A/N: Hi again all. I just wanted to say a quick thank you for all of the lovely reviews you guys have taken the time to write. They really do inspire me to write more of this story! So I promise, the more you kick me up the butt to keep writing, the more frequently I will. Hope you guys enjoy the drama and some lovely Faberry angst!

"Come in!"

Quinn hesitated before entering the room, her mind racing in an attempt to hastily rationalize the decision she was about to put into action. She just needed to come up with an excuse, any excuse, for Mr. Schue to let her out of this damn glee assignment. Though while her sudden nerves jostled through her veins, the ache in her heart at the thought of holding Rachel that one night was enough to cause her to become determined once more. The assignment might be a small part of her… increasingly complex relationship with Rachel, but it certainly was the one giving her the most grief. The lyrics themselves were far too similar to what Quinn truly felt, and it took a little piece of her heart away each time she sang the words, pleading that they would be understood, only to be critiqued on her pitch. That pain was magnified the night Quinn had arrived with her longing words in her pocket. Holding Rachel was perhaps what she would have initially called a good night, but never in the way that it was spent.

Long after their sacred words were shared, Rachel remained heavily buried in grief. The night dissolved into a timetable; the brunette would cry over Finn, Quinn would hold her, which would cause Rachel to burst into tears even more, confess more dark secrets of the thoughts and visions that haunted her at night, and eventually recover enough to repeat the process. Eventually the constant outpour took its toll on Rachel, who fell asleep with her head resting in Quinn's lap. The blonde combed her fingers through dark locks, standing steady against the waves of pain that relentlessly crashed against her. The note in her dress pocket essentially burned into her side, branding her for what she was. The disgust she felt at herself for even feeling this way about Rachel in the first place was now joined by the fact that she hadn't even considered how wrong it was, even without the church involvement. It was horrid that she felt this way about a girl; let alone a girl whose boyfriend she had watched die. Who she had lead through a battlefield and betrayed. All through this inner turmoil, she continued to gently comb her friend's hair, as if every brush could remove some of the agony within Rachel's heart, or maybe her own. They had stayed like this for many hours, exactly how many neither of them knew; but by the time the sleeping girl woke, her best friend was still there.

The image of that equal parts sleepy and sheepish smile would become something Quinn Fabray would never forget.

But it was exactly that smile that bought her to stand in front of Mr. Schue's office. Or, more specifically, the honest fact that that smile had stolen her heart.

The ex-cheerleader entered the room, her teacher poised in his chair. Endless papers caked his desk to the point where it had become impossible to distinguish the color of the desk itself. Light green eyes flickered across some of the text just before the man hastily gathered them up: "School Counselor's Glee Club Post-Incident: Teacher Assessment", "Coping Strategies" and a small yellow pamphlet that read "Gunning down guilt: Guns kill people."

"Hey, Quinn, nice seeing you. How are you doing?" The curly headed teacher asked, the question laced with such pity and concern it made the blonde's stomach turn. She had forgotten how Will treated her now, handling her with gloves as though at any minute, she may break.

"Thanks, Mr. Schue, I'm actually here to talk to you about something…"

"Anything, anything at all, Quinn," her teacher replied quickly, sitting up straighter and motioning for her to sit down.

The blonde moved over slowly, taking in the room for the first time. It had changed a lot since her last visit; there was enough paperwork to threaten an avalanche, self help books threatened to outnumber books of musical numbers and all time great glee teachers, and pictures of the fallen students were framed in beautiful red wood, with a golden plaque under each photo. She couldn't help but notice, unlike the rest of the room, these pictures were impeccably cared for. Unsurprisingly, Mike and Finn were featured twice, with their own large split frame underneath the line. In the first panel was a picture of Mike teaching Will a dance move, both men alive with joy as smiles burst from their faces. The third panel featured a quick snap, featuring Finn embracing his teacher in a bear hug backstage, apparently after regionals. Sandwiched between these two images was a simply white page with large black text.

You owe it to them.

"What can I help you with?"

Quinn took her seat, eyes down at her hands as she blinked back the tears that now threatened to fall. She wasn't sure when the day would come that she would able to look at a picture of those fallen without a reaction, but she feared that day all the same. She couldn't be crying when she told her teacher the reason she had come here today, it would cause too many questions. So, taking a deep breath, she composed herself before looking back up to the man across the table.

"I came here to say I can't do the assignment with Rachel."

There was hurt in her voice, noticeable enough to make the blonde's stomach twist further into knots. The last thing she needed was Will to bug her as to why she was abandoning his golden star.

"I thought that was why you were here," Mr. Schue replied with a sigh.

What? How did he know? If someone as clueless as her glee teacher could guess her feelings for the small beauty, then who else knew? Had Brittany been telling people? Before Quinn fully curse herself for telling her blabbermouth of a friend, the curly headed man continued.

"I mean, I was hesitant about putting you in the assignment in the first place. It's been months since… since it happened. And I thought this would be a good way of keeping you guys talking and together while we stopped actual Glee practices for a bit, you know? Like by the time we all regrouped for the assignment, we could sing it out and get past it together."

"But I see you struggling, Quinn. More so than anyone else. Of course you have every right to feel how you do. God knows I feel responsible myself for what happened."

Oh, right. While it might be morally questionable to exploit her teacher's feelings over the events that occurred in order to get out of the project, at this point Quinn really didn't care. After all, everything Mr. Schue was saying was right, it just wasn't exactly the main reason she needed this done. So, in response, she simply nodded.

"It's okay, Quinn. You don't need to do anything you're not comfortable with, but can I suggest one thing?" he asked, as he stood from his chair.

The blonde nodded again in response, causing her teacher to walk around the desk and place a hand gently on her shoulder, looking down at her with eyes shimmering with concern.

"Keep talking to Rachel. I think she's good for you, but if I'm being honest, I think you're even better for her. She needs someone like you to let her see that she's still being strong despite hurting so much. Showing her that there isn't weakness in pain. Simply being a friend to her has helped her more than you can even imagine."

The student simply nodded once more, a motion she was quickly learning appeased her teacher. With that, she stood up, the man's hand still on her shoulder. He then pulled her into a tight hug.

Quinn pondered, not for the first time, of the appropriateness her teacher displayed towards his students despite his good intentions. But with that, she was dismissed, returning to the bustling corridors filled with energetic chatter and bustling students. As Quinn made her way to class and maneuvered through the mass of her peers, she couldn't help but feel like even after all these months, she was still hopelessly struggling to swim up river.

Quinn spent the rest of the day floating through school like a ghost. Present but not really, her mind was constantly distracted with thoughts that couldn't be further from her schoolwork. Even once she had returned home, she simply laid down on her bed and stared at the ceiling, allowing her mind to process everything that was flooding through it. Now that she had finally broken free of the project, she really didn't have an excuse to be spending so much time with Rachel, outside of the fact that the pair had developed the foundations of a friendship. Was she really willing to take a sledgehammer to that just to save her own skin? The glee teacher's words had haunted her all day… the idea that maybe Rachel needed Quinn as badly as she needed the brunette was, frankly, terrifying.

The only thing more terrifying was the idea of being gay. It had taken the last month for Quinn to truly come to terms with what it meant within herself, but now as she lay on the cool sheets of her bed, she began to think about the wider ramifications of the revelation. Would she still be respected in school? Would she be welcomed at church? Those news reporters who had snapped her picture and shoved microphones in her face an attempt to get the exclusive on the 'brave girl of McKinley'… would they get wind of it and come back for more? Her family. Quinn doubted her mother would truly care, she'd probably just make a few throwaway things that she felt obligated to say about 'sin' and 'betrayal' and 'what will people think.' Her father, on the other hand, the man who'd miraculously shown up on their doorstep after seeing his baby girl plastered all over the news, was the larger concern.

Was it then worth it to even bring it up? After all… Quinn really wasn't sure how she felt, if she was being totally honest. Maybe she just appreciated the friendship and company Rachel provided. Would she feel this way about all girls? Or was it only the girl that haunted her dreams, who would float over her bed with skin so soft it felt like silk and a voice just as smooth. Whose lips would come close enough to hers, small breaths that would brushing against the skin of her neck, whose hands would roam the winding contours of her body like she had lived there her whole life…

Okay, so maybe it wasn't just friendship.

With Quinn now feeling distinctly flustered, the doorbell rang. Knowing her parents' policy on answering the door (they have better things to do), Quinn forced herself to roll off the bed and jog down the stairs, straightening her hair out before answering.

"Welcome to th-" is all she got out before realizing who was standing there.

Rachel stood before her. Panic flooded Quinn's mind for two reasons, one being totally unreasonable and the other based in truth. On one hand, Quinn irrationally thought perhaps Rachel knew what she was just thinking, which in turn caused the blonde to blush. Hard. Though she didn't have time to fret about being bright pink in front of the smaller girl, because she had the real reason of fear to deal with. Her parents could not see Rachel Berry was at their doorstep, let alone in their home.

Quinn reached out and grabbed the singer's hand, and before she could object, pulled the singer over the threshold and closed the door in one swift movement. She led the brunette upstairs and into her room quickly, slamming the door a little too loudly behind her.

"Quinn, what, I…" Rachel stammered, clearly dumbfounded by the turn of events.

"Are you completely out of your mind?" Quinn hissed in return, dropping the girl's hand and taking a step back. "You know how my parents feel about your family. If they knew you were here…"

"Well clearly they don't, I think we've established that," the brunette replied curtly, more than a little hurt in her voice.

"I had thought it best to come by and sort out todays events in person. Mr. Schuester has informed me that you no longer wish to be my partner in the Glee assignment. I was hoping you could shed some light on that decision for me"

Rachel crossed her arms, and despite her best attempts to present her best acting face, Quinn could easily see the hurt that was behind it.

"I just didn't want to do the song anymore, Rachel…" Quinn replied lamely, walking over to her bed and sitting on the edge.

"And why is that, may I ask? Is it because of what happened last time?"

Rachel couldn't have the closest idea as to the real reason, and Quinn had no clue what she could even say that would satisfy her. Here Rachel was, dressed in her traditional sweater and skirt combination, her eyes aflame with indignant rage, and all Quinn could think about was how much better that sweater would look on the floor.

That thought was the one that broke her, the one that made her stomach twist. She could never be with Rachel, and that meant she couldn't be around her. Not without thinking all these awful, impure thoughts.

"God, Rachel! Have you ever thought that maybe it's because I don't really like you?" Quinn snapped, her voice creeping louder. "I mean, yeah, we got pushed together through this shitty thing that happened, but it's over now. We need to move on!"

Rachel's eyes were wide at this point, the flickering anger now replaced with tears that threatened to fall at any point. But Quinn persisted. She needed to go for the jugular.

"I mean, what, you think hanging out with me all of a sudden means we're friends? Get a clue, Berry. I felt bad for you because your boyfriend died, but that doesn't mean I have to put my name on that little collar around your neck and carry you around with me!"

She was shouting at this point. Rachel had taken a few steps back, her lips slightly parted in shock; but at the mention Finn, all hell broke loose. Her lip gave way as tears poured down her face, though no sobs came. Rachel cried silently, doing nothing but staring at Quinn.

"I thought you were m-my friend. I thought…" Rachel whispered, eyes glued to Quinn's own.

A stab of pain rushed through the blonde girl's heart. She had to do this. She wasn't going to lie to herself and say that she was doing it to protect Rachel; she was doing it to protect herself.

"Well you thought wrong," Quinn all but growled.

With one last look of pure betrayal, Rachel span around and ran for the door. It took all of four seconds before Quinn could hear the front door slam, and it was only then that she allowed herself to feel. She bought her knees up to her chest and rested her forehead upon them.

And she began to cry.

Only a few minutes passed before Quinn lifted her head in an attempt to wipe her face, and it was only then she noticed her father standing in the doorway.

"Quinn, please explain to me why that filthy queer spawn Berry was in my house, and why both of you two are blubbering."

Oh.