Mea Culpa

Chapter 1

Rachel watched as Quinn's lie destroyed her already shattered world. Quinn's parents had thrown her out, wanting nothing to do with their 16-year-old pregnant, unmarried daughter. Now, Finn was throwing her out for lying to him about being the baby's father. Rachel tried to feel a sense of righteous satisfaction, after all Quinn shouldn't have lied to Finn about the paternity of the child she was carrying. It wasn't fair to Finn to be taking responsibility for a child that wasn't his nor was it fair to allow him to become attached to the child thinking he was the dad. It wasn't fair to Puck either for that matter. He wanted to take responsibility for the child, but Quinn didn't want to admit that not only had she had sex before marriage, but she had sex with her boyfriend's best friend! Rachel knew she certainly shouldn't be feeling guilty for being the one to tell Finn the truth, but the nagging little feelings were prodding at her. Sure, she and Quinn were not friends in any definition of the word, but was what she had done by telling Finn any better than when Quinn would draw obscene drawings of her in the girl's bathroom? Finn and Puck both deserved the truth, but she knew in her heart that the truth shouldn't have come out from her but rather from Quinn herself. When she really let herself think about what her reasoning for telling Finn had been, she realized she did it out of spite, a way to get some kind of revenge on the former Head Cheerio who had tormented her for years. Her dads would not be proud of the choice she'd made. It was a selfish, childish act and she knew she was responsible for some of the trauma that the teenage girl was suffering through. Well, she wasn't sure how she could make amends for what she'd done, but she knew she wouldn't be able to face herself until she at least apologized for her actions. Rachel pulled herself up, squared her shoulders and strode purposefully forward toward the crying girl.

Quinn looked down at the smaller girl now standing directly in front of her. "Great," she thought to herself, "just who I want to deal with right now!" Granted, there really wasn't any time that she actually did want to deal with the overly chatty, opinionated younger girl, but did Rachel really have to be there to watch her fall apart? For once, the younger girl had yet to speak, which was odd enough, but the scared look in her eyes was even more out of place. Rachel was not scared of being slushied on a daily basis nor was she scared to face Ms. Sylvester when the aggressive gym teacher shouted at her for not being able to keep up with the rest of the students in the gym class. Surely, there was nothing about talking to Quinn that could be responsible for putting that look in her eyes and silencing her? "What is it, Berry? Do you actually have something to say or did you just want to stare at the pregnant crying loser?" Quinn spat out, tired of waiting for Rachel to finally speak.

"No, no, no...I don't want to stare at you. Not that you are a loser either. Pregnant and crying you are, but that still doesn't make you a loser. After all, you will only be pregnant for approximately nine months, and after that, you will be able to get back into your usual routine. Even while you're pregnant, you really shouldn't stop some form of exercise program in order to remain at your best health! You should speak to your obstetrician about coming up with a pregnancy-safe exer-"

"Berry! Shut up! My god! Did you have something you actually needed to talk about or were you just standing there waiting to give me pregnancy tips?" Quinn interjected sharply. First Rachel wasn't speaking at all, and now, she sounded like the Chipmunks giving her a lecture on exercising!

Rachel felt her cheeks warm as she blushed. This was not going at all how she had planned. She took a deep breath and started again. "I wanted to apologize to you, Quinn. I was selfish and childish. I told Finn that Puck was the father of your child. If you want to punch me, go ahead." Rachel then took a breath and squeezed her eyes shut, preparing herself for the anticipated assault. "Please just try to avoid my nose!"

Quinn stood staring at the girl in front of her. A flash of anger flew through her body, and for a brief moment, she honestly did consider physically attacking the cowering figure standing before her. Just as quickly as it came, though, the anger passed through her and she was once again consumed in her sadness. Laughing dryly, Quinn responded, "Open your eyes, Berry. I'm not going to hit you. You may have had no right to tell Finn about my lies, but he had to find out the truth at some point. Maybe I should be thanking you for just getting it over with for me."