A/N - Sorry for the delay, guys. If any of you are in school, you'll know that midterms can be a bitch, especially in college. I've been busy for the last couple of weeks and will be busy again this week. Luckily spring break is next week so maybe I can get back into my normal writing schedule then. Thanks for your patience. And thank you, Ms. SaneTwin1_2, for alllll of your encouragement and help with this story :D

Chapter 5 - Behind Enemy Lines

"Quinn, may I speak with you for a moment?"

Practice wouldn't start for a few minutes yet, but everyone was already there. The boys were off rough housing in the front of the class while the larger group of girls watched on with detached interest. The blonde sat off by herself at the end of the room, doodling something in her notebook, so the brunette made her move, knowing this would be the perfect – possibly only – opportunity to catch her alone.

The girl in question didn't raise her head to acknowledge the brunette, just quirked an eyebrow while she continued working on her masterpiece, which Rachel could now see was a detailed cartoon of Coach Silvester with horns and a pitchfork. "And what, pray tell, do we have to talk about?" her tone made it clear she had no interest in what the diva had to say.

The shorter of the two took a few deep breaths, readying herself before taking a seat next to the former Cheerio. You can do this, you can do this. "Well after much consideration and an enormous amount of lists, mostly pros and cons – the cons greatly outweighing the pros in this instance, but I'm willing to overlook it – I have decided that, for this assignment, it would definitely be a challenge, but also a brilliant idea, to try something out of the norm and pair with someone unexpected," she shrugged as an afterthought, "And I'm always up for a challenge."

Silence.

The brunette waited patiently for the blonde's reaction. After a moment the girl sighed and paused in her drawing, "I'm sorry, you lost me after-" she stopped when she glanced over at the diva sitting anxiously at the edge of her seat. She let out a breath of a laugh before returning her attention to her notebook, "Scratch that, you never had me."

The diva tried to choke down her frustrated sigh. Don't let her discourage you, you were expecting this. "What I'm trying to say here, Quinn, is I think you and I should partner together for this assignment."

That got her attention. Her head didn't lift, but there was a definite freeze as the pen stopped moving across her paper. The brunette stopped breathing entirely as her heart pounded away in her chest. She suddenly felt the need to rub her clammy palms over her skirt to dry them. Okay, so maybe this wasn't a good idea.

After a long, dreaded moment of silence, the blonde's lips finally parted. "I'm sorry… but it sounded as if you wanted me to partner with you-" there was a definite disgusted emphasis on that syllable, "as opposed to my boyfriend?" Her head finally lifted as she pinned the dark haired girl with narrowed eyes, "I must've misunderstood you."

Rachel gulped softly. "There is no misunderstanding… I just thought with the assignment being what it is – to step out of our comfort zones and do something not expected of us – it would certainly give us a definite edge if we did our duet together."

Another intense pause.

The brunette slowly cowered back into her seat, putting some distance between her and the, what seemed to be livid, blonde as the ex-Cheerio continued to stare at her with a look of mixed disbelief, disgust, and… curiosity? "You do realize that would mean the two of us being in a room together… alone?"

She nodded quickly, "I have thought of that, yes, but I don't see what the problem is. We can sit in a room together for an hour or so without killing each other. All I ask is that you consid-"

"Hell no."

This time she didn't bother holding back her exasperated sigh. "You're being ridiculous, Quinn. What Mr. Schue said is right… We'll never win at regionals unless we can get along. It makes perfect sense that we, being the biggest rivals in this room, would have to be the first to take that step-"

"You mean aside from you and Santana?" she interrupted pointedly.

The brunette froze. She made a good point. "Yeah, I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet," she shook her head quickly before returning her attention to the blonde. "It won't kill you, Quinn, just think about how much we'll be helping. Once everyone else sees that we've… 'buried the hatchet' as they say, they'll also be willing to move on from past transgressions to form one single, cohesive unit. It's not only beneficial to our winning at regionals but also to the survival of our group as a whol-"

"Ugh, fine."

"Please let me finish, I strongly believe that-" she paused, "Wait, what?"

The blonde rolled her eyes before returning her attention to her drawing, "I said fine, Berry, just please stop talking."

The brunette continued to stare at the blonde, mouth gaping, for several moments before her mind finally caught up to her ears. "…Really?"

"Yes, really," she groaned out. "I'll talk to Sam after rehearsal," she added more calmly.

A grin broke out across the tiny diva's face. "This is exciting! I already have so many ideas for us to choose from-"

"Yeah, can you go now?" she interrupted grouchily, "My skin is starting to itch from being so close to your argyle."

Rachel smiled regardless; she would not let the blonde's insults get her down now. "Thank you, Quinn, you won't regret this," she stated before getting up to move back to her seat.

"Already do," came the mumbled response over her shoulder.

"Alright alright, everyone, settle down," their instructor finally arrived, "Find yours seats and let's get started!"

"You're what?"

Sigh.

"You heard me, Sam. I'm going to do my duet with-" she stopped to grimace momentarily, "Berry." Shaking her head, she continued to pull books out of her locker, "You'll just have to find someone else to sing prepubescent boy songs with."

"You loved it when I sang Baby today! You were smiling!"

"No, I was cringing because I thought I might die of embarrassment," slamming her locker shut, she turned to glare him down, "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I needed to show that jolly green giant his place! He was all over you during practice."

"Ugh, enough," she groaned, "For the last time there is nothing going on between me and Finn!"

"Then why is he always staring at you, huh?"

"How should I know?" she snapped before turning to head down the desserted hallway though she continued to talk with the boy scuffling along behind her. "I think this switch will actually be good for all those involved; you and Finn definitely need to work out your unresolved issues, and leave me the hell out of it!" She swung around, fixing him with her glare again, "I am tired of being constantly smothered in between you two. If you can't handle me talking to other guys, then maybe we have no business dating!" With that she turned around and marched down the hallway, alone this time.

"Quinn!" he shouted after her, "I'm sorry!"

"Whatever," she mumbled under her breath, thankful that he decided not to run after her. She had enough on her plate to deal with today; she didn't feel like prolonging that little spat any longer. The only thing that could make this day any worse would be-

"Quinn?"

Ugh… that.

Taking a deep breath, she composed herself before swinging around to face the star hunchback, er, um… quarterback. "Can I help you with something, Finn?"

"Did I just hear you and the blonde Bieber fighting?" she could tell there was a mild note of concern there; he was trying to sound concerned at least, but he was also clearly pleased with himself.

"Is that really any of your business?" she made to turn and storm off but he stepped closer and took her arm, going way past the personal space boundary as he ducked down a little to whisper to her.

"I'd like to think so. I care about you, you know?"

She turned to fix her piercing hazel eyes on him, not perturbed in the least that their faces were only inches apart. "That's sweet," she gave him an exaggerated smile before turning it into a scowl, "Now let me go."

He straightened up and dropped his hand, probably flustered that she didn't seem to be falling for his so-called charm. He gulped, "Well at least let me give you a ride home."

At this she grimaced.

"That's not necessary. I have… other means of transportation."

"Um, what?"

She rolled her eyes before moving towards the exit again. "Someone is giving me a lift."

"Oh… who?"

She ignored him, deciding to take a different route; it would be better tell him this now and get it over with. "So look, I know you're not going to like this, but it's probably for the best," she paused just by the door to turn and meet his eyes, "You and Sam are partnering together for this week's assignment." She pushed through the exit and hurried out as if she could possibly escape what was bound to come next.

"WHAT?"

She sighed. Well, it was a valiant effort. She slowed down so he could catch up. "I've made… other arrangements, so now you and Sam are left without a partner. I really don't care what you do, you can switch with someone else if you want, but we only have a few days left." She paused on the sidewalk before heading out into the nearly abandoned parking lot. "I suggest you high tail it back in there, find Sam, and reach some common ground. You're already behind."

"What? I don't understand. You can't expect me to work with him! He hates me!"

"Because you keep making advances on his girlfriend," she shot back. He wilted a little.

"Hey, that's not fair," he gave her his big, dopey, puppy dog pout, "I wasn't the only one there, you know. You kissed me first."

She groaned in defeat, "I know, Finn, I know. And I know we need to talk about that, but can it wait?"

"I just don't understand. What are you doing for the assignment? Who's your partner?"

"I…"

"Quinn! Over here!"

They both looked to see who had called out to her, but Quinn's stomach already dropped, recognizing the singer's voice from a mile away. She turned to spot the tiny brunette waving wildly at her from her car… as if she wouldn't have spotted the dwarf in the almost empty parking lot.

"Uhh…"

"Yeeeah," she drew the syllable out before turning to glance at him one more time, "I'll see you tomorrow." At that, she turned to head over to the overexcited hobbit, figuring he would be frozen there for at least a few more minutes wondering what the hell just happened. She was only a few steps away when he finally uttered a response:

"Did hell just freeze over?"

"A gold star, Berry? …Really?"

The brunette frowned over her shoulder while she opened her bedroom door with the gold star and name plate on it. She quickly moved inside to drop her book bag in the nearby chair, "It's a metaphor, Quinn. I use a gold star whenever I write my name becau-"

"Ugh, yes… we all know," she pushed by the brunette and fully entered the room, "Please don't repeat the story."

The munchkin huffed behind her, and, if the blonde wasn't mistaken, she could've sworn she heard the girl stamp her foot like a child as well. Quinn held her bottom lip between her teeth to keep from chuckling out loud. She decided to distract herself by looking around the room instead. Her eyes glazed over the many movie posters and records scattered around her room, passed over the elliptical machine and over to her bed. Overall it wasn't too horrible looking. "Well," she started when she had finished her inspection, "I have to say I expected it to be entirely pink." She smirked over her shoulder at the dark haired girl still standing in the entrance.

The diva rolled her eyes before moving to shut the door. "When have you ever seen me wear pink?" The blonde chortled at that. Rachel decided to ignore her while she picked up her notebook and made her way over to the bed. She flipped through some pages and started pulling out sheet music, all the while keeping an eye on her guest. The former Cheerio was still perusing her room and not paying her any mind. It irritated the shorter girl. She huffed a few times before deciding the blonde was never going to focus her attention on the task at hand. I guess I'll just start. "So, I was looking through some of my music and making a list of songs I would typically sing. I figured we'd first have to decide what genres would generally define us before we can pick a song that would be outside of our comfort zones…" she looked up and sighed. "Quinn?"

"Mhmm, right," the blonde started before making her way over to the bed. "So, what was going on between you and S the other day?" Her hazel eyes finally found purchase on the small diva and the brunette was rendered momentarily breathless… God, her eyes are so green. She found herself trying to count how many seconds of how many minutes she'd gone without staring into those emerald eyes… before she noticed Quinn's expression had turned curious at her lack of response.

Shit. Focus Berry.

Rachel quickly shook the thoughts from her head so she could get a hold of herself. Once her head was cleared, she finally registered what the blonde had asked. "Santana? What do you mean?"

The ex-Cheerio gave a half shrug before lowering her eyes to the bedspread, reaching out to shuffle through some of Rachel's sheet music. "Yesterday in the choir room… I only caught the end of it, but you two were shouting at each other like wild banshees."

The diva gasped, "I beg your pardon! I know it was very unladylike for me to react the way I did, but I do not believe I was so far gone that I, in any way, resembled a… a banshee?"

The blonde smirked, "It's an expression."

The dark haired girl scoffed, "Well, whatever it is, I happen to think I controlled myself very well considering Santana's behavior as of late." She shook her head, "As for your question, she was just being her usual, crass self, and I finally had enough. She's no longer a Cheerio; she's no longer anything. She has no right to treat me that way."

"She didn't have the right when she was a Cheerio," the other girl muttered, picking up a particular piece of music and studying it.

"What?" the brunette asked, her breath suddenly catching in her throat while she watched the blonde; her hair falling slightly to frame her face and Rachel found her eyes suddenly drawn to Quinn's supple lips, waiting for her to speak again.

"Nothing," she spoke quietly before sighing, "So, what song we singin'?" She fixed her hazel eyes on the shorter girl again. Anything the brunette may or may not have heard was no longer up for discussion.

The brunette gulped softly and brought her thoughts back to business. She picked up her notebook and placed it over to where Quinn could see it. "Well, as I was saying before, I've made a list of songs I would normally sing. As you can see, I'm pretty boxed into the genre of Broadway music, of course, and also pop." She shrugged at this, "I know you are also a fan of pop and maybe some of the classics." Raising her eyes then, she regarded the blonde carefully, "So, what kind of songs were you thinking about doing?"

"Hmm," the blonde thought pensively before reclining back on Rachel's head board and spreading out her legs in front of her. "What about Cover Girl?"

The brunette frowned and started looking through her sheet music again. "…Do you mean Material Girl?"

"Nuh uh," the blonde watched the diva silently from her spot on the bed. "Or how about Champion?"

Flip flip flip. "Um, the Kanye song?"

"No," the other girl continued. "Supermodel is also good, or maybe… Jealous of My Boogie?"

Sigh. "Quinn."

"Yes?"

The brunette finally looked up to see the cleverly hidden mirth swimming in the hazel eyes that she couldn't seem to stop thinking about. Quinn's barely contained amusement was all too clear to her now. She dropped the sheet music on the bedspread and met her gaze evenly, "Those are all songs by Rupaul," she stated straight forward.

The blonde threw her head back and laughed heartily before quickly quieting down and chuckling softly under her breath while she slapped her own thigh at her joke.

At least she's pleased with herself, the diva grumbled silently, but pretty soon found herself smiling as well. It wasn't funny by any means, but seeing the blonde so carefree sent a jolt right to her heart. That smile… It had been a while. Rachel sat there quietly adoring the vision before her while Quinn slowly composed herself again. Once the chuckles escaped her, she looked up to find the petite diva gazing at her with a faint smile and intense chocolate eyes. She gulped, quickly losing all traces of amusement.

"What?"

That seemed to snap the smaller girl out of it. She tensed, realizing that she'd just been blatantly staring at the other girl, and returned her eyes to her sheet music. She shrugged lightly before answering, "You should smile more." She paused to meet the former Cheerio's gaze again, offering her a small grin, "You're really beautiful when you smile."

The blonde's mouth fell open slightly before she hurriedly snapped it back shut, speechless. Not laughing now, are ya? The brunette tried to fight back the smirk that wanted to cross her features while she watched the HBIC suddenly become fascinated with the hands resting in her lap. Curiouser and curiouser. She continued to study her for a moment before she noticed the faint hue that had suddenly rose from nowhere to color the blonde's neck and cheeks. Is she..? The petite diva could honestly say she had never seen the almighty Quinn Fabray blush. Before she could analyze it, though, the blonde suddenly cleared her throat and sat up straighter, reaching over to pick up some music.

"So what kind of song do you think we should do?"

And just like that, the moment was over. Rachel felt a pang of jealously and irritation that Quinn could school her features so easily. Hell, her blush had already almost completely receded only seconds later. The diva huffed quietly and looked down at the music as well, accepting that she would never have an honest, straight forward conversation with her more reserved counterpart. She decided to move her focus to more prominent matters.

"Well, since we both fall into the pop genre, I'd say the first obvious choice would be a country song?"

The ex-Cheerio's head snapped up at that with a look of horror coloring her features.

Rachel laughed before tossing that music aside.

"Yeah, I don't think I could do that either…"