I do not own Glee or anything tied to Glee!

It was a typical day for Rachel as she walked down the halls of her high school, carrying herself with grace and pride lost in thought of which song she could preform for Glee club later that day. She was happy at that moment simply because it was lunch time and she had made it all day without once getting slushied.

Has she was pushing her extra clothes to the side to reach her notebook for her History class; a cold, hard splash hit her in the back of her head. The force knocked her forward a bit, without thinking she whirled around to confront her attacker when another wave of slushie hit her in the face.

Rachel blinked hard, squeezing her eyes shut as the sting of the sugary product seeped into her eyes. She heard the other students laughing at her. She blinked open her eyes and saw Santana Lopez, head cheerio, snickering with two empty cups in her hands.

"Hope I didn't get your back up attire messed up, man hands." Santana sneered, smirking as she handed off the empty cups to another cherrio. Rachel turned away and grabbed the extra clothes, smiling to herself to see her sweater and skirt were in fact dry and unharmed.

Turning back towards the HBIC Rachel began saying"Thankfully Santana, you di-" Rachel was caught off as she was hit again with a third slushie in less than five minutes. Her offender was one of the football players this time. He lumbered over to Santana who smiled approvingly at him before dropping a glare back at Rachel. Rachel felt the sting in her eyes, only this time it was from the unshed tears. Her back up clothing was now a dull purple and ice chips clung to the sweater.

"What is going on here?!" Rachel's head shot up at the sound of the disembodied voice coming from the back of the small crowd that had formed around Rachel and the Head cherrio. Santana eyed the crowd until a tall blonde emerged from it, clearly not amused with the small gathering.

Rachel hadn't seen this blonde before, and she would have remembered seeing hazel eyes like the ones that were currently eying her with pity. Santana merely stood by watching the blonde woman, waiting for her to say something so she could just get on with her damn day. Finn, the large football player who had helped slushie Rachel, looked panicked and uncomfortable.

The blonde woman glanced at Santana and then to Finn, noticing the slushie cup in his hand. She motioned to it as she addressed him, "I see one cup, but there are three colors on the girl. Where did the other two come from?" She dropped her gaze to Santana who only shrugged and rolled her eyes.

"Alright, you don't have to answer me," She glanced down the hall and pointed at the office that was looking at before returning her gaze to the two bullies. "But you WILL have to answer to Figgins. Go. Now."

Santana bristled as she shot daggers at the offending blonde. "Who the hell do you think you are?!" Santana demanded, crossing her arms across her chest and standing straighter as if gaining height on the woman would make her seem more defiant.

"I'm Ms. Fabray, the new English teacher. I believe I sent you to Figgins, ms. Lopez. Take Hudson with you." Quinn crossed her arms and matched Santanas posture, daring her to question her again.

Santana visibly deflated and rolled her eyes, "Whatever, I've got better things to do than stand around breathing the same air as Treasure trail," she turned on her heels shoving past the students who were still staring, wide eyed and amused. Finn lumbered after Santana, looking constipated.

Rachel's teeth were chattering by this point, the ice had begun to melt and the cold water was dripping down her clothes and hair pooling around her feet. Ms. Fabray's eyes softened as she walked towards Rachel, offering a small smile.

"You must be freezing. Come on," Quinn placed her hands on the smaller girls shoulders, gently pulling her away from the locker and small multicolored puddle. "Let's get you some clean clothes from the lost-and-found and then you can warm up in my class room." Quinn didn't mind that her white button up blouse was currently absorbing some of the liquid off the other girls sweater as she brushed past students.

Rachel looked up at the blonde woman, nodding her head slowly. She was cold and dripping a trail of ice down the hall, but Ms. Fabray's side was warm and the teacher's arm was draped protectively over her shoulders. She followed the teacher's lead to the Lost-and-Found before she realized she was still carrying her other ruined clothing. She was suddenly more embarrassed now than she had been before, even when the other students had been laughing at her.

"You don't have to help me M-Ms. Fabray, I can.. I can w-walk myself..." Rachel stopped, pulling herself away from Quinn's side, instantly longing for the warmth she had felt there. Quinn raised an eyebrow in amusement, turning towards the colorful girl, smiling softly.

"I don't doubt your ability to walk Rachel. I do, however, doubt the student bodies ability to leave a girl dripping in slushie alone long enough for her to get her teeth to stop chattering," Quinn placed her arm around the girls shoulders again, pulling her gently forward.

Rachel was stunned that the new teacher knew her name, she fumbled with dialogue from the earlier encounter with Santana and Finn attempting to find a moment where her name had been mentioned. Not once, which made Rachel wonder

"How do you know my name?" Rachel's brow creased inward as she looked up at the blonde questioningly. Quinn smirked as she pushed the door to the Lost-and-Found room open, ushering Rachel inside.

"Rachel Berry, Senior, captain of the 'New Directions' as well as a member of every club this school has to offer," Quinn took a second to glance at Rachel; panic, confusion and just a touch of joy crossed the brunettes face.

"How did yo-" Quinn held a hand in front of Rachel, silencing her. Quinn titled her hand downwards, offering it as a handshake before stating "I'm your English teacher for the rest of the year. Ms. July is now longer working here." Rachel, dazed slightly, took Quinn's hand softly.

"I have a photographic memory," Quinn explained, dropping Rachel's hand before turning towards a rack of shirts and pointing at them. "I was going through the schools past yearbooks with my list of students, just so I could match names to faces." Rachel pulled out a black t-shirt that had a cat with a large pink bow popping off the animals neck. She turned towards the jeans and yanked out the first pair she saw that were her size.

"I'll admit though," Quinn took the wet back up clothes away from Rachel, tossing them into a plastic back that had been left on a nearby table. "You look much better covered in slushie then with all the black Sharpie markings." Quinn tied off the bag and held her hand out for the dry clothes.

Rachel handed over the clothes and took the bag with her wet ones, dropping her chin to her chest as she nodded her head in understanding. She knew about the Sharpie markings, she even knew who had done it, but it didn't stop the small twinge of pain she felt hearing about it.

Quinn watched Rachel for a moment before wrapping the girl in a hug, soaking the front of her blouse through to the skin, shuttering at the cold feeling. Rachel's eyes widened as she felt the warmth of the taller girls neck on her cheek, reacting slowly she wrapped her arms around Quinn's waist, squeezing her eyes shut as tears threatened to spill. Quinn held Rachel for a few minutes before she felt Rachel shiver, releasing the student she turned to the table and dropped the dry clothes there before turning to the door.

"I'll wait outside while you change," Quinn opened the door, looking back at Rachel and smiling. Rachel nodded and watched as the blonde slipped out and the door shut with a quiet click. She glanced down at herself and sighed heavily before changing, feeling instantly warmer with the dry clothes.

Quinn leaned against the wall with her eyes shut, humming softly to herself. The Lost-and-Found door opened slowly and Rachel peeked her head out, wide brown eyes searching the empty halls as if someone would appear in front of her and slushie her. Quinn lolled her head towards Rachel before standing straight and looking around as well.

"I don't see any attackers Ms. Berry," Quinn smiled and held out a hand, offering it to Rachel. "But, we should be careful. I hear that Santana girl can be quite the force to reckon with." Rachel smiled shyly as she slipped her hand into Quinns, who gave it a tight squeeze as she pulled Rachel into the hall beside her.

They walked in silence, Rachel crossing and uncrossing her arms as Quinn walked calmly beside her, hands clasped behind her back.

"Do you want to go rinse your hair out?" Quinn titled her head toward a nearby bathroom, meeting Rachel's eyes. Rachel glanced over Quinn's shoulder and nodded brushing past the blonde. Quinn glanced down at her watch, mentally counting how much longer she could guard Rachel as she followed the girl into the bathroom. Rachel washed her hair out, dried it with paper towels, and then tied it back into a ponytail. Her legs were sticky and her shoes made that stuck noise when she took a step and her arms were sticky as well.

She wanted to just sit on the floor and cry but two hands on her shoulders stopped her from sinking to the floor. She met hazel eyes in the mirror as Quinn smiled at her, she turned Rachel towards her before grabbing a paper towel and wetting it. She raised the towel up to Rachel's cheek before stopping and meeting her brown eyes in a silent question. Rachel blinked and nodded as she took a deep breath through her nose.

Quinn softly rubbed the stickiness away from Rachel's face, neck and arms, before she handed the towel to Rachel for her to finish her legs and shoes. Rachel felt better once she was cleaner and she offered Quinn a hopeful smile. Quinn matched it as she opened the door for Rachel. She glanced at her watch once more before sighing and dropping her arm to her side.

"You only have about ten minutes before the bell for the end of lunch rings, then you have to go to your forth period." Quinn stopped at her classroom door, unlocking it and swinging it open for Rachel, who stepped inside and nodded.

"I don't have a forth period," Rachel walked across the room to where she usually sat in the front row and placed her bag of wet clothes on the desk. Quinn walked to her own desk in the front of the room and dropped into her chair.

"Oh? Well you're more than welcome to hide out in here if you want. I have no class for forth anyway," Quinn leaned forward, resting her elbows on her desk and folding her hands under her chin. Rachel nodded her head thinking, she eyed her teacher before she noticed the bright colors on the white blouse.

"Ms. Fabray, I am so sorry!" Rachel pointed down at the shirt, her face flushed instantly, "I didn't realize I had done that.." Quinn glanced down at her shirt and giggled before unbuttoning the top two buttons while standing.

"Rachel, it's fine. You're not the only one with spare clothes stashed away," Quinn opened her bottom desk drawer, pulling out a Yale hoodie and holding it up for Rachel to see. Rachel smiled, cheeks still tinted red as she toyed with the edge of her borrowed shirt.

Quinn pulled the hoodie over her body, leaving her arms inside so she could pull her other shirt off. The blouse came off easily and Quinn let it drop to the ground as she pushed her arms through. Rachel dropped into her seat and scratched at a pencil marking on the desk, the silence of the room eating away at her. Quinn fell into her own seat, pulling open the top desk drawer and pulling out a stack of papers.

"If you're going to be in here during my off," Quinn neatly tapped the papers on her desk before placing them on the edge towards Rachel, "I might as well put you to work. Put one of these on each desk, will you?" Rachel stood and took the papers from the desk, making the briefest of eye contact with her teacher.

Rachel was making her way up the first row of desks, reading the paper as she went. It was basically Ms. Fabray telling her students what to expect in the year of Senior English with Quinn Fabray. Rachel glanced at her teacher, who was writing in a writing in a book that looked well worn, and smiled. Quinn was a pretty name, she thought it matched the blonde well, silently admiring the older woman.

Ms. Fabray didn't look much older than 25, her blonde hair was short and hung freely around her jaw and Rachel could tell she was fit even with the hoodie obscuring her view. Quinn felt eyes on her and quickly found Rachel across the room watching her. Rachel's cheeks tinted pink from being caught ogling at Quinn, ducking her head and moving swiftly back up the row, dropping papers on desks as she went.

Quinn smiled to herself, returning her attention to her book and scribbling notes on the side of the margins. Rachel chanced a look back at her teacher once more, sighing with relief to see she wasn't watching her. Rachel thought Quinn was beautiful and she knew she was caring, she had witnessed it first hand. Rachel had a vague feeling that she had a small crush on the blonde already, as she thought that butterflies erupted in the stomach at the thought.

A/N: This is actually the first time I've written anything like this, so feedback would be greatly appreciated! Let me know if this something I should continue with, I have a basic outline for where this tentative friendship will be going. Thank you for reading!