AN: A new chapter. Got some real Faberry interaction here, so tell me what you think of it. As always, any ideas, comments or suggestions are appreciated Hope you enjoy it!

Quinn sprinted down the deserted corridor, stray tears causing strands of blonde hair to stick to her face. She ran, with no exact end goal in mind, but knowing she had to run. She had to get out of there. Out of their gazes. Out of herself.

And suddenly the self hatred she'd managed to control thus far was too overwhelming, her soul too heavy, her mind too loud.

Quinn lashed out, punching the metal lockers with a scream than echoed down the corridor. Again, she delivered a blow to the locker, and again, before she felt herself grow weak and rest her forehead against the steel.

And it happened.

Once to first sob escaped her, they rapidly overtook her body. It was a real kind of sadness, an honest kind of crying. Something that blanketed her so fully that her body wouldn't dare to attempt to function in any other way. Quinn slid down the locker, face contorted in the pain of loosing herself this much.

Then there were arms holding her. A warm body wrapping itself around her, holding her head to it's chest as hands slowly rubbed her back, soothing words being whispered into her ear. A girl. Who smelt like Strawberries.

Trust Rachel Berry to smell like strawberries.

Quinn, despite herself, clung to Rachel's sweater tightly. Rachel was, arguably, one of the people Quinn would never want to see her like this. Panicked and out of control, her façade fallen, revealing nothing more than a scared little girl. Despite this, Rachel remained with her, body moving and shifting with each sob that racked the blonde, never once stopping whispering hushed words into her ear.

"You're so very brave, Quinn"

"The most beautiful girl I've ever met"

"But you're a lot more than that"

"You're a lot more than you know"

"You remember that, right?"

There, in the middle of the school hallway, the corridor which days earlier they'd experienced the most terrifying event of their young lives, Rachel held Quinn. There, as the rest of the school gathered in the auditorium, Quinn cried like she'd never dared allow herself to. There, in Rachel's arms, Quinn finally found sleep.

When Quinn awoke, she slowly blinked to allow her eyes to adjust to her surroundings. Slowly, slowly, the world around her came into view.

She'd been here before. Been in this room before, or at least she thought. Sitting up, she found herself in a warm bed, looking around the room and trying to piece how, in fact, she knew this place. It hit her suddenly.

She was in Rachel's room.

She'd recognized it from those video's the singer used to put up. Quinn would never admit it, but she'd never missed one. She liked to think that it was because she loved nothing more than to torment the girl, to take her down from that high horse she seemed permanently placed upon. Sitting here and realizing that she'd subconsciously memories aspects of the brunette's room, however, seemed to undo the theory.

Rachel appeared in the doorway, two glasses of water in hand. The smile she offered was sad and hopeful at the same time, a promise filled with uncertainty. The shorter girl placed Quinn's glass on the bedside table, sitting down tentatively on the side of the bed to face the blonde.

"You fell asleep," she provided by way of explanation.

Quinn pulled a face, eyes narrowed slightly.

"You might need to do better than that, Berry"

"Okay, you fell asleep in the hallway. I stayed with you for as long as I could, but within half an hour the students were coming out and, well, I didn't think you'd enjoy being caught up in a stampede, let alone seen clinging to me the way you were. So, I decided to take preemptive action and well…."

Rachel dipped her head at this, tucking her hair behind her ear like she always did when she was nervous or uneasy. Quinn pondered for a moment why she knew that exactly, but quickly shook the thought and continued.

"And?"

"And I carried you out to my car, drove you home, carried you inside and put you to sleep. I know…. If you're having the same issues as me, sleep is hard to come by. I imagined you'd appreciate as much of it as possible."

Quinn nodded along, actually thankful for the effort to which her sort-of-kind-of friend had gone to accommodate her best interest.

"How long? How long have I been sleeping here, I mean."

"It's quarter past two," Rachel replied, a smile slipping onto her face.

"Oh. Then I haven't been here too long"

The smile broke out now as Rachel shook her head.

"Quarter past two on Tuesday. You've slept for a solid 26 hours, Quinn"

While Quinn knew that, logically, her body really had needed the rest, she couldn't help the slight blush that crept over her face at the idea of Rachel possibly watching her sleep for that long. Trying to put aside the thought of this vulnerability, she continued briskly as she attempted to fix her mane hair.

"Berry, I do believe you have a spare bedroom. Why not put me there?"

At this, Rachel blinked rapidly, tucking her hair once more.

"I didn't know you'd basically slip into a coma on my bed, Quinn"

The blonde merely tipped her head to acknowledge the fair point, trying her wild hair back into a messy ponytail. Throwing the covers off of herself, she rolled out of the bed and stood to the side, motioning to the water.

"Water when you're sad, right?"

Rachel's expression was unreadable. For an aspiring Broadway star, the brunette was being very unexpressive, though Quinn quickly chastised herself for thinking in such a way. How could she possibly expect the bubbly and dramatic Rachel back merely a week after the shooting?

"Right", the singer replied, taking a sip of her own glass of water.

"And considering the amount of time you were asleep, combined with how heavily you were crying, I thought you might wake up thirsty"

Her throat was a little dry, the blonde noted, as she moved around to the opposite side of the bed to sit beside Rachel, taking her glass of the bedside table and taking a few gulps.

Silence followed. Conversation had come easily, with even a few friendly jokes made by both girls. Perhaps that was why this silence wasn't uncomfortable, but thoughtful. There was no need to fill it with silly words, not when both girls were so very lost in their minds.

Maybe this was why the abrupt change on conversation came naturally.

"Do you think it'll ever get easier?"

Quinn looked up from her glass to find Rachel already looking at her, that strong and confident expression faltering in her exposed hope; at least that's what the blonde prayed she saw there. They all needed hope right now.

"What'll get easier? Going to school? Missing them? Seeing their faces? Sleeping? Living?"

"All of it", Rachel replied, her voice small.

Quinn fiddled with her cross necklace, giving her hands something to do other than reach out and hold the girl to comfort her. She'd always hated seeing her friends in pain.

"I have to. I have to believe things will get better. Easier. That I'll go to school without seeing the blood. That one day I'll be able to think of them and smile. That maybe I'll see a picture of them alive without seeing them dead. Or sleep without the nightmares. That I'll stop hating myself for living," Quinn answered honestly, eyes never faltering from those brown depths.

They looked at each other for a long time, before Rachel inched closer and closer to Quinn. Reaching her, the blonde seemed to understand what she needed without words, wrapping an arm around the girl and bringing the singers head to her chest as she lay back on the bed.

The two girls lay on top of the covers, Rachel's head on Quinn's chest, both not daring to move in fear of spooking the other. They lay together in the heavy silence of the moment, for so long that Quinn noted Rachel was now breathing in time with her. With each rise of her chest the brunette sucked in a shallow breath, letting it out as she felt the ex cheerio's chest fall back down.

"I miss him", Rachel whispered quietly.

"I know"

"It hurts"

Quinn let out a slow breath, closing her eyes as she broke the stalemate, running a hand through thick brown hair. This comfort she felt, here on Rachel's bed, merely from having the girl so close to her…it was something she'd never experienced. Not even with Brittany or Santana, her two best friends or any one of her boyfriends. It was nice, having the warm body so close, so soft, Rachel's small hand gently clinging to the material of her dress.

"It hurts", she repeated, as if to remember.