Quick follow up update because you have been so patient :)

Chapter Sixteen: Swallowing Our Pain.

"So, you wanna make out?"

"Uh." Rachel was surprised but . . . no, surprised covered it.

Noah had paid for her meal but it hadn't really felt like a date. They'd spent the whole time while in a booth at Breadstix talking about different songs that would mash well with Mr. Schuester's rapping and she had been pleasantly surprised to find that his musical tastes weren't as abhorrent as she'd expected. However she suspected he felt differently, judging by the spikes-under-the-fingernails wincing that he was trying to disguise as mediocre enthusiasm. It left her wondering why he had taken the time to invite himself into her home at all and then expend the energy to talk his way upstairs in her currently parent-less house. She had been more expecting him to make his excuses and leave than ask that.

She was strangely charmed by his bluntness and it was nice that at least one person in school wasn't condemning her for being an alleged lesbian. Unless, wait. .. ?

"Are you only asking because you want to tell the whole school you converted a lesbian?"

He smiled, "That depends. Are you a lesbian?"

She took a moment to think about her answer, or more to the point, how her answer could effect Quinn. "I'm bisexual, I think." Now she thought about how her answer effected her and also about the fact that this was Puck, McKinley's resident Lothario. "But I don't make out with just anyone. . . and I certainly don't want to do so with anyone who isn't proud to have me on their arm," she tacked onto the end with an indignant sniff and an angry flick of her hair as Quinn's idea of dating her flashed to the front of her mind.

He shrugged, "You're a hot Jew, what's not to be proud of?"

She melted, a little, because it was nice to hear someone - anyone - call her hot.

He picked up on her sudden weak-at-the-knees-ness and waggled his eyebrows. "So what are we waiting for, babe?"

They moved to her bed and he lay down, pulling her over him. His kisses were nice, he clearly knew what he was doing, but . . .

No, she shook thoughts of Quinn away and concentrated on the boy beneath her. It was a little weird. Finn was the only other boy she'd kissed and he was so tall that even laying down it had felt like he was towering over her. Noah wasn't so tall, but he was extremely muscular, in fact she quite liked the way his chest felt against hers, but . . .

No, no buts! She liked it, please just leave it at that. She needed this. Needed to feel wanted, by someone other than the person that she couldn't want any more. Dwelling on what she couldn't have wasn't healthy. She had to just accept the fact that nobody was ever going to make her feel the way she did when Quinn kissed her, but Noah's kisses were okay, they made her lips feel nice even if they didn't make her whole body feel sparks. He actually kissed a lot like Quinn, like they'd learned the art from the same master, and if she ignored the hard body beneath her and kept her eyes closed she could almost imagine . . .

A few seconds of imagining later she abruptly pushed up on her hands, away from Noah's lips, shocked at herself.

"You okay, babe?"

No she wasn't, because that wasn't okay. If she needed to think about Quinn to feel . . . No, it just wasn't right.

In the end she made up a bunch of excuses about his lack of leading man potential and he left shortly afterwards, looking upset. She felt bad about hurting his feelings but it was better than leading him on, right?

Grumpy Bear agreed with her, later that night when she cuddled him tight into the crook of her neck and waited for sleep to come.

Grumpy Bear - who still smelled like Quinn - was all she needed for now.

This was the first time she'd heard Puck sing a solo and it was . . . it was enough to make Quinn sit forward on her red seat at the top of the risers and listen with rapt admiration.

She probably shouldn't be and she tried to sit back and school her expression into something other than 'Take me now!' Obviously Puck was singing this to get her attention and she didn't need Finn getting jealous, even if for some reason he had opted to sit several chairs away from her today.

She watched as Puck strolled across the floor, his dulcet tones – and they really were dulcet, for crying out loud – making every girl present swoon just a little bit, and although it was foolish she was kind of looking forward to that moment when he turned and made eye-contact with her.

Except he didn't. Not once. And there was Rachel practically sliding off of her seat as he stopped in front of her, his smile and his stupid voice crooning stupidly just for her.

Just what the hell was going on here?

The day only got worse after second period.

There had been at least eight guys and at least half of the slushies had ended up on her. Deliberately. At least the sunglasses had kept the corn syrup out of her eyes; so they hadn't been a complete waste of time.

She left Finn in the middle of a giant puddle of ice spluttering about how he couldn't quit the football team now, to head to the girls locker room. It wasn't that she didn't get where he was coming from but . . . she was still head cheerleader and this had still happened to her, and she was wearing sunglasses. What more could she possibly do to escape this?

She sort of noticed Rachel in her periphery as she passed her, but she was drenched through and freezing and so even if she could have acknowledged her she wouldn't have done.

Still, it took away the shock factor when two minutes later Rachel followed her into the locker room. Quinn may have considered it a good thing if there weren't half a dozen senior Cheerios in there with her, changing after their Gym period.

They were seniors and normally they wouldn't give a crap about any sophomore drama, but she was HEAD Cheerleader and they were all seniors and so they resented her on principle. By extension . . . Rachel was toast.

"RuPaul, you're in the wrong changing room!"

"Stop perving on us, LesBerry!"

"Quinn, get your pet dyke out of here!"

The insults grew increasingly worse but Rachel - to her credit if not Quinn's sanity - ignored them all.

"Quinn, I saw what happened. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine; and you need to get out of here," she mumbled without looking up.

"I'm sorry?"

"I said, I'm fine!" she couldn't help it, she snapped. "I don't need you checking on me, Manhands. It was just a slushy. Leave me alone!"

"We both know it was more than just one . . ." Quinn levelled a bitch-force glare at her. "But I can see you have the situation under control, so I'll bid you farewell." Rachel's expression gave nothing away as she turned and left the locker room.

Unsurprisingly one of the girls was sneering before the door had even shut properly behind Rachel. "About time you put that queer in her place,"

"Yeah?" Quinn started stripping out of her uniform, there was no point being modest now everyone knew she was pregnant. In a sugar-coated voice, she added, "Eat shit and die, Glenda."

That had the red-headed senior standing up from her bench. "What did you just say to me?"

"I'm pretty sure you and everyone else in here heard me," she said calmly.

"I knew you were as dykey as her," another girl piped up, causing a round of bitchy laughter the Cheerios might as well have trademarked.

Quinn was already half way to the showers but she turned around to reply. "I'm not gay, Suze, as much as you might wish I was." She let that hang there for as long as it took Susan to turn red at the implication. "But I'm also not a narrow-minded, homophobic asshole. Do I like Berry having a crush on me? No. But I'm not threatened by it either. How many of you have had a crush on someone who didn't feel the same way?"

She didn't just ask the Cheerios, but every Senior in the class she'd crashed. Pretty much all of their expressions gave away that they had.

"And how would you have felt to have that crush publicly condemned and ridiculed?" She spotted more than a few sheepish looks before their eyes turned away. "Exactly. So just drop it. Berry's my problem, not yours, and I've got it handled."

She turned and walked into the showers and no one made a peep in her direction as she did, but she could imagine the looks that were passing back and forth behind her. And of course she cared about them, because that's who she was, but she also thought . . . screw it! She hadn't said anything she didn't want to say and they all knew she was right, even if they said differently behind her back.

Quinn felt lighter than she had done in weeks after putting the the girls in the locker room back in their place, like she was finally getting some control back. And okay so everything was still going to hell – Rachel, Finn, her reputation, her abs – but just maybe, she could dictate her own terms and that was something to be optimistic about.

That optimism lasted until she saw Puck and Rachel walking arm in arm down the hall at lunch time.

What, were they actually together now?

She couldn't even smirk over Puck getting slushied for long, as joyful as it was, because Rachel quickly rushed him into the girls bathroom to help him clean up.

This was . . . they just couldn't be together! Puck and Rachel? Why couldn't they just rip her heart from her chest, douse it in gasoline and strike a match instead – it would have been less painful.

"Finn, I can't find my phone. Give me yours so that I can call it, please."

He handed it over without question; too caught up in his conversation with Matt about Coach Tanaka's football ultimatum to care about what she was doing.

It's Quinn. Meet me in our spot when you're done fooling around with Puck. It's important.

She handed the phone back. "Actually, I just remembered where I left it." She pulled Finn down by his arm to kiss his cheek, accidentally clashing their sunglasses together. "I'm going to go and get it, I'll see you later."

Rachel heard her cellphone beep while she was in the bathroom with Noah, but she was focused on washing his hair at the time. She was starting to think he might be good boyfriend material after all. His voice was beautiful despite his as yet limited capabilities, he was rakishly handsome when he smiled a certain way and, maybe just as importantly, he really seemed to want to be with her.

She was ready to suggest they made their relationship official when he reluctantly admitted he was choosing Football over Glee. Sadly they were doomed from that moment on, but honestly she was more upset over him leaving Glee than leaving her.

She checked her messages as she left the bathroom and despite many misgivings made her way to the abandoned workshop. What could possibly be so important that Quinn would risk them meeting in the middle of the school day, on school grounds, in what could only be seen as an intended tête-à-tête if they were unlucky enough to be spotted by a fellow student?

Had Quinn changed her mind about them being friends? Did she want that now? Rachel hoped so because this past week of forced estrangement had been so hard. The only time they'd really talked at all had been in their American Literature classes and even those conversations had been solely about the novel for once. Rachel had wanted to enquire on her health and well-being, or ask what she had been doing with her evenings, or even just talk about the weather but she respected Quinn's apparent need to keep things strictly professional from now on.

She knew she'd disrespected it that morning when she'd followed her into the locker room, which was why she had left without a fuss when Quinn's acid tongue had given her a quick lashing, but seeing Quinn so brutally slushied Rachel just hadn't been able to stop herself from making sure she was okay. It had been a solid reminder of the fact that they weren't friends though, or anything else any more.

Which again brought her back to why her presence had been requested in 'their spot' just as she rounded the back of the workshop.

"Why did you need to see me? What's happened?" she asked, hurrying to join her as soon as she saw Quinn leaning back against the brick, arms crossed and sunglasses on despite the grey sky above them. "Is there something wrong with your eyes?"

"Are you dating Puck now?"

"I, uh . . ." Quinn's tone was so harsh she didn't want to admit that they had actually just broken up. "Perhaps. Why?"

"Why? Why do you think? It's Puckerman, Rachel!"

"Yes, I know. I think I've misjudged him in the past. He's proven himself quite sensitive in the last few days."

"Which is more than I can say for you?"

That hurt. "I don't know what you mean by that?"

"Oh please! Don't act like an idiot. Is that why you broke up with me? Have you just been waiting to date him this whole time?"

This conversation was placing her severely off-kilter, especially when she couldn't see Quinn's eyes and only had the emotion in her voice to go on. "Quinn, you know that's not why. We ended because the challenges of dating someone on the outskirts of social acceptability proved to be too great for you to overcome."

"Oh really. If that were true you wouldn't have moved on at the speed of light, Rachel."

She noticed with disappointed that Quinn hadn't denied the charge, dousing her hope that the accusation would light a rebellious fire - or at the least a slightly indignant fire - in Quinn. It was for the best this way but it didn't make finding out that over the weekend Quinn had come around to the same way of thinking any easier to bear.

That was just her though. Surely for Quinn it was different.

"But won't this make it easier for you?"

"What about seeing you parade around on his arm and rushing to help him clean up is supposed to be easy for me?"

"Why are you making 'clean up' sound dirty? And have you forgotten that I rushed to help you too, only an hour before, and you sent me away in your usual cruel fashion. At least Noah appreciated my help."

"Oh, it's Noah now, is it?"

She sighed, "Quinn, if you have a problem with my relationship with Puck then . . ."

Quinn pushed off of the brick and took a step towards her with an extremely to the point, "Yes, I do have a problem with it."

" . . . then . . ." What was she supposed to say to that? ". . . then . . . tough! It's not any of your concern. I apologise that the timing is too soon for you, but Noah courted me, not the other way around, and I find myself quite taken with him for doing so."

"So this is about you punishing me?"

"No!" She made an effort to calm down before this turned into the argument Quinn was goading for. "Quinn, I'm not trying to be insensitive, but look at it from my point of view. I have to see you be happy with Finn every day, knowing he has what I . . ."

"Happy? Happy!" Quinn took another step forward. "Do I sound happy? Do I look happy right now?"

All Rachel could see right now were two little reflections of her own worried face in the dark lenses where Quinn's eyes should be. Still it was pretty obvious what answer was expected of her.

"No, you don't, but you do still have a boyfriend that you're content to stay with. Why can't I have the same thing?"

Quinn looked away for a moment, lips moving slightly although no sound came out. Rachel had the absurd thought that she was praying, but then it wasn't all that absurd when it came to Quinn. So next she wondered what she was praying for.

Patience, perhaps, or a little serenity. Either way, when she looked back, her voice was controlled and at a lower pitch than before.

"Of course you can have that, I don't want you to not be happy, but it really does feel a little soon. Like you're jumping into this without thinking."

"I'm not planning to run off and elope with Noah; I'm fully aware that this is probably purely a rebound relationship for me, but I see no problem with living a little if that's what I need right now."

"Yeah, the thing is? Puck is not a good choice for a rebound. You know his reputation."

"Which I, personally, think makes him the perfect choice. The chance of me being able to break Noah's heart is unlikely."

"And you don't get why that's the problem? You're worrying about breaking his heart and all he's thinking about is breaking you in!"

"Quinn!" Rachel went red. "There's no need to be so crass, but even if you're right, what's wrong with me enjoying the fact that someone finds me desirable enough to want to have sex with me?"

Quinn looked oddly hurt by that.

"What about . . .?" she began, her voice small and uncertain but her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip before she could finish her sentence and in the blink of an eye her attitude changed, she took a step back, arms folding again. "So this is about me not having sex with you? Because, honestly Rachel, if I'd known that that was all you were interested in I wouldn't have wasted so much time on you in the first place."

Rachel was still convinced Quinn had multiple personalities living in her head, and just as convinced that at least one of them was mentally unhinged.

"Give me strength! No, Quinn, that's not all I'm interested in! Yes, I would like to have sex one day, and possibly even with you, but I'm in no rush to reach that milestone. It will happen when my partner and I are both ready, whether that is next week or five years from now, and that applies to you and Noah and anyone else."

"Trust me, he's ready."

Rachel simply shrugged. She had no plans to ever sleep with Noah Puckerman but it really wasn't any of Quinn's business; not when Quinn had already slept with Finn at least once.

"Rachel, you can't be with him! He's only with you because . . . Look, okay, Puck has a sensitive side, I know that, but he also has an asshole side and an uncanny ability to know when a girl is feeling vulnerable to his charms. Think about it from his point of view: You have unrequited feelings for me. The whole school is laughing at you because you covered up getting turned down by blackmailing me and it blew up in your face. Finn isn't speaking to you. No one else is much either. And he's as aware that you are on the rebound as you are!"

Considering all of that was because of Quinn, Rachel really didn't appreciate the cavalier tone, but she kept her hurt feelings behind a strained smile. "Your point?"

"That you're one wine cooler away from throwing you virginity at him!"

"I am not!"

"Yes you are!" Rachel flinched back and Quinn looked instantly sorry for yelling and stepped forward, taking her hands. "Listen, I get why you want a boyfriend and that's fine, I won't try and stop you, but Puck is not the right guy for you. So . . . you'll break up with him this afternoon, before this mess gets any worse, and we'll find you a different boyfriend, okay?"

Could she just say: What . . . The . . . Heck?

"Quinn, I think the problem is more easily solved by me just not being silly enough to drink wine coolers in Noah's presence. And considering how terrible I felt the morning after his party, I wasn't planning on doing so any time soon anyway."

"Famous last words," Quinn muttered, before continuing as if she hadn't even heard her. "What about Mike? It would actually kill two birds with one stone. He's less likely to tell people the truth about me if he has you."

"You want to use me as currency to buy Mike's silence?"

"Yes, if you want to be cynical about it. Come on, I know you like him and I won't do anything to stand in the way of that from now on."

Cynical? She was the one being accused of cynicism? "Well, it sounds as though you have my romantic life all sorted out for me, except that you've overlooked the fact that Mike is now dating Brittany!"

Quinn's face fell, what she could see of it below the dark glasses anyway. "He is? When did that happen?"

"I have no idea, but when I asked him on Monday if he would like to get together to work on his routine again, he blushed profusely and informed me that Brittany was now helping him."

"Well, that doesn't sound serious . . ." Quinn was quiet for a few seconds, tilting her head up a little and biting her lip. "I bet it would be totally easy for us to break them up."

"Quinn! That's your friend!"

"Pick someone else then!"

"I did! I picked Noah!"

They were shouting at each other now and Rachel just hoped no one was walking past the other side of the work shop for any reason.

"You're not dating Puck!"

"No one else wants me!"

Quinn was about to give her a hug, she could see it, but Rachel hadn't said it for sympathy, she was just stating the truth, and being in Quinn's arms . . . that couldn't happen. So she took a step back, holding her hands up to keep her away.

"That's not a good enough reason to lead him on. You can't do that to him."

That was a quick change of tune.

"I thought you were worried about me, not him."

"I am, but he does have feelings too, and if you're only with him to get over me, that's not fair."

It started to drizzle and Rachel pulled the hood of her jacket over her head. It probably took something away from her glare as she said, "Why do you care? You don't even like him."

Quinn shifted back on her feet uncomfortably. "That's neither here nor there."

Wheels started spinning in Rachel's mind, memories of half-forgotten observations and conversations coming to her. "You're jealous of him being into me."

"Clearly. Just because we're not together doesn't mean I like the idea of you with anyone else."

"No." Rachel held a hand up to her. "You're fine with me being with Mike all of a sudden, but Noah's a different story."

"That's because Puck is a man whore, Rachel. Of course that makes me more jealous."

"But which one of us are you more jealous of?"

Quinn's mouth opened to retort, and then closed again very firmly.

"It's an acceptable question seeing as we both know he has, or had anyway, a crush on you. Perhaps you enjoyed his attention more than you've let on. I wouldn't blame you, I'm enjoying it right now."

"You know what?" Quinn growled. "Date Puck. Do Puck. Do whatever you want. I hope you get knocked up too, maybe then you'll stop acting like you're so much better than me."

"What does your pregnancy have to do with . . .?" Quinn was already walking away, giving her only seconds to get in a decent comeback. "Yeah, well, you look really stupid wearing sunglasses when its raining, Quinn!"

It wasn't the best comeback, but it was enough to make Quinn look over her shoulder, rip off her sunglasses and give her the Glare of Death! before disappearing around the corner. So mission accomplished.

But when had her mission become upsetting Quinn?

More to the point, she'd just had an entirely nasty argument with her about a boy she wasn't even dating any more. Puck had chosen football over her. She'd upset Quinn for no reason and in turn thoroughly upset herself.

She really wished she'd let Quinn hug her now after all.

Kurt proudly re-enacted his departure from the football team for them in the first few tense minutes they were waiting.

Quinn wasn't feeling tense for the same reason everyone else was, she was already sure none of them were going to show up. What boy in his right mind would choose being a Glee loser over being a football stud?

No, she was tense because she was in the same room as Rachel when she really didn't want to be. Their confrontation earlier had left her raw in so many ways. She was thankful for the dark glasses because at least nobody, and especially Rachel, could see that she had been crying recently. She'd never expected her to be so callous; defiant, argumentative and annoying, yes, but not callous. It was like she didn't even care that Quinn was hurting over this, like just because Rachel was okay about them splitting up, she was magically supposed to be too. She wouldn't even hug her now, for crying out loud! Was the idea of getting that close to her suddenly repulsive or something? Or did Rachel just not need her affection any more because she was getting more than enough closeness from Puck?

God, it made her stomach burn and her skin itch, the thought of him kissing her and touching her in ways only she should be allowed to. Ways she wanted to right now because Rachel's nervous energy mixed with absolute optimism that the guys would turn up, however stupid, was actually really adorable.

As the clock ticked towards and then passed three-thirty everyone else gave up hope. Everyone except Rachel who continued to stare at the door, almost bouncing on her toes and Quinn wanted nothing more than to pull her into her arms, to calm her down while she whispered in her ear that it didn't matter, they'd find more members (somehow) before Sectionals and Glee would be fine.

Except she couldn't and so she had to find a way to distract herself. It came to her pretty easily as she was watching Rachel fret. Finn had been right, the dark glasses hid a multitude of sins. The current sin being watching Rachel's breasts as she bounced up and down. Hey, just because she couldn't touch any more didn't mean she still couldn't look – providing she was wearing sunglasses anyway.

She was jerked from her slightly pervy (okay very pervy for her) thoughts by Matt and Mike walking unexpectedly through the door.

Her first thought was 'Losers!' but she couldn't deny the excited little jump in her stomach when she saw them. She was impressed actually, although less so when Mike hugged Brittany. She definitely saw him shoot a little smile Rachel's way though, which gave her some hope, even if she didn't like the way Rachel returned it with a beaming smile of her own.

Her head was so messed up!

As everyone else grouped excitedly around the two dancers, Quinn continued to watch Rachel continue to watch the door. She should tell her to get over it, to just be happy they only had to find two new members instead of four, but she couldn't, at least not without making it a cutting remark and she didn't want to do that when Rachel was already so on edge.

She had to do something about that hopeful puppy look though, because it was killing her to know Rachel was going to be disappointed again. She took a couple of measured steps around the group, trying to make it not obvious that she was heading for Rachel. She'd made it to whispering distance when Rachel's face visibly perked up and Quinn smiled too, because it was awesome to know that Rachel still appreciated these stolen moments as much as she did.

"It's going to be . . ." she murmured, but stopped when Rachel abruptly walked away.

Her eyes followed and then narrowed when she saw Puck strolling in, as casual as you like. Had he really just quit football for Glee? Did he really like Rachel that much? Bile gorged in her throat as she watched them hug and how she wished she could blame it on morning sickness.

She averted her eyes before anyone could notice her staring, struggling to keep her emotions in check, because punching Puck and then bursting into tears would look weird to anyone but her and Rachel, and probably Puck.

She almost lost it anyway when Tina suddenly turned to her and asked, "But where's Finn?" and Rachel shot her the most irritatingly sympathetic look imaginable.

"Where do you think he is?" she managed to grind out. "Playing football like he should be. He's the Captain of the team, he can't just shirk his responsibilities like these losers," she added, giving Puck the full strength of her glare.

He didn't even notice it, too busy whispering something no doubt disgusting into Rachel's ear. Something that made her snort, slap his chest in reproach and then lean up to peck him on the lips.

Hello, she was standing right here!

Stomping to the red chairs she sat down and crossed her arms and glared at Puck, the dark glasses she was wearing were probably the only thing preventing his stupid head from bursting into flames.

They continued the session without Finn, but Quinn never really got into it. Once it was over she waited until Rachel had left, with Puck, before trapping Mike by his chair.

He looked annoyed to begin with, and then a little nervous as he realized she was waiting for everyone else to leave before she shared what was on her mind.

"Can I help you with something?" he asked eventually.

With a final goodbye to the two of them, the door closed behind Mr. Schue.

"I just wanted to ask you . . . what are you doing with Brittany?"

His face started with surprise, passed through pissed off and then settled down on slightly amused. "Is this going to become a thing between us? I start dating a girl and suddenly you like her too?"

"Shut up, I don't like Brittany!" Quinn refused to blush but she couldn't help the nervous glance over her shoulder to make sure the door was still closed. "But she is my friend, which means I know she doesn't do dating, at least not seriously, and you have serious boyfriend material written all over you."

"That sounded like a compliment but . . ." he began slowly, but didn't object when she cut him off.

"It was, sort of, but Brittany won't appreciate it. Do you know who will appreciate it? Rachel. She wants to be a girlfriend as much as you want to be a boyfriend, so why did you turn down her offer to spend time with you?"

"Isn't she with Puckerman now?"

"She's only with Puck because you said no!"

"Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Would we be having this conversation if it was? No. She likes you, Mike. More than she does Puck, probably a lot more."

"Maybe." He picked his book bag from the floor, letting it dangle beside his leg. "But not enough to lie to the whole school and make herself look bad for me."

She was about to ask why Rachel would need to lie for him when his point sank in.

"What makes you think she's the one lying?" she asked defensively.

"Maybe because I still have frostbite from our little race down the slopes together," his sudden grin was unexpected and she felt her own lips quirk up in response. "I like Rachel. I love how she's so passionate about her singing and I really admire how she just cares so much about the people that are important to her, even those that really don't deserve it." She looked away uncomfortably. "But I don't see us working out."

"You could though."

He shrugged, "We went on one date, Quinn, and she spent most of it with you."

Again her lips tried to betray her and she bit down on the bottom one to keep it in line.

"Honestly, I just can't handle the drama. Love triangles aren't really my thing."

"It wouldn't be a love. . ." she began in a rush with that urge to look over her shoulder coming back.

"Hey, its not a big deal, and if you're doing this to placate me in some way, there's no need. I'm not going to tell anyone about you guys. It's none of my business."

"There's nothing to tell! Whatever you think, Rachel and I aren't together, okay? So if you like her, ask her out." When he looked at her dubiously, she added, "Look, I promise to completely back off and stay out of the way."

Now he looked confused. "Why would you want to do that?"

When she didn't answer he pulled his bag over his shoulder, ready to leave. He actually took a step away before turning back to her with a small smile. "Tina told me what Mercedes said in your Gym class the other day. She was lying. Rachel ruled Team-Berry with an iron fist. You have no idea how many times she saved your ass from the things we wanted to do."

She wanted to ask: How many? And what things? But instead she asked, "What's your point?"

He shrugged lightly, "That maybe its you who should start recognising her serious girlfriend potential."

"Finn Hudson, how could you!"

His face was utter surprise when he saw her push her way through several of the huge guys huddled around to reach him.

"Um, Rachel, I'm kind of in the middle of practice here."

"I don't care!" And she didn't, at least not about the half a dozen boys chuckling around her as she planted her feet and stuck her hands on her hips. "We need to talk."

"I've got nothing to say to you. I chose football, get over it."

"Do you think it's that easy? You didn't just desert Glee this afternoon, which I'm mad enough about, thank you very much, but you deserted your girlfriend too!"

"Aww, look at him getting schooled on relationships by his girlfriend's piece on the side," Azimo cackled. "Better watch out, Finn, sounds like she's a much better boyfriend than you."

"Shut up!" he snarled, red in the face. "And time-out, everyone take five."

"Hell no, this practice just got interesting," another six-foot, heavy-set boy chimed in and Rachel rolled her eyes.

Finn glared at them all -but mostly Rachel - before storming away.

Rachel dogged his heels, having to almost run to keep up. "I would say I'm sorry I embarrassed you in front of your friends, but as that's exactly what you did to Quinn earlier I'm finding it hard to feel any sympathy."

"Go away, Rachel!"

"I will not!"

He whirled around suddenly and - not expecting it - she bounced off of his chest. He grabbed her elbow to keep her on her feet but as soon as she found her balance he let go and stepped back.

"Quinn gets it, okay? She never wanted me in Glee club in the first place. So if you think you're defending her honor or something, you're wrong."

"Things have changed. How do you think she felt when everyone else's boyfriend chose Glee club and you didn't?"

"I don't know, happy that she has better taste in boyfriends than the rest of you?"

That might have been true on the surface, but Rachel hadn't been fooled.

"We need you in the club, Finn. You're our male star! Quinn knows that now! Don't you see the way she smiles when you sing? When was the last time she asked you to quit for the sake of your popularity?"

"I don't know. A while ago," he admitted. "To be honest, I thought she'd demand it after you finally told the truth last week. As revenge on you or something, but I guess she's a bigger person than that."

She wanted to roll her eyes, but didn't because it wouldn't be productive. "Yes, and because she enjoys being in Glee club, and because she knows how much you enjoy it. If she didn't, don't you think she would have demanded you quit after she took that incredibly over-the-top slushy shower with you this morning. She got slushied because you're in Glee and did she ever once say you had to leave?"

"No, Rachel, she got slushied because of you, we both did! No one was making any ultimatums until you started trying to mack on my girlfriend!"

She sighed deeply, knowing it was at least half-true. "I'm sorry about that."

"Are you? Really? Because I've heard that before and then you started contorting her!"

If only!

"Extorting."

"Whatever! Look, I can't believe anything you say so just stop trying to talk to me."

He was about to head back his team-mates but . . . okay, this was a bad idea but all she had left were bad ideas.

"Finn, wait." She caught his wrist and held it tenderly, it was enough to make him stop and look back. "You're right. I have lied to you. But please, can't you give me the chance to tell the truth now."

He pulled away from her touch but stayed. "This should be interesting."

She counted to ten in her head to steel herself against his cool gaze before just blurting it out.

"I do like Quinn. I have feelings for her. Big, unstoppable feelings that won't go away. But Finn I didn't ask to feel this way and nobody wishes that I didn't more than me. "

"Then why did you try and kiss her?"

"I foolishly allowed my naive heart to rule my head, thinking there might be a small chance that she felt the same way. You probably think I'm stupid too for not realizing that she was simply leading me on and playing on my affections to secure you a scholarship. But I didn't until Santana told me. It made me angry and I didn't want to believe it and so I tried to kiss her, to prove to myself that Santana was wrong. Only, Santana wasn't wrong."

Finn frowned, "But how did she lead you on?"

She didn't have to lie about this part. "She took me on a date, Finn! She took me bowling, paid for everything, held my hand as we walked back to her car. I . . . I don't hold it against her, because what I did was worse, I know that, but yes, she led me on."

"I didn't know she did all that."

Of course he didn't, because Quinn's ulterior motives hadn't been his ulterior motives so she wouldn't have told him.

"I never meant to hurt you, Finn, and I am really sorry that I have, but I can't help the way I feel about her."

"I know that," he said quietly.

"You do?"

"Yeah, you can't chose who you like, and you can't always stop it just because you know it might upset someone else who's really important to you."

"Exactly," Rachel risked a tentative smile.

"I thought you liked me too though."

Uh-oh, she probably should have seen that coming.

"Were you just faking that to get close to Quinn?"

Again, she was grateful that she didn't have to lie. "No, not at all. I do like you, Finn."

"Yeah but, like that?"

She hesitated over her answer, but only because she knew it was about to make things complicated, not because she was trying to think up a lie.

"Yes. Like that."

"But how can you if you like girls? I mean, doesn't that make you gay?"

"I'm bisexual." He frowned so she asked softly, "Do you know what that means?"

"Of course I know what that means! I just never knew it was a real thing. Isn't it just an excuse gay dude hide behind so they don't seem too gay or something?"

Rachel nearly rolled her eyes. "No, it's not. I'm attracted to boys and I'm attracted to girls. Does it sound like I'm hiding anything from you?"

"No."

"Thank you. I've been brought up to believe that sexuality can be fluid, Finn, and you fall in love with the person not the gender. And it turns out that - for me anyway - that is completely true."

"Okay, I believe you, but . . ." Fidgeting with his red and white safety hat Finn looked up at the empty bleachers before blurting, "But, uh, how fluid do you think Quinn is? I mean, really."

Oh shoot, she couldn't answer that without lying, could she!

She could work around it though. "I think Quinn is as fluid as the rest of us, but she appears to identify as straight."

Thank you, English language, for being so accommodating!

"So you think she's straight?" he asked hopefully.

Rachel mentally crossed her fingers, even though she still wasn't lying. "She has certainly told me she is enough times."

"I'm sorry."

His sudden apology made her look behind to see who was on the receiving end of it. And she was the only one in a twenty-foot radius.

"For what?"

"You like me and I'm with Quinn and you like Quinn and she's with me. I just mean it must be hard."

She looked at the ground, well at his cleats actually, and inhaled hard, her next word came on the exhale. "Yes."

"If . . .?"

"If?"

". . . You had to choose?"

She shook her head. "I don't know." She resented him making her lie now when she'd been doing so well. "I can't. And I won't because its irrelevant."

"Yeah, sorry," he looked sheepish.

"There is one bright side though."

He laughed disbelievingly. "And that is?"

"Quinn and I were never friends, so I've lost nothing there. But you and I were, and I would really hate to lose your friendship over this, Finn. That would hurt more than anything. So can we still be friends?"

"I don't know." He dragged his palm over his face. "I don't know, Rachel. I'm still angry at you. Hell, I'm still angry at Quinn and she didn't even do anything! I think I just need some time to get over it."

"Okay," she nodded. "I understand. I'll be here when you're ready though. And you should really come back to Glee club, because you have a lot of talent and it would be criminal to let it go to waste."

He chuckled and gave her a lopsided smile. "I don't know about that, but thanks."

"Trust me, Finn. The club needs you to be a part of it. So do I. So does Quinn."

Finn rolled his eyes to the grey-blue sky above. "I can't believe you two are ganging up on me and she's not even here."

Rachel smiled, "Just imagine how much worse it would be if we actually were in cahoots."

He actually smiled then, even laughed softly. "Is that even a real word? Look, I gotta go. I have to get back to practice."

She nodded, "Knock them dead."

"It's just practice."

"Okay, then just knock Azimo Adams dead."

He gave her a 'You know it' nod and then ran back down the field. She watched him go, with no clue as to how she actually felt about their conversation.

She obviously hadn't made him want to quit football for Glee, but just maybe she'd managed to salvage their friendship, even if was going to take a little time.

How Quinn would feel about that she didn't know, and she shouldn't even care, but she obviously did or she wouldn't be thinking about it.

Sighing heavily, she felt in need of some light relief and so she called Noah.

"A little busy right now, babe, I'll get back to you in a bit." Puck closed his phone, smirking at an impatiently waiting Quinn.

"Who was that?"

"Jealous?"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't flatter yourself."

"Who said I was talking about me? That was Berry. She wants to hang out."

Her stomach turned, knowing Rachel's definition for hanging out all too well because she'd provided her with it.

"No, I'm not jealous, but that is what I want to talk about. What do you think you're doing with her?"

"Why? Wanna compare notes?"

"I'm being serious! She's pathetic right now because I broke her poor little heart or something and I know you're just itching to take advantage of that."

"You make it sound so cold." he chuckled like he was hilarious. "I'm just offering her a little comfort in her time of need, one hot Jew to another, what's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with that?" she barked back at him. Try everything! "She blackmailed me, Puck! Blackmailed me about our . . ." she dropped her voice to a rough whisper, even though she'd made sure to catch him a secluded corner of the Quad for this conversation. ". . . our baby. She made my life hell for two weeks! Why would you want to be with her after that?"

He studied her silently. Like everyone else he was still trying to figure out who was telling the truth and when. He had more inside info that most, but it was indirect (well as indirect as letting him shove his tongue in her mouth could be) and hopefully distorted by the alcohol he'd also consumed the night of Homecoming.

Eventually he shifted his stance, pushing his fists into his pockets and said low but clear, "She didn't blackmail me, Quinn, because as far as she and everyone else is concerned the baby has nothing to do with me. You only admit it when you want to tear me a new one, so why should I care about what she did to you?"

His dismissal hurt but she let only anger show on her face. "Fine! What do I care if you want to scrape the bottom of the barrel for dates? But don't you dare screw her, because I will not have my daughter biologically tied to some Spawn of Stubbles for life because you can't keep your ridiculously fertile sperm in your pants!"

"Qu . . ."

"I mean it, just don't!"

The conversation was leaving a sour ball in her stomach and a bitter taste in her mouth that she needed washing out. She didn't want to insult Rachel, it made her feel nauseas, not unlike a bout of raging morning sickness, but it was a means to an end, and the end was worth it, if it meant the end of Rachel and Puck.

"I wouldn't worry about me knocking Berry up. She's more of a prude than you are. She won't even let me touch her boobs!"

He looked so sorry for himself that a smug smile was gracing her lips before she could stop it. Pride may have been a sin but everyone was allowed one vice, right?

His jaw dropped, "No friggin' way!"

"What can I say? I really wanted my secret kept and your girlfriend isn't shy about getting what she actually wants," she winked, because she couldn't help herself. "See you later, Noah."

So that had been stupid, but it had felt so good she didn't even care.