A/N: Femslash. Don't like, don't read. Also, this deals with child abuse of all kinds, so if this is a trigger for you, please don't read.

Burn down my home
My memories hardened and are bright as chrome
Good times escape
While every mistake seems to be caught on tape

-Remains, by Maurissa Tenchaoren

Rachel exhaled slowly, listening to the beeping monitors and the barely-there drip of the IV. She looked around the room once more, wishing they had made at least some effort to make the whitewashed walls more human and less confining.

Shifting slightly from her position on the bed, she felt fingers grasping weakly at the hem of her shirt and she looked down. The blonde laying next to her still had her eyes closed, but her brow was drawn into a frown and she whispered, "Please don't leave me."

Trying to hide her sudden tears, Rachel murmured, "I'm never going anywhere, Quinn. I promise." The blonde seemed to relax at her words, and her breathing quickly fell back into the deep patterns of sleep.

A tear finally slipped out and made its way down the brunette's face as she looked at Quinn. Her eyes mapped out the dips and curves of her face, taking in each and every bruise. The mottled colours marred the pale skin of her face, and Rachel let her lips fall and press a soft kiss into the other girl's hair.

She still didn't know exactly how this had happened. After everything they had been through, she had thought that Quinn would have come to her before doing something that could easily have gotten her killed.

As the blonde sidled just a bit closer to her, even in sleep, Rachel exhaled abruptly for a second time and forced all thoughts from her mind. She knew that Quinn was going to need her in the coming days, and she wouldn't be much use if she was too sleep deprived to function.

Telling herself that there would be plenty of time to blame herself later, the brunette slowly fell into a restless sleep.

Rachel's discovery that Quinn Fabray's life was anything less than perfect had come quite unexpectedly.

It had been like any normal Thursday night in the Berry household, but when it was half past midnight and she still was tossing and turning restlessly, Rachel had decided to go for a run. Armed with her pepper spray, self-defense training, and a spectacular pair of lungs as safety precautions, she had set off into the frigid night air.

As she was running, she had been thankful for the extra hoodie she had thrown on at the last second. The winter air was bitingly cold, even through the three layers, and she pushed her pace a little faster to try and ward off the chill.

Two miles into the run, she found herself fast approaching the little park that marked the point where she would turn around and head back for home. Slowing to a light jog as she rounded the corner and entered the park, she had inhaled deeply, feeling the slow burn of the oxygen working its way through her lungs.

Walking around the playground equipment, she had been about to start for home when she had seen a flash in the corner of her eye. Turning, she had seen someone sitting on the swings, moonlight in their hair.

Weighing the options in her head, she had decided that she could take whoever it was if she had to- they looked small, and she was fairly certain that it was a girl. Approaching slowly, she had looked at them curiously, trying to find out who it was.

Sitting on the next swing over, she had merely said, "Hi." Her normal approach to talking just didn't seem to fit in the silence of the night, and she bit her tongue to keep from saying anything else.

The person next to her replied softly, "Hey." The voice was definitely feminine, but there was something in it that she recognized. As the moonlight glinted off strands of blonde once more, she placed the voice. Looking over in shock, she asked, "Quinn?"

The girl sighed before quietly replying, "Yeah, Berry." Rachel just sat there, unsure what on earth Quinn could be doing out here at this hour. Looking over at her, she noted that the girl certainly wasn't dressed for the weather, wearing nothing but a long sleeved shirt and her jeans.

Breaking the silence, Quinn spoke again and asked, "What are you doing out here?"

Sighing at Quinn's lack of observation, Rachel said, "Going for a run. I couldn't sleep. What are you doing out here?"

The blonde arched a brow and murmured, "Does it even matter?"

Surprised at the answer, Rachel opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again when she saw the slight shaking of the other girl's body. "Are you cold? I mean, obviously, you have to be at least a little cold, since it's easily below freezing, and you're clearly not dressed for the weather, but..."

She trailed off, suddenly unsure of what to do in this situation. Quinn would normally have cut her off 3 words in, demanding that she shut up or suffer the consequences. Instead, she was staring at some point on the playground, maybe the slide, her feet scuffing the sand underneath her swing.

Sighing and assuming that the blonde was just pretending not to hear so she wouldn't have to sink so low as to ask Rachel Berry for a sweatshirt, she stripped off her outer layer. Thrusting it in Quinn's direction, she was completely unprepared for the girl's reaction.

The blonde flinched violently away from her hand and the proffered hoodie, nearly falling out of her swing in the process. She caught herself on the chains at the last second, but she didn't let her swing fall back into place beside Rachel's.

Suddenly concerned at Quinn's behavior and the way she seemed to be having difficulty breathing, Rachel started to ask her if she was ok, but found herself quickly cut off.

"I'm fine, Man Hands."

The bite in Quinn's voice belied the way her knuckles were white from gripping the chains too tightly, and Rachel cocked her head to the side. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she was unable to stop herself from muttering, "Cause acting like I'm about to take you out is totally normal."

Quinn stood abruptly, looking directly at Rachel for the first time and glaring at her. "Maybe I just didn't want your man hands all over me." The insult lacked any real venom, the excuse flimsy.

Arching an eyebrow at the blonde, Rachel slowly set her hoodie on the swing before looking back up at Quinn.

"You know, it's ok to just be honest every once in a while. Really, Quinn, it might even make things easier. I mean, come on. Nobody, not even you, could possibly be such a bitch all the time."

Quinn drew herself up, hissing at Rachel, "You don't know the first thing about me, Berry. I mean, God- you're the most infuriating person I've ever met! Now, why don't you just continue on with your little midnight jog, hmm? Wouldn't want that obnoxiously loud voice of yours to disturb any of the normal people who are asleep at this hour."

Inhaling deeply, Rachel decided that ignoring the flaws in Quinn's little tirade was probably for the best. Somehow, pointing out that the other girl was the one yelling, and that she had just admitted to not being normal, didn't seem like the best course of action. She sat in silence for a few minutes, not saying anything, and when she finally chanced a glance over a Quinn she saw tears rolling down her face, Rachel's hoodie clutched tightly in her hands.

Slowly getting off her swing, Rachel moved in front of Quinn, kneeling in the sand and looking up at her. Quinn sniffled and moved to wipe her eyes, but the simple movement caused her sleeve to ride up and Rachel gasped when she saw the girl's wrist.

Dark blue bruises marred the delicate skin going up Quinn's arm, each discolored blotch in the shape of a finger. Quinn looked down and saw where Rachel's eyes were glued. Dropping her arm and covering her wrist, she whispered, "It's fine, Berry. Just something from Cheerio's practice."

The lie in her voice was all too clear, and Rachel found herself locked in an internal debate over what to do. Finally, she said, "Do you want to come home with me?"

Quinn looked down at the little brunette in shock, not sure she had heard right. She saw Rachel's brow crease and realized she was taking too long to respond, and she hurriedly shook her head. When Rachel arched a brow at her, she sighed.

"Rachel, I really appreciate the sentiment, but you and I both know that we would kill each other, and then where would Glee be? Really, I'll be fine, I'm probably going to head back soon anyways."

was the thought that flashed through Rachel's mind, but she bit it back. Quinn had actually called her Rachel, and she was loathe to do anything to put the blonde back on the defensive.

Exhaling slowly, she nodded, but asked, "You have my number, right?"

When Quinn nodded, she gave her a pointed look. When the blonde scoffed and waved her off, Rachel threw her hands up. "Fine. I get it. I won't try to be your mom, but still." She noticed the second the words were out of her mouth that Quinn had tensed, but she wasn't sure what she had said. Looking at the blonde in confusion, she tried to figure out what was wrong, but to no avail.

More frustrated than anything, she said, "You better not freeze out here, Fabray." The words seemed to snap Quinn out of her sudden daze, and she looked up at Rachel, what Rachel could have sworn was a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"I won't," she promised, shooing Rachel away with her hands. "Now get home, or you're going to be the one freezing."

Rachel reluctantly left, trying not to look back at the girl still sitting on the swing too many times. As she was running, the full impact of what had just transpired started to sink in, and the weight of it brought her to a sudden crashing halt.

.

She didn't know how that little realization had taken her so long- she had been through a whole class on spotting the signs of abuse when she had volunteered one time at a local community center.

Her thoughts immediately flew to the images she had seen in the slideshow that was the culmination of the presentation, and she pictured Quinn's father in amongst the other abusers. He had to be the one doing it, unless Quinn had somehow managed to acquire a boyfriend overnight.

Now furious with herself for not realizing it sooner so that she could drag the blonde home with her, Rachel sprinted back to the park, but to her dismay the swing was now vacant. Scanning the playground and finding no sign of the blonde, Rachel sighed dejectedly and began to slowly walk home.

Her thoughts spiraled around and around, always coming back to the general shock. If she had a quarter for every time those words had run through her mind in the last twenty minutes, she would be well on her way to rich. She just didn't understand- how could she and everyone else have possibly missed this?

This was something huge, something monumental and life-changing, and somehow, Quinn had managed to keep everyone in the dark. Now that she knew, though, Rachel found herself at a loss as to what to do. She didn't really have any proof, and she didn't think that asking around about it was exactly a good option, and she just really didn't know what she should be doing at a time like this.

All of her careful planning about how high school was going to go did not, by any means, include happening upon Quinn Fabray in a park at one in the morning, only to come to the realization that her life was not, in fact, perfect.

Sighing as she unlocked her door and slipped inside, Rachel forced her brain to slow down and stop for a minute. Yes, she had seen the bruises. Yes, she had seen a slideshow on the signs of abuse. Yes, she always thought she was right. But honestly? There was no way in hell that Rachel Berry was the one to uncover Quinn's deep dark secret.

Forcing her mile-a-minute brain to actually consider the facts, she realized that maybe, yes, Quinn's bruise could have been from Cheerios practice. In fact, basically all of the Cheerios had bruises on their arms and legs from being dropped or caught awkwardly, and Rachel realized with growing relief that she had just been jumping to conclusions.

Exhaling as she climbed into bed, she let her eyes fall closed. She couldn't even articulate how glad she was that she had only been overreacting. The thought of anything bad happening in Quinn Fabray's perfect life was just overwhelming and somehow wrong, and she felt a sense of calm that the order of things had been restored.

Even with her newfound justification and mental logical analysis, however, she found her dreams haunted by tear-stained cheeks and blonde hair glinting in moonlight. Even with all of her efforts at reassuring herself that her initial assumption had been just that- an assumption- she couldn't chase a certain blonde from her thoughts. Even with everything she had pieced together to put her mind at ease, she still tossed and turned restlessly into the early morning, because even with all of her logical explanations, she couldn't help but wonder- what if.