For addictedtoemma who inspired this with a rather brilliant prompt. Unbeta'd so I apologize for any mistakes. I do not own Glee.
'Mione,
Went for a jog with Merlin, he's probably asleep.
Working the long shift again tonight so I won't be home for dinner.
Love,
Q,
Hermione crumpled up the note on the refrigerator and tossed it in the trash. It was the sixth night in a row that Quinn hadn't been home for dinner. Last week the blonde at least managed to come home for a quick dinner before heading back to the hospital. But Hermione felt as though she hadn't seen her girlfriend at all this week. The only time she saw Quinn was when she woke up in the morning to find the blonde passed out on the couch, obviously too exhausted to make it to bed.
At first Hermione was concerned, thinking Quinn was being overworked and probably not eating or sleeping properly. But now she was just annoyed. She didn't even have Merlin tonight to keep her company.
"She could have at least not worn you out with her infamous five mile run," Hermione muttered as she spotted Merlin curled in his bed snoring lightly.
Surprisingly, the next morning Hermione woke up to find Quinn was in bed, snoring softly. Frowning, Hermione got out of bed (not even worrying about waking Quinn). On her way out she spotted another note on the fridge.
M,
Working long shift tonight & tomorrow.
Q
With a huff, Hermione decided she'd had enough. She wasn't going to spend another night alone with just a sleepy Merlin to keep her entertained. She'd already pestered Harry and Ginny enough the previous week; and remembering someone at work mentioning wanting to start a book club, she decided she'd ask a few friends from the office if they wanted to come by the next few days.
The following three weeks, Quinn's work schedule didn't change. The blonde, however, did manage to surprise Hermione for lunch or dinner once or twice, but otherwise it was almost as though the two weren't a couple but just flatmates. Especially since Quinn stopped leaving notes for Hermione a week ago.
Hermione was sure Quinn didn't even realize that she spent Wednesday evening hosting a book club, Thursday evening at the Potter's, Friday evening at the Burrow and Saturday evenings at home for dinner and a movie with Luna, Ron, Neville and one of her co-workers, a pretty blonde witch named Sarah, who also attended the book club.
Lately on both Wednesday and Saturday nights, Sarah would stay later for dinner or to help Hermione clean up before leaving. One Saturday, after the others had left Hermione, who was particularly hyper off too many butter beers, insisted Sarah stay to watch another movie, a horror film Quinn kept telling Hermione to see.
Quinn decided to come home early, hoping to catch Hermione before she went to bed. Quinn noticed the TV on the living room and walked in.
"Baby?"
Sarah and Hermione had been captivated by a very intense scene and both screamed when they heard Quinn jumping towards each other.
When Hermione realized that an axed murderer was not in the apartment she let go of Sarah.
"Quinn?"
Quinn didn't respond, shocked to see Hermione and some blonde floozy snuggled on the couch together, her jaw clenching.
"The Quinn?" Sarah perked up, letting go of Hermione and standing to her feet, oblivious to the death glare Quinn was giving her. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you." She held her hand out. "Hermione doesn't stop talking about you at work."
Hermione, who was still slightly tipsy, got to her feet, stumbling a little. "Quinn baby, this is Sarah. Sarah, Quinn."
"Nice to meet you," Quinn stated through gritted teeth, shaking Sarah's hand a little harder than necessary.
Sarah was a bright girl and she quickly put two and two together. "'Mione, I should get going." She mumbled, gently massaging her hand. "It was nice meeting you, Quinn."
"By, Sarah! See you at work!" Hermione waved, noting the tension radiating off of Quinn, but not caring. "I thought you got off at five?" Hermione turned back to Quinn.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your plans," Quinn growled, walking to the kitchen. She noticed a couple of dishes in the sink and empty bottles of butterbeer. "Hope your dinner date was lovely."
Hermione fed off of Quinn's energy, sobering up quickly, all the nights alone or without Quinn for the past four weeks coming to her mind.
"If you must know, Quinn, she's just a friend from work. But I can't understand why you're upset since it's not like you've been around for dinner dates or cuddles on the couch."
"I've been working, Hermione!" Quinn yelled.
"Yeah. Well how would I know. You're never here."
"Because I'm at the hospital."
"And what, Quinn, I'm just supposed to stay at home alone with Merlin night after night without seeing my girlfriend for weeks?" Hermione crossed her arms.
"So what?" Quinn snapped, "You and Sarah getting cuddly on the couch every night, then?"
"No. Just Mondays and Saturdays," Hermione said calmly, knowing it'd wind Quinn up.
Quinn's knuckles were practically white, her jaw tight as she strained to keep her emotions in check. She inhaled sharply then let it out slowly before walking silently to the bedroom.
"What, Quinn?" Hermione followed the blonde to the bedroom. "No reply?"
Quinn didn't even look at Hermione as she grabbed a duffle bag and shoved some clothes, moving to the bathroom to grab a few things.
"Wonderful," Hermione rolled her eyes. "How very adult of you?"
"Well it's not like I'm wanted here anymore," Quinn finally broke her silence, after zipping up the bag, her voice cracking.
"Gah!" Hermione yelled, her hands lifted in frustration "You are such an idiot sometimes, Lucy Quinn Fabray!"
Quinn's chest tightened, her jaw stiff, keeping the tears at bay. She swallowed once then reached in her pocket. "Obviously." she choked, before pulling her hand out of her pocket.
"I guess it was really dumb of me to ask for extra shifts so I could get you this?" Quinn said, shoving a small jewelry box into Hermione's hands before leaving.
Hermione distantly heard the front door slam as she opened the box, revealing a beautiful gold diamond ring, causing the brunette to drop to the floor in a heap, tears streaming down her face.
Some people have suggested I continue this. Please Review and let me know if you want to see how this continues. I'm still up in the air about it - I have thoughts, but well. I'm more of a one shot fic kind of writer, so... yeah. Thoughts and critiques welcome!
