Rachel Berry's mind was drifting in a most disconcerting and aimless manner. She found herself entirely unable to focus on Johnny Depp playing his guitar for Carrie-Anne Moss on her fathers' big screen television. Normally she quite enjoyed the movie Chocolat, even if the film had been Quinn's choice rather than her own. A story about an only child part of an atypical family unit with unusual religious practices in an otherwise close-minded town, who only wished for her family to find a little love and acceptance? Well it was such a close allegory for Rachel's own life that the first time she'd watched the movie she felt rather overwhelmed with deja vu. But where was their Johnny Depp to shake things up? Of course her fathers were still quite happily married, so she would rather prefer it if Johnny didn't try to get romantic with either of them. She shrugged absently. This was one of the reasons, aside from just her powerful singing voice, that she wanted to be an actor instead of a writer. Normally she found it easy to see the emotional big picture, but sometimes the day to day details could bog her down.

In fact her tendency to get distracted by her emotions was one of her primary motivations for maintaining such an organized schedule. It helped to keep Rachel directly en-route for her Broadway dreams, mostly preventing some of her less productive personality traits from leaving her head stuck in the clouds, filled with thoughts of her life's past and future dramatic moments. All of this made her a little surprised at how quickly her meticulous summer homework and music schedule had been completely discarded the moment she'd found Quinn watching her play guitar in the park this morning.

She felt guilty sometimes, that part of her always expected the worst from Quinn, even if Rachel had seen first hand all the changes Quinn had gone through this year. At least that was her initial interpretation of the way her heart rate increased and her stomach began doing fluttery flip-flops at the first sight of Quinn. It's just... Rachel hadn't expected to see Quinn using the shy and hesitant demeanor that was so frequently present during her early pregnancy. If she was being honest, Rachel had been spending a great deal of time already this summer attempting to prepare herself for a return to their previous hostile relationship as Quinn worked to regain her lost social standing.

But even if most of her was waiting for Quinn to turn and bite her like a wounded animal, a small part of Rachel wasn't surprised at all that things had ended up like this. Whenever Quinn got this certain look in those intense, normally predatory eyes of hers... It was a look of someone who was always lonely, someone starved for affection without strings attached. Rachel never could resist that look. No matter how certain Rachel was that Quinn would eventually lash out at her when she'd rebuilt her defenses, Rachel felt she could do nothing else but try and help her feel better. Something about a scared and wounded Quinn touched the same part of her that was indignant with righteous anger when she thought of circus lions being goaded into performing tricks to amuse mere humans. Maybe it was true that Rachel Berry was just a small mouse in the social hierarchy of William McKinley, but she still had sympathy for the lioness with a thorn in her paw.

Oh please, Rachel. Don't tell me you're going to try and pretend to be merely the good Samaritan in this scenario. You've hurt people this year as well. The mouse? Maybe you're the hyena, harassing the lioness while she's weak in hopes that you can steal her prey. She winced slightly at her inner voice that these days sounded an awful lot like Jesse St. James. Still her innate tenacity that never let her lose sight of her goals bared its teeth at her inner Jesse in warning. So what if she'd taken Finn? Rachel needed to fight for some scraps or she would starve. She needed someone besides her dads to offer her kind words once in a while. Someone who wasn't ashamed to spend time with her outside of school. Really? You think the queen is just fending off countless friends left and right while she's running her court? Jesse asked, his tone obviously expecting Rachel to know better. Royalty have subjects and rivals. Never friends. Perhaps she could have gotten lucky with a particularly loyal servant or two, but everyone has a price when there's so much power at stake. The guilt swirled darker. At least an outcast is at liberty to live her life as she pleases. The queen's castle is often nothing more than a cage of her subjects' choosing.

Rachel almost squeaked out loud when there was suddenly a comfortable weight resting against her side. She could feel her eyes widening in a likely comical way as she tried to discretely take in the site of Quinn Fabray napping with her head on Rachel's shoulder without in any way disturbing the peacefully sleeping creature. An old adage about never disturbing a sleeping dragon floated through her mind.

An arm much slimmer than Finn's snaked around Rachel's middle and the slumbering Quinn murmured a few pleased sounding unintelligible words as she pulled her comfy pillow against her more tightly. Rachel gripped the other side of the couch where she was sitting harder when she felt Quinn nuzzling her nose against her bare neck, the gentle warm exhale of her breath sending shivers across Rachel's tanned skin. Finally after Quinn's hand resting on Rachel's side flexed dangerously over one of Rachel's particularly ticklish spots a few times, her suddenly much more friendly guest seemed to settle into a deeper sleep.

Well now I'm not distracted anymore at least. Rachel thought with a dramatic roll of her eyes. Of course she still wasn't watching the movie, it was just that all of her attention was completely focused on the mind-bending experience of being snuggled by Quinn Fabray. The entire side of her body where Quinn was pressed close against her seemed to become hypersensitive. The warmth of Quinn's body radiating through clothes she'd borrowed from Rachel after using the shower earlier to wash off from her morning workout felt comfortable in the nicely air conditioned family room. She was surprised because on the rare occasions when Finn wanted to hold her like this, Rachel often felt trapped or slightly suffocated after just a few minutes. Of course if Finn was leaning on me this heavily I think I would be freaking out right now because I wouldn't be able to move easily if it should become necessary.

Actually it was disconcerting how nice this felt, having Quinn's mostly hard and athletic body against her. Even pregnancy hadn't added more extra softness to her curves than was strictly necessary, and Rachel could tell that Quinn had already started to work most of it off. Still it seemed that even the spare amount of softness in Quinn made it feel like the two of them melded together perfectly.

Rachel tilted her head slightly, taking this rare opportunity to study Quinn up close. Her breath caught in her throat a little as she realized that Quinn was more beautiful than she'd realized, even with her lightly summer sun-burnt skin completely bare of the usual armor of skillfully applied makeup. It did allow her to see the dark circles under Quinn's eyes and Rachel frowned as her mind quickly supplied her with a long list of reasons that Quinn might be losing sleep. The biggest reasons caused Rachel's heart to constrict painfully in sympathy just thinking them, even as a small part of herself that she didn't like very much wished that she had been in a position to see Shelby miss her as much as Quinn obviously missed Beth.

She shifted uncomfortably, conflicted as she always was when she thought of her biological mother. After all she did love her fathers, even if they were one of those annoyingly romantic couples that enjoyed spending time alone with each other more often than some who had been married so long. Yes both of her dads had important jobs and sometimes they worked long hours. But Rachel never doubted that she was their most important priority. They always encouraged her dreams, and Rachel was certain that even with all of her confidence, even she didn't believe in her inevitable Broadway success as completely as her fathers.

Rachel suspected that it was more her desire for social interaction and affection of any kind that made her react the way she did with Shelby. This was a person that she felt certain was biologically obligated to love her and treat her with kindness, and Rachel just needed more of that in her life. But would Rachel expect a mother cat to care unconditionally for a nearly grown kitten, taken from her at birth, and then just suddenly reintroduced with no warning? No matter what the final outcome of their meeting had been, Rachel could tell that Shelby had genuinely tried to feel the things they both wanted her to feel. She thought, perhaps, that sometime in the future she might attempt writing Shelby to get to know her biological mother as a friend or mentor instead. Surely she could convince Shelby that she didn't have unrealistic expectations... And if Rachel was being honest with herself, she really wanted to know for certain that Beth was living a good life with her new mother. Quinn rather understandably hadn't been willing to accept much closeness from Rachel this year, but even so, through their time together in glee club Rachel found herself incredibly invested in the future of Noah and Quinn's daughter.

Her mind swirled with various conflicting scenarios of how she might convince Shelby that she did want Rachel in her life in some capacity. Her wild train of thought was finally interrupted by Quinn's hand rubbing against her side gently, as though the sleeping girl had sensed Rachel's troubled thoughts and was attempting to sooth them away. Absently Rachel noticed that her body had grown accustomed to Quinn's touch because it no longer tickled and all she could focus on now was how nice this felt.

With her mind finally calmed, she was realizing just how exhausted she still felt. Like Quinn, Rachel hadn't really been sleeping well lately either. Despite her best attempts to stick to her carefully planned schedule, she found herself up past her bedtime thinking, and then she would wake up hours before her alarm went off in the morning. She would still feel tired but too restless to sleep. Occasionally she would wake up and try to do something productive to organize for school next year, or more often she took her guitar outside for a walk until she found somewhere secluded so that she could play out her feelings. Today was the first day she'd been grateful for her early morning wanderings however. Rachel smiled lazily as she rested her head against the comfortable sofa cushions, finally simply accepting something pleasant in her life. Her eyes grew heavy and soon she had drifted off into a peaceful light sleep, still enjoying the warmth of Quinn's embrace.

x

The first things Quinn became aware of was a slight ache in her back from sleeping in an uncomfortable position and the slimy sensation of her own drool covering her cheek. A sound not unlike a hungry zombie escaped her lips as she rolled over, one of her hands coming up in an attempt to wipe some of the grossness off her face. She quickly began trying to figure out the cause of her disorientation when she realized that she didn't immediately know where she was, the date or even the time of day.

Warm afternoon sun streaming through the huge glass doors in a cozy family room answered one of her three questions, but Quinn definitely didn't recognize this house right away and for a moment a feeling of greater uneasiness settled in her stomach. Her brain helpfully supplied her with some of its more prominent memories from the last few weeks, and she could feel a headache coming on as she tried to sort through which of the images were real and which were hopefully just strange dreams. Quinn had already passed the few moments necessary for her to be entirely awake, a trick learned from the times when she would fall asleep standing up during Sue Sylvester's more outrageous Cheerios practice sessions. Anyone being caught sleeping by Sylvester earned the whole squad more suicides and extra practice time, which would certainly lead to the dangerous position of being at least temporarily hated by all the Cheerios. Only Brittany was immune to this form of punishment, because only Santana could distinguish the crazy things Brittany said when she was talking in her sleep from the crazy things Brittany said when she was awake.

I'm at Rachel Berry's house. She remembered finally, a mix of emotions passing through her too quickly for her to identify each of them. The ones jumping out were confusion and a vague contentment. True to her family name, Quinn didn't attempt to analyze any of them too carefully. Especially the nagging feeling of emptiness that seemed to be her constant companion. It was a good thing to have her life back she reminded herself, ignoring the Beth-shaped ache in her heart. There were other, more disturbing memories from earlier that day demanding her attention, but Quinn ruthlessly pushed them to the back of her mind to be ignored indefinitely if at all possible.

For the second time that day a gentle acoustic guitar melody floated to her ears, wrapping itself around her and soothing Quinn's troubling thoughts away like rough sand at the ocean's edge. Quinn didn't recognize the song, but she'd long ago accepted that Rachel was someone who searched for music in places and with determination that most people their age wouldn't possess. Not that Rachel was one of those kids who would merely seek out music because she was avoiding being 'mainstream' since she was always willing to listen to Schue's musical suggestions. Rather music was the most important thing in Rachel's life... and it was this confidence and contentment within herself that really drove Quinn to torment her rival. After all until very recently Quinn had never really allowed herself to wonder what things made her truly happy, and even still thinking of personal happiness was a foreign concept for a Fabray woman.

She stood, sighing happily as she stretched out some of the kinks in her back from sleeping on a couch that was obviously designed with someone Berry's height in mind. For the moment she resisted her urge to follow the delightful music in her ears to its source. Instead she wandered in the opposite direction to the guest bathroom where she'd showered earlier, answering an insistent call from nature and once more attempting to get an unpleasant lingering taste out of her mouth with the toothbrush Rachel had loaned her this morning. She frowned slightly at her reflection in the mirror, wondering if she was somehow developing an unfortunate tendency for bad morning breath. Halfheartedly she ran her fingers through her hair to straighten out the worst of the messiness caused by letting it air-dry earlier. Her grumpiness at her appearance heightened a bit when she noticed her roots needed touching up again, even as the lazy teenager in her tried to negotiate just spending more time by the pool this summer in hopes of the sun bleaching her hair the preferred golden blonde instead of the natural more dirty shade.

It's not like I'm planning on hanging out with anyone who needs impressing until cheerleading tryouts in August anyway... It's just Berry downstairs. Of course Rachel was one person she hated to be vulnerable around the most... so ironically her normally impenetrable emotional armor always seemed to crumble when faced with gentle brown shook her head in an attempt to lock away her weakness, glaring at her own reflection for a moment, as always distantly impressed at how her Fabray-stare could manage to make the feline gold of her eyes colder than the void of space. She growled softly, gripping the cold marble sink harder for a moment before pushing away from it and executing a storm out on her mirror-self that would have made Rachel Berry proud if she were here to witness it.

The guitar's song had changed again, and this time Quinn recognized a melody that she often heard Rachel humming under her breath. It was a sad song that had always tugged at her emotions, especially this past year. Now Quinn finally heard the vocal lyrics that went along with the pleading arpeggio of guitar notes for the first time, Rachel's powerful voice and warm lamplight filtering through the open door at the end of the hallway.

Will I lose my dignity,

will someone care?

Will I wake tomorrow,

from this nightmare?

There didn't seem to be any other lyrics to the song, but her own experience last year and the entirety of Rachel's life at school didn't need any other words. Quinn remembered that feeling every day, like she was drowning, everyone around her trying to hold her underwater as she fought for one more breath, needing to stay alive just a little longer for Beth. For herself. Hoping if she could just keep breathing for enough days in a row that maybe her life would change. Maybe someone, anyone would offer her a hand up instead.

Unlike this morning Quinn made no effort to stay hidden, assuming that Rachel must be using her creepy spideysense to detect an audience. Instead she merely walked down the steep staircase into the basement, her amused smile at the sight that greeted her suppressed only by the serious tone of Rachel's performance. Without speaking or otherwise drawing attention to herself Quinn sat next to Rachel on the edge of the small wooden stage. Intense brown eyes rose from the floor, but Quinn felt herself really breaking inside when the harsh look softened almost instantly as Rachel read the guilt and shame on Quinn's face. She covered her face with her hands in an attempt to block out the remembered glint of tears in dark eyes and the sound of unforgivably cruel words thrown at Rachel with her own voice.

The song ended. Rachel's voice and the guitar's last notes reverberated in the perfect acoustics, sending chills up and down Quinn's spine.

There was a gentle, barely there touch on her knee and Quinn reluctantly shifted so that she could look at Rachel, moving her hands to rest beside her on the edge of the short wooden stage. Her jaw clenched involuntarily at the forgiveness and sympathy shining in Rachel's eyes. "Do you feel more like yourself now that you got some rest?" Rachel asked softly, and Quinn didn't know whether she felt relieved or offended that Rachel decided Quinn wasn't yet ready to address the giant dragon lounging in the middle of their tentative companionship.

"Yeah... much better. Thanks. For letting me crash here." Quinn's pride chafed at the tightness in her throat, making her sound like she'd been close to tears moments ago. She had not been, obviously. Rachel just smiled a little wider, nodding mutely, apparently slightly distracted by her guitar. Her small hand easily bridging the neck as she mapped out chords in rapid succession, though her right hand only ghosted over the strings, barely connecting enough to give each note a whisper of sound. "Um... have you had that guitar for a long time?"

Rachel shook her head, "Only for a few years. She certainly looks more well-loved than that though doesn't she?" She finally stopped playing so that she could give Quinn her full attention, but she continued to cradle the instrument in an almost affectionate manner. Almost as though the guitar were a living creature. "My daddy Leroy's father built this guitar himself back when he was still a young man. He was in charge of the music at the Baptist church my daddy's family attended in Tennessee."

"I thought you were Jewish?" Quinn blurted out, remembering how her father used to condemn that aspect of the Berry family along with all of their other sinful practices. She winced as soon as the words left her mouth, wondering if she was overstepping the boundaries of whatever type of acquaintances she and Rachel had become this morning, but the girl next to her just shrugged nonchalantly.

"My dad, Hiram's family is Jewish. My daddy however was raised Southern Baptist, but his father disowned him after he found out about his relationship with my dad. He never once spoke to any of us after he told my daddy he couldn't tolerate such disrespect for God's laws in his family. But when he died last year he left his guitar to me in his will. He'd never even acknowledged my existence when he was still alive, because my dads have never taken a paternity test to say for sure which one of them is even my biological father. So needless to say we were pretty surprised. I like to think it was because he'd forgiven my daddy but just couldn't figure out how to say it." Rachel explained softly. Her voice didn't betray any hurt that half of her extended family pretended she didn't exist, but Quinn couldn't help but wonder if Rachel was really so unaffected. "I was even more surprised that he even knew I was learning to play guitar, but apparently my daddy wrote him a few letter's a year, even though his father never wrote back. I guess maybe he read the letters after all."

"I'm sorry Rachel... I don't really know what to say." Quinn gestured with her hands vaguely, "I mean that in a way it seems like you only even got to meet him after he was already gone."

Rachel smiled sadly, "It's alright Quinn. I think it's quite normal for most anyone to have some family that treats them differently than they would like." She ghosted her thumb over the strings again thoughtfully, "I haven't really been raised with any strict religious traditions since my fathers both feel it better if I am allowed to think the big questions through on my own. I mean we celebrate most of the major holidays of both of their familys' religions, for the music if nothing else, but that's not the point I was trying to make." Quinn smiled indulgently when Rachel actually blushed a little as she noticed her rambling, "Well, this might sound silly. But I feel like when a person crafts a musical instrument, it becomes imbued with the essence of its maker's soul. ...Or sometimes even an instrument that is played frequently by a particular performer!" When she finished Rachel looked at Quinn nervously, obviously worried that she might have offended someone who she knew cared deeply about her faith.

Quinn merely shrugged, the events of the past year and of this past week in particular had left her confused about almost everything. "It seems like a nice thought anyway. I know that whenever I see an obviously old instrument I want to know where it came from and who might have played it." And anyway, it felt surprisingly nice to make Rachel smile for a change. Even when Quinn had been trying her hardest to hate Rachel, if she wasn't careful she would find herself returning Rachel's smiles in glee club. Her happiness was positively contagious. Quinn looked away when she began to feel uncomfortable with all the warm emotions passing between the two of them and instead idly took in the decorations in the Berry family basement. 'Oscar Room' I think she called it during the tour I felt to guilty to tell her I didn't care about. Sometimes it's like she was raised in another country.

There was a wall of trophies and various certificates. Most of them were Rachel's but some of them belonged to one of her fathers. After last year Quinn tried not to be as caught up on material possessions as she had been, but the Berrys' extensive CD and vinyl collection was certainly impressive enough to give her some intense pangs of envy. What really caught her eye were the instruments. She shouldn't have been surprised, she had met Berry after all, but the obviously well cared for guitars and one electric keyboard made Quinn wish that she spent more time here. Her favorite was a vintage bass guitar made with heavy-looking dark wood. It wasn't covered with laminate like most of electric guitars she'd seen at the store in the mall, but Quinn quite liked the understated plain finely sanded wood. Her left hand twitched idly as she imagined what it would be like to learn to play.

"That one's my daddy's."

"Which one?"

"The electric bass." Rachel clarified, a knowing smile on her face. It was disconcerting sometimes how well Rachel could read her. "He was in a small jazz band at his university. He still plays for the Lima community jazz band on occasion as well, but normally his work schedule doesn't permit it."

"Hmm... so you got music talent from both parents then?" Quinn asked without thinking.

"We're not sure actually. They never did a paternity test and I do have traits in common with both of my fathers. The only thing we know for certain is that I didn't get any of my musical talent from my dad Hiram." Rachel explained jokingly, taking Quinn's curious question at face value. Then Rachel tried her best to not go looking for things to be offended by when it came to her family, after all if she did that she'd likely never have time for anything else. Quinn had a moment of dread when she recognized Rachel's 'plotting something' face, but wasn't allowed any time to speculate. Rachel quickly rose from the stage, placing her guitar back in its case before easily grabbing the bass and a more modern looking pure black electric guitar down from their wall-hooks.

Without explanation Rachel handed both guitars over to Quinn, whose eyes widened slightly at how unexpectedly heavy they felt in her hands. She hefted the bass experimentally, smiling at the way the thick neck rested against her palm before she remembered that this guitar was probably one of Leroy Berry's most prized possessions and that it would be wise to treat it with extreme care. Then Rachel was crowding into her personal space, plugging cords into each of the instruments quickly before leaving Quinn's side again, leaving her uncertain if she was relieved or disappointed to be at a safe distance again. To low throbbing thwarp noises burst through the room but were quickly silent, leaving only a barely there low hum of sound as Rachel powered on the amplifiers. "I'm just going to leave them on a normal low volume, even if the basement is soundproofed. We won't do anything complicated, so no need for any effects." Rachel explained her actions idly and Quinn simply nodded agreeably even if she didn't understand all the details.

Finally Rachel reclaimed her place on the stage sitting next to Quinn. "Could I borrow the bass really quickly first?" Quinn shrugged and even if she felt reluctant, handed the instrument over to Rachel. She balanced the remaining guitar over her lap, watching Rachel. Her small hands looked even smaller as she hit the lowest string on her bass a slight frown on her face as she fiddled with one of the large tuning nobs that shifted into a smile when the tone sounded right to her. She quickly used the rest of the tuning chords to correct the tightness of the remaining three strings. "Here you go Quinn. Would you like to trade?"

"How do you know I want to play that one and not this one?" She questioned skeptically, but Rachel just shrugged like she didn't know, even though that smile was still ghosting over her lips. She's so lucky that I'm still working on trying to be a nicer person after everything. Even if Quinn didn't want to give Rachel the satisfaction, she couldn't quite keep the smile off her own face when the bass had been returned to her. She arranged her instrument like she'd done this before, experimentally pressing down a couple of the thick strings at random to get a feel for it, shivering pleasantly at the low thrum coming through the amplifier even when she didn't hit any of the strings with her right hand.

"I think mine has been adequately tuned to yours. Now you play piano as well as sing in glee club correct?" Quinn nodded, not questioning Rachel's sources. "Well then it should be quite simple for you to gain at least a beginner's knowledge of the instrument. Although I've heard many people say that guitar is easy to learn but difficult to master and I think that's at least equally true for the bass version."

Quinn couldn't quite restrain herself from rolling her eyes at Rachel's apparently low expectations as her pride finally made an appearance, "You know I probably could have at least tuned it myself. I do know how to read music and listen for chords." Why did she care so much what Rachel thought of her musical skill anyway? It was true that a 'loser' with such a cocky attitude upset Quinn's well-engrained ideas about the natural order of things. Despite her efforts to unlearn it part of her still believed her father, Fabrays were simply born better than anyone else, even if he'd always made it clear that her older sister was his favorite.

"I am certain you could have managed adequately... we just haven't replaced those strings for quite a long time. I figured knowing how stretched out they were I could probably get it tuned faster." Rachel allowed, in a surprising show of diplomacy that at first served only to raise Quinn's level of annoyance.

Slow, deep breaths. She thought of the scent of rain, chemistry class, Beth safe and happy... The light feeling in her heart, it felt like flying, when she watched one of Rachel's performances in glee club. "I'm sorry... I just... I get defensive sometimes when people try to help me." She held Rachel's gaze, not trying to disguise her vulnerability like she normally would. Despite her constant need to prove herself around Rachel, for some reason she always found it so easy to just let her mask go when those big brown eyes were promising her something that looked a lot like unconditional acceptance. She wished anyone else in her life looked at her that way. She felt an ache settle in her chest, Rachel was staring at her like she was the most amazing thing in the world. Rachel did that, when they were alone together. It wasn't the vacant look that boys got when they were distracted by her beauty. Rachel always looked at her like she saw the parts that Quinn wished more people would see. Her intelligence, her determination, even her fear that she'd never be good enough. Strange that she could only share her weaknesses with someone she'd always seen as an enemy, and even stranger that Rachel knowing made the weight of all her insecurities feel lighter.

"I know." Rachel's voice was soft and shaky, "Quinn... I'm sorry I was so selfish last year. I should have tried harder to be there for you." Her dark eyes hardened, but Quinn could tell that she was looking inward now, "When I want something, I have a tendency to forget about everyone else. Obviously I need that drive if I'm ever to realize my Broadway dreams, but so often I transfer that tunnel-vision focus to every aspect of my life." She shrugged as she confessed her own insecurities, "It's something I really don't like about myself, but I feel like if I let up even for a little bit, I'd lose my dream and then what would I have?"

"Rachel, I told you when it happened that I wasn't mad. I'm still not. I understand why you did it." Quinn tried to reassure her, but she really wasn't very good at this sort of thing. "I know we still have to talk about it at some point," although Quinn was certainly going to avoid such a talk for as long as possible. "But can't we just forget about that for a little while and just play some music?" She felt an irresistible friendly smile on her face, the smile that she normally could only find during glee club, the one that helped her survive last year.

Rachel obviously recognized it, nodding eagerly as she shifted closer to Quinn. "Alright, I don't know if you knew this or not, but when they're both in standard tuning, the notes on the top four strings of a regular guitar are exactly the same as they are on a bass, the bass is just octaves lower. So if you just watch where I'm placing my fingers on mine, it'll be the exact same for you. Today we'll just start off with something pretty simple, but hopefully it will be something you enjoy."

She really did start things out simple, only pressing down one string on the guitar neck at a time and waiting patiently for Quinn to find the right place on her own instrument. It took Quinn a bit longer than she would have liked to get accustomed to how thick the strings were, and a few times the sound from them came out fuzzy when she pressed down too hard or not hard enough, but after a few times it seemed easy enough to follow Rachel's slow pace. "Alright, that's all there is to the first part." Rachel said with a smile after they'd run through a series of ten notes at incredibly slow pace a few times. "You feel comfortable trying to play closer to on tempo now?"

Quinn nodded, surprised that Rachel could ask her something that didn't sound condescending. Or maybe she just didn't notice because she was really enjoying herself. They both started playing through the bass riff at faster than a snail's pace, and Quinn laughed out loud when she immediately recognized the song. Granted she still fumbled notes a couple of times when jumping from string to string, and she knew she'd have to practice for years if she ever wanted to play bass like Simon Gallup, but she was just having fun sitting here playing The Cure in Rachel's basement. "Sounding great Quinn!" Rachel praised her enthusiastically and this was just like glee club only better. "Now the chorus riff is just a little different."

Again they slowed down the pace, but not quite as much this time or for quite as long because Quinn was really starting to get used to the size and layout of the instrument. She even played ahead of Rachel a few notes near the end, because she knew this song and she wanted Rachel to know that she'd started to figure out where all the notes were. Granted it worked a lot differently from piano, but once she figured out that each fret was a half-step and that there was some overlap area between each of the strings, it was definitely starting to make sense in her mind.

"You think you feel comfortable with me switching parts now?" Rachel asked after they'd run through both riffs a few more times, her voice indicating her full confidence in Quinn's skill.

"Yeah, I'm good."

Rachel grinned broadly and struck the first slightly dissonant chord, letting it fade slowly as Quinn picked up the bass line on her own. It sounded a little bit bare without any drums backing it but after she played it through a few times Rachel came back in with her guitar. She jammed through the swiftly changing chords with her normal enthusiasm, skillfully bending the strings to create the desired warping in the sound. She repeated her guitar part a little longer than the band did in the recording, Quinn suspected Rachel was just trying to let her get the feel for their sound together. She found she didn't mind. Then Rachel hit the more dissonant chord one more time, letting the guitar's sound fade once more as she began to sing.

Whenever I'm alone with you,

You make me feel like I am home again.

Whenever I'm alone with you,

You make me feel like I am whole again.

Again they didn't have a keyboard... or they did just not a spare person to play it, so it was just their guitars on the instrumental riff.

Whenever I'm alone with you

You make me feel like I am young again.

When I'm alone with you

You make me feel like I am fun again.

She couldn't keep the huge grin off of her face if she tried as both of them transitioned seamlessly into the chorus. Quinn changing up her bass riff and Rachel adding in her guitar under her singing.

However far away,

I will always love you.

However long I stay

I will always love you

whatever words I say

I will always love you

I will always love you.

They played through the basic opening riffs again together and by now Quinn even felt comfortable enough to look up from her fingers on the strings so that she could watch Rachel. Small tanned hands changed their rhythm as Rachel shifted into the guitar solo, making her instrument sing with all the emotion that she poured into her voice in glee club. But something about it being just their guitars harmonizing with each other made this performance seem so much more intimate to Quinn.

Whenever I'm alone with you,

You make me feel like I am free again.

Whenever I'm alone with you,

You make me feel like I am free again.

\

When they reached the last chorus Quinn found herself unexpectedly singing along, improvising a harmony a fifth above Rachel's voice. Their eyes met as the song suddenly became all the more real.

However far away

I will always love you

However long I stay

I will always love you

Whatever words I say

I will always love you

I will always love you.

By some mutual, unspoken agreement they were repeating the chorus. Quinn still couldn't quite believe how perfect their voices sounded together, since they'd never really sung just the two of them, and even though Rachel had known from reviewing recordings of their glee club performances, actually hearing the real thing for the first time was sending pleasant shivers up and down her spine. Finally, reluctantly their voices trailed off, along with the electric hum of their guitars. For an endless moment they sat, silently staring into each others eyes, still under the spell of their own music.

The spell was broken as Quinn's hand slipped against the strings. She blushed slightly as she hurried to turn down the volume nob on the guitar. "That was actually a lot of fun." She admitted shyly, unable to look at Rachel.

"Then we should hang out again this summer. I really enjoyed this as well, and I don't normally get to play this kind of music with anyone other than my dads." Rachel was trying to make it sound like Quinn's response didn't really matter to her. This time last year Quinn knew she would crush Rachel's hopes without a second thought.

"I'd really like that." Pure honesty, she really did mean it. She could only hope that her fear of herself and her family's expectations wouldn't come back before she could keep her promises.

They didn't really actively play much music after that, but instead sat side by side discussing some of the older artists in Leroy's music collection. Still she held on to the bass even though she had turned off the amplifier volume completely, idly walking the fingers of her left hand over the frets. The bass whispered its low notes, urging her to learn its full potential. She hadn't felt this way since her mother had first let her start dance lessons and she'd realized she was actually good at it. Most of her dad's collection was old jazz music, but he also had the required Hendrix, The Doors, Bob Marley, Pink Floyd and other classic rock that collected dust in even her parents' attic.

Conversation flowed naturally between them as they discussed different musical styles from decades before either of them were even born. Occasionally Rachel would get wander over to get out a record so that she could show Quinn a favorite song of hers that her dad used to sing to her when she was younger. Quinn felt apprehensive about what could have been simple nostalgia on Rachel's part. Her voice didn't just tell of more innocent times, there was also an edge of loneliness as though she couldn't imagine spending an evening listening to music with her father these days.

Quinn wished she knew Rachel better. After all, even as a rival she should know such basic details about her opponent's home life if only to know how hard she needed to push... But Rachel had always seemed so untouchable, her confidence nearly unwavering in the face of the worst Quinn could dish out. It had seemed logical, from Quinn's twisted perspective that of course Rachel's strength must come from the very thing Quinn lacked: a warm and supportive home-life. But maybe she really is the excellent actress she claims to be...

She didn't mention her observations since she was enjoying their light, companionable atmosphere too much to disrupt it with a sensitive subject. Especially one that Rachel probably wouldn't trust someone like Quinn enough to discuss. Instead Quinn quietly restated her promise to be kinder to Rachel and began thinking of ways to enforce her promise to spend time with Rachel this summer.

Before she knew it, hours had passed. She was still having fun, at the moment they were up stairs making vegan banana bread for Rachel to take to her dance class tomorrow, joking with the comfortable air of old friends. They'd gotten a pizza earlier for a late lunch so Quinn wasn't tempted to offend Rachel with her poor manners and check what the uncooked badder tasted like. But now Quinn felt a growing unease within herself. The green digital clock on the microwave said it was already eight p.m. Somehow the entire day had gotten away from her.

"Hey Rach, I just realized I never told my mom that I was going to be out all day today."

"Oh... do you have your phone with you? You could always borrow mine if you needed to call her."

Quinn debated Rachel's suggestion for a moment before sighing regretfully, "I think I should head home... It's not that I don't want to stay," she hastened to explain, "I've just been... avoiding my mother since I moved back in last week. I know I can't just expect things to immediately go back to the way they were before but it's just been so awkward." She shrugged helplessly as she gazed into Rachel's gentle eyes, "It's just after Beth... Well I don't want my mom to think that I'd give up on her so easily. Even if she made some mistakes..."

Rachel nodded in understanding, grabbing Quinn's hand and squeezing it affectionately. "That is very kind of you Quinn. I know that even if your mother doesn't know how to show it right away, she will appreciate your efforts towards reconciliation." Reluctantly she let go, a hopeful smile on her face, "Could you maybe call me tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll call you tomorrow." She agreed easily, turning and heading for her long walk home. Just before she reached the door Rachel stopped her.

"Oh and Quinn? I don't think you made a mistake. And even if you were to make mistakes in the future somehow, I promise you Beth won't give up on you." Brown eyes glistened with a few tears, but the smile on her lips was sincere. Quinn still wasn't so sure that Beth would be so forgiving of her, but she could tell that Rachel at least wasn't going to give up on her hopes for the two of them to become friends.

"Thanks Rach." She murmured softly offering the girl a shy smile of her own and a slight wave as she slipped out the door into the still warm evening sun.

x

Quinn took her time on her way home, walking at a leisurely pace along the town's bike paths. When she finally got home the sun was definitely setting, glowing red and huge on the horizon. Passing her car parked in the garage, her eyes lighted on a bundle in the front seat: the book she'd gotten from that shop in town. She decided that since she was thinking about it she might as well take it inside with her.

"Mom?" She called absently, kicking off her shoes before she wandered into the kitchen, registering belatedly that her mother's car hadn't been in the garage. Great. I guess I should have called her after all. Now Rachel's going to think I'm purposefully avoiding her, when for the first time in my whole life that's actually not the case.

A soft, defeated sigh escaped her lips as she headed upstairs to her room. She wasn't really hungry again quite yet, having eaten most of a medium-sized pizza by herself that afternoon. Just because she was trying to be Rachel's friend now didn't mean she was ready to trust her on this whole 'pizza without cheese' madness.

She climbed in bed and stretched out comfortably, her fingers running absently over the pages of the mysterious old book. They felt sore from the contact and she turned her hands over, noticing the redness from the bass strings, smiling at the memory despite the slight discomfort. This smile was different than the ones that her lips moved into out of politeness at church or around her old minions at school, a smile that fell as soon as it was no longer needed. Instead this one only grew wider as she turned the thick pages of her book to the place she'd left off at the store, eager to hear more about the legendary children of the dragons. Not even the little nagging voice at the back of her mind warning her about the importance of getting back into the town's good graces, or about the strange things that had happened to her lately could dent her good mood.

The book started out as something in between a biology textbook and a creation myth. It explained the nature of these 'gargoyles' how they had longer lifespans than humans but also much slower reproductive rates, only being able to lay eggs once every ten years or so. Even though they possessed wings like dragons, the gargoyles wings were not strong enough to take off directly from the ground by flapping them. Instead they used their wings in a fixed position like a kite, normally taking off from a height before catching an air current and gliding along in the sky. In addition to their command of the skies, being descended from dragons made the gargoyles much stronger than humans. They were just as intelligent as humans as well, being able to use tools and weapons and possessing language and arts all their own. One would think that given these obvious advantages that humans wouldn't even be around on the planet to tell about it if the gargoyles were hostile.

Humanity was fortunate, perhaps undeservedly, because the children of the dragons were tasked with protecting the young humans from older and stronger things that lurked in the night. In very ancient times, most clans of gargoyles protected their humans in secret, lurking in caves and forests at the edges of human settlements, keeping watch for predators or other mythical beasts who would seek to harm the humans. As time went by however, the humans wished for more and more land and soon the gargoyles had a difficult time finding safe nesting grounds.

The ancient race was not one to find jealousy or envy easily, so instead clan elders approached human leaders, offering to help build and protect their towns at night in exchange for protection during the day. The daytime was their biggest weakness, for sun turned even the strongest gargoyle into a defenseless stone statue.

Sudden intense pain shooting through her body jolted Quinn out of her book. Her back, face, hands and legs felt like they were all trying to pull themselves away from each other entirely. Quinn never knew it was possible for a human to feel pain this intense, and she had survived childbirth. A strangled whimper escaped her lips as the pain grew sharper and increased in scope to cover most of her body, until finally, mercifully she felt the peace of unconsciousness relieve her from her suffering.

Quinn didn't know how much time had passed, but the last glow of the setting sun had faded as she slowly blinked open her eyes, gazing blearily out the window. Slowly she attempted to rise from her bed, wary of the lingering lightheaded feeling that made her limbs all feel the wrong size. Still, she wanted to head to the bathroom and get a glass of water to sooth the burning dryness in her throat. She let out a long string of curses when her hands and feet inexplicably sunk into her mattress like it was made of jello, only to have her angry words morph into a scream of terror.

Where her own pale hands and feet should be, there were monstrously shaped orange appendages. The thick, sharp talons that tipped each digit were embedded in the ruined fabric of her mattress. Quinn was overcome with a feeling of panic that rivaled seeing that positive pregnancy test so many months ago, but the unreality of the situation left her feeling almost detached from her body as she scrambled in a panic toward her bathroom and the full length mirror inside. She growled in frustration as she tripped over her own limbs a few times during the short journey, as though her body couldn't remember how to move them properly.

Finally she made her way into the bathroom, grateful that the door had been open already. It seemed strangely bright inside so she didn't bother to turn on the light as she cautiously padded in front of the mirror. The shock of it still made her heart stop for long seconds, even if the little voice in the back of her mind warned her that she should have expected this.

A large taloned hand rose and carefully traced over the familiar features of her face, the only part of her reflection that let Quinn know for certain that this, this beast was really her. Then her heart started beating again, faster than before, leaping in excitement instead of simple dread as she flexed muscles in the new limbs protruding from her back. She gasped softly in awe as leathery bronzed wings opened slowly, before realizing that her wingspan was to large to spread them fully in the small bathroom. "I'm a gargoyle." She murmured softly, this obvious conclusion nonetheless leaving her a mess of conflicting emotions. Terrified, anger at that salesman who'd clearly sold her a cursed book, but also the thrill of new and powerful instincts surging through her. The reptilian, dragon-like tail that had only been a mere stump this morning now trailed behind her, its tip twitching like a cats in response to all the intense emotions running through her.

For the second time that day Quinn allowed herself to embrace her positive feelings, pushing the more complicated worries aside to be dealt with later. Instead she rushed back into her bedroom and to one of the large windows that opened out onto the roof of her house. She was pleasantly surprised to learn that even larger and taloned, her hands still maintained most of their human dexterity, and the newly stronger muscles in her arms and chest allowed her to get the window open, even if she needed to take care not to damage it in the process.

Her bare bronze skin shivered pleasantly as she stepped carefully onto the roof. She vaguely registered that most of her clothing was in tatters, clothing for her slim human self was apparently much too small for her wider and much more muscled gargoyle body. She breathed in deeply as she straightened from a crouch to stand, for once not even slightly concerned with the height of the roof. The new dog-like shape of her feet felt more natural now as she took a couple steps closer to the roof's edge.

Her normal inclination whenever she ventured out here to escape from her parents' drunken arguments was to keep a close eye on the ground. She was always paranoid that she'd be unlucky enough to fall off the roof. Instead of worrying that she'd get hurt though, she mostly thought of how that would only redirect her parents' anger from each other to herself. Now though, as she finally allowed her wings to open to their full width, her eyes were drawn to the many stars twinkling gently overhead. They seemed brighter and more numerous than they ever had as she instinctually angled broad wings to catch the slight warm breeze rising from the ground.

Suddenly the air beneath her wings felt heavier and she knew this was the moment. Her breathing increased as she crouched deeply before uncoiling her powerful legs and leaping into the air, her talons scratching softly on the roof's shingles as she pushed off of them. Then she was gliding, the thin skin on her wings effortlessly catching more thermals and carrying her higher into the sky. A laugh escaped her, for now allowing the night air to take her wherever it pleased, knowing once and for all that this really was what the sound of Rachel Berry singing made her feel. I wonder though, if anyone has ever given her this feeling, a feeling that makes her feel like anything at all is possible if she can just remember it.