Title: Inconsolable

Author: I'llbeyourhero

Summary: Quinn is broken, a lot more than meets the eye and nobody notices except for one Rachel Berry. Will Rachel be able to mend her? (Takes place after Prom Queen)

Rating: M (for language, adult themes and sexual material-in later chapters)

Spoilers: Anything up to Prom Queen-including said episode-is fair game.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the characters in said show.

Warning: This story does have some abuse in it.

Note: The Lucy storyline does not apply in this story, and never happened mainly because this idea worked better without it.

Prologue

::Freshman year::

It was the first week of freshman year. Quinn was already one of the Cheerio's but Sue had been working her hard, a little too hard. She was at the bottom of the pyramid at the moment, but everyone who wants to be at the top starts at the bottom, at least that's what the blonde tells her dad when she goes home and he complains that she's not trying hard enough and should be captain by now.

Then he'd always state that her sister would have been captain by now, and Quinn wants to tell him it's harder then he thinks, especially when she's just a freshman, a new kid. But she doesn't. Every night she lets him yell, curse and drink. Sometimes he pushes her physically (but he's never hit her, but she fears he may one day), for stupid reasons, for not being the perfect daughter like her sister, or for stepping out of line-only slightly. She listened to everything he said, and did everything he asked of her. The more she pleased him, the less he bothered her. He didn't use much strength, when he would shove her to the ground but he'd then storm away leaving the blonde to pick herself up. But regardless of what happened at home, she never allowed it to get into her school life, it was the one place he wasn't.

"Good morning class." A female teacher, Mrs. Jacobs said, greeting them. Quinn wasn't paying attention she was doodling aimlessly on her book. She already hated this class, most of all she hated the seating arrangement. She was stuck beside a girl named Rachel Berry who she didn't pay much attention to, while Santana and Brittany sat beside each other, Quinn thought it wasn't fair that her two best friends always got partnered together, and she was stuck alone and left out. She sighed as the teacher began to write the instructions for the assignment on the board.

"This assignment will be done in pairs, I've decided to partner you with the person you're sitting beside so get acquainted and get started. You better make plans to meet up after school, because I want this assignment on my desk tomorrow morning."

Quinn had blanked the teacher out, missing everything she said and when the screech of a chair coming from beside her echoed in her ear she furrowed her brows and turned. Her eyes locked with Rachel's and she was instantly pulled in.

"Hello my name is Rachel Berry, so how would you like to do this. We could meet up tonight at my house if you'd like, or yours if you'd prefer."

"What are you talking about?"

She turned away, which she found was hard to do because the blonde didn't want to look away from those delicate chocolate orbs.

"The assignment. Quinn please tell me you were listening."

The blonde shrugged and continued to doodle. "How did you know my name, I didn't recall introducing myself."

"You're a Cheerio, everyone knows you."

Quinn brought her pencil to her lips and began to chew it, an unhealthy habit but she did it a lot. "That's very true." She sent a smirk Rachel's way and the brunette rolled her eyes, a bit aggravated due to the blonde's cockiness and obvious ego.

"Since I wasn't listening I guess you're going to have to explain this stupid project to me."

The brunette rolled her eyes-yet again, but she couldn't help but find the other girl intriguing. It was also clear that she was beautiful, and Rachel was finding it hard just to keep her composure around the Cheerio, especially when her soft hazel eyes, locked onto hers. Rachel launched into an explanation about the assignment, and the blonde made a mental note to not ask her classmate another question, because she could go on for minutes.

Once Rachel was finally done explaining the project they began their work, and they were actually getting along. Quinn noticed that Rachel had some cute quirks that seemed to make Quinn giggle, and smile; while Rachel realized that Quinn wasn't just a cheerleader and a pretty face, she had a lot of passion especially with her opinions. They had agreed to go to Quinn's house to work on the project; the blonde insisted it was because her dad didn't want her missing a family dinner, when truthfully she just didn't want to piss him off.

Abruptly the bell echoed off the walls and Quinn slowly slid her chair out and stood up. The blonde began to gather her things and Rachel, who had written some ideas down using Quinn's pencil handed it back to the girl. Their fingers brushed, but only slightly and it caused both girls to disconnect immediately, caught off guard from the electric spark they felt rush through their skin at the simple touch.

"So, I'll meet you in the back parking lot?" Quinn asked, trying her best to steer clear of whatever she had just felt.

The brunette didn't say anything she just nodded; Rachel Berry was always one for dramatics and after feeling the jolt from the slight contact and the want to touch the blonde again she couldn't speak.

"Cool, see you around Berry."

"This is your house? It's huge!" Rachel squealed as the blonde ushered them inside.

"I guess...it's not that special."

"I wish my house was this big, but unfortunately my fathers, even though they are very successful enjoy moderate size houses, relaxing and quant spaces. I however want to live in a mansion like this, one day I will once I become a Broadway star but until then I-"

"Hey star relax would you, do you want anything to drink?"

"Water please and thank you."

The blonde nodded and walked away, leaving the diva alone in the big family room. "Just make yourself comfortable on the couch!" Quinn yelled loudly, from the kitchen. The diva did just that, she took her bag off and sat it on the floor, leaning it up against the couch. She sat down and as soon as she did she opened her bag and fished out their notes, and project that they had already gotten started on in class.

"Here you go." Quinn mumbled as she handed the girl her drink, this time she made sure they didn't have any skin to skin contact.

"Thank you once again Quinn."

"Yeah, don't mention it. So should we get to work?" the blonde wanted to get this done as fast as possible before her parents returned home, from their day at work.

Rachel nodded and Quinn sat down on the couch, making sure there was a fair amount of distance between them.

After about an hour, they finally finished their project and just sat and talked for a bit. Rachel smiled and put her full attention into everything Quinn said, where as the blonde kind of spaced out when Rachel rambled.

"Did he really say that to you?" Rachel asked, wrinkling her nose.

Quinn nodded. "It was a little creepy. Puck's a nice guy but when he talks about the way my Cheerio's skirt flies up, it kind of grosses me out." Rachel just laughed again and soon just smiled. She couldn't deny that she too had paid a lot of attention to Quinn in that skirt. In fact she had paid attention to Quinn since she saw the blonde on the first day of school, even before she was dressed in the now overly familiar uniform.

"Quinnie we're home!" Judy's voice filled the house and Quinn smiled weakly.

"Should I be nervous to meet your mom?"

Quinn shook her head. "It's my dad you'd have to worry about."

Rachel frowned, and the distress in Quinn's voice didn't go unnoticeable. The blonde held her breath as her dad walked into the family room, he was headed toward his study with his briefcase but he stopped in his tracks as he noticed an unfamiliar face on his couch.

"Quinn, who's your friend?"

The Cheerio swallowed a hard lump that had formed in her throat and looked into her dads eyes.

"Th-this is Rachel Berry, we were just working on a project the teacher assigned."

Russell furrowed his brows in a disapproving manner and looked the brunette over. He scoffed. He knew the name, the whole town did. He was aware of her dads, and Russell Fabray didn't like the fact that Rachel's dads were gay, and openly at that. To him it was a sin, and he was disappointed in his daughter for allowing Rachel in their house. He was disgusted; he didn't even to need to know Rachel's sexual orientation because he was appalled none the less.

"Quinn I think it's time that your friend went home."

The blonde turned towards Rachel and sent the girl an apologetic look. Rachel reached out and grabbed the Cheerio's hand, and Quinn let out a quiet gasp taken off guard by that searing spark in her hand, that had returned.

"I should be going anyways, my fathers are probably wondering where I am." She turned to Russell and sent him a smile, he plastered on a fake, forced one. "Thank you for welcoming me into your home, it's beautiful."

"You're welcome." He said, trying his best to remain polite.

His attention fell onto Quinn and the blonde knew that look. He was far from happy and she knew she'd get the backlash of it later that night. He held his head high and puffed out his chest and walked away, towards his study like he had intended.

"Let me walk you to the door..."

Rachel nodded and slowly got up off of the couch, she was hiding the awkwardness she suddenly felt inside, but most importantly she was hiding her instant dislike for Mr. Fabray. As they walked to the door, not one word was exchanged, and it made the house and room suddenly feel eerie.

"Goodbye Quinn, see you at school tomorrow."

"Bye."

Rachel sent her a small smile, which caused a slight tugging in the blonde's stomach. She swallowed hard and ignored it-whatever it was. She watched as Rachel walked away and down the street, making her way to her own house. She took in a deep breath and then sighed, as she closed the door. The sound echoing through the house, which was still eerie and from that day on she'd always dub the house as such. In fact she always felt like it was.

"Quinn get your ass into my study, now!"

The blonde sat on her bed and instantly stiffened at her dads tone. Her mom had a work meeting that night, and in result she was left alone with him. He drank almost religiously and every night he wasn't sober after 8pm. She tried not to admit it, or make it obvious but he scared her, a lot. She wasn't his prized daughter, her sister was. She tried to hold up the image her dad wanted, and attempted to fill her big sisters shoes. She did everything he asked of her, anything that would make him proud but it just wasn't good enough.

The Cheerio slowly made her way down the stairs, and attempted to keep her heart from speeding up to much. She kept her composure and continued her journey to her father's study. One thing she learned from being raised in this family was a Fabray never showed any weakness, especially when it came to emotion. When she arrived at the door she took in a deep breath and raised her fist, which was shaking a little bit. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to knock. If she didn't come to him, he would storm up to her room just the same, so she knew getting it over with was the right choice.

"Come in!" his loud booming voice stung her ears and she pushed her nerves away and twisted the doorknob.

"You wanted to see me dad?"

He nodded furiously and turned to face his daughter. He sat his glass, which was half full of scotch down on the table. By the way he wobbled; it was not his first of the night.

"We need to talk, about Rachel Berry."

She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow-her eyebrows were where she kept all of her emotion. She could speak wonders and volumes with just a simple eyebrow raise, or a furrow and even when she raised them both. It was definitely one thing that Quinn was good at, but she had to be. Over the years hiding all her emotions, made her show them in different ways. Instead of conveying them in an obvious form like most people, her ways were quite subtle.

"W-what about her?"

"Why the hell were you hanging out with her? She is a disgrace and no daughter of mine will be hanging out with her, or her father's! Do you understand me? I can't believe you allowed her into our home."

"Our teacher partnered us up on a project, I'm-I'm sorry...I didn't know..."

Her dad stepped forward, and was closer to her now. She took in a deep breath, once again pushing everything away. She wasn't going to show her dad she was scared of him, but little did she know he was well aware of that.

"You will listen to me and do as I say, understand. I will not allow you to hang out with that dyke."

The word pierced Quinn in the heart, and she had no idea why but hearing it, especially in the blunt and hateful way Russell said it made Quinn feel as though she just got stabbed with a knife and then said knife was twisted about ten times.

"Isn't that a little extreme? I mean just because her fathers are gay, does that really matter? They love each other and I thought love was supposed to be-"

"Don't you dare try and contradict me young lady."

She took in a deep breath. She didn't usually stand up to him, but for some reason this topic in general was bugging her and she needed to. "Love is supposed to be faceless. Her dads love each other and they love Rachel and treat her well, so isn't that all that matters? I don't think god would hate them for loving each other because-"

"Shut up! Don't you dare mention such nonsense!" he took a few more steps closer to his daughter and glared at her. She swallowed thickly when she noticed how close he was. "I'm in charge and I'm telling you to stay away from her!" Russell raised his hand, preparing his ammo.

"But I like her, she's nice and-"Suddenly her words were cut short when his hand connected hard with her cheek. Her eyes instantly began to fill with unshed tears. It was the first time he had hit her, pushing she could handle because that was light and never hard. But this was different. She felt her cheek burn instantly from the harsh power he held behind that slap.

"Do you understand me? You will not be-friend her, I don't want her influencing you." He said, acting as if nothing had happened. Like the slap didn't even exist.

She nodded, still holding onto her sore cheek. She swallowed down the tears that wanted to spill over but she wouldn't allow them to, not in front of him.

"Good, now get lost I don't want to see your face at the moment."

She just nodded once again and ran out of the room. As she descended the first step on the staircase her tears began to sill, and drip down her cheeks. As she hurried inside of her room she wondered how someone who was supposed to love you and claimed that they did, could hit you in a fashion like he had hit her. She slammed the door behind her and slid down it, allowing the sobs to escape freely.

As she walked into school the next day-make-up covering the slight mark that was still left on her cheek when she woke up that morning-she spotted Rachel at her locker. The brunette looked at her and the Cheerio felt a sting fill her, just at the memory of what had played out between her and her dad last night. But she also felt a pang of hurt, or guilt she wasn't quite sure, she knew what she had to do. She had to make Rachel Berry hate her, in order to keep her at bay. As much as she actually wanted to be the girl's friend, she just couldn't. Not after the previous night. The blonde wasn't just doing it for her own safety; she was also doing it for Rachel's in a twisted way.

A fiery Latina soon appeared at Quinn's side and she stood with confidence and a cocky smirk etched into her flawless face. When she had told Santana she had to make Rachel hate her, the girl asked no questions just shrugged and agreed to help. Santana knew nothing about her home life, even though they had known each other since kindergarten.

A bubbly blonde appeared on the other side of Quinn, a smile playing with her lips. She was carefree and sometimes Quinn wished she was more like Brittany, Brittany however knew most of what happened in the Fabray house hold. She was there the first time Russell had pushed Quinn, and from then on the blonde went to Brittany when it happened. She never showed any fear from it, or sadness she just informed the bubbly blonde what had happened. She even knew of the slap that happened the night previous.

"Let's do this shall we?" Santana said.

Quinn swallowed hard and nodded. The Latina pulled a slushie that she had been hiding, from behind her back. "I got the very berry flavour." The smirk grew, if that was possible and Quinn didn't find the pun funny.

"Let's do this before I back out..."

Santana nodded, and all three of them headed towards Rachel's locker. The diva turned to glance at them but before she could get a word out Santana flicked her wrist and the dripping sugary beverage began to drip down Rachel's face and clothes. The brunette chanced a glance at Quinn and in that moment they were both heartbroken. The blonde forced herself to look away and replaced the slight vulnerability that managed to shed through with a fake smile and a fake laugh.

"Red looks great on you...Man Hands." Quinn said. She had no idea where the nick name came from, but it was born. The blonde took a slight glance at Rachel's hands, she knew they weren't manly, but it was an insult and that's all that mattered.

"Matches that horrible outfit, anyone ever tell you that you dress like a preschooler?" Santana said, glaring holes into the brunette.

Rachel held herself together and turned around, her back now facing them, she hurried toward the bathroom and Quinn let out a much needed breath, that she didn't know she had been holding. Santana patted her on the back and Brittany grabbed her hand, knowing the real reason why the fellow blonde had to do what she did.

Santana began to walk away and Quinn followed, slamming Rachel's locker shut as she did so.

::Junior Year::

Rachel chased Quinn into the bathroom, she wasn't sure why she went after her but she's always had a soft spot for the blonde. Ever since the first day they met Quinn had always intrigued her and she'd be lying if she said she didn't have feelings for Quinn. There was something there, but Rachel was too stubborn to even analyze it.

"Quinn you need to calm down!"

The blonde swiftly turned around to face Rachel and pointed at her; anger filling her expression and hurt and sadness filling her voice. Rachel seemed to be the only person to pull out any vulnerability or any emotion in general out from the blonde. That pull at Quinn's gut that only happened when Rachel was around made itself known. It's been there, ever since freshman year but it was getting harder to ignore as of late.

"This is your fault! Nobody ever would've voted for me 'cause they knew he would rather be with you."

"That's not true-"

Quinn lost her resolve and lost her patience. She wasn't even sure what she was angry at anymore. Maybe she was mad at Rachel, because Finn wanted her. Maybe she was mad at Finn because he wanted Rachel and not her. She was a little mad because she lost Prom Queen. She was jealous of Finn that much she did know because he was closer to Rachel, he could hold her and be with her in ways Quinn couldn't. The blonde was scared. All her emotions bunched up and before she could control it her hand raised and it connected with Rachel's cheek.

The sound bounced off of the bathroom walls and as soon as Quinn realized what she had done, regret instantly bubbled up into her eyes. Rachel noticed it; the diva knew how sorry Quinn was based on the look that was held in the hazel orbs. The blonde took in a few heavy and deep breaths and tried to push back the tears but they were coming anyway.

"I'm so sorry." Her voice cracked.

Quinn although she reminded herself of her father in that exact moment, she was different than him. She wanted to take it back, she felt horrible and apologized but regardless she felt empty. She was exactly like him, and she wanted to breakdown even more. Her own cheek began to hurt as she felt his hand collide with her in memory; the first time he ever did it it shattered her pride. Now she just did it to somebody else.