Author's Note: I have no idea how classes work in the US because I'm English but I just made up classes I remember seeing in other fanfics. I didn't mean to make them so American but just go with it.

Quinn's day had been going pretty well. Finn had waited for her by her locker in the morning and carried her bag for her to their first class. Her eyes had met with Ray's during Spanish and he had sent her a small smile, which she only cared about because it meant he wasn't mad at her for leaving him alone in the bathroom.

At lunch they'd served her favourite meal (well, favourite out of the selection they offered) and she'd sat through lunch without starting an argument with Santana.

She even got an A+ on her American History essay.

Quinn's day had been going exceptionally well. That was until she got a call from her mother.

"Your father's called." Quinn stopped dead in her tracks.

Swallowing the lump that had suddenly risen in her throat she croaked out a response.

"What does he want?"

"He didn't really say. He wants to speak with you."

Quinn could feel her heart pumping faster and a tug of sharp longing in her diaphragm. What could he want to say? That he was sorry he said those things and had an affair? That he wanted to make it up to her?

Part of her wanted to call him up right that second and hear his voice again, but the other, still sensitive part wanted to refuse him completely. All he would do is remind her of Beth and those hellish months and she couldn't let those thoughts in or they'd consume her. She took a shaky breath.

"Why-why didn't he just call me?" She managed.

There was a short pause on the other end.

"He wants to talk to you in person."

Her stomach dropped. This was all too much. Practice had ended half an hour ago but she still looked around before letting her voice become vulnerable.

"When?" She asked wavering and soft.

"Tomorrow. Once you finish school." Judy sounded sympathetic and nervous.

Quinn's mind was racing at a hundred miles an hour and the corridor suddenly felt very hot.

"O-okay."

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Was her mother's reply.

"No it's-it's fine. I'll go."

"Okay. I'll let him know. Will you be back home soon, honey?"

"Yeah, I just have to sort out my things."

It felt as though someone else had said those last words and her mother's goodbye sounded muffled. Tears welled up in her eyes as she let out a harsh sob. Terrified of someone finding her crying in the hall she fled to the girl's bathroom and collapsed onto the grimy floor.

Great hard sobs racked through her as the emotion she had suppressed for so long burst through her dams. Running nose and red eyes, she probably looked like a mess but for once she didn't care. She just wanted to cry her eyes out with no one to see her.

"Quinn." A surprised voice burst through her sobbing.

Almost proud at the speed she was able to compose herself, she stood and cleared her throat, not yet looking the intruder in the eye. She knew who it was though. Of course it had to be.

"What?" She bit back slightly harsher than she meant.

Ray shifted uncomfortably in the doorway. His feet were begging to take him far away and not care what was wrong. But he couldn't.

"I heard you from the hall. Are you-"

"You shouldn't be in here. I thought you said you were a boy now." Quinn interrupted him, reacting to his concern by pulling her walls right up.

The flicker of discomfort her retort brought gave her the mixed sensation of triumph and guilt that she was so used to feeling. She had always told herself she could ignore how she made others feel as long as it gave her some semblance of power. And yet she couldn't. Everything in her yearned to take back all the harsh words and slushies she had ever thrown at people. With that thought fresh tears welled in her eyes.

"Do you want me to leave?" Ray asked.

Quinn scoffed, of course she did. Why didn't he just take the hint? But when it came to saying the words she found she couldn't. She settled for turning away and avoiding his searching look for fear of him finding anything that said the opposite.

Ray could feel the waves of vulnerability and loneliness coming off her. Everything about her body language reminded him of the multiple times he had felt lost, craving for someone to listen, to understand. On the other hand, there was no way Quinn was going to let him in. She had always been incredibly stubborn, even as Lucy. She had her mind set on the fact that she didn't need anyone and in this state there would be no convincing her.

His heart broke as he saw her shoulders tremble and took a small piece of paper from his pocket and placed it against the wall. He quickly scrawled his phone number down with a ballpoint pen and held it out to her.

"Take this. You... change your mind, anything, I can be there to just listen. I probably can't help whatever situation you're in but at least you can get it off your chest. Please don't bottle it up, i know first hand how bad that can be."

After a moment of him holding it out awkwardly, she turned and looked at him sceptically. He gave her a small smile of reassurance and begrudgingly she took it, slipping it into the pocket of her red hoodie. Ray stood for a moment longer before turning on his heel, pushing open the door and disappearing from view.

Quinn bit her lip and fingered the slip of paper. She couldn't understand why he was being so nice to her. It's not like she would have or did return the favour. She wasn't worth his worry; all she did was drive people away. Again tears burst forward but this time they weren't completely tears of sadness. They were laced with gratitude and something else. For once she felt wanted.

Ray's gut was twisting itself in knots and his hands were all clammy. Why did he do that? She didn't need him; she had a boyfriend and friends. He was just some nuisance from her past that she probably only spoke to because he knew her secret past. She probably thought he was hitting on her or something.

No that's stupid, he thought, she doesn't think that.

But she might, replied his brain.

Good point, he thought.

He just gave his number to the most popular girl in school, the head cheerleader, girlfriend of the quarterback. What was he thinking?
The walk home was quicker than usual as anxiety poured through his limbs and stomach, putting a jerky spring in his step. Before Ray knew it he was slotting his keys into his door, fumbling like a drunkard.

His dad called to him from the kitchen when he had finally managed to get through the door.

"How was school?"

"Nothing special. There was a pop quiz in American Lit and I got all the answers right. Apart from that, same old." He replied, lacking the energy to go into as much depth as usual.

His dad picked up on it and stuck his head around the door with a concerned expression.

"Everything okay, honey?"

"Yeah yeah I'm just rather tired."

He stuck out his bottom lip as a show of sympathy and followed his head with the rest of his body.

"Dinner's just about ready now. Why don't you eat and head straight to bed. Do you have any homework?"

"No I don't. I might do that if that's okay, thank you." Ray gave him a tired smile and followed him into the kitchen to help set the table.
All through the meal he couldn't keep conversation flowing. Nobody had had as great an effect on him as Quinn. He had always been anxious but he had never cared so much about what a person thought. He could deal much better with the bullies in middle school than Quinn could because he didn't care what they thought. Sometimes the sheer number of insults would take a toll but when it came down to it, he knew who he was. Well, he thought he did.

But suddenly with Quinn he was re-evaluating all of his personality traits, second-guessing all of his actions. He hated it, but at the same time he couldn't get enough of it. It was both thrilling and terrifying all at once.

Having finished dinner, he rushed upstairs, desperate to collapse into sleep and finally escape all the thoughts echoing in his head. He didn't neglect his evening routine though and after washing his face, brushing his teeth and flossing, he leapt into his pyjamas and fell into bed.
Sleep began to envelope his exhausted mind and within minutes he was sound asleep.

A violent rumble next to his ear jerked Ray awake and he gazed about him, disorientated. His room was dark apart from the glaring light coming from his dresser. He grabbed it and swiped to answer the incoming call.

"Hello? Ray Berry speaking." He tried to sound perky and awake but exhaustion leaked into his voice.

On the other side the caller drew in their breath sharply then silence followed. Ray listened intently for any clues as to who they might be. After almost a minute of silence he began to get suspicious.

"I'll warn you, I don't appreciate being prank called and my father is a police officer so I can trace this call if you-"

"Calm down, Berry. It's Quinn. I didn't mean to disturb you I'm sorry." Quinn cut in suddenly, catching Ray off guard.

Ray felt his stomach squirm as he heard her voice. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before replying.

"No no, don't worry, it's fine." He blurted. "I'm sorry I can be a bit of a drama queen sometimes."

"Did I wake you?" Came the surprisingly timid reply.

Again Ray paused before answering, not used to the soft voice that was coming from his mobile. It reminded him of his old best friend.

"No I just- I was just-"

"You don't need to lie, Berry. It's fine, I'll let you sleep."

Sleep tugged at his eyes to shut but he resisted. He had promised to be there and he was not going back on that. His rational mind reminded him that he had a test the next day but it suddenly didn't seem important at all. All that mattered was that Quinn was okay.

"I'm not tired, I've been lying in bed for hours but sleep won't come. Distract me."

Quinn sighed on the other end again, as if she wished he had just taken her way out.

"Why are you being so nice to me? I haven't exactly given you a reason to be."

He thought about it, why did he care so much? Neither of them were the same people they were as friends. Quinn had insulted his gender identity, she doled out punishment to tons of innocent students. He had no reason. None at all.

"You're right, you haven't. But I for one believe in second chances. And you may have been rather... rude, but I don't think you really meant - mean - any of the hurtful things you've said."

He knew he must have crossed a line. Had he really been that blunt to Quinn Fabray? Ray expected her to pull out one of her creative insults he'd heard her use on various nerds and hang up. Instead, he heard a light chuckle and his stomach flipped again.

"You're a good person, you know that? Much better than I am." She finished quietly, with so much vulnerability that Ray wanted to reach through the phone and pull her into a hug.

He struggled to look for something to say to fill the awkward silence that followed but nothing seemed appropriate.

"When people are scared they can lash out. It doesn't make them a bad person."

Shit. He'd just made a huge assumption. He strained for her response, his guts tying themselves in knots.

"Does that mean we aren't accountable for our actions?"

"Well, no but-"

"Right."

"No I mean, there are bad actions but I don't think there are bad people. Unless they show no remorse for their bad actions. Which you definitely do, even if you try to hide it."

Quinn could feel all of the regret she'd been repressing crash down on her immediately and choked out another sob, much to her dismay. This wasn't the conversation she had imagined when she had dialled his number. He was meant to tell her he couldn't forgive her and nor would anyone she'd ever wronged. She wasn't meant to have the chance of redemption, that meant she actually had to face the past, her feelings.

When he had agreed that she hadn't done anything to deserve his kindness she'd felt a satisfying surge of defensiveness and got ready to channel her emotion through harsh words. His following words had stuck the words in her throat. Instead, a surprised chuckle burst through. He'd managed to criticise her without making her feel she needed to retaliate.

Lost for words without her customary insults, Quinn did something she hadn't done in a long time: she let her walls slip down. The ensuing conversation had been philosophical and deep but refreshingly down to earth, as well as terrifyingly personal.

"Are you alright?" Ray's question was timid and laced with concern.

Quinn felt herself laughing tearfully.

"Sorry, stupid question."

"No it's just... I don't think anyone's asked me that in a long time. I'm not really sure to be honest."

"Anything specific that's bothering you?" Ray tried.

"Not really. I mean, it's nothing. It's silly." She said quietly.

"If it makes you upset it's never silly or nothing."

A long pause followed and Ray was worried he had scared her away. But then she spoke, voice quivering with tears.

"My dad wants to- to meet up."

Ray could remember the head of the Fabray household, a conservative and overbearing man who always disapproved of their friendship due to her fathers. Why he wasn't with Quinn and her mother anymore he had no idea. He'd heard that she'd been kicked out and eventually taken back by her mother but nothing more and he didn't want to pry.

"Do you not want to see him?" He replied, careful not to sound like he was insinuating she should want to. God phone calls are hard, he thought.

"I don't know. He- he kicked me out." The brokenness of Quinn's voice brought tears to his own eyes. "That's all I can think about. His face when he called me a disappointment, when he told me to just go. That was the last time I saw him."

Ray's sadness turned into anger at this man and all the hurt he had caused.

"Why does he want to meet up with you."

"I don't know, he didn't say. I guess he just wants to talk. Maybe- maybe he wants to apologise."

Ray could hear the hopeful tone in her voice and felt his heart break once again. Part of him wanted to tell her he didn't deserve her forgiveness, but he also acknowledged that that went against everything he'd said before. Having been exposed to the girl behind the icy facade, Ray realised how fragile she still was and wanted to do everything in his power to help her.

"If you're not ready to forgive it doesn't make you a bad person."

Silence. He'd done it this time. Gone too far. He didn't know how, but he must have. More silence.

"Quinn?"

"It's getting late. I should get some sleep." Came the curt but soft reply.

"Oh right okay sure. See you tomorrow."

"Sure. Night."

"Goodnight."

"And Berry?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."