Mr. Schuester was standing at the front of the room, just as he always did, facing his Glee Club kids. They were all paired off in their usual way, some super-close to people and others keeping a reasonable distance. For all they'd gone through, Schue didn't feel it had been enough to truly bring them together as a whole. So, today, he had an exercise in mind, rather than a week-long assignment. He hoped it wouldn't backfire on him, though a part of his mind still held doubt.

"Alright," he said, addressing them and focusing their attention. "Today we're going to try a little something different." From the start of his words, people were giving him wary looks. Rachel, of course, was perched on the edge of her chair, sitting next to Finn, and ready to tackle this new challenge. "Today we're gonna do a trust exercise." Groans echoed throughout the room. "Hey, just because we are where we are, doesn't mean we're perfect, guys. Believe it or not, I'm not stupid." Laughter. "I see how some of you guys act around each other, for better or worse. So, stand up! Everybody, up!"

The entire group obliged, albeit most of them did it unwillingly. Naturally, Santana and Brittany were side by side, and Rachel and Finn were the same, but a row below them. Artie and Tina, Kurt and Mercedes, Puck, Matt, and Mike. Quinn, however, though standing by Mercedes, swayed uneasily, as if she was uncomfortable. Unfortunately, she could no longer blame her discomfort of the pregnancy, now that Beth was born.

Mr. Schue laughed half-heartedly at the conflicted emotions among the kids. He reached into his coat pocket for a slip of paper, and unfolded it. "I've been thinking about how to go about this, and I decided we'd go old-fashioned and do the ever famous 'Trust Fall!'" At this, everyone, including the ever perky Rachel, looked worried and unsure. Someone could get hurt, couldn't they? It was a good trust building exercise, sure, but it was also a good way to spite someone by letting them fall. "Oh, come on, guys! It'll be fun."

"Uh, Mr. Schue, not like I'm not glad you're doing this and all," Artie spoke, "I just don't know how well I'd do falling in a wheelchair."

Artie had a point. "Right… You can sit this out then. That's okay though because I've got more ideas. Ones that you can do, too." Mr. Schuester had completely forgotten about Artie's inability to fall when he was confined to a wheelchair, so someone else would have to sit out, too. Shoot.

"Thanks, Mr. Schue."

"No problem, Artie. Alright, guys, time for partners. But there's a catch. You don't get to pick your partners. I do. Now, step forward with your partner when I call your names." He scanned his list and decided to ask Tina to sit out. She wasn't meant to be Artie's partner, but he thought it'd work out anyway. Thinking on his feet, he continued. "We have…. Matt and Mercedes, Mike and Santana, Kurt and Finn, Brittany and Puck, aaaaand Rachel and Quinn. Also, Tina, if you don't mind, would you sit this out with Artie?"

"S-Sure, Mr. Schue," Tina agreed, taking her seat next to Artie to watch the falls.

"I guess we'll go in order of the names, so… Matt and Mercedes. You're first."

"This'll be no problem," Mercedes boasted, grinning as she got in position to fall first. Glancing at first to ensure that his hands were there to catch her, she faced the other kids and fell. Matt caught her wonderfully, and lifted her back up. It was Mercedes turn to catch Matt and, besides being a bit intimidated by his size, she was confident. And she caught him fine.

"Mike and Santana?" Schue cleared his throat, and repeated a bit louder, "Mike and Santana?" Finally, this directed Santana's attention away from Mike and towards Mr. Schue.

"Yeah, yeah," Santana said, waving a hand dismissively. Making no big shows, they did their job, and sat back down to flirt once more.

Mr. Schue shrugged with a slight sigh. This was not the reaction he wanted right off the bat. Everyone else seemed very focused though, so he just put it up to Santana being herself. "Next we have Kurt and Finn."

Kurt stood up immediately, more than ready to try this, though he voiced his concerns to Mr. Schuester in a whisper. "I'm not sure I can hold his weight, Mr. Schue." Mr. Schue nodded and told Kurt he'd be there for back-up if Kurt lost his hold. Finn was still sitting in his chair, knuckles white from twisting and turning them, tightly gripped on one another. He'd gotten quite worked up over the fact that he had to do this trust thing with Kurt, of all people. He wanted to chalk it up to Mr. Schue trying to set them up or something equally childish, but he ignored it. After all, he put Rachel and Quinn together. Pairs of opposites had to work it out one way or another.

Finn finally rose from his seat and approached Kurt, swallowing audibly. He stood behind Kurt and held out his arms. Kurt put his arms out wide from his side, donned a grin, and let himself fall. Finn freaked out at first. The moment Kurt made contact with his arms, he was ready to throw him away like the homophobe he seemed to be. He gained some self-control from not doing it, and that's what Mr. Schue wanted to see. Schue patted Finn's shoulders encouragingly, and Finn lifted Kurt so he was standing. They switched positions.

"Oh God I hope I don't drop you," Kurt muttered. Finn heard it, but wasn't sure if it was because he would be too heavy, or because of that thing, that like… that CRUSH he had on him. Finn tentatively held out his arms and squeezed his eyes shut, falling back towards Kurt. The boy grunted at the first impact and Mr. Schue quickly came to his aid. Finn knew no better, since his eyes were closed. The two lifted Finn back to his feet. The quarterback couldn't scurry to his feet fast enough. Kurt, on the other hand, stood there, flattening any wrinkles on his clothes and fixed his hair before he was prepared to sit down.

"Rachel and Quinn, you're up."

"Actually, it's Puck and Brittany," Quinn spat as soon as she heard his words. They were not next. Quinn didn't want to even touch Miss Rachel Berry, in all her diva glory. She'd probably get on her case for holding her too roughly or something equally idiotic. She could not believe Mr. Schue did this to her. To them. Wait, no, to her. Just… her.

"Ah, right," Mr. Schue said as he check the list again. "Sorry, Quinn. Puck and Brittany, have at it." Sorry Quinn? Rachel thought. Why not "Sorry, Rachel?" After all, I'm a part of this, too, despite Quinn's lack of enthusiasm. Honestly, Rachel found herself pathetic at the moment. Quinn really hated her and would do anything to make this end in ruins, or, better yet, make it not happen at all. Rachel saw it as an opportunity. Even though she was only bearable to most of the Glee kids, she wanted to be at least bearable to Quinn, too. This was the perfect chance to show her that she could be tolerable in anyone's eyes. That is, if Quinn would notice.

"If you say so, Schue." Puck smirked, and Brittany looked utterly confused. She followed him anyway and the entire exercise between them was full of giggles and was all around laughable in itself. They were a goofy pair that's Schue made, that's for sure.

"Now, it's our turn," Quinn said. Rachel looked over at her, surprised to hear her comment that quickly. Quinn stared back with an expression that said, 'Well?' Rachel got out of her seat and made her way to stand next to Quinn in front of the room. It'd seemed everyone had spoken about who would go first, but Quinn had refused to talk to Man-Hands. They glanced awkwardly at one another, until Rachel stepped behind Quinn. "Useless side-looks would have gotten us nowhere." Quinn couldn't argue with that, so she frowned instead.

"You better catch me, Berry," she snapped.

"I am completely aware of my needing to catch you and not drop you, Quinn, as that is the point of this exercise. I wouldn't—"

"You better catch me, Berry," Quinn repeated with just as much venom in her voice as before.

Rachel shut her mouth and extended her arms. Like she was going to drop Quinn Fabray, of all people. Quinn constantly turned back to check if Rachel's hands were there, and Rachel kept whispering to Quinn, "I'm not going to drop you." Finally, she stopped turning around and fell.

The fall was nothing if not simple. But when Quinn's body felt Rachel's touch, she smiled. She had absolutely no inkling as to why she did, but she smiled. In an instant, Quinn felt soft, warm arms wrap around her stomach (which was now considerably flatter and more toned since she gave birth) and she bit her lip to stop herself from grinning like a fool. Rachel had such delicate yet strong arms. And her hands were definitely anything but "Man-Hands." They were gentle and caring, keeping her safe. Before Quinn knew what was happening, Rachel was helping Quinn back onto the ground. So that's why Rachel had done that with her arms. Was she supposed to do that, too? None of the other pairs did… As she stood, she fervently refused to look at Rachel, unsure of how she felt right then. Why was she thinking such stupid and obscene things about Treasure Trail? It was embarrassing, if not pointless. Then Rachel's hair brushed her shoulder ever so subtly as the girl moved to take the falling stance.

Quinn marveled at the amazingly silky feeling that was Rachel's hair. She caught herself staring, actually appreciating someone other than herself. This is dumb. You are in charge, and you are straight. Get it together. Rachel's not worth it. Despite the self-talk, she was utterly intrigued by the exotic female before her. And to think she even had to point out to herself that she's straight. Why did she have to jump to that conclusion in the first place?

"Quinn," Rachel said, waving a hand in front of the blonde's face. This broke Quinn out of the whirling winds that tore up every shred of gravity in her head, and made her focus on the task at hand. Not the girl at hand.

"I'm here, I'm ready," she spoke, her voice much meeker than either girl was used to.

Rachel shrugged off the odd tone and, unbeknownst to Quinn, who was still staring at Rachel's entire body in full force, began to fall. A second too late, Quinn thrust her arms out. Rachel had already fallen. Everyone in the room laughed, except for the girls in the center spotlight and Mr. Schue. Rachel gazed up at Quinn, whose face screamed apologies, and ran out of the room, tears already overflowing. How could Quinn do that to her?

Rachel ran out in the hallway and sank against a nearby locker, thinking to herself, How could she not?

Inside, a dumb-struck Quinn was at a loss of what to do. She hadn't meant to drop Rachel. If she could of, she would have wrapped the girl in her arms, just as she had done previously to her. Why did she let herself get caught up and make a fool of Rachel? More importantly, who was she to be caring about Rachel in the first place?

Mr. Schuester watched in quiet confusion, finally deciding that going after Rachel was best, but Quinn stopped him. She glanced at the others and pulled him close. "It's my fault. Let me do it. Please." Schuester nodded and let her head out into the hallway to speak with the girl whose trust she'd probably broken.

"Rachel, I—"

Rachel wiped at her tears with her sweater's sleeves, sniffling to try and prevent any more from falling. "I know. It was extremely careless and stupid to think that you would be there to catch me after I caught you when you were not in great spirits about our pairing." Here she was, crying, and the girl could still ramble and go on unnecessarily. So many words weren't always needed. Quinn bent down, and was able to sit on the floor with Rachel, smoothing her skirt out.

"No. I was stupid not to catch you. You caught me and it's my fault. I didn't mean to let you go. Can you even try to believe what I'm saying? It was an accident."

Rachel stared at Quinn through watery brown eyes, having to look away after so long. With the way things were, she could only take in so much of Quinn at once, and Rachel figured it was probably less if the idea were reversed. But, what Rachel didn't comprehend, was why Quinn came out here and didn't high-five Santana and smirk as Mr. Schue came out to comfort her. "How is that an accident? You don't simply drop someone when that's the only thing you don't have to do. Unless it was on purpose, of course."

"You talk too much, you know that?"

Rachel sniffed and wiped at her eyes again, murmuring in distress, "Tell me something I don't know."

"Alright then. You, Rachel Berry, are beautiful." Did she really just say that?

The brunette at Quinn's side lifted her head to look at her, not sure how to respond. Did Quinn Fabray just say that?

"Look. The bottom line is, I'm sorry for letting you fall. Honestly. I can't tell you why I dropped you, at least not now, but I'm so, so sorry."

"Do you really mean that?"

"What, that I can't tell you, or that I'm extremely sorry?"

"…Both."

"Yes. I do." Quinn watched Rachel's chest heave in what was likely grief, embarrassment, and confusion. And Quinn was the center of it all. She reached over and rubbed Rachel's arm gently, assuring her that her words were true. "I just- I can't tell you, okay? Maybe when things aren't so stupid and ridiculous and out of place, but that's not now. But, I can say that I'm sorrier than you would think I could be. After all, I know I've been a real bitch to you sometimes."

Rachel was comforted by Quinn's touch, and grabbed her hand mid-rub. Rachel held it tight and looked at their hands, colors contrasting, yet fitting together so wonderfully. "Sometimes?" Rachel laughed quietly and gazed up at Quinn for more reassurance.

"Okay, a lot of times. But that doesn't change what I said." Quinn didn't remove her hand from Rachel's, as she tingled from the newfound contact. She felt like she was flying, almost as high as when Rachel's arms had slipped around her during their Trust Fall.

"Okay," Rachel said reluctantly. As much as her heart and soul and every nerve ending on her body wanted to forgive Quinn for everything ever and just hold her, she felt a pang of guilt that it was somehow wrong to ask that much. She squeezed the pale hand in hers, watching with awestruck eyes when Quinn didn't flinch or even try to move away.

"Ya know," Quinn started, playing with Rachel's fingers absently. "We should probably go back in there. If it wasn't so quiet, they'd think we're ripping each others' throats out."

At that, Rachel laughed. It was true. The two girls weren't on good terms (well, until now?) and the Glee kids would definitely want to know what's up. She smiled and nodded at Quinn, answering the unasked question. They had to go in there, and soon. "I… I just can't face them yet. It's too much."

Once again, Quinn's guilt washed over her and, without thinking, she pulled the smaller, brunette girl into a tight hug. "I won't let you fall," she whispered. And somewhere, in the moments those words were out, things changed.