. The point is that I won't have an experimental phase in college. I don't need one to know that I'm attracted to women as well as men."

"Oh yeah?" Quinn said, smiling as she shifted her weight in her seat to close the space between them. "Have you kissed more girls or guys?"

"Hmmm," Rachel hummed as she too leaned in towards Quinn, "Counting Jacob, Finn, Noah, Jesse, and Blaine, I never kissed Sam and definitely not Mr. Schuester," Rachel shuttered at that thought as she tipped her head up bringing their mouths close together, "versus, Brittany, Theresa, Amanda, Jenni, and Caroline. Right now the scales are even though I suspect that won't last much longer."

"Wow, ten people, huh? So you're kind of this secret make out bandit, huh?" Quinn said.

"You might say that," Rachel said shifting up onto her knees to bring herself eye to eye with Quinn, "So am I going to have to steal a kiss from you or what?"

Quinn shrugged and said, "Thought I'd build up the anticipation a bit. That way I don't end up just another notch in your lipstick case."

"Quinn, you could never be…"

The rest of the sentiment was cut off by Quinn's lips pressed firmly against her own.

X X X X X

An hour later their make out session had migrated up to Rachel's bedroom. It had already been cleared with all necessary parents that Quinn was staying over despite it being a school night. Exceptions had been made for a friend in extreme distress over a break-up. Although, Rachel didn't feel distressed at the moment, she felt ridiculously happy, happier than she could recall being in some time, not counting performances.

"So I really want to ask you out," Quinn said breaking away from Rachel.

"Okay," Rachel said, "So do it. Are you perhaps thinking I might not say yes?"

Quinn chuckled, "Fair enough, Rachel Berry, will you go to Prom with me?"

"You mean the Sadie Hawkins thing, because I…"

"No," Quinn shook her head, "I mean Prom."

"But that's months from now," Rachel said.

"I know," Quinn said, "I think you need to take the time to process and really deal with your break-up. Finn was such a huge part of your life for so long. I mean hell ten hours ago you were engaged to the guy. You need time to get your head around that and I need to let you, because I want this too much to go about it the wrong way, okay?"

Rachel nodded, "You're right," she said, "of course you're right. When aren't you?" Quinn didn't answer just looked at Rachel as she cast her eyes down in contemplation. "You've always had my best interest in mind, Quinn. I realize that now, even before we were friends. Last year when we were working on that song for Regionals, when you told me I didn't belong here and not to get distracted by Finn… I never said thank you."

"And you don't have to," Quinn said.

"I do," Rachel said looking back up at Quinn, "And I'll do it by having your best interests in mind from now on. So we'll take this slowly and I'll deal with breaking up with Finn, after which time, yes, Quinn I'd love to go to Prom with you." Quinn smiled and kissed her briefly, chastely. "Promise me one thing?"

"What's that?" Quinn asked.

"Kiss me good luck at Regionals?"

"I doubt you'll need luck, but of course I will," Quinn said, "What are you thinking about singing?"

"There's a song called 'Here's to Us' by Halestorm that I think will showcase my voice very well and give us an advantage over The Warblers," Rachel said, "Which will now be dedicated to and sung to you, just so you know."

"C'mere," Quinn said, pulling Rachel back into another kiss.