A/N: Takes place after 2x09 and goes AU from there! (Also, this first chapter is more of a prologue because of how short it is. The rest of the chapters will be significantly longer.)

Rough Beginnings

Chapter 1: The First Time Quinn Kissed Rachel Berry

The first time Quinn kissed Rachel Berry was in third grade. She had fallen off the monkey bars and started crying. A tiny brunette nearby saw and ran over to console her. This girl was so sweet and reassuring, bubbling over with promises that everything would be alright. As Quinn watched in disbelief, the brunette pressed a small finger to her lips before touching it to her elbow where Quinn had banged it then repeated the same action for every other place she had injured herself. When the girl was done, she looked at her with big brown eyes and flashed one of the most brilliant smiles Quinn had ever seen. A real one. Not at all like the fake ones her mother had when company came over after she'd just had a bad fight with her father.

"Better?" she asked shyly.

So taken aback by the rare kindness this girl had shown her, kindness she was so unaccustomed to, Quinn couldn't help herself. When she realized what she did, she punched Rachel in the nose and ran away.

The second time she kissed Rachel Berry was after the diva had outed Quinn's secret to Finn about Puck being the father. Rachel apologized, offered the chance to punch her again, "just not the nose", but she just sent her away. After school when she was walking through the parking lot to her car, Rachel ran up to her to apologize again. Quinn's mouth silenced her and this time she didn't punch her after.

The third time she kissed Rachel Berry was after Finn had broken up with her in the hallway for everyone to see, including Quinn. She found the crying girl in the auditorium, hiding in the wings.

After that, she stopped keeping track.

It's not like she really wanted to admit why she would ever kiss Rachel. At least not out loud. It became a mental block in her head. She was quite good at that. She'd had experience after all - it was the only way she made it through a day without being plagued by thoughts of the child she had lost.

But she couldn't get herself to stop kissing Rachel either. With each one, the desire for more increased exponentially. After the auditorium, Quinn realized that she was actually craving Rachel Berry. And this had nothing to do with baby hormones (as she had excused the last time).

Okay, fine, so she wasn't thinking about it, but she sure as hell was doing it.

Quinn avoided her for a few days after that, focused on spending time with Sam, which only made it worse because her boyfriend was just a constant reminder of what she didn't want.

Rachel would avert her eyes when they passed in the hallway and did everything she could to avoid her in Glee. At first Quinn thought that would be a good thing, but then she realized how much it actually hurt to see the other girl turn away.

If she wanted to kiss Rachel, then she'd damn well get what she wanted. She was Quinn Fabray and the Fabrays always got what they wanted. It didn't matter why or how or anything else.

This was just a phase really. She just needed to get the girl out of her system. That's what it was. The sooner the better and then she could get her life back on track.

With that in mind, she pursued any chance she had of getting Rachel alone and used it to her full advantage.

What Quinn had never forgotten, could never forget, the only thing that truly managed to escape her mental block, was that in all those kisses, even back in third grade, Rachel had always kissed her back.