A/N: So for anyone who has read my other stories, Brittany/Santana is my usual deal, it's familiar territory. This is my first shot at Rachel/Quinn. It's going to be multi-chapter, and the chapters will probably be this length or more. So far I've written three of them. The title I'm using isn't incredibly original. Deal with it, yo.

In this story, everyone in the New Directions will be mentioned, and for the sake of the story let's all just pretend they graduated at the same time. Also disregard the entirety of 3x14 because I started this like a month ago and I'm not changing it to fit that insanity.

Summary: After unexpected events during Senior year, even Rachel's best-laid plans weren't good enough any more. See what happens when she turns around to start a new life in Chicago. (I honestly can't believe you still clicked on this after reading that. It's lame.)

Chapter One: Curry and Surprise Encounters

The rain beat down on the trash-littered bricks. It was no new sight to Rachel as it had been raining all of October in the city. At her feet, wrappers and old bits of newspaper were quickly becoming sodden on the ground. People rushed by carrying black and white plastic bags, the kinds with the smiley faces on them that thanked her for shopping. On her right, doors to shops and restaurants opened up, strong smells wafting out with departing customers. The glass display windows held vast arrays of colorfully dressed mannequins in exquisite jewelry (some real, some plastic, she still appreciated the ornate quality).

To her left cars drove by on the road, beeping loudly in the downpour. Every person she encountered looked different, unique, like they had a story of their own. There were people of all races, ethnicities, backgrounds. This is what Rachel loved about Devon Avenue, about Chicago, it was all so...human. Sure, she had always hoped for New York. The sparkling lights of Broadway had been enticing; the giant ads in Times Square thrilling, but Rachel Berry fell in love with the Windy City from the start. She had walked Michigan Avenue, watched the summer fireworks at Navy Pier, and explored the sometimes eye-opening shops on Belmont.

Her eyes lit up when she spotted the lettering she had been looking for, the sticker on the door showed crossed carrots. Opening the outer door and pausing to shake some of the rain from her bright pink and white polka-dotted rain jacket (it was too cute to leave in Lima), she stepped through the inner door and into the warmth and dim light of the small restaurant. It was another thing she loved about Devon, the first restaurant she had ever stumbled into on the avenue was all-vegetarian, like a dream come true. Sure, she was alone, but there was nothing like a hot cup of tea and a steaming masala dosa.

The old waiter greeted her happily in an accent she had difficulty understanding (it was much stronger than Principle Figgins') and seated her immediately. She chose the seat facing the window opting to watch the street outside. Rainy weather always felt more...dramatic, and dramatic was the story of her life. She sighed happily and ordered her food from the attentive waiter as he filled her water glass from a beat-up metal pitcher, stray droplets dripping from the bottom.

Delicious scents were making their way into the dining area from the kitchen behind her and she could hear the clink of forks scraping plates and the soft thud of glasses being set on cloth-covered tables. The buzz of chatter from other diners put Rachel at ease, she always liked for there to be background noise, and sure, idle chatter wasn't the same as Barbra, but it was music to her ears.

Rachel was...alone, single, in a large city. It was well known to everyone back at McKinley (she had liked to think that their relationship was the highlight of WMHS gossip) that Finn had ended it with her, and very unfairly if she did say so herself (and she did, often, reminding everyone of it).

He had been so devastated after losing the football scholarship that when Cooter re-approached him, he couldn't bring himself to decline. Rachel had of course responded to the news by singing about it as it was the only thing she could think of to do at the time. With the promise of playing quarterback at Ohio State, Finn had become unrecognizable in her eyes. She couldn't believe some of the things he said when his confidence had soared and he turned nasty. Sure, she knew a thing or two about over-confidence, but it was part of her business and as far as she knew she had never let it hurt the ones she loved. Well, at least not too much.

Rachel had always believed in telling the truth, honesty was the best policy and well, she was the best so it only made sense that she adopt that policy. When she had admitted to Finn one day that she was upset that he would not be joining her in a large theatre city, her eyes downcast dramatically, a small tear on her left cheek, he had simply scoffed.

He told her that her dreams were no longer as big as his, and it had terrified her. She always saw Finn as someone who looked out for others and sacrificed for their happiness but that Finn had left as soon as he signed the documents from the recruiter.

He broke up with her a day later, devastating her. She had locked herself in her room and not even Kurt had been able to coax her out with the suggestion of Karaoke-night at the senior center (she looked forward to it every month). Now, months later, she was finally on her way to recovering. Getting dumped by Finn had made her realize that she had been depending on him for too long. She wanted to become independent, deciding that it would help her eventually when it came to her career.

Sure, convincing her dads had been a little difficult but she had put together a brilliant PowerPoint presentation as well as a small play, and they had eventually folded. She was eighteen, and very capable of living by herself. Her dads had been weary at first, but they had agreed to let her get a tiny apartment in Andersonville (it was slightly safe) as long as she promised to call twice a day.

The move had gone relatively smoothly considering that it involved a seven hour road-trip with a massive U-HAUL truck. That was another thing Rachel appreciated about Chicago, the easy access to public transportation allowed her to avoid driving at all costs. She had a small car because her dads had refused to let her go without it (they insisted the CTA could only get her so far, she disagreed because it cramped her diva style). She hadn't had her big break yet, not even a small one, but she was hopeful and spent weekdays trolling the streets for auditioning opportunities.

Rachel auditioned for everything, from big-time musicals to tiny plays in back-alley theaters; she was hungry for roles, no matter how juicy. So far, she had only managed to score one, a lead role in a dinner theater production, but it had only run through June and July and she had struck out ever since. After many shed tears, she had come to brush rejections off. She liked to think she had changed in the past few months since high school, since Finn, and since Nationals (oh yes, they had won, she was brilliant, everyone else was also quite good).

It had been a few long months of adjusting, but Rachel felt settled, grounded. Sitting there in the restaurant on that Saturday afternoon, reflecting on how she had managed to make her way there, she was happy with her life, happy with who she was. The waiter returned with her tea, followed shortly by her food, and she dug in, relishing in the perfectly blended spices and ingredients.

She was just beginning to try the different sauces that sat in little metal dishes around her plate when she happened to glance up and something out of the slightly-fogged window caught her eye. It was a flash of yellow, a rain jacket and short, blonde hair. She almost laughed at herself as a familiar character from her high school days popped into her mind, the thought was ridiculous.

She decided that maybe she was just a little lonely, particularly if she was picturing old...could she call them frenemies? They had never really been friends...it was beside the point, she needed to Skype Kurt and listen to him gush about the Big Apple. In fact, she missed the whole club, even the rude ones. She had started the summer with weekly mass e-mails updating them all on her life, but after a couple of rude replies (she preferred not to name names but, duh, Santana) she had limited them to monthly little blurbs asking everyone how they were.

Still, there was only one person she knew with hair like that, only one person that could pull off a yellow raincoat (Santana would have argued of course that Brittany was capable, but everyone, even Lopez, knew blue was her color). But there was no way, no way that it could have been that blonde. She craned her neck with an eager smile on her face, hoping to maybe catch a flash of hazel eyes or the hem of a sun-dress (it would have poetically ironic when paired with the rain) but she had no such luck. The girl had been one of the few that had never replied to her e-mails.

They may have almost never gotten along, but even Rachel had been a little concerned when Quinn Fabray had dropped off the face of the earth post-graduation. It wasn't like they hadn't all seen it coming, the girl was obviously thirsty for something, anything that wasn't Lima, perhaps even more so than Rachel herself.

Puck and Sam had gone to look for her for a few days but had eventually given up. Mercedes had yelled at everyone and told them to lay off her, and Rachel had to agree. Her outlook on life had changed and she too wanted to start fresh in a new city, more than ever before.

She settled back down into her chair and eyed the sauces again, hoping that Quinn had found her niche. The rest of the New Directions seemed happy, as far as she knew. Sam was at Stanford playing football, she was incredibly proud of him for getting in to such a good school and the athletic scholarship meant that his parents didn't have to worry about the money.

Artie and Mercedes had both ended up in Nashville studying music. She was an aspiring singer while he really wanted to be a producer. Rachel could see both of them being very successful in ten years.

It was slightly ironic that the majority of the club had re-located to New York while she had opted to head for the Midwest. They had even managed to end up in some of the same schools. Blaine and Santana were at NYU, an impressive feat. Kurt, of course, and gone ahead with NYADA and was happily settled in. Brittany and Mike had ended up at Julliard, and Rachel was glad because she had always found their talents under-appreciated, even if they were lesser than her own when it came to the musical aspect of performing. Tina was at some obscure design school re-inventing Asian fashion one outfit at a time (a dream she had expressed often during their senior year). After she and Finn had ended it, those three power couples became the spotlight, and Rachel was eagerly awaiting the wedding invitations.

Deciding that she preferred the green sauce to the red, Rachel finished her food slowly, savoring the intense flavor that her cooking had not yet been able to render in her own kitchen (she had purchased multiple ethnic cookbooks upon moving in), and making mental notes of what to look for next time she was at the store. She heard the bells on the door jingling slightly over the noise of the chatter and she glanced up. For the second time that afternoon, Rachel Berry saw yellow and thought of Quinn Fabray, only this time, the girl stood there in the flesh, a little damp, and so far ignorant of her presence.

A million questions ran through her head. What was she doing here? When had she arrived? Was it really even Quinn or was her silly, lonely mind playing tricks on her? Had she sunk so low that she was at the point of fantasizing about running into old enemies simply from lack of familiar human contact? Surely not. She immediately slipped back into high school mode, slumping down slightly in her chair and brushing her bangs into her eyes. She had abandoned wearing headbands after the breakup, the memory of her original songwriting hurting just a little too much. She was half-way to hiding under the table, earning her a funny look from the waiter who filled her water ever-faithfully, and Quinn had still not noticed her.

After a few moments of careful, discreet observation she became sure that it was in fact Quinn despite some obvious changes that the girl had gone through. Her hair, which had grown out slightly by the end of the year was now trimmed (artfully of course) back to the length it had been last September. Under the yellow jacket, there was no sign of Old Quinn, no sun dress and cute shoes (they had had similar taste back in the day, although nobody ever seemed to notice).

Instead, she wore what looked like a loose-fitting floral print tank paired with some rolled (and incredibly tight) blue jeans and simple grey flats. Slung over her back was what looked to be a water-proof case of some sorts, and Rachel noted its practicality when concerning the current weather. While she was shocked to see Quinn was in the city that she had just begun to call home, she was at the same time intrigued.

If the ex-cheerleader hadn't found her niche here, Rachel didn't know what else to think. She looked so incredibly...at ease. Her face was free of that pinched sour look she bore throughout high school, and her outfit showed that she was obviously through trying to please Judy. Rachel realized that she was staring, and quickly cast her eyes back down to her food.

Just as she was picking up her fork to push the remainder of her food around, she heard a small gasp and knew that it was Quinn. She kept her head down for a moment, her mind reeling for something to say, but she gathered from the gasp that the blonde girl was in a similar state. Deciding to put her well-honed acting skills to good use, she pulled her head up and feigned surprise.

"Quinn?" Yes, her talents seemed to remain on-par as ever.

"R-Rachel!" The other girl was standing a few feet away from her table now, hands clutched in front of her. She looked almost...shy.

A few of the other customers in the place had noticed the exchange and were throwing curious glances in their direction. Quinn looked shocked, like she had seen a ghost, and Rachel could feel a slight heat creep over her cheeks like it had back at McKinley. She had always been nervous around the popular girl, even when they had shared the occasional civil conversation during senior year. Ever since they had first been forced to spend time together during sophomore year the imposing blonde had held a grudge. They had stolen boyfriends, cheated with the same guy, and called each other out multiple times each year.

Rachel's natural competitive attitude kicked in and she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride that it was her who had managed to find Quinn first out of everybody else. She hadn't even really tried but here the girl was standing before her in a small vegetarian restaurant on a rainy day in Chicago looking like she'd just been kicked in the stomach.

She felt a little awkward, but gestured at Quinn to sit down with her. The blonde girl looked around the place a couple of times and as if she had realized she had nothing to lose, no reputation to uphold, she carefully peeled off her jacket and sat down opposite Rachel.

What happened next wasn't exactly what Rachel had expected, but it didn't surprise her at all. Brown eyes locked with hazel and the chatter around them became almost deafening. They said nothing for what seemed like several minutes as Quinn tried to silently assert herself with the same steady gaze she had used back in high school.

But she had changed, and Rachel had too. Roles reversed as the brown eyes stayed locked on target, yet Quinn's gaze faltered ever-so-slightly, her hazel orbs slipping to the table cloth a couple of times. Rachel took it as a silent victory before she realized how big of a deal it really was. She had seen the backpack (the girl had managed without one for years of high school), the change in clothes, even her hair held no pins or clips, just naturally framing her face. She looked like a cross between HBIC cheerleader Quinn and Rebel Quinn, but without the fierceness. The girl who sat before her had resigned.

"You're finally happy, aren't you?" Rachel didn't know why she'd asked it, but she couldn't help herself. It just seemed...appropriate.

"I am, I finally am." Quinn allowed herself the first genuine smile that Rachel had seen her flash since they had won nationals. Even at graduation it had seemed forced, like she was at one of her mother's parties and was still trying to please everyone even at the moment she was finally escaping high school, an era that had been hell for all of them. If there was anyone who could understand the feeling of freedom and contentment that came from escaping the suffocating halls of McKinley and the never-ending drudgery of Lima, it was Rachel Berry.

"That's good, Quinn. We were all so worried about you, you didn't show up to the party at Kurt's and Puck and Sam couldn't find you." Quinn's lips twisted into a pained expression at Rachel's words. She shifted in her seat and stayed silent for a while before finally replying.

"Honestly, I didn't want to be found. After graduation my mother tried to take me out to dinner but I was just...done, you know? I was going to drive back to my place, empty my closet, and get the hell out of there. The boys almost found me. They showed up at the house right when I was packing the last suitcase, so I just left without my stuff."

That was something Rachel could believe. All three of the ex-cheerios she knew were excellent at sneaking out of places. Brittany had once tried to teach her the fine art but she was much better at doing than teaching and it had ended badly with the small brunette nearly falling out of a tree. Rachel couldn't understand why Quinn would leave without her clothes, though. She had always been so well put-together and the thought of a reckless Quinn brought her back to the one she had known September of 2011, but there was almost no sign of that Quinn in the girl she saw now.

Instead of crazy and unstable she looked calm and cultured, like she had discovered many things over the past few months. Rachel wondered what it was that had allowed her to change so much, what eye-opening experiences she had had. Of course, everyone they knew had changed some. As far as she knew from Kurt's phone calls, Brittany had grown up quite a bit and was apparently becoming studious while Santana had managed to turn into slightly less of a bitch (something Rachel found hard to believe). Blaine had ditched the bow-ties, cardigans, and hair gel, growing his curls out a little and looking like a true college student (something Kurt resented greatly). Even Tina and Mike could be spotted doing things that were far from synchronized and Asian. She imagined the many things that Quinn could have done with her past few months, and another question flowed easily to her lips.

"Where'd you go, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Here. I went straight here and I've been here ever since. And I never want to go back."

Rachel was shocked. She had coined Quinn for one of those types that would take a road trip or something adventurous, just travel around.

"Why? Why would you choose to live in Chicago of all places? I always saw you somewhere more...glamorous." It was true, Quinn could have been a movie star in no time with those looks and her old manipulating ways, the acting skills she had honed were incredible, though not as proficient and Rachel's own.

"I didn't choose Chicago because I don't live in the city. I chose Northwestern, well, it sometimes feels like it chose me."

Rachel's jaw dropped. She knew Quinn was clever but she had never talked about academic ability or what colleges she had applied to. Rachel had been so focused on NYADA that she had mostly ignored her friend's aspirations for the latter half of the year. Finding out this information had her truly impressed.

"Wow, Quinn. That's quite incredible. I've heard it's really hard to get in there. So you live on-campus? What's your major? How are your classes? Have you made many friends?"

Quinn looked a little like a deer in headlights, obviously not used to being practically interrogated (Rachel liked to think of it as aggressively socializing), but she continued to reply with her trademark poise.

"Yeah, I got in with one of my essays I wrote about sophomore year. I wasn't really expecting to get accepted but I got my letter and went for early decision. My major? It was an easy choice, journalism. I'm at Medill but it hasn't really sunk in yet. And no, I don't live on-campus. I met the girl I'm rooming with in August at Lollapalooza (Rachel had gone as well, she had felt obligated when she heard that Brittany would be dancing for Beyonce) but she's in Kentucky on an internship. The town's really nice though."

Rachel could only smile and nod. Quinn seemed so proud of herself when she spoke about school and where she was. She was a little jealous of the other girl because she seemed to have it all figured out. Rachel had once thought that, seven months ago when she still had a boyfriend and plans to build a career in a totally different city than the one she currently found herself in. Once upon a time, she had wished ill upon Quinn Fabray, but now she saw a woman who had gotten past the mess that had been high school for all of them ( and her mess may have been the biggest) and had changed into a self-sufficient member of society.

It was Quinn's turn to ask a question as she was starting to get a little frazzled from being grilled by the ever-curious brunette.

"So, Rachel Berry, how is that I'm sitting here with you in Chicago when all any of us could hear was "New York" for the past four years? What happened?"

Rachel sighed and looked down, her smile faltering. Quinn noticed that she had become visibly upset and was attempting to shrink away, but she, on the other hand, wasn't having any of it.

"Oh come on, Berry. I shared so now it's your turn. I can't exactly disappear again now that you know where I am or the full wrath that is the New Directions phone tree will be unleashed upon me. Those people are relentless. Now spill."

Rachel blanched. So maybe the old Quinn wasn't quite out of her system. A little bit of manipulative trickery must have lingered there. It was oddly refreshing.

"Well, Quinn, I am sure you are aware of the breakup that occurred between myself and Finn this spring. It prompted me to re-consider my options and I decided that it was better if I achieve my dreams the way so many others have before me. And by that I mean alone in an unfamiliar city. There were six other people who were New York bound (Quinn arched an eyebrow, she must not have been aware), and I didn't want them to get in my way...or vice-versa (she only said it to be fair, because she doubted her talent would hurt any of them, no matter how brightly her star shined). It also unnerved me to remain in the same city as Santana without parental supervision. So here I am living an actress' life in Chicago, although that would imply that I was doing any acting... there hasn't been much of that recently."

She looked up from the napkin that she'd been twisting in her lap to see an emotion gracing Quinn's face, it was unfamiliar. The blonde's normally searing hazel eyes had softened into a look of...was it pity?

"I'm uh, sorry about that, Rachel," Quinn said, seemingly unused to offering sympathetic remarks, "It's ermm... a difficult business to break into."

Rachel smiled and nodded again, appreciative of the blonde's words. For once, she didn't feel like talking about herself. She was sort of uncomfortable with the fact that everyone she had talked down to over the years was more successful that her at this point in time. She needed to change the subject.

"So, how do you like Evanston? It's so close but I've never actually managed to get on the train and visit. I hear the Northwestern campus is lovely."

This brought another genuine smile to Quinn's face.

"You've never gone down there? Oh my goodness, the campus is gorgeous. There are old buildings that are just absolutely covered in ivy, and so, so many trees. And seriously, don't even get me started on the Lake. They have like, these rocks running all along the edge of it, and a bunch of the ones on campus are just painted by random people in the middle of the night. My apartment is less than a mile from the middle of campus but on one side is residential and on the other is downtown. It's perfect, although the nightlife kinda sucks. But that's what the train is for."

She was just sitting there gushing like they had been friends forever, launching into an anecdote about a crazy homeless man who always harassed her and her roommate outside of the drugstore, asking them if they were a couple. Rachel soaked up all of this companionship and simply allowed Quinn to talk. She had been lonely these past few months, all of her constant auditioning and trying to make it had not allowed much time for forging friendships. She was glad to have found someone in the area that she already knew, especially since Quinn seemed to have become this genuine person who had changed a lot.

Living alone had allowed Rachel to finally notice some of the faults in her personality that her peers had been attempting to point out to her for years. She could admit that she had changed some things about herself, but nothing as radical as what she saw before her.

The waiter came by with her check, interrupting their conversation and asking if Quinn would like anything to eat. Rachel immediately felt bad, thinking that she had denied Quinn food by immediately initiating conversation. But Quinn kindly shook her head and informed him that she was just checking out the menu when she ran into her old friend. Rachel smiled at the words. She could see them as friends, and it would certainly be nice to have someone to call up on a Saturday night after an audition gone awry. They gathered their things and left the restaurant together.

The rain outside had cleared up and now the two of them were faced with the slightly obnoxious combination of cold and humidity. If she hadn't just been warmed by the tea and the heat in the restaurant, Rachel probably would have felt a chill in her bones. She walked with Quinn to the L stop, the two of them stopping in between the North and Southbound staircases.

Rachel held up her phone. "So, will I have the pleasure of catching up with you some more another day, or are you going to pull the disappearing Quinn act on me?"

Quinn actually laughed out loud at her words, and held up her own phone.

"My number hasn't changed, so I guess I'll just unblock your contact." She held up her hands in mock-defense when she saw Rachel's face "Hey, hey, I blocked everyone. Even Mercedes. Consider it an honor, Berry, and don't abuse the privilege."

Rachel let her expression soften as she joined Quinn in laughter. She understood the other girl's motives, and she knew that she wasn't trying to be rude but just trying to escape for a little while.

"I'll see you around, Quinn." she said as she turned to make her way towards the stairs that read "Southbound to The Loop".

"Later, Berry", Quinn replied with yet another smile on her face as she began to jog up the steps, the sound of her train approaching (Northbound to the Purple Line).

When Rachel reached the top of the stairs she caught a quick flash of a yellow raincoat in a middle car of the quickly departing train, and she almost felt like singing. Resisting the urge to phone up Kurt or Mercedes right away, she kept her promise and sat down on an empty bench.

Things were looking up.

So ends Chapter One. Writing this story so far has been incredibly easy, but I still would appreciate reviews to tell me how people are liking it. The area this story is set in is a very familiar one to me, so hopefully I won't butcher the descriptions of anyone's hometown this time around.

Favorite and Review?