A/N: I didn't exactly hate the whole Lucy thing, but I know a lot of people did, so I wrote this little one-shot for them. Hope you enjoy and, as always, R&R.

A/N 2: For anyone reading my other stories, I'm still working on them. I mostly wrote this to get out of the writing funk I've been in, so hopefully, those will be updated soon.

Rachel saw the posters. She saw all these pictures of a girl who looked sort of like Quinn with "Vote for Lucy Caboosey" written on them. At first she thought they were some lame prank that Santana had set up to try to make Quinn lose votes for prom queen, but eventually, she'd heard the truth. Quinn was actually Lucy Q, and she'd had a nose job. It shocked Rachel. Of all the things that Quinn Fabray could be hiding, this wasn't what Rachel would've guessed.

Rachel decided to make it her mission to talk to Quinn (Lucy? What would she want to be called now?) about everything. Although it seemed that her secret getting out had actually increased her popularity because it humanized her, Rachel still wanted to be there for her if she needed a shoulder to cry on. No matter how many times Quinn pushed her away, Rachel still felt this overwhelming urge to try to befriend her.

It was harder than she thought it would be to talk to her alone, because she was always with Finn, but Rachel was patient. Finally, after a week of trying to speak to her, Rachel found Quinn alone in the auditorium, plucking away at the piano.

"Hello, Quinn," Rachel said, approaching with caution. Even though she considered Quinn a friend, she wasn't sure the other girl felt the same. "How are you?"

Quinn stood up. "It's all yours. I was just leaving."

Rachel was confused. "What're you talking about?"

"I figured you came in here to practice," Quinn said.

Rachel just shook her head. "Actually, I came in here to talk to you."

"How did you know I was here?"

Rachel looked at the ground. "Well...I just noticed that you were walking in here."

"So what, you've been stalking me or something?" Quinn spat out. "Wow, Rachel, your level of creepiness goes up a little more every time we talk."

"Look, I just wanted to make sure that you're okay. I heard about what happened...Lucy."

Quinn glared at her. "Don't call me that."

"Why not?" Rachel asked. "It's your name."

"No, it's-look, just don't call me that," Quinn sat back down at the piano bench, facing Rachel.

"Look, that's actually what I wanted to come and talk to you about," Rachel said, walking a little closer to Quinn. "I don't quite know how you're feeling about the whole...Lucy thing, but I can assure you that it's not really that big of a deal. Everyone has awkward middle school years. In fact, that's probably why no one really cared when they found out. It's just a part of who you are, and you should embrace it."

"It's not a part of who I am, Rachel," Quinn said on the verge of tears. Rachel sat down next to her.

"Quinn, it's nothing to be ashamed of. You should be proud to call yourself Lucy. Although, I think Quinn suits you better, but-"

Quinn stood up and faced Rachel. "That's not my name, Rachel!" she yelled.

Rachel was beyond confused at this point. "Did you get it legally changed? That seems a little bit drastic."

"No, you don't get it," Quinn said, tears pouring out of her eyes. "My name isn't Lucy Quinn Fabray. Lucy's actually my middle name."

"Wait...so your name really is Quinn?" Quinn just nodded. "So why does everyone think your name is Lucy?"

"Because that's what I wanted them to believe," Quinn said. "Please, don't tell anyone, okay?" With that, Quinn ran out of the auditorium, leaving Rachel behind to just stare at the spot that Quinn had been.

Rachel went home that day with a million thoughts racing through her mind. So Quinn was really Quinn? Lucy was just her middle name? Why did she lie about that? Why did she want everyone to think her name was Lucy? What the hell was going on? Rachel spent the rest of the night trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. It wasn't until Rachel came across a very interesting picture online (after hours of sleuthing) that she had a breakthrough. Quinn Fabray was hiding something, but Rachel wasn't sure what. Still, by the time Rachel wasn't able to keep her eyes open anymore, she was pretty sure that she'd figured a few things out.

Rachel went up to Quinn's locker the next day.

"Quinn, may I have a word?" Rachel said.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Leave me alone, midget."

"I really think that we have some things to discuss."

"Why would we have anything to discuss?" Quinn snapped out.

"Because I found a picture on your mother's Facebook last night of your family at Christmas." Quinn's eyes went wide. "You were in it, Quinn. Probably about the age you looked in that picture on the posters. What I found funny was that you were blonde and thin. Maybe a little bit of acne, but nothing like the posters. On top of it all, you had the same nose that's on your face right now."

Quinn grabbed Rachel's arm and dragged her into an empty bathroom and locked the door.

"Okay, first of all, how did you find my mother's Facebook? I didn't even know she had one." Quinn was in a panic. "And second of all, what're you getting at? Are you gonna tell everyone if I don't give you money or all my solos or something?"

Rachel shook her head. "Why did you lie, Quinn? Why would you want people to think that you were ugly?"

"Look, I'll give you whatever you want, Rachel. Just please, please don't tell anyone."

Rachel took a deep breath. "I had a feeling that something was off when those posters came out. Your whole family is blonde, and Mercedes told me that you were only able to relate to her weight issues when you were pregnant. Besides if you were full of self-hatred for being fat, you would've picked on kids with weight problems, but you never did. You only picked on me. I know that I'm not exaclty thin and beautiful like you are, but you never said anything about my weight, so-"

"Don't say things like that, Rachel," Quinn said, barely above a whisper.

"What?" Rachel asked, once again, confused.

"Stop saying all these things about how I'm so much prettier than you, because I'm not." Quinn sat on the floor by the door, and Rachel sat down next to her.

"While I appreciate the compliment, I'd rather we focus on the issue at hand: why did you lie?"

Quinn sighed. "You aren't gonna drop this, are you?" Rachel shook her head, and Quinn let out a humorless laugh. "Of course you aren't. You'll always be the thorn in my side, Berry."

"Look, whatever it is, I won't tell a soul," Rachel said. "I mean, it has to be pretty big if you'd rather have people think the Lucy Caboosey story was true."

"You have to promise me that you won't hate me," Quinn said.

"Nothing you could do would ever make me hate you Quinn." They both smiled at each other. "But if you don't mind, would you tell me how you managed this. Lauren said that she called and visited the schools and got your official files."

"Oh, that," Quinn said. "I really did lie about what school I transferred from. I just had my mom make a few calls when I found out that Lauren was digging up dirt on me, then I sent them that photo-shopped picture and a fake file, and that's what they showed Lauren."

"Your mom went along with this?"

"Ever since what happened last year, my mom pretty much does whatever I ask of her. I guess that's her way of trying to make it up to me."

"And that's all it took? Your mom made a call, and they went along with it?" Rachel asked.

"My family may have lost some of its sway when it completely fell apart, but the Fabray name still holds a lot of power in Lima...not like that's saying much, though." Quinn stopped talking.

"Well, I think this is the part where you tell me the truth."

"I know. I just really don't want to," Quinn said. When Rachel just kept looking at her expectantly, Quinn finally started talking. "When I was in middle school, I was my parents' little angel. You knew that, of course, because you saw how they were with me before everything with the pregnancy. My life was as close to perfect as anyone's could get...until I met Sarah."

"Sarah?" Rachel asked.

"Sarah transferred to my school during eighth grade, and we were immediately best friends. It was great, because our parents got along, so we got to spend almost every waking moment together. When were weren't physically together, we were texting or talking on the phone or finding some way to communicate with each other. Then she got a boyfriend."

"Did you like him?" Rachel asked.

"Just shut up and let me finish," Quinn said, her voice wavering. "So anyway, she got a boyfriend, and I hated it. All she ever wanted to do was hang out with him. I felt like I was losing a part of me. Finally, one day, I went to her house and told her she should break up with her boyfriend. When she asked me why...I kissed her."

Rachel gasped. The Lucy Caboosey thing had been shocking, but this was on a whole other level.

"You...you kissed her?" Rachel stuttered out, and Quinn nodded. "What did she do?"

"She...she shoved me away and said I was sick, then she told her parents and everyone at the school what I'd done. It...it was horrible, Rachel. I went from being the girl that every girl wanted to be to the disgusting dyke in the matter of a day. They started calling me Quinn Fagay. When my parents found out, I told them it wasn't true, and luckily, they believed me. When the bullying got really bad, I begged my dad to let me switch schools, so he put in for a transfer, and I ended up here."

"I got meaner and more closed off. I made friends with Brittany and Santana because I saw the way they were with each other. They looked at each other like I used to look at Sarah...how I thought she looked at me. I knew that if Santana ever found out, she wouldn't say anything, because I'd say something about her and Britt. Plus, they were at the top, and that's where I wanted to be. With my years of gymnastics and cheer leading, I made head cheerleader without a problem, and I never looked back."

Rachel couldn't speak. Quinn had kissed a girl? That was her secret?

"So...you're..." Rachel couldn't quite get it out, but Quinn finished for her.

"Gay?" Rachel nodded. "Yes. I'm gay." Quinn shook her head. "God, that's the first time I've ever said that out loud." Quinn started sobbing, and Rachel wrapped her arms around her.

"Shhh," Rachel said. "It'll be alright." Rachel rocked her back and forth until she'd calmed down a little. She knew that she shouldn't ask anymore of the blonde, considering that she'd just spilled her biggest secret, but there was something still nagging her at the back of her mind. She tried to ignore it, but the question came out of her mouth before she could stop it.

"Why me?" she asked.

Quinn looked at her. "Why you...what?"

"Well, you just admitted that you're gay. I just wanna know...what does that have to do with me?" This wasn't coming out the way she wanted it to. "I mean, why did you pick on me? You've been bullying me since the moment you met me. Why me and not Kurt? Is it because I have two dads?"

Quinn pulled away from Rachel. "Haven't I given you enough?" she asked.

"I don't want you to think that I don't appreciate your honesty, because I really do, but I'd just like to know." She wasn't quite sure why this was so important to her. It was probably because of her dads, but part of her felt like that wasn't it. She almost hoped that it was something else. She wasn't sure what exactly she wanted Quinn to say, though.

"I..." Quinn started crying again, and Rachel tried to put her arm around her again, but Quinn pushed her away. "No, that just makes it harder." Quinn looked at the ground. "Please remember that you promised that you wouldn't say anything...you promised you wouldn't hate me."

"I remember," Rachel said, trying to not be hurt by Quinn's actions, because she knew there was something she needed to get out.

"Rachel...I don't quite know how to say this." Quinn took another breath. "I bullied you...because you remind me of what I am. When I'm around you..." She shook her head.

"What're you trying to say?" Rachel asked.

"I...I love you, Rachel," Quinn finally whispered out. Rachel wasn't sure she'd heard right, but Quinn kept talking. "That's why I always bullied you and said you were ugly. That's why I pushed away your friendship no matter how many times you offered it. I wanted you to hate me, because then you would at least stay away from me, and I wouldn't have to fight staring at you."

"That's also why I wanted you to get the nose job. I just felt like...if you did that, then maybe you wouldn't be so perfect. God, I almost helped you make a huge mistake because I couldn't deal with my feelings. I'm an awful person. I'm so sorry, Rachel. I'm sorry for everything." Quinn was sobbing again, but this time, Rachel didn't comfort her. She couldn't move. She just kept staring at Quinn who was hugging her knees to her chest and crying her eyes out. "Please say something," Quinn said through her tears.

Rachel couldn't say anything. Finding out the girl that she'd thought hated her was actually in love with her had short-circuited her brain. It made her re-analyze every encounter they'd ever had, and thinking back on it, she was surprised that she hadn't figured it out sooner. She was even more surprised that she found herself liking the idea of her and Quinn together. Sure, she'd always wanted to be the blonde's friend, and she'd had more than one not-entirely-appropriate dream about her, but she'd always written that off. Now, though, all she could think about doing was kissing Quinn.

So that's exactly what she did.

At first, Quinn was too shocked to kiss back, but it didn't take long for her to wrap her arms around Rachel's waist and pull her onto her lap. Rachel's hand were on Quinn's cheeks. The kiss didn't last long, though, because Quinn pulled back.

"Rachel, don't," she said.

"Don't what?" Rachel asked.

"Don't do this. You're straight. I don't want you to kiss me out of pity."

Rachel shook her head. "First of all, you don't know me well enough to say anything about my sexuality. Second of all, I'm not kissing you because I pity you. I'm kissing you because this whole thing has shined a whole new light on you and our relationship thus far."

"So...are you saying you like me?" Quinn asked.

"I'm saying that we should probably get to know each other better. I think...maybe we should go on a date sometime," Rachel said, looking anywhere but at Quinn.

Quinn's smile threatened to split her face in half. "So...what about tomorrow?" she asked.

Rachel nodded. "I think that could be arranged, but for right now, I'd actually like to continue kissing you."

Rachel and Quinn spent the rest of the time before school (and a good chunk of their first period) kissing, and Rachel was thrilled that when they finally did leave the bathroom, she was able to call Quinn her friend. She just hoped that she'd be able to call her more than that in the near future.