AN: This is very AU. Fair warning. Another note at the end.
Quinn drove, on and on, the highway blurring into a repetitive image in front, underneath, and behind her little car. Nothing special, nothing unusual and nothing different than the average teenager's car – it blended in with all of the other cars headed to wherever they were headed. That was her favorite thing about it all. She could blend. At school and at home, she was that girl. She was the girl that stood out because of her almost too perfect features. Blonde hair, hazel eyes, porcelain skin, dainty nose, "perfect" figure, and a smile that could make the devil lighten up – she was perfect. She was everything that everyone wanted to be. And it brought her somewhat unwanted attention. It wasn't that she didn't like being appreciated. Quinn did. But, after a little bit, having all eyes on her got tiring. She wanted to be able to throw her hair up in a sloppy ponytail, wear her favorite pair of stained sweatpants, and wake up and not have to immediately put herself together. There was no slack given, even at home. Her parents expected perfection. And her parents weren't people you fought.
So, she drove. She drove to think, to blend, to get away from expectations and assumptions. But mostly, Quinn drove for the feeling. She drove for that feeling of freedom. The wind in her hair, radio playing the songs her parents would never approve of, and her sunglasses hiding those hypnotic eyes from the world. She didn't need a place to go. She didn't need a map. And she didn't need anyone with her. All she needed was gas, the radio, and a road. The road could be bumpy, hilly, slippery, or even crowded. None of it mattered as long as she was in her car and going somewhere.
Quinn was driving the day she saw her for the first time. It was a back road, pretty much empty with lots of twists and turns in it. It wasn't a road you would expect a runner on. Cars drove fast on it and there wasn't that much time to get out of their way. There weren't very many houses around and, the ones that were there were spread out and isolated. So when Quinn turned a corner and saw a tank top and shorts running down the road, she automatically raised an eyebrow and switched lanes, not seeing anyone else around and wanting to give the runner plenty of room. She sped up a little, passed her by a few feet, and switched back into her original lane before glancing in the mirror and promptly having her breath taken away.
Brown eyes, brown hair pulled into a ponytail, lightly tanned skin. A prominent nose over lips slightly parted, mid-pant. She had both earphones in and Quinn wondered if she could hear anything. Her eyes were focused on the road in front of her. She didn't notice Quinn ogling her in the rearview mirror. Which was a good thing because Quinn didn't know if she'd be able to look away if she were caught. Rarely had she ever ran into someone that actually looked good exercising. Santana always looked decent but not even she looked this good.
Not only did she look good. She ran with good form. Quinn was an athlete. A Cheerio and retired gymnast, she knew exercise. Jogging and sprinting were regular cardio exercises. Over the years, she had been trained well and knew how to efficiently run. So did this girl. Her hands were lightly fisted, her head straight, her posture excellent. She even mastered the sinfully easy but often evasive way of rolling from heel to toe to give more momentum. This girl was practicing amazing form. And Quinn noticed, despite the other parts of this mystery girl that were demanding her attention. Like the sweat making her shirt cling to her right around where it overlapped the waistband of her shorts.
And then the eyes met hers in the rearview mirror. There was no denying that the girl caught her staring. Quinn jerked her eyes away, her entire body jerking a little, causing the car to swerve a little. Saying words that would make her mother's mouth drop, Quinn regained control and sped up. She had never been so embarrassed. Her mind ran, still stuck in the moment those eyes came to meet hers. They were like melted chocolate, freshly lacquered wood, or Snooki's skin. That's how ridiculously brown they were. And so…warm. Despite the circumstances, her eyes were soft and warm unlike most people's when they catch someone staring at them. Especially a stranger. Quinn took an abrupt left turn, pulling back onto a main rood and driving straight into a diner's parking lot. She made sure she parked on the far side, where hopefully no one from the road could see her.
Leaving the car running for the air conditioner, Quinn picked up her phone and dialed Santana's number. It rang for what seemed like ages before being answered by a rather annoyed Santana.
"What the hell do you want, Barbie? I'm trying to get my mack on."
"People still say 'mack'? Thanks for opening my eyes to that one. Who's your victim of the evening?" Quinn retorted, enjoying their familiar banter. She liked this. Most people would look at Santana and quiver if she ever said anything to them. Especially things like what she said to Quinn. Quinn, though, loved it. Santana hadn't been drawn to her because of her looks. She had been drawn to her because of her power and the way she let all of Santana's harsh words roll off her back like water.
"Doesn't concern you, now does it, Fabray?" Santana asked, and Quinn knew that she was rolling her eyes, typical Lopez smirk in place. She still remembered when Santana had come on to her that one time. They had been drunk and Santana, always an explorer, had climbed on top of Quinn and started showing Quinn just how she got all those boys. Of course, Quinn was a good girl. She had pushed Santana down and endured the harsh cursing that followed. Later that night, Quinn had noticed her outside with a girl pushed up against a tree. It had instantly become a joke between the two that Quinn was just too good for Santana's lesbian charms. "Anyway, what do you want? And make it quick. There are other matters demanding my," There was a pause and Quinn quirked an eyebrow, trying to drown out the girl's voice in the background, rambling to Santana about her cat, "undivided attention. You have five minutes. Starting now."
"Santana…"
"Four minutes, forty-five seconds."
"Oh, please! That was so not fifteen seconds," She said, rolling her eyes when Santana started making a ticking noise. "Okay, stop, Ms. Metronome. I saw this girl."
"If you're finally coming out of the closet, this is one shitty way to do it."
Quinn hesitated. She had always been open. Well, as long as her parents never found out. She had always been open to the possibilities. Especially when Santana started fooling around, it had opened her eyes and made her wonder. But she didn't think of herself as gay. She wasn't gay. And she definitely wasn't gay for some stranger that she had just met. Santana interrupted her thoughts by speaking again.
"Quinn? If you are coming out of the closet, this is so not the worst way to go about it. I mean, you could come out in a lumberjack outfit or something. Now, that would be a shitty way to do it." Santana's voice had switched from teasing to moderately concerned incredibly fast. Quinn knew that it was probably just because of her own issues when it came to sexuality (issues that no one knew about except Quinn. And even she didn't know that much) but she also knew that Santana actually cared about her, despite her cold exterior.
"No, S, I'm not coming out. It was just…weird. She was just running along – you know that road by the Sonic? Really curvy and hilly? Yeah, that's where she was running. – and, I don't know, I kind of think I want to…befriend her or something." Yeah, or something. Quinn's mind was back to thinking how long she spent staring at her in the rearview mirror.
"And you called me because…?" Santana was right back to not caring in the slightest.
"I was looking at her, in the rearview mirror and she caught me."
"Well, what were you doing, Q? Staring? Drooling?" Quinn hesitated just a moment and it was enough for Santana to gasp and speak again. "You're fucking kidding me! You were so staring at this girl! Give me details."
"So I stared a little bit. It wasn't like I was looking at her like I was Puck and she was on the cover of Playboy." Quinn brought her head down to rest on the steering wheel, starting to reevaluate her decision to call Santana.
"But she caught you."
"Yes, she caught me."
"And you reacted by?"
"Averting my eyes and speeding up."
"And then you…?"
"Drove away. Hid behind the little diner. The one with the amazing bacon sandwiches."
"And…?"
"Called you, regretted calling you."
"And her eyes looked like?"
"Brown. Warm. Deep. Like chocolate pudding. Made it hard to look away. I felt like I could swim in them. It felt like she could see through me. It was…insane."
"Quinn, you have a girl crush." Santana's voice was smug and Quinn just knew she was wearing her smirk proudly, probably while whatever girl she had with her nodded her head and smiled encouraging. They were all robots, really. Sometimes she wondered how Santana could go for the same thing over and over again and not want some type of individuality.
"I do not!"
"I'm sorry, but 'I felt like I could swim in them. It felt like she could see through me. It was…insane'. You have a girl crush about as big as Ellen's on Portia. My friend here agrees." Quinn listened hard to the girl in the background and thought she heard something about how Prince Quinn found her Princess.
"Santana! God, why did I call you?"
"Hell if I know. Probably because I'm your only friend?"
"I have friends besides you."
"None that you would talk to about this." Quinn knew that Santana was right so she stayed quiet, letting the silent confirmation have its moment.
When she spoke again, it was only after deciding that Santana should get to enjoy whatever company she had with her. "Thanks for listening, Lara. I'll let you go spend time with your other important matters."
"No problem, Hillary. I'll see you tomorrow." Santana hung up and Quinn dropped the phone and her hand to rest on her lap, keeping her head on the steering wheel.
Reality was suddenly very unappealing. Especially with her reality, current or otherwise, didn't feature the runner. Quinn knew she needed to get home before her mother got worried and decided to call, or worse – come looking for her. It was rare that her mother reached that point but Judy Fabray did have her moments. Still, despite knowing that she needed to go, she sat there. She'd get home soon. She just didn't want to leave yet. What if the unnamed girl was running by? What if Quinn ran up on her again?
Quinn's mind ran through the possibilities, at first dwelling on the negative outcomes of each possibility. And then, her optimism seeped through and she started coming up with positive possibilities. She could talk to her. She could offer her a ride. The mystery girl could offer her a smile or, if they were talking, a laugh. They could exchange phone numbers. Become best friends. Stick together through thick and thin. Quinn could introduce her to Santana. Eventually, the runner could be induced into their group. She could be the Bryce part of Quinn and Santana's Lara Croft nicknames.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the window and Quinn jerked up, hitting her head on the roof. Mumbling profanities and holding her head, she rolled down her window and smiled at the man not much older than she was bent over to talk to her. "Ma'am, are you okay? You've been sitting here for quite awhile. My manager sent me out to make sure that you don't want anything." He had a country accent and a shock of blonde hair that he swept out of his way with every head toss. She looked at his nametag, examining it as closely as possible until she was sure of the name printed there. She hated embarrassing herself and tiny font on nametags was the main cause of most of her embarrassing moments.
"Sorry, Sam, I just got a little shaken up. Nearly hit a dog on that road back there." She started digging through her purse until she found her wallet. Opening it and digging through it, she made sure she had enough money before turning off the car and returning her attention to the employee. "I'll grab something to eat since I've been taking up a good portion of your parking lot for the last bit." Quinn waited for him to back up before opening the car door and stepping out. She ran a hand along the back of her sundress, making sure it wasn't showing anything it shouldn't be. Satisfied, she shut the door behind her and started walking towards the diner.
"You don't really have to buy anything. We just thought we had to make sure you were okay. You had us scared in there, Blondie."
"I know I don't. But I'm starved, this place has great food, and I'm flattered that you guys would even take the time to be concerned about the girl loitering in your parking lot. It means a lot. And I'm sorry for scaring all of you. I really didn't mean to." She paused a moment, before deciding that she liked Sam. "My name's Quinn, by the way."
Sam shrugged. "It happens. Have whatever you want and I will personally prepare it. But it's nice to you meet you, Quinn."
"Same," She said, smiling and nodding at him before dropping the introductory talk and moving on. "Hm…but what if you don't cook that well?"
"Full refund and I'll take you to a restaurant of your choosing."
"Surely you don't mean like a date? Sam, we just met!"
"But after fixing your food and standing by as you eat it, we'll have known each other for at least thirty to forty-five minutes. I think that's plenty of time, don't you?"
Quinn smiled, ducking her head. He was confident and she liked it. It gave her mind an opportunity to stray from the runner. While mystery girl was still jogging her way through her mind, Sam gave at least a small window of peace. Meeting his eyes, Quinn nodded. "I suppose so."
"That's what I thought." The laughter worked its way from his mouth – which was oddly large and reminded her of Angelina Jolie – to his eyes and she realized just how infectious his laughter could be. "What are you wanting to eat?"
She debated between eating what a "lady" should and eating what she wanted for a minute before deciding that if she ever needed an extra-large Bacon Burger with extra bacon, now was the time. "The biggest Bacon Burger on the menu. Heavy on the bacon. Extremely heavy on the bacon. Please."
Sam eyed her up and down for a minute before cracking up. "You're serious?" When Quinn nodded, Sam's eyebrow raised and he nodded. "Okay, then. I'm getting on it now. Go ahead and get a drink, a seat, anything else you need."
As Sam walked away, Quinn stopped and looked around the diner. It was beautifully decorated. The tables in the center were small and square-shaped, but arranged so that they looked like diamonds. The tables around the walls were booths, with large rectangular tables and what seemed to be extremely comfortable seats. With her back to the counter and kitchen, the soda machine was to her right and seemed to have largely Pepsi products. She had no objections, of course. She was planning on splurging and what could be better to splurge on than Mountain Dew and the biggest Bacon Burger in Ohio?
She headed to the soda machine, grabbing a plastic cup off the dispenser set up beside it. Filling it with as much ice as would fit and then filling it up with Mountain Dew, she attached the lid and grabbed a straw. And then there was the oh so fun part of finding a seat. She had always hated finding a seat. Ever since middle school, she had hated having to figure out where she was to seat. What view was best, what area smelled the least, and who would be the best to eat around. The diner wasn't overly packed but there were too many people for her to not have to sit near someone. There was the family of five over by the far window. A screaming baby, messy toddler, texting preteen, silent father, and a mother on the verge of tears didn't seem like the best environment for her and her splurging session. An old man with messy hair and crusty eyes sat in the middle of the diner, eating at an obnoxiously slow pace as if the world were on pause was a possibility, at least. In a booth at the far back sat a teenage couple who had no idea of personal space. Quinn didn't give any second thought to what they may or may not be doing under the cover of the booth's high back. And then, closest to her, a mother sat with what Quinn believed to be her toddler who seemed to find the salt shaker highly amusing. The younger of the two giggled and shook the salt shaker, sending salt flying. The older laughed; gently taking the salt shaker out of her hand and setting it back down. They were the ones. If Quinn had to sit near anyone, she'd like it to be the good mother and the giggly toddler.
Averting her eyes to look right in front of her so she wouldn't be caught staring for the second time of the day, she walked towards the booth behind them, setting her drink down and keeping her eyes open for Sam. She could smell the bacon and her stomach started turning almost instantly. She was hungrier than she had thought. She looked down and idly traced her name on the table with her finger. She wasn't quite sure why she did this when she was bored. It was just something she had done since she was younger. It had always amused her and kept her from being so dreadfully bored that she slipped into her overactive imagination.
"Momma!" Quinn peeked out from underneath her blonde hair at the toddler's voice, watching as the girl pointed towards her. It always made her nervous when people pointed at her, even young kids. "What's her name? Can I ask her?" And with that, the nervousness faded and she smiled down at the table, wondering how the mother would respond.
"I don't know, baby. Maybe she's a spy, like in the Men in Black movies. Then we can't know her name. We might mess up her plans to save the world. Or, worse, she'll zap us with her memory stick." Whatever Quinn had been expecting, it most definitely wasn't that. She laughed out loud, thankful that Sam hadn't brought her food to her yet.
The little girl shot her mother a look and shook her head. "Mom, they were secret agents. Not spies. And she doesn't look like a secret agent."
"Well, if she did, wouldn't that kind of defeat the purpose of a secret agent? You're not supposed to be able to tell that they're secret agents!" The mother said, and Quinn noticed her peek over her shoulder to look at her.
"Well, let her zap my memory," The little girl replied, stuttering over the word 'memory'. "I wanna know her name."
Quinn finally looked up and met the girl's eyes with an encouraging smile. She noted the mother's slight smile as she turned back to her daughter, letting Quinn slip from her line of vision. She took her daughter's hand and nodded. "I understand. If she zaps you, I'll help you remember. Go on, little brave one." Her mock seriousness made Quinn cover her mouth to stop a giggle as the little girl nodded seriously and slid out of the booth. She made her way over to Quinn and put her hands on the edge of the table for support. If Quinn looked closely, she could see her shaking. Apparently she wasn't as confident that Quinn wasn't a secret agent as she seemed.
"'Scuse me, what's your name? A-and if you're a woman in black, please don't zap me." She muttered, her voice coming out shaky and scared. Quinn smiled at her and shook her head.
"I'm not a woman in black. Though, that would be cool, wouldn't it?" She asked, encouraged when the little girl nodded her head. "My name's Quinn. What's yours?"
Quinn glanced at the mother, then, smiling when she saw how amused she seemed. She returned her gaze to the little girl and smiled when she saw she was looking at her mother, as well. Quinn figured she was probably asking permission to give a stranger her name as Quinn had done similar things when she was little. At what Quinn assumed to be her mother's nod, the little girl looked back to her and smiled. "Stacy."
"Stacy, huh? That's a beautiful name!" Quinn said, taking one of her hands and shaking it gently. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Stacy." Stacy giggled and blushed a little, shaking Quinn's hand back before running over to her mother and whispering in her ear. The mother looked over at Quinn before returning her full attention to her daughter. A nod later, Stacy was standing in front of Quinn once again. "Can – May I sit with you?" Quinn met Stacy's mom's eyes questioningly. At her shrug, Quinn nodded.
"Would you like your own side?" Quinn offered. When Stacy shook her head, Quinn scooted over, making room for her to sit beside her. "Good?"
"Good!" Stacy chirped and started amusing herself by copying Quinn's earlier actions and tracing whatever images were running through her mind on the table. Watching her for a moment, Quinn looked over to the mother and smiled. "Hi, I'm Quinn." She said, starting to reach out her arm before realizing that there was no way they'd be able to comfortably shake hands. She settled for a smile, instead.
"Nice to meet you. My name's Mary. I hope Stacy doesn't bother you too much. She can be a little silly sometimes."
"Well, that's good. So can I," Quinn replied, smiling and looking down at Stacy before her attention was drawn to possibly the biggest burger she had ever seen in her life. It was huge and she wondered, momentarily, if it would even fit in her mouth. Her eyes roamed from the plate up to the waiter and she smiled at him, making grabby hands for the plate as he slid in across from her.
"You're awfully hungry," He commented as she took the plate from his hand and sized up the burger. It would do, though it didn't seem as big up close. Inwardly giggling at the dirty double meaning under her words, she jerked her head back up at his voice. "You got a stalker while I was gone?"
"Oh, uh," She swallowed the unattractively large bite in her mouth before shaking her head. "Not a stalker, a fellow future woman in black. We're going to protect the world from aliens and whatnot, aren't we, Stacy?" Stacy nodded, making Quinn smile and Sam laugh.
"Well, sis, you finally found someone to help you on that mission of yours."
Quinn lifted an eyebrow and angled her body away from them both, eyeing them. "Wait. She's your…"
"Sister? Yeah. Pretty great one, if you ask me. She gets rid of the aliens underneath my bed."
Sam shot his sister a wink while Quinn looked from blonde to blonde. "Huh. That's a…coincidence." She noted Sam's confusion before returning to her meal. A bite or two later, no one had spoken and Quinn decided to explain her statement. "I mean, I weighed my options very heavily before taking my seat. I picked this seat after deciding that this was my best bet. And, here's the coincidence part, it just happens to be the seat behind your sister and…mother?"
"Yes, sweetheart, I'm Sammy's mom."
Sam rolled his eyes at his mom, turning back to Quinn and smiling. "You weigh your options before picking where you're going to sit while your Godzilla burger? That's weird, Quinn."
Quinn looked around the room before returning to Sam with one eyebrow quirked up. "Oh? Look around here, Sam. Start over there with the Brady Bunch," She lowered her voice and gestured with her head, not wanting to appear rude. Her eyes stayed on Sam as he looked away.
"There's five, not eight."
"Yeah, well, they have time to expand," Quinn dismissed his comment, and glanced over at the family quickly to see what trouble they were up to. The baby was still screaming, now through a pacifier, while the toddler applied ketchup to his younger sibling's face. The others all had reasons for not noticing what the younger children were doing. Mother and father were busying themselves with taking turns scolding the preteen. Not that she was all that concerned. With a flip of her hair, and a sigh that Quinn swore she could hear from across the room. The father, finally giving up, noticed the younger children and slapped his wife's hand to get her attention. Quinn had grown decent at reading lips in elementary school when she and Santana mouthed words to each other from across the rows of people between them. The skill had stuck and she tried not to giggle at the stream of profanities and threats that slipped out the mother's face in that moment. Forcing her eyes to leave the family and focus back on Sam, she blushed when she saw his eyes were already on her.
"You like watching people," He observed, smiling a little. "Tell me, Mighty Watcher, did you have a point in making me look over at the Family Circus?"
"One too many," She replied, remembering his comment from earlier. "Would you sit with them? Would you risk your clean blonde hair getting spattered with ketchup just so you can have the wondrous view that those windows provide? Would you make your eyes listen to the constant bickering and tap-tap of that cell phone?"
"Well, yeah! I love ketchup in my hair." Sam replied and Quinn rolled her eyes at his sarcasm.
"Now look at the anorexic Santa Claus."
"You are the kindest person I've ever met."
"I try," She said, growing distracted by the next people to walk in. Two girls, hand in hand, laughing as if they were returning from a comedy act. Short, red hair cut in a pixie cut was worn by a tall girl with pale skin and bold freckles. Shoulder-length (and delightfully messy) brown hair was worn by the shorter girl with slightly tanned skin and possibly the most brilliant eyes Quinn had ever seen. As she watched, the shorter girl pulled on the other girl's hand, making the redhead bend down and kiss her. It wasn't long, it wasn't inappropriate. Quinn had seen worse kisses at church events. Even so, the elderly man looked up just as their lips were meeting and made one of the most repulsed faces Quinn had ever seen. But the girls didn't notice. They giggled, pressing their foreheads together and kissing once more before walking up to the counter to place their order. The man was still scowling and Quinn had to resist the urge to leave her seat and have a lively discussion with him. She knew it would be useless, though. Most homophobes were deaf to anyone who would dare bring up a flaw in their great beliefs. Still, it was tempting, probably because she knew of Santana's current predicament.
"Quinn? Are you still with us?" Sam asked, placing his hand on top of hers and trying to get her attention. He followed her eyes to the old man and then followed his to the couple at the counter. "Oh. Guess he doesn't approve. He's gonna really hate the future, ain't he?" When Quinn didn't respond or turn to look at him, Sam drew his eyebrows together and glanced at Stacy who was staring up at Quinn in quiet confusion. "Quinn, are you…?" He let the question hang open, feeling oddly embarrassed at even asking the implied question. It definitely got Quinn's attention.
"What?" Her voice lifted and she took a moment to gather herself before continuing. "No. No, no, no. I'm straight. Like, really, really, straight. My mom's been planning my wedding for years, now. The theme's Snow White. I'm just still looking for my prince. I just can't believe he's showing his disgust so…obviously."
Sam cocked his head to the side, doubtful, before mentally shrugging. He didn't know her, he couldn't doubt her. "Yeah. He probably should have ordered some manners instead of that soup."
Quinn laughed, though it didn't match her normal laugh. She wanted to go home. She wanted to go home to her heterosexual parents, her heterosexual room (with the exception of that D.E.B.S. movie), and her heterosexual Bible. Looking down at her half-eaten burger, she frowned. Her appetite had left her but she didn't want to waste a perfectly good burger. Surely they had to-go containers here. What respectable restaurant didn't? Fingers crossed, she looked back up and met Sam's questioning eyes. Clearly he wasn't buying it. "Um. To-go box, please? Mom should be home now and she'll really freak if I'm not there."
She watched Sam's face go even more confused as he nodded and left her with his sister to go and get her to-go box. Stacy had been shockingly silent during everything and, Quinn noticed when she looked for Mary, Mary had slipped out sometime during it all. Stacy was looking up at her, a finger resting on her chin. Quinn smiled and rested her head on her hand to mock the girl's staring. When Stacy spoke, though, she instantly sobered up.
"Are you like Ellen?"
Quinn was torn between laughing out loud or being completely mortified that a child would even think that she was 'like Ellen'. Children were the most honest of anything that breathes, or Quinn thought so. She looked at Stacy for a good long minute before shaking her head slowly. "No, I don't think so."
Stacy nodded but shrugged. "If you were, that'd be cool. Lesbeans are funny."
Quinn was giggling when Sam returned. He looked from her to Stacy, who was wearing a confused smile on her face. Turning to her brother, she shrugged and returned her gaze to the giggling girl.
"Stacy, what did you do?"
"Nothing, Sammy. I just told her that lesbeans are funny."
And then Sam's laughter was mingling with Quinn's.
She had left the diner with a smile still on her face and kiss on the cheek from Sam. Maybe she had just needed a good laugh to focus. Stacy had definitely provided that. It had calmed her and when she climbed back into her car, she was relaxed and ready to go. Starting the car, her smile only grew when Andrew Belle started singing, thankful for the mix CD she had made the weekend before. For some reason, his voice soothed her and kept her mind focused on whatever task was currently at hand. The current task being getting home, showering, and falling into her bed.
She was home in record time – her love of driving fast getting her home in record time. Her father had called her reckless when she was first learning to drive but she wasn't really. She was cautious, always watching out of other vehicles and pedestrians. She was an excellent driver. No matter what her father chose to believe. She sat in her car long enough for the current song to end before she cut off the engine and got out of her mobile haven. The garage was empty, she noted, going through it instead of using the front door. That would explain the lack of concern.
Taking her shower faster than normal, Quinn avoided thought. She didn't want to think about the jogging girl, the couple in the diner, or Stacy's innocent question. She didn't want to think at all. All she wanted was to smell pretty and go to bed. So that's what she did. In and out of the shower, racing through her nightly ritual, she was in bed within an hour of being home.
But one thing she couldn't rush was the actual falling asleep part of it all. She could turn off the lights, she could close her eyes, she could cuddle her pillow, and she could turn on her iPod to Enya and Barcelona – but she couldn't force the sleep that wouldn't come. The thoughts that she had been avoiding all day were now bombarding her, driving her crazy.
'I love boys. That's it. Guys are…great.' She thought to herself, rationalizing with herself. Worrying her lower lip between her teeth, a thought wormed its way to the surface of her mind. 'But you like her. Her body, anyway.'
She rolled over, lying flat on her back with her eyes focused on the ceiling. She had always been open. But she had never thought of actually putting that openness to the test. Now she was faced with a mesmerizing girl that she couldn't be certain she would ever evens see again. That was the scariest part of it all. How could such a brief glance cause so much chaos inside her? It was just a glance that was quickly turning into an internal debate.
She had to see her again.
AN: Um, yeah, the end was rushed and the Rachel/Quinn interaction was minimal. If I write another chapter (I intend to), there will be more, I promise. Also, in your opinion(s), should I write solely from Quinn's POV or would you like a few chapters in other character's POV?
Thanks for reading!
