Awake
You'll Never Walk Alone
“Quinn, can I talk to you?”
Quinn stopped halfway to the door, tempted to ignore Rachel, to walk out and just leave her there.
But she didn’t, turning around to face her as the rest of the kids left the choir room, leaving them alone. “What do you want to talk to me for? Isn’t Finn waiting for you or something?”
“No, he’s…going out with some guys from the football team.” Rachel answered.
“Yeah? Well you’d better be careful with him. He doesn’t really know what he wants, so he changes his mind all the time. He did it to me. He’s done it to you. Hold on to him or he’ll just do it again.”
Rachel frowned. “No, Finn loves me. He won’t leave me again. Not after what happened in New York.”
“Rachel, he dumped me at a funeral, using Coach Sylvester’s eulogy as a reason. He yelled at me when he didn’t think I was upset, and then when I did get upset he said sorry and told me he still loved me. He broke up with you for cheating, but he’s cheated too. He cheated on me with you. More than once. He convinced me to cheat on Sam with him. More than once. The only time he doesn’t like cheating is when someone else cheats on him. He’s not this perfect person you think he is. He’s flawed and, frankly, kind of an idiot.”
“Quinn, I didn’t ask you to talk so we could talk about Finn.” Rachel protested, sighing.
“Just let me finish. Look, you’re going off to New York after graduation. What are you going to do with him? Leave him here? He’s not going to go with you. Will you be willing to leave him? Or will your ridiculous idea of this ‘meant to be’ love keep you here, with him? Face it, Rachel, he’s dragging you down. When he’s in your life he’s all you think about. You have all these dreams, and yet your world seems to only be about him when you’re together. You’re obsessed with him. And you’re so much better than that, Rachel.”
Rachel stared at Quinn, shocked. She was pretty sure Quinn had never spoken so much to her in her life. Except maybe last year in the theatre, when they’d had than gone-wrong meeting to write a song. “I don’t…that’s not true.”
“Last year you told Finn you wanted to be the only thing that made him happy.”
“I was…insecure. And how do you know about that?”
“He told me. And I know you’re insecure when it comes to him. You asked me to ask him out last year, remember? Just to see if he’d say yes and break up with you to be with me.”
“Yeah, I remember. But we’ve changed since then. Grown.”
“What? When you got together because of an unprofessional kiss on stage that ruined Nationals for the rest of us?”
“You sound like Jesse.” Rachel pointed out calmly. “Besides, you have no facts to back up that that’s why we lost at Nationals. After all, we wrote and choreographed the songs…what? The night before? Come on. Look, I’m as disappointed as anyone that we lost, but you can’t blame Finn and I.”
“The Rachel Berry I know wouldn’t ruin a performance for anything.” Quinn said stubbornly.
Rachel looked away. “Why do you even care?”
That actually made Quinn pause. Why did she care? Where was all of this even coming from? She had no idea what had spurred this sudden rant at Rachel. She didn’t even know she paid that much attention to her.
“I don’t. It’s just fair warning about Finn. I don’t want to have to deal with you when he breaks your heart again. And I’d like to actually win at Nationals this year.”
Rachel sighed. “Look, none of this is why I wanted to talk to you.”
Quinn rolled her eyes, now just wanting to be out of here. She should have just left and never stopped to talk to Rachel at all. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“I just…I noticed you looked really upset earlier. I know you’re lonely, Quinn. But you have to know you’re not alone. You have all of us in the Glee club here for you. And look at Kurt. Last year he thought he’d never find anybody, and now he and Blaine are together, and he’s so happy!”
“What are you talking about? Who says I’m lonely?” Quinn snapped, suddenly defensive.
“Nobody. I just noticed. You didn’t rejoin the Cheerios with Santana and Brittany, you never eat lunch with them or the rest of us anymore. You-“
“Maybe you should spend a little time on your own business, Berry. And I’m nothing like Kurt, okay? I’m focusing on other things right now. My grades, getting good scholarships for college. Unlike you, I don’t always need to have a boyfriend to be happy.”
“That’s fine, Quinn. But you’re cutting yourself off from everybody, even your friends. It’s not healthy.”
“Don’t preach to me. Just…don’t. Are we done here?”
“I- …Quinn.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I have studying to do. Go home, Berry.” Without another word, Quinn turned and left the room, leaving Rachel alone in the choir room.
Quinn stopped halfway to the door, tempted to ignore Rachel, to walk out and just leave her there.
But she didn’t, turning around to face her as the rest of the kids left the choir room, leaving them alone. “What do you want to talk to me for? Isn’t Finn waiting for you or something?”
“No, he’s…going out with some guys from the football team.” Rachel answered.
“Yeah? Well you’d better be careful with him. He doesn’t really know what he wants, so he changes his mind all the time. He did it to me. He’s done it to you. Hold on to him or he’ll just do it again.”
Rachel frowned. “No, Finn loves me. He won’t leave me again. Not after what happened in New York.”
“Rachel, he dumped me at a funeral, using Coach Sylvester’s eulogy as a reason. He yelled at me when he didn’t think I was upset, and then when I did get upset he said sorry and told me he still loved me. He broke up with you for cheating, but he’s cheated too. He cheated on me with you. More than once. He convinced me to cheat on Sam with him. More than once. The only time he doesn’t like cheating is when someone else cheats on him. He’s not this perfect person you think he is. He’s flawed and, frankly, kind of an idiot.”
“Quinn, I didn’t ask you to talk so we could talk about Finn.” Rachel protested, sighing.
“Just let me finish. Look, you’re going off to New York after graduation. What are you going to do with him? Leave him here? He’s not going to go with you. Will you be willing to leave him? Or will your ridiculous idea of this ‘meant to be’ love keep you here, with him? Face it, Rachel, he’s dragging you down. When he’s in your life he’s all you think about. You have all these dreams, and yet your world seems to only be about him when you’re together. You’re obsessed with him. And you’re so much better than that, Rachel.”
Rachel stared at Quinn, shocked. She was pretty sure Quinn had never spoken so much to her in her life. Except maybe last year in the theatre, when they’d had than gone-wrong meeting to write a song. “I don’t…that’s not true.”
“Last year you told Finn you wanted to be the only thing that made him happy.”
“I was…insecure. And how do you know about that?”
“He told me. And I know you’re insecure when it comes to him. You asked me to ask him out last year, remember? Just to see if he’d say yes and break up with you to be with me.”
“Yeah, I remember. But we’ve changed since then. Grown.”
“What? When you got together because of an unprofessional kiss on stage that ruined Nationals for the rest of us?”
“You sound like Jesse.” Rachel pointed out calmly. “Besides, you have no facts to back up that that’s why we lost at Nationals. After all, we wrote and choreographed the songs…what? The night before? Come on. Look, I’m as disappointed as anyone that we lost, but you can’t blame Finn and I.”
“The Rachel Berry I know wouldn’t ruin a performance for anything.” Quinn said stubbornly.
Rachel looked away. “Why do you even care?”
That actually made Quinn pause. Why did she care? Where was all of this even coming from? She had no idea what had spurred this sudden rant at Rachel. She didn’t even know she paid that much attention to her.
“I don’t. It’s just fair warning about Finn. I don’t want to have to deal with you when he breaks your heart again. And I’d like to actually win at Nationals this year.”
Rachel sighed. “Look, none of this is why I wanted to talk to you.”
Quinn rolled her eyes, now just wanting to be out of here. She should have just left and never stopped to talk to Rachel at all. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“I just…I noticed you looked really upset earlier. I know you’re lonely, Quinn. But you have to know you’re not alone. You have all of us in the Glee club here for you. And look at Kurt. Last year he thought he’d never find anybody, and now he and Blaine are together, and he’s so happy!”
“What are you talking about? Who says I’m lonely?” Quinn snapped, suddenly defensive.
“Nobody. I just noticed. You didn’t rejoin the Cheerios with Santana and Brittany, you never eat lunch with them or the rest of us anymore. You-“
“Maybe you should spend a little time on your own business, Berry. And I’m nothing like Kurt, okay? I’m focusing on other things right now. My grades, getting good scholarships for college. Unlike you, I don’t always need to have a boyfriend to be happy.”
“That’s fine, Quinn. But you’re cutting yourself off from everybody, even your friends. It’s not healthy.”
“Don’t preach to me. Just…don’t. Are we done here?”
“I- …Quinn.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I have studying to do. Go home, Berry.” Without another word, Quinn turned and left the room, leaving Rachel alone in the choir room.