Lost and Found
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Glee or any of the characters and aren't getting anything other than enjoyment out of this story, so don't sue me. It would be much appreciated.
Quinn Fabray was a damn good attorney and she knew it. She'd graduated top of her class at Harvard Law School after leaving Lima in the dust. After a while as a successful defender for affluent people and businesses, she decided her true calling lay in a career as a prosecutor. Despite the fact that the pay was significantly less, Quinn packed up and moved to a new position in New York. She was passionate about putting criminals behind bars. So passionate that when some chauvinistic pig of a lawyer decided to flirt with her after a case she would almost lose it.
"Get your hand off me, Ford" she shouted, throwing the offending arm away with such force that the greying lawyer had to cradle it against himself.
"Come on, why won't you come with for a drink?" Ford asked, edging closer towards her.
"Not if you were the last man on earth!" Quinn seethed.
"Don't try to resist, I could get you into my pants in five minutes" he promised. She slapped him straight across the face.
"Looks like it'll only be your hand getting into your pants, Ford" she called over shoulder, storming out of the room.
Walking down the courthouse steps, Quinn finally took a breath. She hated being treated like an object, especially by men more than double her age. It wasn't the first time it had happened, that was for sure, she just assumed that when she started becoming recognised for her prosecuting it would stop. Calming down a little more, she decided to take a rest before her next case. A block away her courthouse was a little park. It wasn't as spectacular as the famed Central Park, but it was a calm and beautiful little woodland next to the river.
Quinn sat down on her usual bench and pulled her usual book from her usual handbag. She'd read the same law textbook since she was in university and never thought to let it go. Her eyes were beginning to slide shut when she heard a familiar voice calling to her.
"Quinn? Quinn Fabray? Is that you?" She turned and gasped. Even with all the years she'd been away from Lima, she could still remember his face. It was Sam.
"Sam" she breathed. He ran to her and hugged her, as if they were still friends from high school.
"I can't believe its you!" he laughed. "And all the way in New York, too" He smiled at her, his mouth still as large and goofy as before. She smiled too with her eyes fixed firmly on the ground. He was part of the reason Quinn had left Ohio. He and Mercedes were still together by the time she left and she couldn't deal with the pain any more.
"What are you doing here, Sam?" she asked him. He lifted her head off her chest and laughed.
"Well, I've always been here. I went into journalism after school, I've been working for the New York Times for a few years" he explained. "What about you?" She was dumbfounded, they'd been living in the same city for little over a year and yet they'd never seen each other. "Well, what about you?" he repeated.
"Oh yes, I'm an attorney actually, over at the court on Centre Street" she answered. He chuckled again, filling her ears with his sweet golden laughter.
"You live here too. What a coincidence" Sam noted. "I didn't know you were interested in law. I guess you left Lima too fast for anyone to know what happened to you" She felt sick to thee stomach. She had left everything behind in Lima. She barely even ever talked with her parents any more. As for her friends, her true friends in Glee Club, she never saw them at all. "Have you heard from the others?" Sam continued. "I mean I talk to Rachel and Finn all the time, Artie is in the recording business in LA. Tina and Mike still live in Lima with their kids, Britt and Santana are still together, so are Kurt and Blaine. Not sure about Mercedes though" Quinn's heart trembled.
"Mercedes?" she said. Sam looked at her confused.
"Yeah, she and I parted ways after high school. We were going to different colleges and truthfully we were starting to drift apart" he stated. Quinn could have kicked herself.
"Hey do you want to get a coffee?" she said suddenly. His eyes gleamed as he took her hand pulling her along the path.
"Sure, I know a great place" he said.
It was probably the smallest coffee shop in New York. The smallest, most inconsequential coffee shop nestled in the middle of the city. And yet, they had both gravitated towards it.
"How do you know this place?" asked Sam as they walked through the door.
"It was the first coffee shop I came to when I got to New York. A witness told me to meet her here on my first day. I've been coming back every morning ever since" explained Quinn. Sam was dumbfounded, the coffee shop he loved was the very same that she visited everyday.
"How did you find it?" she asked.
"Same as you, I guess" he answered. "I met my editor here for a job interview for my position at the Times. I felt so proud that I'd gotten the job that I kept coming back every afternoon" They looked at each other from across the table. Quinn picked up her cup of coffee and took a gulp. She put the cup down and Sam started laughing.
"What?" she giggled. His laughter was infectious she just couldn't help it.
"You've got a little something" he hesitated. He took his finger and gently wiped it across the tip of her nose removing the spot of cream. She shuddered at his touch and they gazed into each other's eyes.
Without reservation Quinn leaned over the table and kissed him. Fortunately he kissed her back, their tongues gradually meeting as she parted her lips. The moment seemed to last forever until they both pulled away to breathe. He gazed at her, adoringly, a goofy grin growing on his lips. She blinked, the passion filled haze clouding her mind clearing a little.
"I'm sorry Sam" she stammered. "I... I just can't" She pulled a note from her pocket and slammed it on the table. Tears streaming down her face, she fled the room.
Sam followed her out of the coffee shop.
"Quinn! Stop! Wait!" he called after her. Quinn couldn't stop running. She didn't care if her hair was out of place or her clothes were getting ruffled. All that mattered was that she got away from Sam. It was obvious that she couldn't control herself around him.
Without realising it, she had run back to the small park where it had all started. She contemplate sitting back down on her seat but she figured he'd find her there. So she ran further and further into the woods, until she found a tall oak tree with a hollow in its centre.
She leapt inside and broke down, desperately trying to stifle her pitiful wailing.
"Well then girl, what's wrong with you?" said a voice in front of her. She looked up to see a shabby looking man with an eerie grin watching her intently.
"What do you want?" she whispered, scared.
"You should know your in my house, love. But don't worry I'll always try and make a guest feel good". The man pulled Quinn from the hollow, scratching at her skin and trying to tear off her dress.
"Help!" she screamed. "Help me!" The man kept at it, his action reaching a feverish speed.
"Hey! Let go of her!" shouted a man. It was Sam, he'd heard her screaming and rushed in to save her like the white knight he was. The man turned for a second to see him and in that time Quinn tugged an arm free and slammed her fist straight across the man's face. He fell to the ground, knocked out, as Sam raced towards her. He lent her his hand but she batted it away.
"No, Sam, I don't..." she muttered before falling limp into his arms.
Quinn woke up in her bed. According to the night outside her window and the soft hazy light coming from her lamp it was late. She looked around, nothing seemed out of place. She had nearly convinced herself the whole thing was a dream when Sam slipped into the room, carrying a steaming bowl.
"You're awake" sighed Sam, relieved. He placed the bowl next to her on a bedside table. "How do you feel?". She looked at his concerned features and smiled.
"Fine" she answered "How long have I been asleep for?" He looked at her the worry seeming to seep out of his face.
"Just over a day. The paramedic said you had gone in to shock and just needed some rest" he answered, gently yet pointlessly taking her temperature before placing his palm into hers.
"Thank you" she mumbled. "For helping me out there in the woods" He stared longingly into her eyes.
"Why did you run?" asked Sam. "Did I do something?" He shuffled closer towards her, never breaking eye contact. Quinn feebly looked away from him.
"I don't know. I wanted it so badly but then I thought of all the things I did to you and just couldn't give myself the chance to hurt you all over again" she said, tears beginning to well.
"Hurt me? What are you talking about" soothed Sam.
"What I did to you and Finn, of course. I wanted to tell you I loved you in our final year but you were dating Mercedes. I just couldn't take the pain, so I left Ohio for Harvard" said Quinn, eyes tearing up a little. Sam looked at her with a mixture of surprise and joy evident on his face.
"You loved me?" he said. Quinn nodded.
"I don't think I ever stopped" she sighed. They looked at each other for what seemed like an hour.
"I love you, Quinn Fabray" said Sam, slowly moving himself towards her.
"I love you too, Sam Evans" Quinn laughed, reaching up to pull her down to him. Once again, they kissed. The kissed deeply and honestly, as if bearing their souls to each other through the connected lips. Without separating from her, Sam moved himself to lay down next to her and embraced her through the sheets that parted them. They pulled apart gasping for air, yet still tangled together.
"You're not going to runaway this time, are you?" laughed Sam.
"Never" she chuckled back, launching herself at him for another kiss