Hey everyone! So this is a story idea that I had in mind for a while and I felt like I needed a break from my other stories for now. I really hope this isn't crappy or anything terrible, now I'm just rambling. Anyways, enjoy!

I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR ANNA!

Beth looked out the window as rain drops trickled down while the car moved. She was full of melancholy from the past events that occurred. Quinn continued to drive down the highway, trying to look at Beth through the rear-view mirror. It had been six years since she saw Beth and quite a lot has changed.

She remembered feeling her heart sink when she got the call about Shelby passing away from brain cancer. Her heart broke knowing that Beth had to watch Shelby suffer for months. Even though Quinn was upset for Beth, she couldn't help but be happy that her perfect baby was now hers.

Ever since the funeral, Quinn knew that Beth didn't like her all too much. She didn't know what she did wrong, but she intended to fix that. "So I have a room set up for you at my house. I couldn't let you sleep on the couch or anything like that," said Quinn.

She looked at Beth through the rear-view mirror once more. Beth still kept her eyes fixed on the window. She hadn't said a word since they left New York, "Beth sweetie I know you're upset but you're going to have to talk to me sooner or later." There was still no response from Beth and Quinn sighed, she really hoped Beth would talk to her.

Another thirty minutes later, Quinn pulled up to her Connecticut home. All of the leaves had fallen from the trees, giving the air its fresh November smell. Quinn pulled the keys out of the ignition and stepped out of the car and Beth did the same. Beth followed Quinn to the back of the car where she pulled out Beth's suit cases. "Oh, I'm taking the day off tomorrow so that we can get you settled in and maybe even me getting to know you more," said Quinn, making her way up to the house.

Beth gave her a quick nod in return and observed the house in front of her. It was a big, two floor home with a wraparound porch. "Do you live here by yourself?" Beth finally spoke up.

"Um, yeah I do. Is that okay?"

Beth nodded again and followed Quinn into the house. Quinn went upstairs into the room she set up for her, "Here's your room, I know it isn't much but we can add more furniture later on."

"Thank you," said Beth. She walked over to the full sized bed and turned down the butterfly bedding that Quinn specifically picked out for her. "I just want to be alone."

"Alright, I'll be downstairs if you need me," Quinn said simply before she left the room. She didn't know what to do; she didn't want to force Beth to come to her, which would just make Beth push her away more. Quinn just hoped that things would be better in the morning.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, Quinn waited in the kitchen for Beth to come down stairs. Taking a sip of her coffee, she stared at the staircase. It was almost nine o'clock and the pancakes she made for Beth were on the verge of becoming cold. Quinn then heard the squeaking of the steps, making her place her coffee mug on the counter. "Good morning," Quinn said sweetly. "I made pancakes if you want some."

"I'm not hungry," Beth said bluntly.

Quinn stared at her mini me, "Oh, well I have some news."

Beth pulled out the chair at the kitchen island and climbed up to sit down. Once sitting, she looked at Quinn, letting her know that she had her attention. "You're starting school tomorrow. Maybe that might not be such great news, but at least you won't be here all day long."

"I don't want to go to school," Beth stated, crossing her arms.

"Beth you have to, I have a job and like I said, you can't stay here all day long."

"Yes I can, I'm almost nine years old," she said in a snotty tone, trying to act more adult.

Quinn chuckled, "And to me that is far too young to stay home alone."

Beth slid off the chair and started to walk away, "I'd rather be here alone all day long than with you."

"Hey!" Quinn called out to her; she'd had enough with Beth's attitude. Beth stopped in her tracks and turned back towards Quinn.

Quinn walked around the kitchen island and approached Beth, kneeling down to her level to look her in the eyes. "I don't know what I did to you that would make you hate me Beth. I know you're hurt and upset about what happened to…your mom, but that doesn't mean you have to give me attitude. As far as I know, I'm you're guardian. I'm not expecting you to call me mom or anything like that. I just want to get to know you, that's all I'm asking."

Beth just looked at Quinn after that. "Fine," Beth finally said.

Quinn smiled and stood back up, "Breakfast first though. You didn't eat dinner last night so you must be hungry."

Beth gave her a small smile and climbed back up on the chair, "Yeah I am actually."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Beth come on, wake up! You're going to be late for school and I need to be on the road in twenty minutes so that I can get to work!"

Beth moaned, pulling the covers over her head, "I don't want to go to school."

Quinn went over to Beth's closet to pick out an outfit for her, "I know its hard starting at a new school but like I said before, you have to go."

"And like I said before, I don't want to go to school!"

Quinn rolled her eyes, obviously getting to know each other the day before made no difference. "I'll give you five dollars to get out of bed and go to school," said Quinn.

Beth immediately sat up, looking at Quinn. She wore black dress pants with a loose red button up, leaving the first few buttons undone at the neck. "Make it ten," said Beth.

"Seven and that's it!" Quinn said angrily.

"Ten or I don't go at all!"

Quinn knew if she kept fighting with the eight year old, she would get nowhere. Plus she would be late for work. "Ten it is, now please get ready."

Beth gave her birth mother a conniving smile and got out of bed. "I placed a banana on the counter for you to eat after you're done getting ready," said Quinn before she left the room.

Quinn was starting to lose her patients with Beth. It had been twenty minutes later and she still wasn't ready, "Beth hurry, we need to go!"

"I'm coming! I had to fix my hair," Beth explained. Quinn observed the little girl's blonde curls and saw that she only placed a headband in her hair.

"Here," said Quinn, handing her some money.

Beth slung her backpack over her shoulder, "What's this for?"

"Lunch money."

"You didn't pack me a lunch?"

"No, I didn't exactly have time and I thought you wouldn't mind."

"I do, school food is gross! Mom always packed my lunch," she sighed.

"Well sorry, I didn't know. I'll get you a lunch bag after school and I'll pack you a lunch for tomorrow, deal?"

Beth rolled her eyes, "Deal."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wait, so just randomly she's nasty to you?"

Quinn breathed out heavily, "Yep."

"Oh, I'd give that child a piece of…"

"I'm not going to do that Anna," Quinn interrupted, knowing where Anna was going with that sentence. Anna was her best friend at the New York Journal. Quinn loved her job as a columnist. Her talents shined when she attended Yale, which the New York Journal took notice of. She couldn't be any happier.

"Well you need to set her straight Quinn."

"I can't do that. She just lost her mother; I can't be hard on her so soon."

"She's hard on you isn't she? And you're her mom too."

"Beth doesn't see it that way; I'm a complete stranger to her."

Anna looked down at her watch, "Hey, didn't you say you had to pick up the little brat at three o'clock?"

Quinn paused for a moment, "Yeah, what time is it now?"

"Two fifty…"

Quinn's eyes went wide, "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no!"

"You better hurry!" said Anna as she watched Quinn run down the hallway.

Beth sat on the bench outside of her new school. She watched all of the other kids get picked up by their parents leading her to be the last one waiting. Beth had her arms crossed and head down, the cold November wind hitting her face making her pale cheeks turn to a bright pink. Beth looked up at the sound of a car approaching the curb, it was Quinn. Quinn got out of the car as fast as she could and adjusted her coat in the process, "Beth I'm so sorry."

"You forgot me."

"Beth I didn't…"

"Just admit it, you forgot me!"

"Yes I did okay? I'm sorry. In case you hadn't noticed I'm still used to this Mom thing okay? I'm going to make mistakes," said Quinn. "Now would you please get in the car? It's freezing out here!"

Beth stood up from the bench and stomped her way over to the car. "The school food was disgusting by the way!" said Beth before she slammed the car door.

Quinn didn't know how long she could keep up with this. Being a Mom to an eight year old was more difficult than she thought it would be. She knew she needed some help.

That night after Beth was in bed, Quinn searched through her purse to find Puck's number. She remembered that he gave it to her on a post-it at Shelby's funeral so that he could visit Beth sometime. This was for a different reason though, she needed help with Beth, and who a better person than her own father?

Quinn eventually found the post-it crumpled up at the bottom of her purse. She opened it to see the number. "Thank god," she said to herself.

She added his number to her contact list for future reference. Quinn pressed call and held the phone to her ear, "Please answer, please answer."

"Puck here," he answered.

"Hey, it's me."

He knew exactly who it was by the sound of her voice. "Lady Fabray, you finally called. How's Beth doing?"

"She's why I'm calling actually."

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, yeah she's perfectly fine. It's just," said Quinn starting to cry. "I don't think I can do this Puck, she hates me."

"Whoa, Quinn calm down. What happened?"

"Everything, she hates me Puck! She's been giving me such a hard time ever since we got here. I keep trying to be nice to her but it doesn't make a difference," said Quinn. "I don't know what the hell Shelby was thinking about making me her guardian."

"Maybe she wanted to give you a second chance with her."

Quinn chuckled as she wiped away a tear from her cheek, "I wouldn't even give myself a second chance after what I did senior year. I know this is asking a lot from you but do you think you can come over here and help me? You were so good with her when she was a baby."

"It's no problem Q, I'll leave tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"Anything for you and Beth."

Quinn smiled, "Thanks, I'll see you soon then?"

"Yeah, see you soon. Bye."

"Bye," she said, pressing the end button to hang up. Quinn could now sleep easy tonight knowing things are going to get better soon.

That's it for chapter one! Let me know if you all liked it, reviews are GREATLY appreciated and are encouraged!

I will update soon! Thanks for reading!