disclaimer: I don't or Glee or any of that wonderful stuff.

Always Attract

Chapter One
A Reason

"Mummy? Mummy… mummy, you awake?"

Someone, none other than Beth, was beside me, jabbing away at my cheek.

"Beth, sweetie, what is it?"
My eyes flew open as she jumped onto my stomach, kissing the top of my forehead.

"The sun is out, and today we go see Aunty Tana remember? You said it's a long drive, so we have to wake up extra early when the sun came out."
Beth's face bared an overwhelming smile, one that was impossible to say no to, dimples and all.

"What are you wearing? You got dressed all by yourself did you?" I snuggled her head into my neck, resting my chin on top of her head "you look very smart, I'm sure Aunt Tana will be very happy to see you and looking so beautiful!"
She struggled out of my grasp and skipped off down the hall to her own bedroom, I couldn't help but grin as her hair bounced with her step.
It was moments like that, where the battle of the past 5 years, were completely worth every single second.
I jumped out of bed, reaching for my phone, checking it for messages.

Santana
You better not be bailing on me this time, see you when I see you
p.s tell Beth hi TANA - XX

Noah
Beth left her coat at mine, the one with lions, I know she loves that one, I'll bring it back Tuesday.

My hand fell back down to the bed, I tilted my head forward, groaning as I tried to think of replies.

Hey babe, Beth's up and dressed so I guess I can't say no this time, see you when I see you xo – Quinn
I hit send and moved onto Puck's message.

Thanks, that'd be great, we're going to see San for the next few days, so just use the spare key. By the way, thanks for looking into those kindergartens for her, I've been so busy lately I'd forgotten. Talk later, xo – Quinn

"You don't want pancakes for breakfast this morning?" I asked my daughter as she sat in her chair, propped up and alert.

"No thank you, can I please have eggs?" her head rested against her shoulder, giving a little pout.
I walked to the fridge, pulling out the carton of eggs, holding it up for her to see, she nodded and put her head back down, coloring in her book.
I laughed and cracked the egg into the frying pan, listening to the sizzle as I searched for a egg lifter.

"So Aunty Tana said to say hello." I passed her the Dinosaur divider plate she'd picked out when we had visited the local market last month.

"I can't wait to see her!" She giggled, watching me stumble as I lifted the fried egg onto the toast. "Mummy, I want to go see your other friend, I forgot her name, Ray? Um.."
I poured her OJ and went to sit in the seat beside her.

"You mean Rachel, honey? Well she's very busy, Aunty Tana's been telling me, she's on Broadway now.."

"what's… Broadhay, why is she on it?" her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out this new word.

"Broadway, baby, it's a place people go to see plays, she's an actress, like the one you might see on TV, except this is in real life, and on a stage."
I began cutting up her toast into smaller pieces "so I wouldn't think she'd have time to see us."

"But she had such a nice voice… she sung for me when her and Aunty Tana looked after me, I like her singing."

"You'll have to ask Aunty Tana when we get there, but eat your breakfast baby."
I put her cup beside her plate and got up, cleaning down the bench.

I was starting to get drowsy and the sun was setting in the distance, perfecting the horizon with a golden tinge.
Beth was asleep in the backseat, clinging on for dear life to her lion teddy.
I rushed my fingers through my hair, that I'd left down and messy, since Beth decided it were more important to not get in the car without her lion coat than let me run a comb through it for more than five seconds.

I tried to keep my mind on the road, but it kept trailing off, it was often that my thoughts did this as I got to New York.
I stared up at the buildings, as they towered over me, the beauty of the city in lights.
It wasn't often that I regretted my life choices after Beth came along.. But whenever I came to this concrete jungle, there wasn't a part of me that didn't wish I was able to live here.

I knew it was in Beth's best interest to stay in Lima, to maintain the most of a normal life that I could give her with her father.
Nothing could change my situation, Beth was my life, I would come second compared to her, and I'd grown strong enough to accept that.

The staircase to Santana's apartment seemed endless whenever I visited her, Beth would fall asleep on the drive and be impossible to wake, thus, I would carry her to the 18th floor, because conveniently, the elevator was always under maintenance.
I wrapped my arms tighter around my daughter as I reached Santana's apartment, I lifted my fist to the door and knocked 3 times.
I waited until eventually, I heard the rattling of a chain on the other side.

"QUINN!" attacked by Santana's hug, I reached my arm around her waist, holding a grin across my face, glad to see one of my closest friends for the first time in awhile.

"Santana," I stated once she let go, I put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back, glancing up and down her body, "you're not looking too bad, New York life must be treating you good."

She shrugged her shoulders "you don't look so terrible yourself."
Her hands reached out to take Beth, I willingly, let her.
Relieved, I rolled my neck, to loosen up, as I walked into her apartment.

Santana laid Beth down on the couch and covered her with a blanket, kissing her gently on her cheek.
I began pacing around the room, letting my finger slide along the cabinets and selves.

"Did you want a drink? When will Beth wake up? Should I warm her up some nuggets, I know she likes those. Thank you for coming, really, Quinn, I'm happy to see you, you know… actually out, doing something for a change."

I chuckled, moving past a photo of Rachel and Santana. "Beth'll be out for the rest of the night, I'll go for a drink and I'll grab one of those nuggets, if you don't mind."

"righteo, what'd you want? I got tequila and- oh, right, Beth. How about a water? Iced Tea? That shit is good."

"Iced Tea'd be great." I propped Beth's head up, while I scooted underneath her, letting her head rest on my lap.

"San, I'm so tired.." I played with my baby's hair, looking up at Santana as she passed me my drink. "I got Puck on my back about seeing Beth all the time, I got Puck on my back about introducing his new girl to Beth all the time, I got fired from my job, Beth's starting kindergarten soon and Beth hates Lima, she's forever wanting to go elsewhere, to the museums to see the dinosaurs, to the zoo's to see the lions, and it's not just once, San, she wants to go all the time."
Santana crossed her legs and leaned back into the couch.

"So Puck's got a new girl and you're fed up with Lima, what's keeping you there then?"

I sighed, rubbing my thumb over the cold glass. "Beth. She needs her Dad, she needs stability, I had enough trouble finding that apartment, I couldn't even imagine trying to look somewhere else."

"well… Why don't you move in with me?"

I snorted, choking on my drink. "yes, Santana, I'm going to up and move to New York."

"Yes. You should." She moved in a little closer, staring me in the eyes, "think about how much time I'd spend with Beth!"

I nodded, throwing off her idea and starting back up "I'm worried that if Puck wants to spend too much time with Beth.. he'll file for full custody, he's got the job, the house, the girl, he's the courts ideal father, while I'm struggling to feed her."

"oh please, like Puck would ever do that to you, he still loves you, you know."

"No.. no he doesn't."

Santana stood, hitting my leg as she walked past to the kitchen "he does and you know it, he's trying to do best by what he thinks you want."

"I don't want him like that San.. the guy knocked me up and left me, what am I suppose to do? Forget the past?"

"No… I'm just saying that… maybe if you did, Beth could have a proper family, one were the parents actually love each other, rather being sent back and forth."

"I can't do it, not with Puck anyway.."

"Alright, okay, I'm not fighting with you Fabray, now pick your daughter up and go put her to bed, I've already set up your bed, so you can get changed in there afterwards, you know where my room is, down the hall and to the left, I'll get dinner ready for us, now Quinn, before I have to kick your ass." Her smile, as sweet as candy.

Santana never failed to make me move, it wasn't that I was afraid she would actually kick me.. or maybe it was, regardless, I was up.

Once dinner was over and Santana had finished talking about her life, her and I decided to hit the hay, since she had planned a day for Beth the coming day.
I had on pajama shorts that had the leopard print that Beth begged me to buy and a random baby tee I had chucked into my suitcase the day before last.
I let my hair down and tussled it to one side, I grabbed my phone and crawled into Santana's bed.

Puck
Can't stop by this weekend, taking Carly to Arizona to meet her parents, say hi to Tana for me.

unknown number
hey Quinn! Santana let me know that you're in New York for the next few days, call me, we'll catch up X

"SANTANA!" I called out into the silence, before she came barging through the door, jumping onto the bed, she flipped onto her side so she could see me, and supported herself on her elbow.

"What's the need, Fabray?"

"Who's is this number?" I stuck my phone under her nose.

"Oh, that's Rach, she's been wanting to catch up for ages now."

I took my phone back and read over the text again, "oh, Rachel.. how are um, you and her?"
It wasn't that long along that they'd dated, but I'd somehow managed to have forgotton.

"We're fine, just you know, we're still friends, she's doing really well though, she's understudy for some big lead."

"I'm sorry… I know I wasn't around for when you's two split, it's just everything's been so over the place.."

"It's fine, Quinn, I'm fine, she's fine, and that's all there is to it. Anyway, I wanna sleep, we're taking Beth to the Empire State tomorrow and I don't want to feel dead in the morning so." She put her hand over my eyes and kissed my forehead. "Night sweets."

"Night, San." I grinned, curling my legs into my chest, as I closed my eyes and kissed Santana goodnight.

A/N: I'm just going to go ahead and make the assumption that somebody may have actually read this and say, thank you. Hopefully this will please your little Faberry hearts.