Characters: Rachel and Quinn

Faith and Legs

Over the course of the past year, Rachel Berry had learned a lot of things about herself.

She could literally sing anything that Mr. Schue or any other glee club member challenged her to sing.

Her dancing was pretty damn fly for a white chick - oftentimes seen as simultaneously adorkable and sexy.

The chasing of Finn was getting indescribably boring.

Having two gay dads didn't necessarily mean that she would ever learn how to properly sew.

She wanted out of Lima, Ohio, and she would do whatever it took to make her dreams come true.

And... Last, but certainly not least...

Rachel had learned that she was incredibly jealous of Quinn Fabray.

Mercedes was in front of the glee kids - singing a song about Jesus or faith or something - and Quinn was harmonizing with her beautifully in the background. The blonde had given into Coach Sylvester yet again, so she was sporting a Cheerio uniform. And there was something about that combination - the uniform and the music - that had Rachel's mind screeching to a pitiful, exhausted halt. Because she was finally really getting it. Rachel wasn't just jealous of Quinn Fabray, Rachel kind of sort of really wanted Quinn Fabray.

And with just a few months left of high school stretching out in front of her, this thought worried Rachel.

The song concluded, and the glee kids clapped and cheered their approval to the duo in front of them. And while Mercedes took her bows and hungrily consumed all applause and praise that was directed her way, Rachel couldn't help but notice Quinn instead. She was standing with one hand on the piano as her other hand moved upwards, clutching lightly at the golden cross Rachel knew hung delicately around her neck. Rachel watched as she fingered the metal between the tips of her long, slender digits. Rachel's mind began to wander...

"Great job, Mercedes, Quinn. That song choice was phenomenal!" Mr. Schuester's praises broke Rachel out of her Quinn stupor.

Mercedes replied, "Thanks, Mr. Schue."

Quinn just nodded, and as the kids began to fall into the rhythm of deciding who would perform next, she slipped out of the choir room door.

Rachel hesitated for exactly zero seconds before standing and following her.

Stepping out into the hallway, Rachel's head swiveled on her shoulders, frantically searching for the blonde figure in the red and white uniform. Seeing her nowhere, Rachel allowed her thoughts to stop swirling tempestuously in her head.

Where would Quinn go?

Rachel's feet began carrying her across the school, down several deserted corridors and to the alcove near the chemistry labs where she had followed Quinn two years previous. And there, on the same bench and wearing the same heartbreaking expression, sat Quinn.

"Hi," Rachel said softly as she approached, slowing to a walk from the not-quite-sprint she had taken to get there as quickly as possible.

Quinn licked her bottom lip, eyes still positioned on the tile in front of her feet. "Hi," she responded.

Sitting next to the other girl, Rachel tucked her skirt self-consciously under her thighs. There was something about Quinn's broodiness that always made every action Rachel took in her presence feel exaggerated and unnecessary.

"The song was beautiful."

Quinn's head nodded once. "Yeah, Mercedes is great."

"So are you, Quinn."

"I'm nothing special." The way she said it, Rachel believed that Quinn believed it.

"Quinn," Rachel began, trying to keep her tone as delicate and sincere as possible - even though she really just wanted to shake the girl. "You're extraordinary."

Upon the utterance of Rachel's statement, Quinn's head swiveled in her direction. "I'm not the extraordinary one sitting on this bench, Rachel."

Rachel tried not to let the compliment go to her head. But there was something about the simplicity of the statement that had Rachel's mind and heart racing more frantically than anything Finn or Puck or Jesse had ever said to her before. "Quinn..."

"I didn't get the scholarships I needed to be able to follow Brittany and Santana to school in New York," Quinn breathed out hurriedly, interrupting whatever Rachel had been planning on saying to try and make her feel better.

"Which school?" Rachel asked gently.

"New York University or Columbia... I guess it's less difficult to actually get in than it is to pay for the education."

Rachel nodded her head, already fully aware of the burden the cost her Juilliard education was going to put on her family. "There's always financial aid," she offered. "Student loans, grants, fellowships."

Quinn nodded solemnly. "I want to go. I want to get out of here."

"Then you will," Rachel hastened to interrupt. "You'll get out, Quinn. You can finally put that ridiculous notion of real estate and a mediocre life out of your head."

They were silent for a while. Rachel looked down at her lap as her hands gripped the bench to either side of her thighs. They were making it out. They weren't making it out together, necessarily. But they were making it out. And whether or not Brittany, Santana, and Quinn had been or ever would be Rachel's friends, they would be living in the same city. Maybe there was some kind of potential for...for something.

"I've always been jealous of your faith in God," Rachel whispered the words, thinking back to the song Quinn had helped perform - how beautiful and at peace she had seemed as the lyrics flowed smoothly from her lips.

Quinn tilted her head and raised an eyebrow in Rachel's direction. "Really?"

Rachel looked up, nodding and grinning almost shyly. "Yeah," she replied. "And your legs."

When Quinn laughed, something inside of Rachel clicked. And she knew that whatever the future held, it would all be just fine.

Postsecret: "I was always jealous of your faith in God... & your amazing legs."

See this Postsecret at: your-kat (dot) livejournal (dot) com

Or here, since LJ is being ridiculous right now: http :/ / i830 . photobucket . com /albums/zz226/molly_katheryn/faithinlegs .jpg - (just remove the excess spaces)