Dames and Gents
*First of all, all mistakes are mine, I'm not sure where I'm going with this.*
Quinn Fabray was not sure if she was excited or horrified to be back in Lima, Ohio in less than two hours. She was heading back, partly to see her mother and to attend Mike and Tina's wedding. When she had got the invitation she had been shocked that, one, she had been invited and, two, they knew her address. She had only kept in touch with Brittany and Santana since graduation nearly five years ago. Once Quinn left for Yale that summer, she never looked back. She enjoyed Yale immensely, where she could focus on what she was good at, academics. Quinn had been taking a scattering of classes falling approximately in the communications area. She had decided within the last six months that she intended to become a doctor. Quinn snapped into focus when McKinley High School came into focus. She was home. She could not help but feel nauseous.
Noah Puckerman happened to be the first person she ran into that day. She had pulled into a gas station and was just on her way inside to pay when she ran smack into a hard body.
"Oh, god. I am so sorry. I was not paying attention." Quinn said quickly before looking up into the eyes of the father of her child. Quinn's heartbeat sped up considerably.
Noah Puckerman, Puck, for his part was just as affected. He just found himself staring at her, as if not quite believing she was standing in front of him. Puck had not realized when she had left all those years ago just how much he would miss her.
"Quinn." Puck breathed, still holding on to her shoulders.
"Puck." Quinn said, afraid to move, afraid of what he might say.
"What are you doing here?" Puck asked her, releasing her shoulders.
Quinn sighed, strangely disappointed at the loss of contact.
"I came to visit my mother, and I was invited to Mike and Tina's wedding, so here I am." Quinn told him, not adding anything in that he did not ask.
Puck nodded. That made sense. "So was I. So, how long are you going to be in town?" Puck asked her, hoping it would be awhile.
Quinn looked up at him and saw how different he looked. While he still had short hair, the Mohawk was gone and he was dressed much more Abercrombie than juvenile delinquent. It was weird, and incredibly attractive.
"A week. I have a break from school and I took a vacation week from work." Quinn said.
"That's great, Q. Are you staying with your mom?"
"Yeah, she kept my old room as it was, so it'll be interesting to see all that again." Quinn noticed her phone vibrating and read her new text message.
"That was my mom, she has gotten to be quite the texter over the years. She wants to know what is taking me so long. " Puck laughed.
"So, in other words, you've gotta head home."
"I do, but it was nice seeing you again." Quinn told him genuinely. She was about to leave to head back to pump her gas when Puck stopped her.
"Do you think, maybe, we could go somewhere and catch up before the wedding?" Puck asked, a little nervously.
" I would like that. You know where to find me." Quinn said, bringing back a little bit of her old school girl sass. Quinn saw him grin at her, before disappearing into the gas station.
_Quinn walked into McKinley feeling apprehensive. She reached the trophy case and relaxed and let out a smile when she saw herself and the rest of the cheerios in all their glory. She heard footsteps coming towards her and she turned in the direction of them, fully expecting a teacher to be coming to tell her that she should not be there. Instead she saw the guy she once thought she was going to marry. Finn Hudson threw a smile her way, and she felt herself returning it , almost angry at herself for feeling at least one of those damn butterflies fluttering around in her stomach.
"Finn! What are you doing here?" Quinn asked trying to calm her nerves. She didn't even have feelings for him when she left this place, why was she having them now?
He grinned at her. "I should be asking you that, Fabray." Quinn could have shot herself at the grin she sent back his way. He was probably married to Rachel with kids by now, she really needed to stop entertaining dreams of the past.
"To answer your question, I work here now. Assistant football coach. Bieste loves me now, anytime she wants some time with her husband, I am there to take her place." Finn continued. Quinn still had that disgusting smile etched on her face.
"That's wonderful, Finn. I bet you are an incredible coach."
"I try." Finn gave her a lopsided smile. "So, what is Miss Quinn Fabray doing here? I thought you were living it up at Yale." Finn asked her, curious.
"I'm here for Mike and Tina's wedding. I took a week off of, well, my life up there." Quinn told him, feeling repetitive. She had only just said practically the same thing to Puck not two hours ago.
"I should have known. How are things going with you anyways? I have not heard anything from you in years." Finn asked, good-naturally. He really hadn't. At first it didn't bother him. They had buried the hatchet long before she left. They were friends, just not good enough friends to stay in contact, apparently. As the years kept going by he found himself thinking about Quinn more and more.
"Things are great. I love Yale, I've decided to go for medical school. My job is not so glamorous, I am a receptionist at a health spa." Quinn said, feeling strange about sharing details of her life to anyone, let alone Finn.
Finn found himself grinning again, he's not sure if he ever stopped.
"That's amazing Quinn. I'm happy for you."
"Thank you. What about you? You and Rachel finally get married?" Quinn asked. While she was still close to Santana and Brittany, the girls knew not to tell her details about the people she left behind unless Quinn asked and Quinn had never asked.
Finn's grin dropped to just a small upturn of the lips.
"About that, let's just say things between Rachel and I did not work out as well as either of us had hoped."
Quinn was shocked. She thought for sure those two would have been able to make it work. Despite her hatred of them together in the beginning, she started to realized maybe Finn and Rachel were meant to be together.
"Oh, wow, I am so sorry Finn. I would not have brought it up had I known. I just knew that you two were engaged last time I saw you." Quinn stammered out.
"Yeah, a lot can change in five years, Quinn." Finn said with a sad sigh.
"Well, on that note, it was good seeing you Finn." Quinn said stepping away from the trophy case, feeling very uncomfortable.
"Quinn, wait!" Finn called out to her. He was not sure what he wanted to say but he had to say something.
"Yeah?" Quinn asked, she really just wanted to get the hell out of this hallway.
"For what it's worth, sometime's I wish things had worked out differently."
Quinn was confused. "What do you mean?"
Finn looked her in the eyes. "I've had alot of time to think, with you being gone and all, and I sometimes, most times, I wish you and I had made things work the first time. I miss you."
Quinn saw nothing but sincerity in his eyes.
"I can't lie to you Finn. I try very hard not to think about any of you guys, I want to keep my past the past." Quinn said, trying not to let her guard down. Finn looked sad.
"I understand, I guess I will see you at the wedding. " Finn said, and he started to walk away. Quinn's voice stopped him.
"Finn, if I did let myself think about you, which I do not then I would say that I missed you too. " Quinn told him with a lopsided smile of her own.
"Good to know. " Finn said before walking away.
Quinn sighed. Five years out of high school and she was still having these stupid feelings for the same guys.
Sam Evans walked over to her and handed her a beer. Quinn accepted it with a small smile.
"Well, if it isn't Quinn Fabray! What brings you back to town, pretty lady?" Sam asked her, friendly as ever.
Quinn blushed. She had always found Sam extremely charming. Of course, he would be here. It seemed to be a trend today, no matter what place in Lima she chose to haunt, one of her exes would be lurking around somewhere.
"Sam! It's so good to see you! I was not expecting to see you until the wedding." Quinn said to him, gulping down her beer.
"Whoa, Quinn, slow down. You want another?" Sam told her, while he got her a replacement beer. Sam knew she was going to be in town, and with his top secret intel source, Santana, he knew where she was heading tonight. He was not stalking her persay, Sam just wanted to see her.
"What's got you drinking like a lush? Never figured you for the drinking type." Sam said to her, not sure whether he should be knocking em' back with her or be concerned.
"I'm not. I've just had a day, Sam. Have you ever had one of those?" Quinn asked then regretted it when he got that faraway look in his eye.
"You could say that." Sam told her, not willing to bring up old issues.
Changing tactics, Quinn observed a ring less hand on Sam.
"So, how are things with Mercedes? I found out from Finn things did not work out with Rachel. " Quinn said, not realizing anything she said would make Sam tighten his jaw.
"You've seen Finn, already?" Sam asked her, feeling a ridiculous amount of jealously building in his veins. He had not seen this girl in years. He needed to get a grip.
"Yes, I ran into him a few hours ago, at the school. I was walking down memory lane and really it's only fitting he had shown up. " Quinn told him, not understanding his weirdness towards her suddenly.
Sam relaxed his body. He was acting like a stupid teenager. He worked with Finn for god's sake.
"That makes sense. Mercedes and I ended on good terms about a year ago. She wanted to try her hand at the entertainment world and I wanted to stay here. Neither of us wanted to do the whole long distance thing." Sam told her truthfully. He loved Mercedes but their time was over.
"Well, at least things ended on a good note. " Quinn had always liked Mercedes so she was not too terribly upset when they had started dating.
"So what about you, Miss Quinn, what is going on in your love life?" Sam asked, hoping she was not seriously seeing anyone. Although, if she were, Sam was not above fighting for the girl he wanted and if tonight was any indication, that girl was Quinn.
Quinn made a face. Truthfully she had not had much of a love life the past few years. She would go on a date here or there but that was pretty much it. Really, the most she had felt for a guy in the years since she had left had all been today, with the same three guys she left behind. She was not going to tell Sam that though.
"Nothing serious, you know me, I am very focused on my studies." Quinn said, figuring it was mostly the truth.
Sam grinned. "Always the bookworm." She and Sam spent the next few hours drinking and getting to know each other again. Quinn found out he was a teacher at McKinley and Sam found out she wanted to become a Pediatrician. They called it a night when Quinn and Sam both started to stumble and slur their words. An hour and a long cab ride home later, Quinn sat on her childhood bed, and stared at the ceiling. She needed to talk to Santana and Brittany, she was getting in way over her head and she had only been there 17 hours.