AN: So I decided to go a different route with the whole Time Travel thing. Not going to say too much about it though, so I don't end up spoiling the plot, but I'll just say that if I did go with a traditional Time Travel fic it would end up just one of many stories of Quinn going back in time to stop her younger self from pushing Rachel away. At least with this, I'm writing something halfway original.
Day 1
Today should have been a happy day; a bright and magical day. It was supposed to be a day that Rachel would never forget. And she won't, but not for the reasons she had wished. When looking back at this day Rachel wouldn't see her wedding day but instead she'd see herself in a hospital waiting room still clad in her bridal gown.
Finn is sitting next to her. The anger he had shown earlier when Rachel refused to go through with the wedding without Quinn has dissipated. Now he's holding tightly onto Rachel's hand, occasionally saying things about how he knows that Quinn's going to make it out okay. His attempts of comfort are futile though, and Rachel wants nothing more than to bat his hand away and find a secluded corner to be alone.
Despite that, she grips on his hand as best she can. It's not him that Rachel's mad at. It's not his fault that Quinn's in the emergency room. No. And Rachel knows that it would be wrong to take it out on him when all he wanted was to ensure that they got married. Perhaps if Rachel had went along and hadn't been so insistent on Quinn's presence then maybe…
Rachel's thoughts leave her when she sees a doctor approach Quinn's mom. Judy Fabray looks awful. It's clear that she's been crying, streaks of mascara ruining her face. Rachel can't bear to see her in this state. She feels the urge to get up, take the older Fabray into her arms and apologize for everything that's happened to her daughter. She doesn't and feels sick because of it.
She watches their exchange and listens carefully, as is everyone else. Rachel cringes as the doctor goes through Quinn injures, but much to her (and everyone else's) relief Quinn's state has stabilized. She's going to make it. He tells them that they can see her and begins ushering them in small groups.
Finn gets to his feet and approaches the rest of the group, but stops when he feels resistance. He turns to find Rachel still sitting in her seat. "Hey, it's okay," he says. "Quinn's going to be fine." He manages a weak smile. Rachel tries to return it, but can't find it in her to do so.
"You go ahead," Rachel replies. "I'll go see her later."
He doesn't question her and relinquishes his hold on her hand. Finn joins the others. Everyone is up, save for Rachel. She sits and she waits. One by one she watches the expressions on her friends' faces. They were tearful and so full of sorrow, but mostly she could see that they were relieved to know that Quinn would be okay.
Of course she'd be okay. Quinn was a fighter; correction, she is a fighter. Quinn had been through so much, she wouldn't let something like this stop her now. Not when she had finally gotten her life together, not when she was finally happy. No, she'd be okay. She had to be. If she wasn't…
Rachel can't even imagine the thought; tears well up in her eyes. She sees Finn approach and wipes her face dry before he can notice. He wears a solemn expression as he stands before her. "You want me to go with?" he asks, gesturing in the direction he had just come from.
"No." Rachel shakes her head. "Go on and head home; I'd like to be alone with her." He looks ready to protest, but chooses not to. Instead he leans in and pecks her on the cheek. Rachel watches him leave before she makes her way to Quinn's room. Everyone else is gone, even Santana, who had turned into a sobbing mess and had to escorted out by Brittany.
Rachel has no idea what to expect when she finally sees Quinn. She can only hope that she can keep it together. But as she peeks through the door she already knows that she can't. Seeing Quinn bruised, cut, bandaged, with tubes attached to her once perfect form; it's all too much.
She can't bring herself to go in any further. Her body is frozen, stuck in the doorway. Tears start streaming down her face. Rachel tries to wipe them away, but more keep coming. She tries to take comfort in beeping of the cardiac monitor, it being the only real indication that Quinn's still here with them. It helps, if only a bit.
Rachel tries to say goodbye, since she can't find the strength to stay here any longer, but words are lost on her. She quietly exits and makes her way home. The rest of the day is a blur. She doesn't even know how she got home and into her room, but as she curls up in her bed she can't find a reason to care. Her body feels numb.
When her fathers call her down for dinner she doesn't reply. One of them brings up a plate for her to eat. She says that she'll eat it later, but she falls asleep before she does. That night she dreams of Quinn. Not of the Quinn that she had just seen, but the girl that for so long Rachel had wished to be friends with.
They spend the day together, away from everyone else and from all their problems. They stroll through their little town, lounge in the park, and watch the stars at night. It's a nice dream.
Day 2
Unlike most days, its Rachel's alarm and not her internal clock that rouses her from her sleep. The memories of the previous day are in her mind. Her heart aches for Quinn in a way that that she's never felt before. Rachel doesn't even get through half her morning routine before she plops back down on her bed, defeated.
She rolls over, completely okay with sleeping in for the rest of the day. But her eye catches sight of the date that's shown on her clock. Rachel bolts upright, taking it between her hands. It can't be right. She places it back down and goes for her calendar. Every day is scratched off with marker; it can't be wrong. But the date on her calendar agrees with the one on her clock.
Rachel breathes out a sigh of relief. A dream, or to be more accurate a nightmare. That's what it had been. And that meant that Quinn was fine. She was okay. It seemed too good to be true. Rachel jumped for her phone and desperately scrolled down to Quinn's number.
One ring.
Two rings.
Three.
"Hello?" a groggy voice answers from the other line. Rachel's breathe catches in her throat. Quinn was okay. "Rachel? Why are you calling me this early?" Quinn complains, groaning. "Look, if this is about me coming to your wedding, I promise I'll be there. Okay?" She hangs up before Rachel can respond.
It still scares Rachel: her dream. But she won't let that stop her from getting married. She goes on with the plan and tries to put her fears aside. She knows that she doesn't seem as giddy as she had been when she had first announced her engagement. And can't help but feel that some of her friends are under the impression that she's getting cold feet.
She doesn't like it, but she's not about to tell them that she had a nightmare which involved Quinn getting into a car crash on the way to her wedding. Especially considering that Quinn isn't there yet. Rachel starts to worry. She reaches for her phone, but stops. No, she can't do that. Too risky.
"Face it. Quinn's not coming," Rachel hears Santana say. Her body goes rigid. She spins around ready to respond, but the first words to come to mind are ones that she remembers from her dream. No, it can't be. That's not possible. Rachel resumes pacing. Quinn's going to be okay. She has to be.
"Finn, out. You can't see the bride before the wedding." Mercedes. No.
"I- I've already seen her." No, no.
"But that's bad luck." Tina. No, no, no.
"Rachel we got to go right now or we lose our spot." No, this can't be happening. It can't, it just can't. It can't. "It's now or never." Rachel looks at him. She's already denied him one. This time she doesn't even bother to give him an answer before rushes past him and out to her car. It's stupid and crazy, but she has to be sure.
Rachel races to the hospital in which Quinn was held in her dream. She ignores the phone calls and the texts she receives. If she's right about this, none of them will be from Quinn anyway. Oh, how much Rachel wishes that she's wrong; that Quinn's safe. It would be worth it, ruining her wedding day, to know that Quinn was all right.
Her phone rings once more. At the next red light she switches it to silent. Rachel can't find it in her to care about them right now. She knows that she'll regret making them worry, even more so when she realizes that she's just being her melodramatic self.
Yeah, right. Even she doesn't believe that one.
She comes to a stop outside the hospital. But what she goes from there, Rachel doesn't know. She feels silly, or at least she tells herself that she does. But then she hears the blaring alarm of an ambulance and her heart starts to race. She shakes her head. This can't be happening. The sound gets louder and louder as ambulance gets closer.
When it comes to a stop Rachel's eyes close in on it. The paramedics open up the back and pull out a stretcher. It's difficult to see, but Rachel manages to notice blonde hair. It's not her, she tells herself. She feels sick about hoping that it's anybody but Quinn but she keeps hoping nonetheless.
Her phone buzzes. It's a perfect excuse to ignore the task at hand. She picks up her phone and checks her messages. There are tons, at least one from each member of Glee Club. They're worried and understandably so. Rachel meticulously goes through each one and gives them all a simple response telling them that's she okay.
She's not of course, but they don't know that.
There's an urge in her to go inside the hospital and check, to see if she's right or if this is all in her head. But just like the previous day, when she had first seen Quinn's damaged form, Rachel finds herself stuck. It's as though, if she doesn't see it then it isn't real. It doesn't really work, but if she is right and so far there's really no proof to say that she is, then she knows that she can't be in there alone. But even with Finn to hold her in his arms, Rachel breaks down to tears when she finally sees Quinn.
Day 3
Sunlight peeks through the curtains covering window, shining down on Rachel's dormant form. She rolls over but then quickly snaps upright. Her eyes instantly snap to her calendar. It's still the same; the day of her wedding. Her body stiffens, refusing to get up. It's happening again. She'll have to see Quinn like that again. But she can't. There has to be something she can do; some way to stop it.
Rachel jumps out of bed to get dressed. She tosses on some random clothes and quickly runs down to her car. From there it's a short trip to Quinn's house. Rachel doesn't think about what she's going to do when she gets there, but she knows what she has to do.
She runs up to Quinn's front door and rings the bell. A few seconds pass and no one responds. Rachel panics a bit but keeps her cool and rings the bell again. This time she hears someone call down, but she can't tell if it's Quinn or if it's her mom. She waits. The door starts to open, revealing a bewildered Quinn.
"Rachel? What are you doing here?" she asks.
"Don't go to my wedding," Rachel says the first words that come to mind. It comes out sounding mean. Rachel quickly backtracks, "I mean, you don't have to go if you don't want to." She knows that Quinn doesn't want to, and hopes to see a look of relief to fall upon her face, but she doesn't.
"I want to go," Quinn insists. "I want to be there for you."
"Quinn, you really don't have to," Rachel interrupts.
"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't show up?"
"Really Quinn, I don't need you to be there," Rachel continues. An expression of hurt passes Quinn's features. It breaks Rachel's heart, but if that's what it takes then so be it. "I'll manage without you there."
"So what?" Quinn questions, bitterness in her tone. "You don't want me there anymore?"
Rachel knows that she'll regret her answer either way. "No," she says.
"Okay, fine." Quinn walks past her. "You know, I'm tired of all your games Rachel!" She's going for her car. Rachel chases after, grasping for her arm. Quinn shrugs her off. "I'm tired of you playing with my emotions like this!" Rachel tries to listen, but she's too focused on trying to stop Quinn from doing whatever it is that she's trying to do.
"Quinn what are you doing?" Rachel calls, panicked.
"What do you care?" Quinn sneers. She's reaching for her keys. She's opening the door to her car. Rachel leaps in front of it, blocking Quinn's path. "Out of the way!" she yells. Rachel shakes her head violently. "Rachel, get out of my way."
"I can't let you leave Quinn." She sees Quinn exhale deeply before bringing up a hand to massage her temple. "Please Quinn, just let me explain," Rachel pleads. Quinn sighs and opens the passenger side door. Rachel quickly gets inside. She gasps when Quinn pushes down on the accelerator. "Quinn?" No response. "Quinn, you probably shouldn't be driving."
"Don't tell me what I can't do." She pulls out of the driveway and starts down the road. "You said you were going to explain."
"Yes, but can we just go back to your house?" Quinn keeps going. Rachel eyes the speedometer. They're traveling at a safe speed, but that fact does nothing to help calm her nerves. "Please Quinn, you shouldn't be driving when you're mad like this."
"Mad?! Who says I'm mad?!" Quinn turns to her briefly. "All that's happened is that I've been uninvited to a wedding that I never wanted to attend in the first place. Exactly why should I be mad?!" Rachel tries to interject but stops herself when she hears Quinn laugh bitterly. She shakes her head, a single tear falling down her face. "I should be thankful really. Now I don't have to torture myself."
"Quinn-"
"Don't, it's okay."
"But Quinn, if you still have feelings for Finn you should have-"
"Feelings for Finn? I don't have feelings for Finn, Rach."
"If you don't then…"
"You don't get it, do you?" Quinn turns to her. "Rachel, I-"
"Quinn, watch out!"
It's too late. The truck hits them, glass shatters and metal crunches. Quinn tries to shield Rachel's body to no avail. An indescribable pain surges through her. She whimpers in anguish. The pain is unbearable, but it's nothing compared to feeling Quinn's seemingly lifeless body desperately on top of her; a desperate attempt to protect her.
"Quinn?" she weakly tries before blacking out.
She's in a bed. That much she's sure of. Her body aches. She slowly opens her eyes, only to shut them when a bright light shines into them. She starts to hear chatter around her. There are a couple of people but she can't make out their voices, or what they're saying. She tries opening her eyes again, groaning as she does so.
"Hey, she's waking up," someone calls, and by the time Rachel has adjusted to the light she sees Finn approaching. He walks up to her and leans in, but doesn't touch her. For some reason Rachel is glad that he doesn't.
"Thank God you're okay," he says. "We were all worried. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine Finn," she replies. "How's Quinn? Is she okay?" Finn draws back at the sound of her name. He breaks his gaze with Rachel and looks to the others in the room for support. "No," Rachel shakes her head. "No, tell me she's okay," she demands.
"Rachel…"
"No! No, this can't be." She starts to sob. Arms wrap around her; it does little to calm her.
Day 4
The pain is still there; both from the car crash and from… the other thing, although she's not quite sure if the former is simply in her head. She refuses to think about it though, about either one. It's a new day and she doesn't even need to check her calendar this time because once more she's woken up in her room.
Her body is numb and she'd like nothing more than to just lie in bed for the rest of the day. Maybe that'll stop it. She doubts that it will. She knows what she has to do. Rachel starts making calls. One by one she checks them off. Most are surprised but they give little comment. Kurt is glad that she's come to see reason. Finn is upset. And Quinn… Quinn seems happy. She tries to hide it, but Rachel knows her well enough to know when she's truly, sincerely happy.
And that's that. Quinn is safe.
AN: Those of you who are not content with how this ended, fear not. There will be a second (albeit, most likely, shorter) part. As much as I enjoy open-ended ending (because really, when does a story really end?) this was a bit too ambiguous, especially considering what I had planned.
I also don't know if the title I chose fits since I don't really know much about physics.