Never asked to feel your halo (Faberry)

25: I've Drawn Regret From The Truth Of A Thousand Lies

The chapter title is from the Linkin Park song - "What I've Done."

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Rachel arrived at school Monday morning with a new sense of determination . . . masking the familiar sense of foreboding.

After crying so many tears last night that she was surprised she hadn't woken up in a puddle, she felt . . . calm.

Yes, that was the word. Calm. The worst had happened and was now over, Tornado Quinn had ripped through her life and, remarkably, she was still standing after the storm.

So Quinn didn't return her feelings – that could only be considered a good thing. Why on earth would she want to set her sights on the uptight, prudish, holier-than-thou, intolerant, shallow, popularity-driven, bullying – not to mention pregnant – Quinn Fabray anyway? For goodness sake, didn't she have more self-respect than that? Did she really think that the self-proclaimed Head Bitch of McKinley, the cruel and vindictive captain of the Cheerios, was an ideal candidate for a romantic interest? Did she think they'd just click and everything that had happened in their shared past would just melt away so that they could embark on the greatest and most epic of love stories ever?

Really?

Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray?

Clearly not. She'd gotten caught up in the notion of it all and her intrinsically dramatic way of looking at the world had turned a series of, admittedly unusual but perfectly innocent and platonically explainable, events into some quixotic wonderland where she and Quinn were meant to be.

'Be what?' Rachel scoffed to herself as she opened her locker. 'Am I going to take Finn's place at the top of William McKinley's food chain? Or is Quinn going to join me at the bottom, hiding in corners with me to avoid slushie facials?'

No and no!

The only thing they were meant to be was enemies, as Quinn had made quite clear the night before, and Rachel was okay with that. She had to be, when the alternative was clearly madness.

So here she was, with a bright smile and a fresh outlook on life, ready to start the new week with a brand new and much more rational state of mind. Quinn was a Glee-mate and no more than that, as it should be. Rachel felt confident that as soon as she came to terms with that this ridiculous and ill-conceived feud between them would die out and things could get back to normal. So cue olive branches and doves because she was so ready to put the last few embarrassing weeks behind her.

'We did click though.'

That was not a helpful thought! It became even less helpful when she allowed it to distract her from her usual hallway vigilance.

Someone called her name in the crowded corridor and she made the rookie mistake of turning from her locker to see who it was. Matt was coming towards her fast and his normal friendly smile was not in place.

Sploosh!

One icy slap to the face later – at least it wasn't the manure she'd been expecting! – she wiped grape slush out of her eyes and turned back to her locker to retrieve her fresh outfit. She was going to have to start bringing spares for her spares at this rate.

Okay, so it would perhaps take a little more time than none at all for the heightened attack level to go back to normal, but she wasn't going to let that get her down. She was still on the right track to putting this outlandish state of affairs between her and Quinn to bed. She just had to remain calm and . . .

Her locker door slammed, only narrowly missing her fingers as she reached for her plastic bag of clothes.

"A word, Stubbles?"