ADORED

Disclaimer:Even though this will be AU, I do not, have not, and will not own any of the characters unless they are an original character. All characters used belong to Ryan Murphy and FOX Company.

Summary: Rachel Berry and Quentin Fabray are shooting stars from two different worlds. One has her sights set on the stage while the other has his sights set on his latest challenge. We all know something big happens when two stars collide. Genderswap!Quinn. Rated M for mature language.

A/N: First time writing both Genderswap!Quinn and a story without a supernatural element. Go easy on me. And if anyone would like to be my beta, well, that would be awesome. Also, since this is AU, Shelby and Hiram are Rachel's parents, Quentin's parents actually care, and Beth obviously doesn't exist. (But that last one isn't so AU is it?) Also, updates might be sporadic. I cannot promise an update on a particular day, although I usually update during the week.

A/N2: Quentin's going to tend to call people by their last names. To me, it's a sign of lack of respect, and in this place in the story, he values no one other than himself.

A/N3: Thank you for the reviews and alerts! I see you all enjoy Rachel as a drummer. What else do you want for her personality? What about the other characters? And I apologise if the dialogue doesn't seem realistic. My friend told me that my dialogue is messed up because "you talk differently than most people".

Chapter 3: Blue Velvet

Rachel's POV

Since my first slushie facial, Santana and I had always been at odds. At first, I had tried to be cordial whenever she was in my vicinity, but it was rather difficult to be nice to Satan. Over the years, Puck had often times prevented me from doing something to provoke Santana even further, and for that I was grateful. From what he has told me, he tried to do the same with Santana, but the girl was stubborn and bull-headed.

The day after my performance with Quentin, I knew I was in trouble even before I saw the fiery Latina. At the end of our duet, my eyes landed upon the unholy trinity staring at me with looks of hatred and jealousy. Given the adrenaline laden state of my mind, my thoughts weren't processed properly. Thusly, I returned their gazes by pointing my sticks at them and winking.

I'll be the first to admit my stupidity.

The morning after my insolence, I walked into school feeling glad beyond belief that the time which I had to spend with Quentin was done with. I would no longer have to bear his wildly sexual remarks and deal with his cocky persona. There was more pep in my step than usual, and I was smiling.

And that's when the cheerleaders attacked.

One moment, I was walking to the school café. The next, I was being pulled inside a closet that I was conveniently walking past. As my mouth opened to scream, a hand went over my mouth, clamping it shut. The dim light coming from the closet's light bulb showed the outline of three vicious looking girls. Well, only two of them were vicious. The third seemed way too giddy.

Santana, who happened to be the one silencing my screams, smirked deviously at me. I backed away with wide eyes, only to bump into Kitty behind me.

"What are you guys – "

"Listen, RuPaul," Santana began, grabbing the collar of my shirt and tugging me closer to her. "In case you haven't gotten the memo, Quentin is off-limits."

"You and your manhands need to stay away from him." Kitty added.

"Unlike every other female at this place, I don't have any feelings for Quentin." I told them, brushing specs of dirt from my wardrobe.

"I thought Santa's elves weren't supposed to lie?" Three heads swiveled over to Brittany, whose head was tilted with a curious expression. Firstly, I was not that short! Secondly, did she truly think I was an elf?

Taking advantage of my distraction, Santana grabbed me by both collars and slammed me against the nearest wall. "Although I'm starting to think that you're a lesbian, I need to give you a thorough warning: stay away from Quentin." While I wanted to make a biting comment about the nature of the 'friendship' she had with Brittany, I decided it would be best for me to just smile and nod - which is exactly what I did. As they released me, I ran out the closet and down the hallway.

"Rachel!" Bounding my way was Finn with that ever present goofy smile on his face. He raised his hand in a wave. "Hi, Rachel."

"Hello, Finn! Are you looking for something?"

"I was looking for you actually. Could we walk?"

There I was, walking alongside the third most popular boy at McKinley. Why had the boys taken a sudden interest in associating with me? It couldn't possibly be my endearing personality. With a quick glance down the front of my shirt, it was revealed that my chest was still of ample size. What exactly was going on? Silently, we walked towards the dimly lit auditorium and up to the stage. On it was the average picnic blanket held down in its four corners by blazing orange candles. A little ways off, a small boom box played quiet music. Finn stood by it, awkwardly blushing as he fumbled to find his words.

Wait a second. "Finn Hudson," I began. "Is this a date?" How could that be possible?

His face lit up in a grin as he nodded his head slowly. "I don't know why, but I find you really attractive. When you sing it sounds like the angels, and I actually don't hate your bossiness." He shrugged. I gestured to the stage, unable to make myself coherent enough to say the right words. Finn took my speechlessness as a sign that he was doing a good job, so he stood up straighter and gave a cocky little grin.

"I cannot accept this. While the fire hazard is a pretty sight and that basket is probably filled with non-kosher foods that took you a while to find in the supermarket, I'm not okay with this, frankly because I don't trust you, or the company you keep. Who put you up to this?" My voice cracked a bit as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Rachel-"

I stomped my foot lightly to insinuate my seriousness. "Don't beat around the bush. Was it Santana? Quentin? Who told you to do this?"

Finn jumped down from the stage and walked over to me, a concerned look upon his face. He reached for me as he spoke. "I thought you would like this, Rach."

"How desperate do you think I am?" I yanked my arms from his grip and turned to exit the auditorium, tears threatening to spill over. Well that escalated quickly, I thought to myself, blindly stumbling past rows of velvet chairs as Finn called out my name behind me. It just made no sense. I understood Puck still caring for me even though our paths had taken us on different ladders of popularity. But Quentin flirting with me and allowing me to see a side of him that no one else got to see and Finn taking me out on a date? Someone's ulterior motive had to be in play, and I was the victim.

I stumbled out through the doors and ran right into someone's broad chest. "Sorry," I told the person half-heartedly, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"Rachel? Why are you crying?"

"Great, just the person I wanted to run into."

"This is the happiest you've been to see me. What's wrong?"

"Quentin, I am not in the mood to deal with you, or any of your friends."

"What have my friends done?"

Exasperated and quite frankly not giving a damn about how I looked with my mascara running down my face, I threw my hands up and glared at him.

"Why don't you ask your little girlfriends what happened, hm? Kidnapping me and coercing Finn into asking me out on a date? Did you really think I would fall for that?"

"Finn asked you out?"

"Yes, Finn led me to a little area in the auditorium where he had this cute, romantic lunch set up. Finn and romantic are two words that should never be in the same sentence unless the phrase 'is not' lies between them. That had Kitty written all over it."

Quentin grabbed my shoulders tightly and bent down to look me straight in the eye. His hazel eyes blazed as he spoke. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe the guy actually likes you?"

I scoffed and shook my head, laughing humourlessly. "Guys like him don't fall for girls like me." I told him, gesturing to my body. Before he could reply, I shrugged out from his grip and ran outside, leaning against the cold exterior of the school building. There were classes after lunch, and glee club at the end of the day, but they would be forgone today. There was no way I would be able to concentrate. I fished my phone from my pocket and dialed my mother's number.

Quentin's POV

Normally, I don't give two shits about nerdy girls crying in the hallways of school. Comfort is what friends and parents are for, not devilishly handsome boys who have no idea what their names are. Mean and self-centered, I know. But when said nerdy girl runs into me and happens to be Rachel, I take notice. I saw something in her during our performance that made me think that she was more than a bossy, extremely literate singer. When she wouldn't tell me what happened, there was only one other option. I ran into the auditorium after she stormed out and went straight up to Finn, who was leaning against the stage.

"'Sup, Q?" He nodded his head in a greeting. I stood in front of him, taking in the sight. Picnic blanket, candles, and a picnic basket.

"Dude, did someone put you up to this?" I asked him, gesturing to the stage.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I was talking to Kitty about Rachel, and she dared me to ask her out. I tried to."

Calmly, I grabbed him by his shoulders and slammed my fist into his face, more than likely shattering his nose. He groaned out in pain and swung wildly, but I grabbed his arm and pinned it behind his back, shoving his body against the stage.

"Dude!" he exclaimed in pain, writhing around.

"That's because I can't do that to Kitty and because you're an idiot." I shoved him once more for good measure and jogged out of the auditorium, looking for the girls. Seeing as how it was lunch break, I found them at our usual table in the cafeteria. Brittany, Santana, and Kitty were at the center. Santana happened to look up as I entered and patted the seat next to her. I sat next to her and leaned over, whispering in her ear.

"What did you do to Rachel?"

To the average person, it would have seemed as if her facial expression stayed the same. But animosity replaced the humour in her eyes, and she shook her head with a light laugh, grabbing one of my hands. "Now is not the time to talk about this, Q."

I took a deep breath, trying to regain my composure. She was right. The best place to talk about the treatment of Rachel was certainly not in the midst of the most popular kids in school. Bringing her up here would only do harm. So, I had to find a way to distract myself from the memory of her tear-stained face.

Luckily for me, the perfect opportunity dropped into my lap.

The new girl, Marley, happened to be walking down the aisle with her tray of food, headed to the table where all the other losers resided. Azimo and his buddies quickly formulated a plan; he stuck out his foot as she passed, and inevitably, she tripped over his outstretched leg. The contents of her plate - spaghetti and meatballs - flew into the air and then dropped onto her while her body dropped onto my lap. Trying to rein in my laughter, I helped her to her feet and gave her one of my patented smirks.

"Looks like you've fallen for me, Rose. I'm flattered."

Marley's face coloured with her blush as she looked around at my friends having a laugh at her expense. "I-I'm sorry. I tripped over something." she said with a pointed glance at Azimo, who winked at her, unashamed at her calling him out. I waved her apology off, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Let's go get you cleaned off, okay?"

Guiding her out of the cafe, I looked back at Santana and arched a brow, letting her know that we would most certainly continue our conversation later. "I don't have a change of clothes." Marley protested, and my attention went back to her. "I should just go home."

"Nonsense." I told her. "You can just borrow some of Santana's clothes."

I led her to Santana's locker and spun the combination, grabbed a few things and held them out to her. Marley looked at the clothes warily. "Don't you think these clothes are a little tight?"

I smirked and shrugged my shoulders. "I would hope so. Besides, would you rather walk around looking like the flying spaghetti monster than wear San's clothes for a day?"

Effectively convincing her, she went into the bathroom to change. I stood outside, not allowing anyone to enter, wanting to be the first to see her in the new digs. I knew Kitty was trying to convince her that she was grossly overweight, but Marley had a fantastic body. Seeing that in Santana's clothes was bound to make me, well, happy.

"I look like a - like Santana." Marley said as she walked out. She was wearing a tight white v-neck shirt and black skinnys. She leaned more towards loosely fitting clothing, so her curves were hidden most of the time. But this outfit revealed those and made me realise that she did, in fact, have boobs.

And this goes right in the spank bank, I thought to myself. She must have caught my wandering eyes - I wished they were wandering hands - and blushed, crossing her arms over her chest. "My eyes are up here, Quentin." she said with a nervous laugh. My gaze snapped back up to her face and I grinned.

"Sorry. I was told that I rarely think with something other than my - "

"Thank you, for that information!" she cut me off, waving her hands. I laughed and shook my head at her as the bell rang, signifying that lunch was over and we should be heading to class.

Walking backwards, I winked at her. "Hope to be seeing more of you soon, Rose." I wished I had gotten to talk to Santana about Rachel, but Marley had proved to be the best distraction, which was exactly what I needed. Screwing the lunch lady's daughter would probably be a fantasy for the likes of the Jacob Ben Israel types, but I was seriously considering my options.