It's been way too long since I've updated, and for the people who've started reading this, I'm so sorry for the wait! I hope this little chapter will get me back into the swing of things, and reviews are always loved :) Anyways, enjoy!

The small, carefully folded and well taken care of piece of paper gently rested between the tips of his fingers, which were ever so slightly trembling more and more as the minutes passed by. His tear stained face scanned the memorized digits lying on the printed blue lines in her perfect handwriting. He'd probably glanced at it one too many times each and every day since her pretty fingers had handed it to him. It had been taking way too much strength to not dial Quinn Fabray's number for the past two weeks, until now.

The day had gone by without a single peek at the small numbers- although his memorization of them had nothing to do with it in the least. His problem had left Brittany Pierce banging on his door, begging to come in until the perky blonde had received a text from a certain Santana Lopez to hang out, so it wasn't until she was gone that Rory slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper that had rested in there for nearly two weeks. What he needed was a friend; some comfort. And although Sam Evans and Finn Hudson had been wonderful older-brother types to him, what Rory needed was something different. That was when he remembered his encounter with Miss Fabray at the mall.

He took in a shaky breath and carefully dialed the number into his phone, closing his eyes as it began to ring. He couldn't believe that he was about to do this, considering that this girl had only given him friendly waves and short greetings at school since they had grown a smidgen closer in the food court, but most of the boy's brain was hardly in control at the moment. So as the ringing stopped, he gained the slightest bit of confidence.

Quinn glanced down at the unknown number flashing on her cellphone before answering. "Hello?" Her voice was bright and beautiful; just what he needed.

"...Quinn Fabray?" He gave a small sniffle in the background. But she knew that accent. Boy did she know it- but it sounded weak; different.

"Rory? ...Are you okay?" Her voice changed tone as she listened to shaky breathing, and grew worried.

He paused for a long while and tried pulling himself together. He had to do this- she had already answered the phone. But the Irish boy gave a small, pitiful laugh and replied, "Hi, uh…..do you remember at the mall, when you said you had some tips…on homesickness? I think I could use some of those right about now."

"So, how did it happen again?" Quinn kept a close eye on the road, but paid attention to the boy beside her as he spoke.

"They were…pulling out of the grocery store, and…someone just…wasn't paying attention."

"Oh my god, that awful! And they won't fly you out to see him?"

"Well…it's too expensive, and there'll be hospital bills, so…I can't put that kind of pressure on my family. But they said Seamus isn't doing too awfully bad, but still…"

As Quinn had received the news about Rory's brother, it hadn't been long before she was behind the wheel of her car and was heading over to Brittany's house as fast as she could go. She had picked the boy up in promise to take him out for a bit of a drive and an ice cream, because she wasn't about to leave him alone if he needed somebody to talk to. Although she had never considered herself as a particularly comforting friend, Quinn would do her best to help Rory after the terrible phone called he'd gotten earlier that day.

The sun had already begun to set that Sunday evening, but the Fabray- pajamas still snug on her body -was making her way to the nearest Dairy Queen in promises to make her friend feel better about his family dramas. She'd honestly been waiting for the day that she'd receive a call from him.

As the blonde pulled into the restaurant, booming their orders into the speaker, she swung around, paid the boy at the drive-thru, and pulled into an empty space in the parking lot. She situated herself before opening a spoon and taking a bite of her frozen treat.

"So…how long had it been before you decided to call me?" She grinned with a muffled voice.

"Umm…basically the entire day." Rory chuckled and enjoyed the ice cream the girl had bought for him. "Thanks for this by the way. I'm sure you've probably got better things to do."

"Nope! I was actually cooped up in my room watching too much TV. This is really quite a fun mix up in my day."

He slowly nodded, wondering how someone so popular and beautiful like Quinn Fabray could be alone on a weekend. "Really? You? …You don't seem like the kind of person who'd be alone on a free day like this." He gave a chuckle of disbelieve and continued to eat.

"Well…it used to not be that way, but things are different now. I'm different now. For the better."

A silence fell in the car between them as the sun sank lower below the horizon, the both of them happily munching away on their treats.

"How's your ice cream? Does it make you feel a little bit better?" She laughed and cranked down the heat in the car.

"It's great! And yeah, it does make me feel a bit better." The boy grinned and looked out the window, growing increasingly happier as the seconds ticked by.

"Good. We should do this again sometime. You're really cool, Rory." Quinn smiled and finished off her ice cream, slowly placing the empty cup in the backseat cup holder before gripping the steering wheel and pulling out of the parking space. Rory just grinned, playing around with the last bits of melting dairy left in his cup.

She liked him.