Chapter 4 - The Lion Decides She's a Lion

Quinn woke up uncomfortably, groaning at her head as she sat up.

'What the hell…' she internally moaned at the pounding in her head. It was like a hangover.

When she opened her eyes, confusion and a mild panic set over her. Why was she on the floor…next to some cigarettes and empty liquor bottles? She looked over sharply when she heard soft groaning. She saw a couple bodies she found unsettlingly familiar.

Why was she at the shanks?

Was this a dream?

The last thing she remembered was talking to Frannie & then going to sleep.

She looked at her hands and found herself shaking looking at the hideous gloves with no fingers she wore at the beginning of the semester. Stumbling to get up and to the washroom, she turned the lights on.

A sharp yelp left her mouth before she silenced herself.

'Okay…don't freak out…this is a dream…' Quinn told herself as she touched her pink hair delicately. Just as she was about to leave the washroom, someone slammed the door right into her foot as they stumbled in.

Quinn's face immediately contorted in pain as she lifted her foot to cradle in her hand and tried not to scream bloody murder.

'Not a dream! Not a dream! Not a dream!' Quinn screeched in her head, knowing full well this type of physical pain in her pulsating foot could not be dreamed of.

She glared at the offending skank who tumbled in and was now hovering over the toilet.

"Fucking bitch," Quinn mumbled under her breath as she quickly left with a slight limp. Hurrying out to her car, she immediately took off.

Even though the pain in her foot woke her up plenty, she wasn't sure if she could admit or even explain what was happening to her.

School.

She needed to get to school.

Quinn refused to say it out loud or even think about it too firmly in her mind, but if she was Quinn from the beginning of the semester…then…maybe…maybe she'd get to see the beginning of the semester Rachel. Even if this was a dream, it was better than nothing.

Pulling up to her parking spot, she put herself in park and noticed a box of cigarettes. She wrinkled her nose at it and stuffed it into her pocket. She might as well dispose of it.

Making her way in, she absently thought about how she needed to get hair-dye today. Quinn noticed many students walking in the hall, making their way to the gym. She looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was just before 10m.

"Hey, what's going on?" Quinn asked, pulling a student aside that she didn't recognize. Must be a freshman, she thought. He looked slightly scared.

"T-The school rally is today." He answered quickly and scurried off to walk with his friends.

'School rally?' Quinn thought.

She was only a little over 3 weeks in. Looking back to herself, she frowned. That didn't make any sense. She distinctly remembered being back to herself by the second week and had gone back to Glee because of Rachel and Beth as the final push.

Why was she still dressed like this?

Her stomach sank as she thought maybe Rachel isn't here either. Maybe she was still gone. She would never get to see Rachel again. The hallways began to clear out, leaving Quinn to wander alone. Putting her hands into her pocket, she felt the cigarette box and pulled it out.

She chuckled bitterly, 'One more for the road, I guess.'

Lighting the cigarette, she threw the rest of the trashcan and took a drag, not caring that she was still inside the building.

Her eyes drifted over when she noticed someone turning the corner.

Then she saw red.

Azimio Adams.

Walking around on his phone, not rotting in jail as he should be. He looked up, smirking at her as he approached closer.

"Hey, skank," he chuckled, "you're stinking up the place. Smoke outside, ya freak."

"Fuck off, Azimio." Quinn scowled, holding her cigarette tightly. She pushed herself off the wall and went to walk away.

She would kill him if she didn't.

Azimio pushed her back in front of him.

"Listen, skank—"

Quinn snapped.

"Listen here, Adams. If you don't stay out of my way, I will use this cigarette and burn a goddamn hold through your eye-socket! Let's see how you live your life with one eye!" She menacingly brought the lit cigarette to his eye, feeling a sick satisfaction seeing the jock look scared out of his wits. When she saw someone else from the corner of her eye, she froze.

'It…can't be…' she thought. Her eyes were playing tricks on her. It had to be because there could no way that Rachel Berry was standing at the end of the hallway, looking shocked to see her.

Was it really a dream?

She looked beautiful. Just like how Quinn dreamed of her for the last few weeks.

No, she looked better. She looked alive.

And that was far better than any dream Rachel. She didn't even realize how long she had been staring until Rachel was walking past her.

Quinn shot her hand out and grabbed Rachel's wrist. There was no way in hell she would let Rachel Berry go again. Pulling at the girl's wrist so that Rachel would turn around, Quinn pulled Rachel towards her and wrapped her arms around the shorter girl tightly, ignoring Rachel's concerned voice.

Quinn was cursing internally in her head. She never thought she would be able to hold Rachel again. The soft smell of raspberry and vanilla filled her nose and Quinn swore she felt her heart break a little more.

She doesn't even care if this is a dream, she will make the most of it and hold Rachel for as long as she can. The fresh image of Rachel in her casket brought tears to the blonde's eyes. The tears falling onto the brunette's shoulder and sniffling prompted Rachel to pull away, calling her name in a concerned, confused manner.

Quinn didn't let Rachel pull away too far, keeping the girl close in her personal space by holding onto Rachel's sleeves. She mumbled how she couldn't' believe how she was Rachel (also touching her), how the girl wasn't gone. She was mostly mumbling to herself but Rachel seemed to catch it.

Quinn watched the confusion settle in Rachel, but then the diva was giving her a piercing look and said something that made Quinn's stomach sink.

"Why are you here too?"

"Yes, Quinn, for the last time I am really here."

"How long?"

Rachel shrugged. "A little over three weeks, I guess. I 'woke up' on the first day of senior year."

Quinn stopped pacing around and turned to face Rachel who was sitting.

"That's the same time you…you…" The words couldn't seem to come out.

"Died?" Rachel spat out harshly.

Quinn flinched as the brunette let out a shaky breath, but she didn't seem to be going to be saying anything else regarding the matter. To be honest, the blonde didn't really know what she wanted to say about it either. There was so much that wanted to come out of her mouth, but Quinn was afraid it would come out like word vomit.

Rachel then looked up at her. "Why are you here? I could see me getting a second chance, but why are you here with me?"

Looking back at Rachel, Quinn could see how tired the girl looked, how aged she seemed and it broke her heart.

"I don't know, Rachel," Quinn croaked. "But you have no idea how much I prayed for this, how much I wished for it."

The shorter girl shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable with where this talk was going. Rachel was clenching her jaw and Quinn could tell she was holding back what she wanted to say, which was a first.

So Quinn shifted the topic and went to sit next to Rachel.

"Either way, no matter how we got here, it's a chance. It a chance to get it right."

Rachel scoffed. "You say that as if I somehow did it wrong the first time."

"Rachel, You know that I'm talking about myself to get it right with you."

The jaw clenching was happening again and Quinn sighed before looking down at herself. "Why am I still dressed like this? You had me back in Glee by the second week."

Using her fingers, Rachel delicately swept her bangs. "I didn't want to talk to you when I came back. I'm not in Glee either. Besides, I believe Shelby will be showing up in a couple days and I believe Beth would be enough for you to stop your…phase."

It felt like a knife stabbed Quinn's heart to hear Rachel say that she didn't want talk to her, that she would've left the blonde broken like this, but it was retribution for everything she did to Rachel, how she let the girl down.

Wait.

"You quit Glee?"

The diva shrugged.

"I tried to change somethings, but no one stood with me. Actually, I kept getting ragged on and Finn didn't come to my defense either, which I don't know why I expected him to this time around. I'm not coming back to Glee."

"Rach—"

"No, Quinn!" The brunette snapped, gripping the armrests of the chair. "You don't—you don't know what it was like! Or what it even feels like to face everyone again. I—I know I've never belonged and I'm quite aware of my personality, but I still loved Glee & everyone in it. But you know what? No one in Glee loved me. If this is my second chance, I'm not going to put myself through that again."

Quinn was openly crying in front of Rachel because now they were face to face. She had to face Rachel like it was the night after she didn't drive the girl home or pick up her calls. She got out her seat and immediately knelt in front of the brunette, grabbing her hands into her own.

"No, no, no Rachel, that's not true at all. Your…death…changed everything. You have no idea how broken we were after you were gone. About that night…I'm so, so sor—"

Rachel ripped her hands out of Quinn's and stood up. Her face was pale as she faced the blonde.

"No. No. I don't want to hear it, Quinn. I don't want to hear about your regrets that night. I don't want to hear you say you're sorry, because there's no way I can accept it right now."

With that, Rachel took off out of the auditorium, leaving Quinn behind.

"Rachel!"

It didn't even break in the brunette's stride.

When a hush fell over the auditorium, Quinn yelled in frustration.

"Fuck!" She screamed, as leaned back against the stage and sank down.

Heavy breath, Quinn buried her face into her hands.

She just needed a moment. It hurt. It hurt so fucking back that Rachel was hurting. All she wanted to do was pull the girl into her arms and kiss Rachel until they couldn't breathe. To savor the feeling of just feeling the shorter girl because she was alive. She was alive and Quinn was resolved to not fuck it up this time.

Wiping her tears, she got up. There was a lot to do to earn Rachel's forgiveness, to give the diva the life she deserved, and she can't accomplish that with pink dyed hair, gaudy clothes and makeup, and no social standing.

By the time Judy came home to see Quinn, she looked more relieved than she ever did in her life seeing her daughter without pink hair, piercings, or the overdone makeup.

"Quinnie, honey?" She cautiously spoke.

"Hey, mom," Quinn greeted softly. Judy came over and sat down next to Quinn on the couch, where the girl was reading a book.

"Are you…okay?" Judy asked for the lack of knowing what to say.

Quinn shrugged. While she did grow closer to her mother as the year went on, she never had to face coming out to her mom, she wasn't even sure if she was brave enough to do it yet.

Judy threw her arm around Quinn's shoulder and pulled her close. "You really scared me there, Quinn. I didn't know who you were."

Quinn gave her a half-hearted smile and a morose reply, "I'm still not really sure who I am, to be honest…"

Judy sympathetically rubbed her daughter's shoulder. "Well, honey, you're Quinn Fabray, my daughter, a brave little lady. The rest is up to you."

Leaning her head against her mother's shoulder, she closed her eyes. For now, that would have to be enough.

For now, Quinn would earn Rachel's forgiveness first before wishing for more.

"Hey," Quinn spoke after a moment. "Have you checked in on Frannie lately?"

Quinn turned heads when she walked down the hall. She was wearing a simple sundress and dyed her hair back to blonde. Her hair was short, but now she looked matured as she should've. It was clear that whatever the ex-cheerleader went through, she was no longer going through so aggressively at least.

The blonde stopped short of Santana's locker with Brittany who was also standing there. The brunette eyed Quinn before looking away back into her locker.

"San," Quinn spoke softly.

The Latina looked back at her, "What?" She snapped.

Quinn sighed. She knew this would be a difficult endeavor, she had, after all, told them they were no longer friends.

"I'm sorry, okay? I was clearly having a crisis, I'm over it now—mostly. Can we just blame it on post-baby craziness?"

Santana's lip twitched, but she remained stony-faced. "Post-baby craziness was for last year."

"I've always been a late bloomer."

Her friend cracked a smile, unable to hold it in. She sighed and Brittany happily jumped up and down and dove into Quinn's arms.

"Finally! Lord Tubbington was wondering where you went." Brittany happily sighed as she pulled back.

Quinn grinned and looked at the two girls. "So, seems like I missed a whole bunch of crazy things. Fill me in?"

The three girls chatted at their lockers until it was time to go to class. By then, Quinn had gathered important information.

Rachel quit Glee—she already knew that one. Rachel didn't audition for West Side Story, and not that it mattered (it did), Rachel broke up with Finn.

Quinn spent her morning class thinking about what exactly her plan of action was. She felt like she could finally breathe with Rachel here and it was very clearly obvious that Rachel did not want to talk about what happened that night.

Quinn wasn't even sure if she was ready to hear it, she thinks she might kill Azimio before vomiting. But eventually they would have to talk about it, it would be Quinn's only way to truly understand and repent.

The first thing she needed to do was, return to Glee and get Rachel to return. She debated whether or not she would return to the Cheerios.

She didn't need it, but it would certainly help if she wanted to keep slushies away from Rachel.

But she wasn't exactly excited to return to the Cheerio's culture, though she did love the activities and competitions. So, she was going to get Sue Sylvester to compromise (mostly join her way or no way at all).

Most importantly, she was going to make sure Azimio stayed the fuck away from Rachel. She was going to make sure he doesn't get an inkling that he can do whatever he wants.

When the bell rang, Quinn quickly made her way to her next class. It was Chemistry. She would get to see Rachel. She was seated in her seat patiently waiting for the diva and when Rachel entered, Quinn's breath hitched. The brunette looked a little flustered as she walked in, fixing her bangs and looking a little breathless. She spotted Quinn and seemed to hesitate for a quick second before continuing on and making her way to sit next to Quinn.

She eyed the girl's attire, seemingly content with her inspection before turning back to her notebook.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked delicately.

Rachel nodded, blowing her bangs lightly before brushing them again. "Finn decided that it was the opportune moment to trap me in the hall to discuss our non-existent relationship. It was extra cardio to escape and make it on time here."

Quinn pursed her lips. She definitely didn't forget how that idiot proposed to Rachel, but now she knew Rachel said no.

But Rachel didn't know that she knew.

"Can I ask why you broke up?"

"I think you know perfectly why, Quinn."

"Maybe, but I want to hear it in your words."

Rachel took a deep breath as she gripped her notebook a little, crumpling the pages slightly. She turned to Quinn and exhaled.

"Quinn, I'm not sure if you're deliberately ignoring the hints, but I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to share what happened that night. I don't want to talk about my thoughts about it. I know that may seem strange as I'm known to be a chatterbox, but even I have things I don't want to talk about, Quinn."

Rachel was gripping her pen as she spoke, but she relaxed slightly when she felt the pen succumbing under pressure.

"That being said, obviously I don't think things will work out between Finn and I going forward. I cared too much and he didn't care enough. Happy?"

Quinn bit her lip, feeling thoroughly scolded but nodded. Before she could say anything else, Brittany hopped over from behind and greeted them both.

"Rachel! Can you help me go over the homework? I think I did it right."

Rachel was going to nod when another voice spoke up.

"Hey B, how about I go over it with you? We can catch up too." Quinn intervened, relieved when Brittany nodded excitedly and went back to her desk to pull out her paper.

Quinn gave Rachel a small smile as if apologizing for bringing up unpleasant memories for Rachel earlier and joined Brittany.

The diva bit her lip, trying to resolve herself to not feel bad for snapping at Quinn. She supposed a part of her felt relieved that she wasn't alone anymore, that there was someone who understood her and was a part of what happened. Following that though, she also hated that Quinn returned as well. A part of her wanted to hide away from Quinn, feeling scared that someone else knew what happened to her and it was like all those ugly feelings of being scared, alone, and betrayed threatened to surface up again.

Rachel idly wondered if they would both to continue on with their lives or would Quinn confront her until she had nowhere to hide.

Although Quinn shared other classes with Rachel after chemistry, she let the diva be in fear she might upset Rachel even further. She was resolved to stop hurting Rachel with her second chance. When after school came, Quinn gave Rachel a small smile as the girl left. After giving Azimio a threatening look as she passed him down the hallway, she made her way to the one woman she half-respected and also half thought was the incarnate of the devil.

She stepped into the office.

"Well, well, I guess you've dropped your 2004 Avril Lavigne look."

Quinn looked unimpressed and didn't answer to that. Instead, she took a deep breath and put her hands on the desk as she leaned forward.

"I want captaincy back, coach."

Sue Sylvester raised her eyebrow. "And why should I give it to you? You're giving me whiplash of how fast you are on and off the team."

Quinn pushed on, "You can't win nationals without me."

Leaning back in her chair, Sue narrowed her eyes. "What makes you say that?"

A smirk appeared on Quinn's lips. "I saw the piss poor practice. The girls are starting to get lax and no one has the discipline and acrobatics like me. Also, I would hate for you to lose the championship while Glee is on the rise. I can't imagine that will look good for your budget next year."

Sylvester seemed to contemplate what Quinn said before suspiciously eyed her student.

"Alright, I'll bite. What is it that you want?"

Standing back up, Quinn adjusted her bag on her shoulder. " A deal. I'll win you your championship and all the glory and money that comes with it. But, I want you to let me run the squad, the hierarchy, and back decisions I make."

Sylvester raised her brow with a small smirk. "Is this about Berry?"

Quinn clenched her jaw but didn't reply, glaring at her coach. Sylvester rolled her eyes and waved her hand light to placate Quinn. "Relax blondie, I hardly care, but anyone using 2% of their brain can see the gay angsty panic thing you've got going on."

Rolling her eyes, Quinn replied reluctantly. "Then yes, it is about her."

Her coach looked mildly impressed as she regarded Quinn. "I'm impressed, Fabray. Didn't think you'd ever get your head out of your ass and go get what you want. Unless you already got her."

Quinn shook her head with a small smile.

"No, but I will. I'm a Fabray, and you know what they say about Fabrays."

"Fabrays get what they want. Alright Q, your uniform will be ready for you tomorrow. Don't be late for practice & don't disappoint me again." Sylvester smirked and dismissed Quinn with the wave of her hand.

Leaving the room, Quinn let out a deep breath. It was never easy getting what you wanted with the coach. The crazy woman wanted to you to find the perfect balance between convincing her and blackmailing or threatening her.

'Okay,' Quinn thought. 'I'm Head Cheerio. I have the power to protect Rachel.'

She let out a small smile, pulled out her phone and quickly dialed Santana's number. No one like the hot-headed fiery brunette to help her with her first edict.

The next morning came and Rachel was sitting at the bleachers again working on her composition with a jacket and some hot tea. It was getting frustrating that she felt a constant chill. She always had to wear sweaters of cardigans and no longer wore anything that exposed her legs too much. it helped but not by much. It was the worst at night when she tried to go to sleep, but it seemed there wasn't much she could do other than bundle up.

The brunette noticed that Quinn didn't join her this morning and a flash of disappointment hit her before she saw the Cheerios finishing practice out on the field. Seeing a familiar flash of short blonde hair, she realized that Quinn was out there too.

Rachel initially felt a little reserved that Quinn was back on the team, but she stomped the feeling out. The diva reasoned that this was Quinn's opportunity to get the things she wanted, and she knew Quinn wanted her place on the squad, to belong, and get win prom queen. Still, it did make Rachel cautious. Perhaps they were always meant to be different people, going separate ways.

Even after the field was empty, she stayed until the bell rang. Slowly making her way back in, Rachel scolded herself for sulking the entire time. The moment she stepped in, she immediately realized that people were staring at her and giving her a wide berth to walk. Feeling self-conscious, Rachel opened her locker and looked in the small mirror she hung. There didn't seem to have anything physically wrong with her. She didn't know what to make of it until Kurt came up to her locker.

"Hey, Rachel," Kurt cautiously greeted since she hasn't spoken to him since she quit Glee.

"Hello, Kurt," Rachel greeted back before looking around, "What's going on? Why is everyone staring at me like I opened up the gates the hell and doomed us all?"

The boy gave her a small smile, seemingly happy that Rachel was talking to him. He gave a dramatic smile. "Haven't you heard, honey? There's a slushy ban on you."

Rachel's eyes widened. "What? What do you mean?"

Kurt looked around before leaning in. "It happened earlier this morning. Quinn's back as Head Cheerio and the first thing she did was announce that if anyone slushied you or literally did anything to you, their high school life was over. Santana literally shoved Azimio so hard into a locker that he's limping when he made a comment. They were quite harsh on him. I wonder if he did anything to piss Quinn off."

Rachel slowly took in the news. What was happening? What was Quinn doing? She muttered to Kurt she'd see him later and stalked off to find the blonde.

"Quinn!" She called out, spotting the girl standing at her locker with some other Cheerios. Quinn turned around, her hands on her hips and Rachel had aggressive flashbacks to when she saw the blonde for the first time as a cheerleader.

"What does she want?" Rachel heard a Cheerio mutter sullenly and Quinn gave her a threatening glare that shut the girl right up. She flicked her wrist and dismissed the other girls as the diva approached.

"Rachel, what's wrong? You're going to be to be late for homeroom."

Rachel didn't answer her but waited for the hallways to clear out until it was just the two of them. She let out a sigh as she faced the cheerleader.

"Quinn, what are you doing? Why are you threatening people over me?"

The blonde looked shocked as if she somehow truly believed that Rachel wouldn't ever find out about it.

"Well…" Quinn started. "If I don't threaten, then people won't listen." She stated as if it was obvious.

Rachel huffed. "Quinn, if you do drastic things like this then you're going to lose your popularity over me. This is your second chance. I know you want everything you didn't get."

Quinn shook her head, "No, Rachel. My second chance isn't about me. It's about you. I don't care if this makes me look like a bitch or hurts my chances at prom queen. I care about you. So if I have to threaten every student and make Azimio's life a living hell for him to understand to stay away from you, I will do it."

Rachel sucked in a breath.

"Do…you know…?" She asked timidly. Quinn knew that Rachel was asking if she knew who murdered her.

"Yes," Quinn replied evenly after a moment. "Puck found out after your…funeral. He deserved more than the living shit beaten out of him and jail time."

Gripping her shoulder bag a little tighter at the straps, Rachel didn't say anything again. Quinn let out a deep sigh.

"Rachel," she softly called. When the brunette made eye contact, the blonde dropped her hands from her hips.

"I know I was an awful friend and that I really, really hurt you and royally fucked up. But I do really care about you. I'll do everything I can to show you that. I understand you don't want to talk about what happened yet and I can wait. For now though, please come back to Glee with me."

Rachel's heart was thudding as she listened to Quinn so passionately apologize to her. While she still felt reserved, she couldn't deny that a part of her was happy to hear the blonde express how important she was to Quinn. Once upon a time, that was all the diva ever wanted.

"I'll…I'll think about it." Rachel conceded. Quinn nodded and then held her arm out to the shorter girl.

"Come on, I'll walk you to your class. I'll tell the teacher Sylvester needed you so you're not marked late."

Tentatively looping her arm around Quinn's, Rachel gave her a small smile as they walked.

"Okay."

Next Time: Friendship is tentative. Quinn's trying to hold everything together and pushes Rachel maybe just a little too far.

A/N: Okay...so I did look up glee wiki to go over the timeline again and ya'll never said anything about me having Sam there LOL well it's too late now. So Sam didn't leave I guess LOL

I don't think I have much to say other than thanks for the reviews! I really do love reading them!

See you soon xoxo