A/N: First half: McKinley stuff. Second half: Quinn at Yale.

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Who am I to disagree?
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Homecoming is about a week after Kurt leaves, and Blaine wishes, of course, that Kurt could've stayed in Lima just a little bit longer…but he knows that there would always be some reason to try to convince him to stay. He needed to leave while it was still practical and possible, and Blaine had respected that, and didn't push.

Still, he intends to enjoy Homecoming as much as possible. Sam had invited him to come watch the game, which, he likes football, but had heard that the Titans were not particularly good, so he's not sure he can stomach the game, but Sam assures him they've actually had a decent season so far. Plus, Artie is still on the team—though the pushing him down the field strategy isn't very effective and he's mostly on the bench—and so is the new kid in Glee, Adam, so Blaine feels a sense of duty to support his teammates.

Plus, Brittany leading the Cheerios is something he wants to see. He's not the type to ogle cheerleaders—obviously—but even he has to admit that these cheerleaders hold his attention. The routines are, frankly, dangerous looking, and executed flawlessly, and he sometimes can't believe how many times Brittany spins in the air before being caught by her teammates, or just how easily she falls into a split—on grass, no less.

And it looks like Sam is a decent quarterback. McKinley is ahead 14-7 by halftime, with Adam coming off the bench and into play just in time to score a touchdown before the buzzer sounds.

He turns to look at Burt and Carole, who he's sitting with for now. They're both elated, applauding the team, and the Cheerios as they trot out onto the field for a halftime performance; at this school, the marching band stays on the sidelines during halftime.

Blaine wants to watch this, but he also knows now is the time to get a drink, because everyone wants to watch this, and the excitement of watching the game has made him thirsty. So he tells Burt and Carole he'll see them later and shuffles out of the bleachers to the concession stand. There's only one other person in line when he gets there, and when the guy turns around, he's struck with recognition.

"David Karofsky," Blaine says quietly. He's not sure even what he is feeling right now. It's a whole mix of hurt and pity for the young man who attempted suicide, along with some mild suspicion—he knows Karofsky had pursued Kurt at one point. And just…uncertainty.

Karofsky's eyes flick up and down, taking Blaine in, and he gives a small smile. He turns back to the concession stand and hands some money to the girl working the register, "For whatever he's getting."

Blaine is surprised, but orders his drink and watches as the girl gives Karofsky his change. "Thanks," Blaine says, a tad begrudgingly.

Karofsky smiles and jokes, "Funny that we're the only two people not watching the cheerleaders right now."

Blaine can't help but laugh a little, "Yeah. Though, I do kind of want to see some of it. They're pretty impressive."

"They always were," Karofsky agrees, "Made it easier to pretend to want them when I'd watch."

They stand on the sidelines, watching as the cheerleaders dance in perfect choreography, stacking themselves like Legos and coming apart like a Jenga tower, flipping and twisting and contorting to the music.

"So, why are you here, anyway?" Blaine finally asks.

"It's Homecoming," Karofsky shrugs, "And I spent most of my time at this school. It felt right to come back here."

Blaine nods, then asks, "Where did you end up, after graduation?"

Karofsky sighs and shrugs. "I…didn't really end up anywhere. I got into Penn State, because…I wanted to get out of Ohio, but I also wanted somewhere that wasn't too far, and like…they love football there, so I thought it would be a good fit. I'd wanted to go for a couple years. Even though that scandal happened, I thought I could look past it, but the more I read and thought about it…it just made me so sick. I was scared and a mess anyway. I ended up not being able to bring myself to go, and like…by that time I made that decision, it was too late for my backup school, they were full and I was deferred. I was so low on the waiting list I probably won't get in until next fall."

"Sorry to hear that," Blaine says, and he means it, but it's hard to make his voice convey that. It's so surreal to be talking to this guy.

Just then, Brittany is flipped up into the air for the crescendo of the first part of the Cheerio's halftime performance, and Blaine and Karofsky cheer loudly and clap along with everyone else. Elated, Blaine turns to grin at Karofsky and then says, a tad awkwardly, "It was, uh, good to see you."

"Wait," Karofsky responds, "Look, there's no way to say this without it just sounding…weird…but I need friends. Real ones."

Blaine regards him uncertainly, but can't help biting out, "And you think I would be a good friend for you? When you furiously pursued my boyfriend last winter?"

Karofsky shakes his head, smiling a little sheepishly, "I'm over Kurt. He's a great guy, and you two are great together. I won't deny that I sometimes wish things had gone differently between us, but Kurt is my friend, and I'd like you to be, too. If I'm stuck in Lima for another year, I need people who have got my back. A support system, you know? I'm not…I'm still not entirely okay with myself. I need people I can trust in my life. And I think I could trust you."

Blaine regards him with heavy skepticism, "And if I don't know if I can trust you?" He says it a little quietly now, because he wants to accept Karofsky's offer. He doesn't want to just shoot down the guy who went through such hell last spring. But it's Karofsky…

"Give me a chance to prove myself. Kurt did."

It's the mention of Kurt that does it. It's only been a week, but Blaine misses him. It's weird at McKinley without him—no matter what he'd said when he transferred, he knows he really did it to be closer to his boyfriend. It's good that he's making progress befriending some of the other students in Glee, but…being the only openly gay man at school that he knows of isn't easy. Everyone in Glee supports him, sure, but who can he really talk to? Brittany? Wade? They're facing their own struggles, sure, and maybe Brittany could empathize with the way he misses Kurt, but…maybe he just needs more gay male friends. He'd track down some of the Warblers he used to know if he weren't so concerned about running into Sebastian.

Blaine sighs and smoothes his hair. "Oh, what the hell," he murmurs, and hands Karofsky his phone, "Give me your number."

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Tell me I belong
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The dance is fun. Of course it is, because it's a dance floor rife with guys and girls attempting to look their best, and she can dance with any of them. Her only regret is that elections for class president haven't quite happened yet, so she didn't have any say in the theme for the dance; it's something stupid like "A night under the stars," and though some of the glow-in-the-dark decorations are a nice touch, Brittany knows she would have done a lot better.

She doesn't understand why she never went to the Homecoming dance before. She thinks she remembers Quinn purposely boycotting it, muttering about how Homecoming is like a junior varsity dance, and, thinking back, she assumes that they had been too exhausted from the week of rigorous Cheerios practices required for the performance at halftime the night before to get up in time to get ready for the dance. Or maybe all the dances had themes this terrible, and that's why they avoided them. Or the fact that it was pretty much open invitation; at least Prom was limited to upperclassmen—theoretically. She's still not sure how Artie got in that year when he was a Sophomore; had he been Puck's date?

But Brittany is full of energy. The performance the night before had been strenuous, but the Sylvester/Washington training team was a bit more balanced than in previous years—they tended to cancel out each others' crazy—and Brittany finds cheerleading kinda fun again sometimes.

Plus, she's on the ballot for Homecoming King. She thinks even Quinn would admit that's a title worth having. But then, though Quinn had looked like a queen the entire time Brittany's known her, she always felt more like a king. She is just so authoritative, and authority looks good on her. Brittany just doesn't have the same Head Cheerio swagger that Quinn had summoned so effortlessly.

Brittany spins through the room, dipping women, bending bewildered men into swing dance moves, giggling. Racking up votes, she thinks. No one dances as well with her as Santana, of course, and she's sure if Santana were here, she'd be frowning at how many people Brittany is dancing with, but then again, if Santana were here, she wouldn't want to dance with anyone else. Watching Santana's body move, whether in a dress, a Cheerios uniform or jeans, was one of Brittany's very favorite things, and moving with her, whether dancing, cheering or making love…well. That was perfection.

She sees Blaine, standing a little awkwardly with Artie and Adam. She thinks Artie, in honor of Puck, has attempted to train Adam in the art of spiking a punch bowl, which surprises her, given that Artie is usually such a stickler for the rules. But she guesses with Adam as his fall guy, he had no problem masterminding the plan, just to text Puck later to put a smile on his face. It's oddly, manipulatively, sweet.

She sees Blaine excuse himself to go greet the new girl in Glee, that freshman named Meredith, or Merry. She's dressed in a well-fitting pantsuit, and Brittany admires it. It's similar to Brittany's skirt suit, which is styled after a tuxedo. Brittany thinks she looks very dashing. She sees Blaine offer his hand and, rolling her eyes, Merry accepts the two begin a very awkward dance together, which they acknowledge by chuckling frequently.

Brittany spins into the nearest person, and stops to stare when she realizes it's David Karofsky. And it's hard, to deal with what she feels when he smiles and offers a hand. She knows what he meant to Santana—nothing—she knows how much he ended up hurting, but she can't shake the hurt she feels when she remembers how Santana had gloated about her boyfriend right in front of her.

"I don't need any facial hair," she tells him bluntly, glancing at his outstretched hand and then back to his face.

His face goes blank, but then he laughs, slightly, and says, "I deserve that. But that's not what I'm offering. Let's dance. I know you like dancing, and we can talk."

Karofsky is surprisingly graceful, for his stature; Brittany had expected to wince through the admittedly silly dance, the way she had whenever she'd dance with Finn in Glee, but it's not that bad. Finally, Karofsky smiles and says, "I just wanted to say I think it's really cool. That you're running for Homecoming King."

Brittany nods, "I got the idea when Kurt won Prom Queen two years ago. I think we should be allowed to choose which we want."

Karofsky's face flashes hurt at the memory of Kurt being crowned his queen, but he nods and says quietly, "Yeah. I respect that." He smiles, "I just think that…what you guys, you, and Santana, and Kurt, did with this school…I know it's not perfect. I know there are still assholes here. But you managed to make it safer. I wish I'd had the courage to stay and help."

Brittany smiles sadly, but doesn't actually have a response, and in that moment, Blaine and Merry sidle up to them and Blaine sings out, "Partner switch!" and grabs Karofsky's hands, and Merry is nudged gently into Brittany's arms. Brittany grins and dips her automatically, and Merry, unprepared, quickly rights herself and balances with her hands on Brittany's shoulders. She stares. Even though she'd been in Glee for a couple of weeks now, Brittany has never really had a conversation with her. She sees in the corner of her eye Karofsky looking nervous as he and Blaine dance in front of each other, not touching, but Blaine is smiling reassuringly and singing along to the music.

"You're Brittany S. Pierce." Merry says, her face slightly awed. Brittany wants to roll her eyes. Come on, obviously the girl knows this, and then Merry says, still awed, "You're Santana Lopez's girlfriend."

Brittany doesn't attempt to hide her slow, wide smile. "Yep!" she chirps happily.

"That's so cool," Merry dips her head and a blush spreads over her pale, freckled cheeks, "She's kind of my hero. When that smear ad about her ran last year, I finally had the courage to come out to my mom. Because I realized it could be a lot worse."

Smiling sympathetically, Brittany asks, "Was she okay?"

"Yeah," Merry exhales, "Pretty much. Only problem is, she told me I can never tell my dad."

"That's…rough," Brittany whispers, holding the girl closer. It's a comfort thing, at this point, and memories of Santana sobbing into her chest until she chokes after her grandmother…Brittany is gripped by sympathy.

Merry nods, and says, "At least it was on my own terms. But still. She's amazing. I saw videos of you guys on YouTube—both for cheerleading and when New Directions won Nationals. You're all amazing. I'm really excited to be part of this," she grins.

Brittany she thinks of Santana, again, and the way her beautiful eyes sparkle when they dance, the feel of her soft, thick hair between her fingers, the feel of soft lips on her own. She smiles reassuringly at Merry and finds herself catching Sam's eye from across the room. He's staring at the two of them and finally smirks at Brittany a little. She waves and winks in response.

It's weird, but nice, that Brittany has a baby-gay to mentor. She's taken it upon herself to mentor the girl, anyway, because hearing about Merry's dad makes her afraid that she'll be really sad someday, but she's never had anyone to mentor before. Except maybe when she was helping Kurt with his class president campaign, but that was different, she was more of an advisor before she decided to help herself instead.

The song ends and Brittany bends Merry into another dip, and the girl stifles a shriek as she's tipped back. Brittany lifts her back up and smiles, giving her a hug, "Thanks for the dance!" and, spotting Tina, skips off to dance with her.

Tina had known Mike wouldn't be able to come home for Homecoming, because, face it, Homecoming is for townies and maybe people who went to OSU. But she still missed him, and it had been great to text him a picture of her in her dress, and to get to talk on the phone for a bit before she left. She only came because Brittany had asked her to be her date, specifying that it was a "completely non-sexual arrangement," which had just made Tina's eyes bug. In fact, Brittany had asked or browbeat every member of the Glee club—and probably the Cheerios, too, Tina reflects—to attend the dance in order to boost her votes and, as far as Tina knew, everyone had arrived and voted accordingly (except for Wade, who felt like attending as Wade would be dishonest, but wasn't ready to attend as Unique. It had taken a long talk with Tina and Blaine to get Brittany to agree to respect Wade's decision, as her dilemma was something hard for Brittany to understand despite her strong sense of empathy, which, as Tina sees the way Brittany approaches Homecoming King and gender, she kind of gets but kind of doesn't). It is one of those things where voting is a lot less of an issue. There were always lines at the voting table for Prom, as people approached, had their names checked off, and slid in their ballots. The same process happens here, except there never is a line at the table. People really just don't care about Homecoming court royalty; Tina has to admit she only knows Brittany and Sam on the entire court, which contains seven guys and seven girls.

"Are you having fun?" Brittany asks her.

"Yeah, actually," Tina smiles, "I'm glad you asked me."

"Me too," Brittany hums, "and I'm sorry we can't end the night with a kiss, because you are really hot."

"Um," Tina's not sure how to respond. Every once in awhile since they started to become better friends, Brittany says things like this, and Tina can't tell her intentions. She thinks it's probably just Brittany's way of complimenting her.

Brittany doesn't seem to notice that Tina hasn't really responded and picks up the energy in her dance, "I like this song. Maybe we can do it in Glee," she says absently. Tina listens, eyes bugging again when she realizes it's "Cake" by Rihanna, and she's not even sure how the chaperones are okay with the DJ playing it, but she knows Mr. Schue will realize it's a song about oral sex, and…

Tina flushes, but grins and dances harder with Brittany. She can see Blaine, Sam, Artie and Joe dancing together (together-not-together, as they aren't actually touching each other, just forming a circle—it's kind of a girly thing, she thinks) nearby, Sam licking his lips exaggeratedly and Blaine groaning and both laughing hysterically, while Artie is flushed red but grinning, and Joe looks bewildered. Clearly, they know what the song is about…except for Joe, anyway, and Joe's naiveté makes Tina chuckle.

But after the song ends, Mr. Figgins takes the stage, and Tina can hear him murmuring, "Quiet, children. Your attention please."

Brittany shoots Tina an excited look and bounces from foot to foot. Tina watches, amused. She still doesn't quite understand how Brittany has that much energy. Tina feels like she's no slug—she's a good dancer and tries to be as active in Glee as she can (though, damn Mr. Schue and his reluctance to give her solos), she's a central part of the Brianiacs, she and Artie the club's current veterans, she takes tap and piano lessons, and she makes straight A's, her parents have always pushed her to do well. Tina is no slacker, but even she can't believe Brittany's energy.

"We will now be announcing the nominations for Homecoming King and Queen," Figgins says in his quiet, deliberate way. He recites the names, the spotlight finding each nominee in the crowd as they wave. Most people clutch their date's arm and try to look dignified, except Sam, who came alone and just waves bashfully, and Brittany, who jumps up and down and waves enthusiastically when her name is called. Tina can't help but beam.

"And the McKinley High Homecoming King for 2012 is…Brittany S. Pierce," Figgins murmurs, his eyebrows betraying his surprise. Brittany squeals and tackles Tina in a hug that's over too quickly for Tina to even hug back before the bundle of energy is rocketing up onstage. Tina starts to vaguely worry that Brittany has been taking Vitamin D, because this kind of manic energy is actually getting baffling at this point.

Brittany accepts her crown and grabs the microphone from a bewildered Figgins and, seeming to reign in her high spirits, says seriously, "Thank you for your votes! Please vote for me again next week for class president. I served you well last year, and I will serve you well this year. I kept my campaign promise and there were no destructive tornadoes in the halls of McKinley High." She nods decisively and hands back the microphone, and Tina wants to laugh, because Brittany didn't serve them last year, but really, a sea of students is a sea of students.

Tina reaches over to pat Sam's arm, "Sorry you didn't win," she tells him, even though she's happy for Brittany.

To her surprise, Sam grins at her, "Are you kidding? Seeing Brittany win Homecoming King is well worth it." Blaine, still next to him, laughs and nods his agreement.

A hush falls over the gym as Figgins prepares to read the name of the Homecoming Queen. When he opens the envelope, he scowls, and says, "McKinley High, my hands are tied, and you have voted in an impossibility. The Homecoming Queen is Sugar Motta."

Tina's mouth drops open as Sugar takes the stage, making an exaggerated Queen wave as she does so. For one thing, Sugar was not on the Homecoming Court, and for another, she is a Junior. Tina glances around, half-expecting some of the actual nominees to get upset, but like every dance she's been to, no one really reacts when someone unexpected and impossible takes the title they fought for. It's baffling, but she supposes it's some sort of social psychology phenomena in effect.

Sam mutters at her, "I heard Sugar saying she was buying votes, but I wasn't sure she was serious."

"Yeah," Tina mutters back, "And I really didn't think it would work, anyway, but hey, I guess she got what she wanted."

Sugar is crowned, and then Brittany and Sugar have their celebratory dance. Tina notices Rory nearby, and with a shrug holds out a hand to him and they dance.

"I can't believe she won!" Rory crows in celebration, "Both of them!" he adds, respectfully, though Tina knows he's mostly happy for Sugar; they've been kind-of dating for quite awhile now, and though it's entertaining to watch Sugar keep him on a short leash, she wonders why Rory puts up with it. Tina reflects that both winners were nearly impossible choices and wonders if her class will go down in history as the class that just does not give a fuck. When they were freshmen, she's pretty sure they voted "clear" as their class color (Tina thinks that could have made for a rather disturbing Class Color Day, but they were forced to re-vote; the second time, the class chose "plaid" and when forced to vote again, finally chose "puce").

But either way, it's liberating. It makes the rest of her last year of high school seem so much more bearable.

"Me neither, I'm proud of both of them," she responds to Rory, and watches them over his head as he leads her in a simple, but graceful dance; Rory's decent on his feet.

Brittany is laughing hysterically and she and Sugar keep whispering in each other's ears. Right next to each other, the odd similarities in their features—the ones that had made her absently wonder last year if both Artie and Rory chased Sugar because she resembled Brittany—become much more pronounced, and those similar straight noses brush together slightly as they giggle, and their eyebrows tug down in the same way as their foreheads press together. It's strangely intimate, and Tina finds she can't look away.

And again, that odd feeling from last month bubbles up in her stomach. The one that wonders, Do Brittany and Santana have an open relationship?

Because Tina can't help it; she loves gossip. And without Kurt and Mercedes here, well, maybe she has to gossip with herself, but…she doesn't want to admit that her curiosity is more than that.

She blushes as the thought hits her, and looks elsewhere, only to see Sam dancing with Merry, and Merry is smiling comfortably, but Sam is watching Brittany and Sugar, too, and Tina knows that his expression is the same that hers was, curious and open and almost mystified…

And when the song ends, and the next one begins, she joins the rest of the Glee club as they gather around Brittany and Sugar to congratulate them, and shout out the lyrics to the newest Pink song the DJ plays next with so little regard for melody that Rachel Berry would cringe, a dancing cluster, hanging all over each other, laughing, singing…

The New Directions at their best, Tina thinks, and the swell of pride erupts in her chest, and she finds herself crying.

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I'm a young blood coming up fresh in the game
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She reflects that maybe there is some kind of karma in the universe, because she never would have given these people the time of day in high school. They would've been like…the A/V club, or something even lower than the Glee club.

But somehow, she's found a little niche with people far geekier than even bookworm Lucy had ever managed to be.

It starts because of her roommate, Stephanie. Quinn discovers, for the first time since she's gone by Quinn, that she's actually a bit shy; the persona of Quinn Fabray, pretty blonde cheerleader, is gone, and even so would not be the social currency it once was, would not have given her the social courage she once had. The re-invented Quinn Fabray, freshman at Yale, first becomes hyper-focused on school, and it isn't until about a month into school that she realizes she hasn't really made any friends.

And, at first, she's okay with this, because what happened with Artie, and her conversation with him, still weighs heavily on her mind, and she wants to ensure that any friends she makes are genuine, and not selfish, but it's not an easy thing to qualify. And really, making friends with other students is almost selfish by definition, because of advantages to studying…

Not that she's been completely socially isolated. Other students talk to her in class, once or twice she's grabbed a meal with a few, but nothing's ever clicked. Possibly because it's mostly been guys that have approached her, and she's fairly good at reading their attraction. She's not interested in befriending someone who just wants to get to know her because he wants her. Not anymore.

Stephanie is the one who finally pressures her, the evening she realizes she's mostly friendless. "Come to dinner with me. Seriously, Quinn, you eat alone all the time."

She likes Stephanie. She's funny, usually quiet unless something amuses her and then she fills the room with raucous, infectious laughter. She's always on her computer, and looks horrified whenever Quinn puts on workout clothes to go for a run (which is getting easier—she'll probably never be in the shape she was in the first month of Sophomore year, but she's in good shape, her legs are getting stronger, and she's not gaining weight). She shares two classes with Quinn, one English and one World History, and in class she is engaged and obviously intelligent.

She also has just the right attitude, right between Santana's forceful authority and Rachel's patient confidence, to get Quinn to acquiesce.

"Alright," Quinn rolls her eyes, setting aside her copy of Lyrical Ballads. Stephanie smirks and steps aside to let Quinn out of the room first, locking the door behind them.

"It's silly that you don't eat with me," she presses, "I mean, I like you, I think you like me. You've met Steve before and he likes you."

Quinn nods, "I like him, too," she shrugs. Steve is Stephanie's boyfriend, and god damn if that sort of symmetry doesn't make Quinn want to gag; it's way too reminiscent of Quinn and Finn that…

"Sean will be there, too," Stephanie reports. Quinn nods; Sean is Steve's roommate, who she has met in passing, and who she suspects is attracted to her. This instantly feels slightly double-date-y, and she curses Stephanie for not talking about this sooner.

They meet the boys at the dorm's stairwell. They actually live on the floor above Quinn and Stephanie. Steve is tall and somewhat lean, with Malcolm X style glasses and long, wavy dark hair that he usually ties back. Sean is shorter, about Quinn's height actually, and stout, with closely-cropped hair.

And dinner…turns out fine. Despite the fact that the other three spend most of it arguing about some video game Quinn has never even heard of, she enjoys their company. Stephanie gets hilariously screechy when she argues her points, Steve is infuriatingly relaxed and calm during the exchange—or would be, to Quinn, if she were the one arguing with him—and Sean spends most of the argument laughing.

Toward the end of the meal, when Quinn is finished with her salad and chicken curry (and the food is a lot better than she could have anticipated, for campus food) and everyone else is slowly finishing what's left on their plates through their argument, Sean glances at her and catches her distantly amused expression. His face seems to only have two settings, and it changes from amused to serious as he says, "Wait. You've never played Starcraft, have you?"

Quinn raises an eyebrow and responds, with a hint of pride in her voice, "No."

A hush settles over the table and Quinn raises her eyebrow higher when she sees everyone is staring at her.

"You guys are just now noticing that I had nothing to add to that conversation? I'm starting to think what they say about geeks and their social skills is true," she scoffs, smirking challengingly.

She instantly regrets the barb, until Sean starts laughing again, and then, bluntly, says, "You do realize you go to Yale, right? Ergo, you must just as geeky? Either that, or you're rich," he muses.

Quinn rolls her eyes, ignoring the second part because she really doesn't want to talk about money, "Sure, I guess I could be a little geeky, but in a different way. I mean, I think the only video game I've played in the last ten years was like…Mario Kart, when I was babysitting my ex-boyfriend's little siblings. I mean, what is it? Is it like World of Warcraft or whatever?"

Stephanie cuts in, "It's not like WOW, though I do play that, and don't remind me, because I suspended my account when school started so I can focus, and my guild has been on my ass because I haven't been playing the new expansion…" Stephanie pouts tragically, then continues excitedly, "Starcraft is strategy, and since I know you're brilliant, you'll probably be good at it. Look, there's a Starcraft 2 out, but we're kind of old school and play the original. It doesn't require a fancy computer—I can play it just fine on my school laptop from four years ago—and it's cross-OS, so it'll run on your Macbook. We'll just have to get you a USB mouse, because the trackpad will be way too slow…" she trails off and grins, "This is what we do on those weekends where you're holed up in the library, or visiting your boyfriend in New York."

Quinn can feel herself blushing, "Oh my God. I visit my best friend Rachel, Stephanie, not any boyfriend. I meant it when I said you didn't have to make yourself scarce that weekend she was visiting, you could have met her and had proof! And, as you know, she's visiting again this weekend, so I'll prove it to you then!" She hadn't really minded that Stephanie had spent that weekend in the boys' room, because she liked hanging out with just Rachel, but Rachel had seemed to think it odd that Quinn's roommate, who she'd spoken of with respect, was gone entirely.

Stephanie just laughs, "So why does she have her own special ringtone?" and Quinn huffs, not responding. Stephanie had noticed, rather quickly, that there was one person who had a different ringtone than anyone else—Rachel's is "Someday We'll Be Together," (because she misses her best friend, obviously, and she means it in the sense that they'll visit each other soon)—and had always just smirked and said "suuure," when Quinn told her it was her best friend calling.

At Quinn's non-response, Stephanie just looks at her warmly, "You're fun to tease," she says, while Steve and Sean just look between them, smirking. And somehow after dinner, she convinces Quinn to put aside her reading to install Starcraft, and they take their laptops upstairs to the boys' room—since both only have desktops (Steve because he wants to study computer science and he built his computer himself, and Sean because, as he bluntly states, he's poor)—and play.

When they start, with Stephanie kind of murmuring instructions at her, Quinn mostly just curses her weird little units. They looks like reptilian bugs or dogs or something. They told her to try Zerg first, since the basic strategy was the fairly simple "make as many troops as possible" strategy. For about twenty minutes she tries to figure out what her units and buildings even do and what it means when they bubble and pulse, until Steve's Terran troops storm in and decimate her little settlement, and she finds herself pouting as she is eliminated.

"Steve!" Stephanie smacks his arm, "I told you to go easy on Quinn!"

Steve grins and shrugs, "It's the way of the game."

"Ugh! Let's start over!" Stephanie demands, exiting the game. It takes ten minutes to convince the boys to leave the game they now are alone in, but eventually they do, and Stephanie elects to sit this one out and sit next to Quinn, advising her on strategy.

She's close, leaning against Quinn's arm, pointing at the screen. Quinn can feel her breath on her cheek, her long hair tickling her upper arm, the occasional brush of her breast against her elbow. Her shampoo smells good, and it's a bit distracting, actually. But when she completes a decent zergling rush on Steve's—Protoss, this time—encampment, not decimating it, but leaving him vulnerable for a second surge from Sean's Terran troops, and weathers one round of attacks from Sean, Quinn feels some of it click into place. The delicate balance between offense and defense, the way different units function, even the strength of her Zerg race as just overpowering with cheap, expendable troops.

She doesn't expect to win against people who have been playing this game for almost a decade—it was a first computer game for most of them—and Sean's second attack wipes her out, but she knows she'll be a formidable opponent someday.

Sue Sylvester did make her read the Art of War, after all.

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Your Antarctic hair off with the crown
.

Rachel visits to go to the poetry reading with her, and Quinn somewhat reluctantly makes sure she's introduced to her acquaintances.

Stephanie is surprisingly polite—she doesn't make a single reference to Quinn's imaginary boyfriend—and somehow manages to have a conversation with Rachel about New York for about twenty minutes while Quinn's gaze just ping-pongs between them. At dinner the night after the poetry reading, Rachel meets Steve and Sean. They both just act shy for awhile until Rachel gets Sean to begrudgingly admit that he likes showtunes (which makes everyone stare at him in surprise until he looks amused and reports, "Yes, I'm straight"). They then start on some conversation about music that eventually includes Steve, too—he shares that he's an ex-trombonist, and Sean begrudgingly also admits he was in marching band in high school and that he plays the saxophone. Quinn's a bit lost, because despite childhood piano lessons and singing, she just doesn't know all the pieces, composers or concepts they're discussing, and Stephanie pouts that she never learned to play an instrument.

They share Quinn's bed; even when Stephanie had disappeared the last time Rachel had visited, they'd shared Quinn's bed in case she returned. Stephanie disappears again to sleep in the boys' room this time, but doesn't bother to inform Quinn about this until the morning, so again, like they did in New York, they share a bed. And really, they're both small, and Quinn has had enough sleepovers with Brittany, who is a pathological cuddler, to assure Rachel repeatedly that it's fine—she'd made that clear the first time Rachel visited, just as Rachel had made sure she knew she was welcome to share her own bed in New York. And it is. It's nice. And they're pretty much used to it by now.

By the time Rachel leaves, she gushes that she likes Quinn's new friends, and some relief settles inside Quinn. If Rachel likes them, well, maybe it's because they actually fit well with her. Maybe Quinn is making friends for the right reasons.

She likes that Rachel likes them, but in some ways, she likes even more that these people know so little about her. She has control over what they know of her. She doesn't have a reputation here that demands that her business is for public consumption—and though in some ways having no reputation has made it hard for her to figure out how to talk to people, it also means no one expects anything of her. They're not in awe of her. They're not afraid to talk to her.

They also don't know her secrets, and for now, she wants to keep it that way. She has a clean slate. If she chooses to reveal anything, she can do so in her own time.

She thought she'd be ripping the band-aid off for a few of those secrets when she first arrived, but had changed tactics almost immediately. She'd decided she was okay with not having any labels defining her (whether HBIC, psycho, mother, plastic, cripple, or anything else). She's even kept her cross hidden away—her faith is for her to share, not for anyone to infer.

A few weeks later, and their little group gets just a bit bigger.

Apparently discovering a mutual love for Fringe, Stephanie invites a girl from one of her general education classes back to the dorm to watch the new episode one evening. Quinn usually vacates at this time, but prodding from Stephanie, Steve and Sean convince her to stay and give the show a chance.

The new girl introduces herself as Lulu, which makes Quinn almost double-take, because it's so close to Lucy, and honestly…the girl looks kind of like what Lucy would look like if she were half Asian (a strange part of Quinn's brain supplies that she looks like what might happen if she and Tina had a baby and her Lucy parts won out, and another part of her brain is facepalming a little that she thought of having a baby with Tina before Mike, because, jeez, impossible much?). Lulu is just a hair taller than she is, with straight, long dark brown hair, dark eyes, glasses, a straight nose, and a—well—plump build. But not the awkward, hunched overweight build of Lucy. She has nice hips, nice breasts, and is obviously much more comfortable in her skin than Lucy ever was.

Quinn shakes her hand, which earns her a laugh from Stephanie, "So formal!" Stephanie crows dramatically, and Lulu pumps her hand solemnly a few times before cracking a grin. Quinn thinks she might be blushing when she pulls away.

"I'm just polite," she says awkwardly.

"I appreciate it," Lulu assures her, and Steve and Sean lope in after a few minutes, wave awkwardly as Stephanie introduces them to Lulu, and they settle onto Stephanie's bed and onto the beanbag chairs on the floor in front of it to watch the show. Which…Quinn is completely lost, but there are aspects that remind her of the first season and a half of The X-Files that she's seen—turns out Lulu is a fan of that, too—that she thinks she might add Fringe to the list of shows she needs to catch up on.

Lulu continues to come around to hang out with a bit more frequency. She's not crazy about video games, but says she's used to watching because her boyfriend loves them. They watch movies and TV shows together.

"Where's your dorm, anyway?" Quinn asks with curiosity once, trying to ascertain why Lulu never seems to drop off her school stuff there before coming to hang out.

"Oh. I'm a townie," Lulu says with a shy smile, "My parents both worked at the college." She says this in a distant way that makes Quinn realize she shouldn't press as to why her parents no longer work there.

Lulu intends to be an art major, which Quinn learns when one day she asks, somewhat out of the blue, "Mulder or Scully?"

"Scully," Quinn answers immediately—like it's even a contest—and raises an eyebrow as Lulu's hand starts moving purposefully over her sketchpad. "What about you?"

Lulu smiles and looks up, "It's hard to answer, because I love them both, but I was really into David Duchovny when I was younger. So I guess Mulder."

A few minutes later, she bequeaths—yes, that formally—Quinn with a signed drawing of Scully looking scandalized at something. It's a bit rough, because she was clearly working from memory, but she's so obviously talented that Quinn's mouth drops open. "Oh, wow," she says.

And to repay her, she opens a picture of David Duchovny on her laptop and makes her own sketch on a sheet of notebook paper. Her style is more or less the same silly, exaggerated style she used to draw Rachel in high school, so even though she tries to be realistic, his eyes look a little too small and his nose a little too large, but with his open mouth and drawn together brow, he looks like Mulder largely expressionlessly trying to tell Scully how right he is about something, and Lulu grins in surprise when she hands it to her. "I didn't know you were artistic."

Quinn laughs uncertainly, "Barely," she scoffs, "It's mostly silly stuff like that."

"I like it," Lulu smiles.

"Let me see!" Stephanie demands, taking the drawing and staring at it, "Oh, it is pretty good. Who is it supposed to be?"

Lulu laughs, "You really need to see The X-Files."

"Pssht. Whatever. Fringe has got to be better." And with that, competitive Stephanie draws them a picture of Walter Bishop, his hair a swirling mass, that makes them both gasp with awe at her strange style and laugh, because, well, it's Walter Bishop.

Thus begins the drawing contests that soon everyone is involved in; Quinn's art tends toward caricature, Lulu's is full of attention to detail, Stephanie's is whimsical, Sean's is rough with heavy outlines, and Steve's is strangely cartoonish—like Calvin and Hobbes meets Archie.

The only thing she really feels she's missing in this new geeky existence is music.

It's frustrating, because she keeps looking at the school's website, at the various choirs that exist. Yale even has a glee club, but she feels like she doesn't have time. She also feels like she isn't a strong enough vocalist. She knows she was good for high school (she was quite good at a lot for the level expected in high school), but she doesn't think she's good enough for college yet (even academically, although she's doing well so far, she does have to work harder. College is different).

So she sits on the idea of joining a choir, for the time being, and enjoys trying to tease out what it's like to have these new friends.

Friends who see her as shy, polite, intelligent. And not a former anything.

She could get used to a reputation she's been granted, not one that she's thrust upon herself.

Additional A/N: Chapter titles are from Eurythmics, "Sweet Dreams," Burial, "Archangel," Die Antwoord, "Baby's On Fire," and Jonsi, "Boy Lilikoi." My Jonsi love thanks in part to pleasant-hell (this song is mentioned in "Kill the Light," which is lovely). Other songs mentioned are Rihanna, "Cake," and Diana Ross, "Someday We'll Be Together."