A/N: First of all, let me state that I am so terribly sorry that I have not updated in months and months. I'm in my senior year of college and life got away from me for a bit. But! I think my muse for this story has come back, and I will try my hardest to update it as much as I can from now on.

This wasn't necessarily my favorite chapter to write as all the interaction was kind of hard to get right, but I really hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

"How does this one look, Brit?"

"Um…"

Rachel turned away from the small mirror and towards Brittany, a small frown upon her lips. She raised her eyebrows, waiting for the blonde's verdict, and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, fingers brushing past the bright yellow and red headband – decorated with bows a plenty – that she was currently trying on.

"It's… it kind of looks too… bleh."

"Bleh?"

"Yep. Like my favorite song is totally 'My Headband', you know-"

"- yes, Brittany, and I'm still very flattered."

Brittany smiled, adjusting the mini top hat perched on top of her head, and continued, "But it's like a family of bows live on top of your head and they're all fighting with one another 'cause a red one wants to marry a yellow one and it's like that one musical you made me watch."

Rachel stared, amused, and then pulled the abomination of a headband off, holding it in her hands for a moment. She sighed and put it back on the rack. "I suppose you're right. What do you think about the hat?"

The dancer shrugged, plucking it off of her head and snagging the bobby pins in her hair. She winced and stuck it back on its proper display. "I like it, but not enough to spend Lord Tubbington's allowance on it. He gave me a loan for today."

The corner of Rachel's mouth quirked up in a half smile, well used to her friend's eccentricities and slight obsession with her overweight cat. She bit her lip after a moment and glanced around Claire's. It was chock full of preteen girls trying on gaudy jewelry and loudly bragging about their middle school romances. Rachel shook her head, her upper lip curling somewhat.

"So… are we done?" Brittany asked, trying to disguise the hopeful tone of her voice. Rachel nodded, gripping a few headbands in her hand.

"I suppose. I just wish their inventory was more varied. I'm tired of buying the same kind every time I frequent the store," Rachel responded with a disparaged tone.

Brittany beamed, happy to be done with the hat-trying-on gauntlet. "I'll wait outside!" she exclaimed, and practically skipped out of the store and into the actual mall. Rachel shook her head again and walked over to the register to buy her hair accessories.

Lima's mall was decently large, located right in between North Lima and Lima Heights Adjacent. Residents from both areas frequented it, but it was clear that the two groups stringently avoided one another in the building. They did not make eye contact, except for the occasional glare or stare.

Brittany, a grin upon her lips, sat down on a bench in the middle of the hallway facing Claire's to wait. A minute passed before a shadow appeared over her.

Kurt huffed and primly sat next to Brittany, carefully setting down his array of shopping bags at his feet. "Hi."

"Hey! Wow, you bought a lot," Brittany responded, surveying his purchases. Macy's, Banana Republic, Lacoste, and several other high-end stores proudly displayed their names on Kurt's bags.

"Yes, well. I needed some new things, and Dad got a raise from the city, so." Kurt nodded towards Claire's. "Is Rachel almost finished picking out her headbands?"

As if on cue, the brunette stepped out of Claire's clutching a purple bag and frowning somewhat. She spotted Brittany and Kurt and moved over to them, eyeing Kurt's massive amount of bags. "Did you happen to buy every article of clothing from every store that sells over-priced gender-bending garments?" Her tone was wry and clearly teasing him, but Kurt still scowled.

"No. There were some good sales." He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I'm sure," Rachel muttered, rolling her eyes playfully. In truth, she cared deeply for Kurt; he was one of her best friends, after all. For a girl so well known for her talents in North Lima and in the greater part of Ohio, Rachel surprisingly did not have many close friends, so she was deeply grateful for Kurt's friendship.

"Did you buy more atrocious headbands?"

"Oh, of course, if only to annoy you and your clearly superior fashion sense," Rachel bit back. She smiled after a second, and Kurt returned it.

Rachel turned to address Brittany, who was watching the children's play area with a longing gaze. "Mike's at Gamestop, right?"

The blonde tore her eyes away from the mock treehouse with its many slides and rope ladders that was the main feature of the play area and back to Rachel. "Yep. He said something about a new game. Battle something, I think. One of those war games he really likes. I've tried playing them with him, but he gets frustrated with me when I keep getting him killed 'cause I keep asking questions about what buttons to press."

Kurt shook his head. "I will never understand the appeal of those. Barbaric, if you ask me."

Brittany shrugged. "They're fun enough, I guess. Not that war or shooting people should be fun, but…" she trailed off, her mind skipping to Santana and the story of her brother being in the gang. She frowned, sadness overcoming her expression.

Rachel took a deep breath. "Well, let's go drag him away and get lunch. Normally I hate to eat in the food court, but I have to make an exception."

Kurt wrinkled his nose at the thought of eating mall food, but acquiesced anyway as he was hungry himself. The three of them made their way to one of the only video game stores in Lima, prepared to drag Mike away from his obsession with first-person shooters.

"I am so excited for Modern Warfare and AC: Revelations. Why isn't it November yet?"

"You are such a nerd, Fabgay."

Mike's head popped up from the Xbox game he was currently fondling. He frowned, his eyes roving around the store at the source of the teasing insult. Two girls had their backs to him – one with mussed blonde hair, the other one with shiny dark locks, a wayward baseball cap perched upon them. They looked like they were from Lima Heights Adjacent, which Mike truly had no problem with; he could care less about status.

Did he just hear what he thought he heard, though? No… how weird would that be? He shook his head, disregarding it, and went back to reading the back of the game case. After a minute, he set it back down, wrinkling his nose. Not worth it. He moved over to the wall dedicated to PSP games.

"Screw you, S," Quinn murmured, shooting her best friend a look. Santana smiled sweetly in response, jamming her hands into the deep pockets of her baggy jeans.

Quinn moved over to the next wall, currently occupied by a tall Asian boy. The blonde eyed him for a quick second – briefly thinking that if she was at all straight she would find him incredibly attractive – before moving her gaze to the PSP games inhabiting the wall. Santana huffed and glanced around, a bored expression on her face. Sometimes she would play Xbox with Quinn, and she was pretty good, but she did not understand her best friend's obsession – they were just video games to her. She'd rather be working on her rhymes or jamming with Quinn and Puck then murdering virtual Communists or aliens.

The drummer rolled her eyes. "Why don't you just wait outside?" she asked quietly, her tone irritated. Santana rolled her eyes in response.

"Fine. Find me when you're done, asshole," Santana replied, turning on her heel. Her tone was light despite the name; she only teased Quinn occasionally about her nerd status, her love for her best friend overcoming anything else she thought about the blonde.

Quinn rolled her eyes and turned her eyes back to the games she was currently salivating over. She immediately lost herself in ogling them and reached out to grab the most recent Kingdom Hearts game that she had been meaning to buy forever. A hand brushed against hers and Quinn's head jerked up.

It was the boy she noticed earlier; he was dressed nicely and Quinn almost immediately knew he was from North Lima. He smiled, his eyes darting all over her face, which was turning somewhat pink. "Um, sorry. Wasn't paying attention."

Quinn chucked nervously. "Yeah, me neither." She turned her attention back to the game from which both teenagers had jerked their hands away from. It was the last game. "Um. That's the last one…"

"Um. Oh yeah," Mike responded. "You have it."

"Oh, no. You can have it, don't worry. I'm, uh, saving up for the newest COD." The blonde immediately blushed at admitting this; from his clothes, Quinn assumed that he had never had to save up his money to buy a new game.

Mike grinned and made an excited noise, immediately perking up. Unlike a lot of North Lima residents, he did not give a shit about the class differences between the two areas. His family was pretty well off, but he did need a scholarship to dance at Anderswood and was definitely not as wealthy as most of his friends. He considered the discrimination to be downright stupid and extremely ignorant. So, it did not matter if Quinn was currently dressed in ripped jeans, beat-up Chucks, a faded obscure 90s band tee shirt, and plaid flannel shirt, its sleeves rolled up to her elbows – talking about video games took precedence over everything else.

"Dude, I am so excited for Modern Warfare. The new leveling system with the killstreaks? So long overdue," Mike exclaimed, his eyes widening.

Quinn's expression lit up almost immediately after a quick furrowing of her brows – this boy's voice sounded weirdly familiar. "I know! The gameplay demo from E3 – just the single player – ugh, it looks so good."

"Dude! I almost got tickets for it, but I had another commitment. Can you imagine going?" Mike's gaze grew dreamy at the thought of attending the highly popular video game conference.

"Oh, in my dreams, dude. I can't even," Quinn murmured, her eyes glazing over.

Mike laughed, his grin wide. "Well, it was cool talking, but I have to meet my friends otherwise they'll chew me out." Actually, only one of them would chew him out; Rachel's punctuality was intense and the girl routinely and genuinely scared Mike sometimes.

Quinn smiled and glanced down at her Ninja Turtles watch. "Me too, actually. Nice talking to you, dude."

"Totally." Mike offered Quinn one last smile before turning and making his way to the register. He frowned slightly, something niggling the back of his mind at the familiarity of Quinn's voice.

Quinn eyed his back for a minute before exiting the store. Dark eyes stared at the blonde before they rolled. Quinn often wondered if they ever saw the back of Santana's brain as often as her best friend rolled them. "All that time and you didn't even get anything? Christ, Q."

Quinn shrugged. "Don't really have the money." Santana sighed and stood. "Where's Tina 'n' Robot Boy?"

"S." Quinn shot her a dark look.

"Sorry," Santana offered sincerely. She did not actually mind Artie, really. He was pretty decent, as far as guys go.

Quinn sighed. "I think Tina wanted to go to Hot Topic. What about Puckerman and 'Cedes?"

"Puck's probably off trying to bang a chick that works at the Gap or some shit. And Aretha?" Santana scoffed. "No fuckin' idea, and I don't give a shit. Don't even know if she showed up."

"Satan, when have I ever turned down a chance to buy myself more hot threads?" Mercedes walked up to the pair who took in her array of shopping bags with incredulous eyes.

"Oh, when you gets something better to spend your money on, Wheezy, like, hm, your family," Santana shot back. Mercedes' gaze hardened considerably, but Santana did not flinch. It was a low blow, and the both of them knew it.

"Hell knows why I still hang out with your trashy ass, Lespez."

"Hey," Santana shrugged, an easy smirk on her lips, "I keep it real and I'm fuckin' hilarious. That's why."

Mercedes rolled her eyes. She honestly had no idea why she kept Santana and Quinn as sort-of friends. It was more than likely because her and Santana's family go back quite a ways. "Whatever, Satan."

"I find it particularly comforting knowing that the apocalypse isn't occurring when Santana and Mercedes keep up with their petty arguments," Artie remarked smartly as he and Tina moved towards the group. Tina bore a small grin at the comment and upon seeing her friends.

Santana's glare, directed towards Artie, chilled him to the bone. After a minute, however, the rapper's expression lightened, a corner of her mouth lifting up into a small smirk, and Artie sighed in relief. Mercedes simply rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Quinn gave the two of them a small grin and noticed that Tina was indeed carrying a bag from Hot Topic. She did not really find the gothic look appealing, but she firmly believed in free will – fuck society's standards and all that. "Food court? I'm cravin' some Panda."

"Shit, Fab. I swear you've got soy sauce runn' through your veins," Puck exclaimed sarcastically as he too walked up to the group. He held his fist out for the blonde to bump, which she did. He did the same for Santana, who offered him a genuine grin. He nodded at the rest of them, an easy grin on his lips.

Quinn glanced around and noticed that several people walking through the mall were giving them looks. The blonde's eyes narrowed at their haughty stares and designer clothes – residents of Lima Heights Adjacent tended to avoid the mall on the weekends so the group's presence was somewhat out of the ordinary. Almost as if they were telepathic, Santana noticed what Quinn was looking at and scowled. "C'mon. I'm tired of getting' looked at like I'm in a fuckin' zoo."

Harsh looks settled upon almost everyone's face and they moved off in the direction of the food court, Santana leading with her trademark swagger which Quinn secretly thought was ridiculous.

Unbeknownst to them, the group consisting of Rachel, Brittany, Kurt, and Mike were behind them a ways.

"… and I said, please, Finn – that vest is horrible and deserves to be burned. I know we're not related by blood, but you'd think that he should have picked up some of my fashion advice throughout the past five years."

"Oh, shoot," Rachel muttered. Kurt's eyebrows rose and he smiled with satisfaction.

"I know, right?"

"No, no, not that. I just remembered that I told him I'd go to his polo game tomorrow." Rachel groaned.

Mike hid a small smile at her predicament. "It's his pout, isn't it?"

Rachel swung her head to look at the boy, looking exasperated. "Partially. I do care about him, but…"

Brittany had tuned out of the conversation a few minutes before, too busy people watching. She found it fun to watch other people's behavior in such a public place – it was fascinating to her. Sighing happily at being with her friends, she suddenly squinted, her gaze straight ahead. Something was familiar.

… more like, someone's ass was familiar.

Brittany stared at Santana's ass, her eyes narrowed. She brightened after a minute, subconsciously licked her lips, and excitedly turned towards Rachel. "Rach, look! It's San and Quinn!" Her grin was wide as she pointed at the two girls. Santana!" she yelled, disregarding the strange looks she earned from the mall's other shoppers – upon seeing Santana, everything else had melted away for Brittany.

Rachel's eyes widened and she gripped Brittany's arm to stop her from waving, feeling as if everyone could suddenly hear the rapid pace of her pulse. "Brittany, no, stop!" she bit out, frozen. "Don't!"

It was too late.

Santana and Quinn paused, as did the rest of them, earning dirty looks from other shoppers who were forced to go around the group. They both sucked in a breath and turned around, Tina, Artie, Mercedes, and Puck copying them.

They found Brittany walking up to them, Rachel surreptitiously trying to drag her back, panic clearly written over her face. Quinn felt her heart sink – the brunette clearly was not happy to see them – or just her, even though they had seemed to be on friendly enough terms yesterday. Both her and Santana summoned small, nervous grins and moved towards the other group.

Mercedes, having caught on quickly, sported an evil looking smirk. "Ohhh this is gonna be good…" She debated filming the interaction between the two groups on her phone, but decided against it - the blackmail could definitely backfire on her in the future, knowing Santana.

"Fuck you, 'Cedes," Santana muttered out of the corner of her mouth. Her retort only caused Mercedes' smirk to grow.

Puck had also caught on and was leering somewhat, his eyes dancing all over Brittany and Rachel. "Nice."

Both Santana and Quinn turned their heads sharply and gave Puck a glare that caused him to flinch. "Sorry," he murmured. Tina and Artie simply tried not to gape. They had of course heard of Santana and Quinn's previous interactions with Rachel and Brittany but actually seeing them was a whole other matter.

It was the same with the group from North Lima. Rachel finally let go of Brittany's arm and crossed both of her own across her chest, not happy at seeing Quinn, Santana, and their friends. However… she would be lying if she did not admit that the sight of the blonde drummer did not cause butterflies to spring up in her stomach and her palms to sweat uncontrollably.

Kurt took in the overall appearance of the group and arched an eyebrow, his lip curling somewhat. The only member of the group whose outfit did not totally offend him was Mercedes'. He had to respect her style – she looked like she knew something about fashion.

Mike was smiling – he was pleased as punch that Quinn was the girl he talked to earlier at Gamestop. He put up a hand in greeting, causing the blonde's small smile to grow a tiny bit larger at seeing a third familiar face.

Rachel and Brittany stopped once they were about five feet away from Santana and Quinn. Their friends stood slightly behind them, one group scrutinizing the other.

Brittany apparently did not notice the tension between the two. "Hey, Santana! Hi, Quinn!"

Santana tried her hardest not to blush. "Hey, Brittany." Her gaze swung to Rachel and she paused before gritting out, "Rachel." The temptation to call her a somewhat insulting name was hard to push down, but she knew Quinn would be pissed if she acted on it.

Quinn smiled nervously at Brittany to acknowledge her greeting and boldly looking at Rachel, who would not meet her eyes. "Hey. What's up?"

"Nothing," Rachel responded quickly. "Shopping, obviously."

Brittany elbowed Rachel somewhat, her smile not even dimming. "It is the only mall in Lima, Rach." She turned her attention back to Santana and Quinn. "Are these your friends?" she asked eagerly.

"Uh, yeah," Santana answered. "This is Puck, Mercedes, Tina, and Artie," she offered, pointing at each person in turn. Puck offered a smirk, Mercedes a scrutinizing look, Tina a smile, and Artie a small wave and smile. "And who are the other two punks with you?"

Kurt made an offended noise and Santana's dark eyes moved to him in a second. They narrowed, several insults popping into her mind almost immediately. The rapper bit her tongue, assuming that this well-dressed boy was a friend of Brittany's. "I say 'punks' jokingly, of course," she amended. Kurt still looked at her with blatant disapproval.

Brittany smiled. "This is Mike and Kurt. They're awesome," she exclaimed.

Santana held up a hand, her eyes on the latter. "Kurt? As in Kurt Hudson?"

Kurt cleared his throat and leveled his gaze at the dark-haired girl. "Hummel-Hudson, thanks."

Quinn's expression darkened somewhat, her gaze hardened. "You're Kent Hudson's son."

"One of them, yes," Rachel interrupted, clearing her throat and giving both Kurt and Quinn a look to knock it off. This would not end well if it continued.

"You know him? I'm surprised."

"We tend to know the names of the people who are responsible for the shitty state of our neighborhood, yeah," Santana spit out with venom. Brittany frowned, displeased, and Santana took this in with a frown – she felt bad for causing Brittany any type of sadness.

Kent Hudson happened to be one of Lima's senior judges; he had held the position for several years and it was widely known that there was at least some corruption present to keep him there. He held a strong prejudice against all parts of Lima except North Lima, and he happened to be utterly despised in Lima Heights Adjacent.

Kurt opened his mouth to lay into Santana.

"Boy, you better not start in on your ignorant socioeconomic discrimination, you hear? We have as much right to be in this damn mall as you and your Marc Jacobs' threads," Mercedes suddenly spoke up, stepping forwards. She leveled Kurt with a fierce look that had him flinching. At that moment, however, his respect for this 'Mercedes' heightened and not just because she knew which designer had created his clothes.

Kurt took a step back, his expression turning apologetic. "I won't. I apologize if I came off that way. It's… nice to meet Santana and Quinn's friends; I've heard enough about them," Kurt replied steadily. Rachel immediately blushed at this, which Quinn noted with an inner smirk.

Santana looked stunned and Mercedes glanced at her with satisfaction. Quinn cleared her throat. "Right. Well, it was nice to meet you all, but we're heading to the food court, so…"

"We are too!" Brittany exclaimed. "Hey, let's eat lunch together! We can pull together some tables and stuff. Like, I really want to know you guys 'cause you're important to Santana."

Santana's cheeks turned pink, causing Puck to grin widely. She caught this out of the corner of her eye and elbowed him hard.

Rachel shook her head. "No, Britt, um, I don't think that's a good idea. They might want to, you know, eat by themselves-"

"I think it's a great idea," Mike suddenly offered. Brittany turned and gave him a large grin at his support.

"Me t-too," a soft voice said behind Santana. Tina smiled hesitantly at the four North Lima kids, her gaze soon settling on Mike. He caught her eye and smiled softly. She blushed and Artie's gaze moved between the two of them. He frowned, his brow furrowing.

"Hell, why not?" Puck questioned, shrugging. "No way am I gonna pass up the opportunity to hang out with you two and your friends after hearin' so much about how flawless you are from these two asses over here." He stuck his hands in his pockets and smirked cockily.

"Puckerman, I swear to God I will kill you where you stand, you asshat," Santana growled, a fierce blush upon her cheeks – also present upon Quinn's, Rachel's, and Brittany's. Quinn was full on glaring at her bro, so much that he shrunk back.

Everyone else was either smirking or bearing an extremely amused expression. After an uncomfortable beat, Rachel cleared her throat, her cheeks still visibly pink. "Well. Food court's waiting."

"Right," Quinn said. The ten teenagers – the two groups still very much separate – made their way to the food court. They picked out a place to sit, having to awkwardly move a couple tables together, before wandering off to buy their respective fare.

Quinn was the first back, a tray bearing Panda Express amazingness clutched in her hands. She sat down at the table, one chair in from the outside. Puck joined her a second later, clutching his own tray loaded with Panda Express, and sat on her right before Santana and her Taco Bell slid into the spot next to him. Mercedes chose the seat next to Quinn – whom she had deemed the most decent and least offensive out of the three of them. Brittany, sushi in her clutches, of course chose the seat directly across from Santana, while Kurt surprisingly slid into the one across from Mercedes, causing the girl to raise an eyebrow at him. He shrugged, figuring that they might at least be able to discuss fashion.

Artie rolled up next to Puck with Tina, who sat across from him. Mike joined the two a second later, sitting next to the black-haired girl who struggled to keep a blush from appearing on her cheeks. Artie was incredibly dismayed at this and focused on his pizza, a frown upon his features.

Rachel, having had to wait in line while they made her vegan sushi, was the last to join the group and had no choice but to sit opposite Quinn. She forced down the butterflies in her stomach and delicately slid into the seat, trying not to look at the blonde.

Quinn was quite pleased with the seating arrangements, but not too happy due to Rachel's obvious displeasure at seeing her – especially after yesterday.

Hesitant conversations between the two groups sprung up after a beat, and Quinn took a deep breath, taking a chance. "It's really weird how we keep running into each other," she ventured, her gaze settling upon Rachel.

The singer looked up from her sushi, which she was intensely focused on in order to not have to make much conversation, especially with Quinn, and immediately regretted it. The drummer's hazel orbs stared at her as if the blonde could see through her flesh and into her soul. She briefly closed her eyes and ignored the quickening of her pulse. She forced a nervous smile. "Yeah, it is. I hope you're not stalking me, Quinn Fabray."

"No," Quinn replied, the hint of a smirk settling upon her lips. "Not yet, anyway."

Rachel shook her head but looked down, hiding a tiny smile. "So…" Quinn drew out, "Um, what songs are you working on right now?"

The brunette smiled fully now, relaxing somewhat at the nature of the question. Music, she could definitely talk about.

Next to them, Kurt was engaging Mercedes in an in-depth discussion about the latest fashions.

"The 2010 collection was so horrible, uch, most of those tops needed to be burned," he said somewhat excitedly – he did not have the opportunity to discuss the topic with anyone else - bar his stuck-up art and design classmates at Anderswood - due to them being completely uninterested.

"Oh, for real! Stefani's collection, though, was tight this year. Give me everything that woman designs. Ooh, and did you hear about Rihanna and Armani?"

"No! What?"

"She's workin' with them to create a line! I couldn't believe my damn ears when I heard!"

Kurt gasped and then nodded his head, totally caught up in the moment. "Ugh, I love her fashion. Her music, too, and I'm not into the Top 40s very much, either."

"Ooh boy, you're speakin' my language now. Bitch is flawless. I only wish I had her chops."

Kurt tilted his head to the side, looking interested. "You sing?"

Further down the table, Santana and Brittany were discussing Brittany's latest dance routine – Santana staring at her in wonder and having to remind herself to eat her Taco Bell – as Brittany would describe the moves quite in-depth. Puck would smirk from time to time at the descriptions, causing Santana's elbow to end up connecting with his ribs.

"… and then there's this, like, twirl, which Mike does to me, and I bring my leg up like super high after that-"

There went Santana's elbow, her gaze not even moving away from Brittany.

Puck winced. "Fuck, Lopez. Can you blame me?" he murmured while Brittany went on. Santana did not respond, too entranced by Brittany.

"So I'm in the splits-"

Elbow.

"And then Mike picked me up and we did a flip and like, I had my legs around his waist for a minute because that part of the song was kinda like, sexy-"

Puck actually gasped from the hit this time. "Christ, S, why the fuck do I let you abuse me like this?" he whispered. Santana only smirked.

"-so it kind of goes on like that until there's one major flip at the end after I'm on Mike's shoulders for a bit-"

Puck dodged that one, much to Santana's dismay.

"-and then we ended up in this position with my leg draped over his back and kinda twisted-like. It kinda hurt, but the crowd loved it and the whole thing, really," Brittany finished with a satisfied smile.

Santana did not even elbow Puck at that last remark, instead staring at Brittany with wonder in her eyes. "Wow," she breathed out. "I would love to see you perform like that sometime, Brits. Like… for real."

"Yeah, it sounds super hot."

Puck caught Santana's elbow before it landed on its target this time.

Brittany smiled – she was not stupid, having been aware of Santana elbowing Puck every time she described a risqué dance move. "Well I'd really like to dance to your rapping again, San."

Santana's cheeks reddened. She straightened up and smiled at her future girlfriend. "That can totally be arranged, Brits."

Next to them, Artie, Tina, and Mike were discussing various bands – Artie hanging back somewhat as Tina and Mike were heavily engaged in conversation with the other.

"Florence's n-new album? Oh my god, I love it. I like all the songs, which is s-super rare!"

"Me too!" Mike exclaimed, his grin towards Tina expanding. The first thing anybody usually noticed about Tina when they met her was her stutter; Mike, however, found it cute in a way, and not at all off-putting. "You wouldn't think that you could dance to it, but I firmly believe that you can dance to any type of music."

Artie hesitantly ventured into the conversation. "Have you ever danced to jazz?"

"Oh yeah, totally," Mike replied, smiling at Artie. "I love it. There's so much room for different sort of moves, which is awesome."

Artie grinned back – try as he might, he could not dislike Mike even though he could sense the attraction between the dancer and Tina – and continued, "I love jazz. It's my favorite genre to play on bass."

"You p-play bass guitar, Artie?" Tina questioned, her eyebrows rising. "I never knew that."

Artie cleared his throat and fought to keep his emotions under control due to Tina's attention turning to him. "Yeah. I've been playing for a couple years now. I kind of sing too, but not really."

Tina grinned. "That's so c-cool!"

"Yeah, totally!" Mike added. "I'd love to hear you play sometime, dude." Pausing for a second, Mike turned to the girl he is crushing on. "Tina, do you play anything? Or sing?"

"I s-sing, a bit. I guess I'm okay at it." She smiled at Mike and he grinned softly back at her, their eyes meeting. Artie looked away, he gaze settling farther down the table, and ended up watching everyone else interact.

At the other end of the table, Mercedes was discussing how she regularly sang and played piano in church, while Kurt let on that he and Rachel were in one of Anderwood's extracurricular choirs, even though his concentration was on art and design.

Next to Mercedes, Quinn's brow furrowed. She looked at Rachel, who was eating the last of her sushi. "Is it just me, or is pretty much everyone discussing music or something really similar right now?"

Santana heard Quinn and turned, which also grabbed Brittany and Puck's attention – which then caused Mike, Artie, and Tina to redirect theirs as well.

Brittany slowly smiled – she had been sitting in the middle of that table and had therefore caught snatches of everyone's conversations. "We totally are. Oh, that's awesome – we all have something in common! See?"

Santana could not hide her smile at just how cute Brittany was in that moment. Everyone agreed, some with more enthusiasm than others, but it was true – they were all musically gifted in some way.

Rachel frowned thoughtfully, very interested in this development. Despite their socioeconomic differences, they all had the human universal of music playing an important part in their lives, which Rachel firmly believed in and found amazing.

Across from her, Quinn studied the brunette's face, trying to guess what she was thinking so deeply about. After a minute, Rachel's gaze jerked up – Quinn was caught, and both girls' cheeks reddened. "Sorry," Quinn murmured.

Rachel shrugged and offered the blonde a smile. "No worries, Quinn. I know your creeper attributes are harmless."

"Yeah, well, um," Quinn stammered, surprised at Rachel's response. The brunette chuckled and Quinn hid her gaze.

Soon enough all ten teenagers had finished their food (or mountain of it, in Puck's case) and got up from the table. They walked out of the food court, still talking, before stopping in the four-way corridor of the mall.

"Um," Rachel said, "it was really great to meet all of you." Her eyes moved over Artie, Tina, Puck, and Mercedes before settling on Quinn. Her voice lowered as the others said their somewhat awkward goodbyes. "Quinn… can I text you sometime, maybe?"

Quinn tried to stop a shit-eating grin from taking over her entire face. "Yeah! Yeah, um, of course you can. Like, if you just wanna talk or, um, if you wanna do something, I'm totally up for that 'cause like, well, wait, do you like video games? I understand if you don't-"

"Quinn," Rachel murmured in a teasing tone.

Quinn's cheeks flushed with color. "Sorry."

"I'll talk to you soon, okay?" Rachel held the blonde's gaze, her expression turning somewhat sad. She briefly reflected on how easily Quinn got her to drop her defenses in the matter of a little over an hour, and marveled.

"Yeah, count on it, Rachel." Quinn gave the brunette a soft smile.

Santana and Brittany stood close to each other next to Rachel and Quinn, lost in their own world. "I'll see you soon, right, San?" Brittany asked quietly, her blue eyes focused on the dark brown of Santana's.

"Of course, Brits. I promise. We'll go out sometime soon, on like a real date," Santana murmured in response, her mind already alight with possibilities. The opportunity to take this blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty of a girl out on a date was possibly once in a lifetime, and Santana did not want to screw it up.

Brittany searched Santana's eyes. "I really wish I could kiss you right now, San." She gave the brunette a soft smile, which Santana returned.

"Can't, Brits. I think you know why. A hug, though?"

Brittany did not respond; instead, she simply wrapped her arms tightly around Santana and subtly pressed her lips into the brunette's neck, causing Santana to break out in goosebumps. "The things that you do to me, Brits," she murmured quietly, to which Brittany chuckled.

"Just wait, San."

Santana's eyes widened comically and Brittany gave her a smirk before pulling away. Santana glanced next to her and glared at Quinn who was currently trying to hide a large smirk of her own due to having heard the exchange.

The two groups finished their goodbyes and parted, minds working overtime at dissecting their time together. During their lunch, their class differences had practically disappeared – they were just ten teenagers with an interest in creating music, and this fact was on all of their minds - one in particular - as they departed from one another.

The smell of horses and hay hit Rachel's nostrils as she walked down to Hudson Stables' pristine polo field; she scrunched her nose and smoothed down her skirt, not very happy with her current location. She was mentally berating herself for agreeing to go to Finn's polo match – there were so many places that she would rather be at the moment.

Sighing, the brunette walked to the stands, already full of Lima North's most influential residents. Some of them waved at her – the more liberal ones – recognizing her due to their knowledge of her fathers, and she politely waved back.

"Rachel!"

She turned to look for the sound of the voice and found Kurt sitting high in a corner of the stands and looking extremely bored. She hurriedly moved up to join him.

"Thank goodness you actually came. Dad forced me to come and 'show support' for my brother at the last minute." He rolled his eyes, his voice full of relief. "I hate polo," he muttered under his breath.

Rachel sighed, her eyes wandering out towards the field where the players were starting to line up. "Me too. I feel so bad for the horses."

Kurt frowned. "Yeah. They're treated pretty well, though, I think. I never ride anymore. Too dirty, even though the jodhpurs, boots, and the waistcoats looked amazing on me, not going to lie. That's the only reason I used to like doing dressage."

Rachel chuckled softly and shook her head. She squinted out at the field and immediately spotted Finn – he was the tallest of the players and Rachel briefly wondered how he could even play polo without his horse collapsing underneath him. He rode a tall chestnut Thoroughbred, reins in one hand and polo mallet in the other. The blue and white of his uniform stood out against the beige of his breeches, and a black velvet helmet was perched like a crown on top of his head. Sam rode next to him on a black horse, his posture perfect, whereas Finn was slouching slightly.

The four players on each team reached the middle of the field where they were introduced. Finn looked towards the stands and Rachel reluctantly put her hand up to wave to him. He spotted her after a minute and waved back, a goofy grin on his face. It disappeared after a moment as he refocused on the game.

It started soon after; Rachel and Kurt watched for the first three minutes before turning to one another almost at the exact same moment and and ignoring it entirely.

Rachel frowned and leaned towards Kurt, lowering her voice and glancing around nervously. "Did you tell Finn about yesterday?"

Kurt pursed his lips and shook his head. "No, but he heard somehow. You know how it is – anything unorthodox happens in North Lima and the next day everybody knows."

"Shoot," Rachel murmured. "I just know that he's going to bring it up and try to persuade me to stop seeing Quinn. I just," she took a deep breath and stared down at her feet and lowered her tone, "I can't help what I feel for her, Kurt. And it makes me angry, because why can't I stop? She's… she's amazing, but I don't want to feel like this..."

Kurt's expression turned sympathetic. "You can't help it, Rach. I saw the way you looked at her yesterday, even when she was shoveling in that disgusting, MSG-loaded mall Chinese food." He shuddered before continuing, "There's something there, and trying to ignore it… you'd probably regret it."

"But-" Rachel stammered quietly, "- the consequences. I mean, yeah, Anderswood is pretty liberal, but in general, Lima North is really conservative. I think people only tolerate my fathers because they donate so much to the community. Also, I think my dads would be disappointed." Her expression bore sadness – her lips were downturned and the chocolate brown of her eyes was dulled.

"I think it'd be worth it," Kurt murmured. "I liked her, yesterday, you know – for the most part. I get why they don't like us, I do. There's nothing I can do about it, though. My father wouldn't budge on his opinions about Lima Heights even if I begged him and promised to take up sports and dress more… masculine." The well-dressed boy moved a wayward lock of his hair over, irritation apparent on his expression.

Rachel sighed. Both of their gazes moved back to the polo game for a minute or two before Rachel bit her lip and turned back to Kurt.

"… what if there was a way to change things?' she asked, a hint of hope in her tone. Her previously dull eyes glimmered with an idea – a quickly developing idea.

Kurt stared and answered her in a doubtful tone. "How?"

Rachel grinned – once she got a hold of an idea, it took a lot to shoot it down. "Well, you know how us and the others all found out that we love music – our class differences practically disappeared," she quietly exclaimed.

"I did notice that," Kurt agreed, the tone of his voice starting to lighten.

Rachel stared at her close friend and bit her lip, eager as ever. "What if… Kurt, what if we got us and them together and… Quinn and Santana called it 'jam' – with them. We sing, Brittany and Mike dance, Mercedes plays piano and sings – and I'm willing to bet she's quite good; Puck plays guitar, Artie, bass, Quinn drums… and Santana. You know, I'm willing to bet that behind her tough girl rapper image lies a nice singing voice. There's so much… talent, Kurt – you can't refute that, even if they're from Lima Heights. And you can't deny that we're both sick of Anders' Choir."

Kurt's upper lip curled. "I can't think of one person in there that I can stand besides you. And there's no challenge."

"There really isn't. Joining up with Quinn and the others would be different and challenging and you know that it'll be hard to work with them, but I'm up for it. We just… Kurt, we can't tell anybody about it. You know all of our parents would pitch a fit if they found out we were friends with them," Rachel said excitedly, yet very quietly.

"Agreed," Kurt replied, a grin upon his lips. "They're not too bad, really."

"No… they're not. Santana, though," Rachel ground out, rolling her eyes. She tolerated Santana's insults, mostly due to the fact that she was Quinn's best friend.

"I'm willing to bet that she's just super protective when it comes to Quinn, Rach. I wouldn't take it personally," Kurt affirmed with a small nod. Rachel smiled softly, searching Kurt's eyes and finding nothing but friendship and concern within them. "I think I might start a bet with Brittany or maybe even her as to when you and Quinn will finally get together," Kurt added, smirking widely.

An affronted squeak came from Rachel and she shoved her friend lightly, but with a smile upon her lips. "Shut up."

Kurt only chuckled in response.

The end of the fourth, seven-and-a-half minute chukka ended, signaling the end of the game, and Rachel looked back at the field to the scoreboard. Finn's team had won. She fought against the temptation to roll her eyes, knowing that his ego would be pumped up due to the win. The brunette sighed and stood up. She gave Kurt a small smile and murmured, "I'll text Quinn; I think we're supposed to hang out soon, so I'll bring up the idea and she'll undoubtedly tell Santana about it."

Kurt smiled in return. "Okay, sounds good. Good luck." He nodded his head towards Finn, who was slowly riding up to the stands and grinning at her. Rachel rolled her eyes this time, causing Kurt to chuckle.

She reluctantly moved down the stands and walked over to Finn and his horse, who were both sweating profusely. She frowned; the poor horse looked exhausted. Finn, still grinning, dismounted and loosely held the reins of the chestnut horse, which immediately lowered its head towards the grass. "Hey Rachel! I'm so glad you showed up."

Rachel forced a smile. "Yeah, it was pretty interesting," she lied, having paid little to no attention to the game.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Finn exclaimed. He reached up to unbuckle his helmet, revealing sweat-soaked brown hair, and then wiped the sweat away from his forehead with the back of his arm. Rachel tried not to cringe – he didn't smell too nice (nothing like Quinn, who smelled simply marvelous in Rachel's opinion). She continued to force a smile.

"Yeah, you were really good. Sam, too," she added on. Finn's grin only grew – he did truly consider Sam to be his best friend.

"I'll let him know; he started playing a few months ago, so he's getting better – he's been riding for years so he does really good."

Rachel fought against the temptation to cringe at or correct his horrid grammar mistake. She nodded, waiting for Finn to change topics – he did not disappoint. Rachel prepared herself.

"Rachel… I heard from Jacob that he saw you at the mall yesterday with a bunch of people… Lima Heights people," he said steadily, his expression concerned as he stared down at the petite singer.

"Yes," Rachel affirmed, standing her ground. There was a sudden dangerous spark in her eyes as she stared unblinkingly at the boy in front of her. "They were Quinn and Santana's friends. They were fine, Finn. They're harmless. None of them are in a gang or whatever, which you probably already assume because you're completely ignorant of anything that goes on beyond North Lima's limits. Maybe if you stop worshiping your father, you'd realize how ignorant you truly are." Throughout her speech, her expression had turned more and more scary and affronted.

Finn's jaw had dropped halfway through Rachel's rant. However, a defensive look immediately appeared on his features. "My father works hard to keep justice in Lima! And you don't know them that well, Rach! Why are you defending them?"

Rachel swallowed. She did know the reason why she was defending them, and her initials happened to be Q.F. "Because, Finn. They barely have a say in what happens in Lima. Have you ever been to Lima Heights Adjacent? Maybe I should take you there sometime. Then you can see for yourself how little your father does for anyone not in the top 10% income bracket! It's abhorrent. Someone needs to help speak for them, Finn, otherwise it'll just get worse."

Finn's gaze was hard; he held a strong admiration for his father, unknowing of the corruption he conducted in order to keep his position. Simply put, his father was his number one role model. The boy glared down at her and spoke in a quieter, deadly serious tone. "I mean it, Rachel. I don't know why you think they're worth hanging out with, but you need to stop it."

Rachel was just about trembling with anger. "How dare you try to control me, Finn Hudson. For your information, any chance that you perviously had with me is now completely gone."

The tall boy looked wounded; he suddenly reached out towards her. "Rachel, no – I…"

If Rachel were more aggressive, she would have snarled at that exact moment. As it was, the brunette took a hasty step back, wrenching her arm back. "Leave me alone, Finn. I mean it." She spun on her heel and stalked towards where Rosie was parked, her hands curled into fists.

"Rachel!" Finn called out, his voice desperate.

Rachel blatantly ignored him, resisting the temptation to make a rather unladylike gesture with her hand. Her lips were arranged in a thin line, her eyes hard and staring straight ahead.

Now more than ever, she was determined to go ahead with her plan of joining North Lima and Lima Heights Adjacent through the power of music - Finn Hudson and North Lima's 'superior' bullshit be damned.

A/N: Next time on S&S: date night, rap battles, and more, so stay tuned!