Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 20th cycle. Now cycle 21! (I realized I didn't fix this line throughout the whole of cycle 20! *smacks forehead*)

A/N: Sorry for the lateness in the day, gol-ly! That's January 1st for ya (Happy New Year!), it's bigger than Christmas in my family, apparently ;) Gonna get things back in order though, need to, before school starts on Monday *cringes*

"The Sun Also Rises"
Rachel & Quinn
Sunshine Girls #21 (direct sequel to "House of the Rising Sun)

It was new to them… They were actually noticing it, that despite everything they were becoming friends. The 'again' part was still something that brought out certain thoughts. They didn't have to say it; they both knew. Even if they remembered the Sunshine Girls now, it still felt like a whole other lifetime. So they could understand how, for both themselves and the other, it would be weird, no matter how they'd changed in their opinions of each other. It could well be that there would come a day when they wouldn't even think twice about it, but they weren't there yet…

But regardless of that, they were becoming friends, and one primary factor of that was Rachel's part in the Fabrays' new family situation. After the dinner, the next few days at school, Quinn had been quiet. No one else really knew why, except for Rachel. Even Finn… She hadn't told him everything, if anything. For the time being, she wanted to keep it to herself… Everyone was already talking about her because of the pregnancy, and she didn't want to think what they might start saying. She had been fearing for so long that the moment her secret came out to her parents, she would get thrown out of her home, but no… She got to stay, with her mother… All at once there was so much stress which just lifted from her shoulders, and she got to calm down… and breathe…

She'd come to Glee Club, and right then she'd go and sit… Rachel was never too far away anymore… In front, behind, left, right… They didn't do it consciously… They didn't even really notice until one day had them go through a number of 'risings and sittings' and they always landed in the same area.

Even before then, there were a few occasions where Rachel felt the need to check up on Quinn, with how things were unfolding. Even if she knew it wasn't her fault, part of her still felt responsible. More than the responsibility to an event, it was one to a friend. So before they were to head in to Glee Club one afternoon, she'd thrown a look to Quinn, which she knew she'd understand. After sending Finn in ahead of her, she'd trailed over to see Rachel.

"So how'd it go?" she asked Quinn. From what she knew, Russell Fabray had set foot in the house for the one and only time after being thrown out, in order to pack up his things and take them away, the previous day. Quinn had been dreading it with everything in her.

"I stayed up in my room the whole time… I didn't want to see him, and apparently neither did he, because he never came in…" she answered slowly. Rachel didn't respond at first, giving a moment.

"Does he know about…"

"No," she shook her head. "My mother and I both agreed it'd be better off this way. She's still getting used to it herself…"

"So he's… h-he's really…"

"Gone," Quinn nodded, and silence fell on them again. Rachel put her hand to Quinn's shoulder, spotting early signs of oncoming tears… No matter how things had unfolded, it didn't change the fact that her father had just moved out of her home and her life. "It's okay," she promised, trying to laugh it off. "It's just, you know…"

"Hormones," Rachel nodded, catching her need to blame something else.

"Yeah," Quinn nodded back with a sniffle.

"You know, you and your mother should come to dinner some time. The way my dads have it, I think they were friends, too. And, plus… it'd be one evening to feel different from lately, with…" she trailed.

"I… That sounds good," Quinn smiled, her eyes looking less tearful now. Rachel nodded – matter settled. There was a pause. "You haven't told anyone, right?"

"No one," Rachel promised. "You should tell Finn," she then said. Quinn looked back at her. Despite her own feelings still bubbling under, she knew he was with her at the moment and, if they were to fix their friendship, then she wasn't about to go behind her back, no matter how much she wished she could… There wouldn't be a third chance if they screwed it up again.

"Yeah… probably should," Quinn finally replied.

"He'll be good about it, you know him…"

"I do," she nodded with a chuckle. She turned to look at the door. "Better get in there."

"Yeah," Rachel agreed, and they went in, sitting side by side.

No matter what, their whole thing, their friendship, there were still a lot of hang-ups and, in each of their secrets, there seemed to be the common theme of Finn. For Rachel it was those feelings, which she'd had since before this had all started, with the Sunshine Girls, but that she now couldn't bring herself to pursue out of some fragile and new loyalty.

Then for Quinn it was a complicated possibility to share this secret she'd been forced to keep to herself until now, the truth of just who had fathered her baby. She hadn't told her supposed friends, for reasons which should have seemed obvious. And now here was Rachel, with this shared history unveiled between them… It would seem so natural to tell her this secret, but then… there were those feelings she also knew about… It wasn't clear to her yet if this would be the thing that upset their new balance… She didn't want the risk.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!