I'm back! And with another Taylor Swift themed story. As of right now this is a one shot, but if feedback is good, and you want me to continue it I definitely will. I have an idea for a next chapter so just tell me if you're interested in more. I'm also open to ideas. Enjoy and review!
A loss is never met with smiles and cheer. It's never met with congratulations of a job well done. No, that's a young woman just offered the starring role she'd dreamed of since she was four years old. That's a young man advancing through the air force ranks quicker than he should. That is a four year old little boy who just beat cancer, who defied the odds and fought just as hard as the man in the air force did when he was out on the frontline. No, loss is met with a crushing realization that none of that ever happened. It's met with crying and screaming and pain.
Quinn stood off to the side, not yet approaching. It was the same every time. Being there, in that awful place, made it all real. He was really gone, and there was nothing she could do. This wasn't one of his tantrums where he stormed off mad. He wouldn't come back to take her in his arms and spin her around as if nothing had ever happened. He was really gone.
Slowly she stepped forward, placing the flowers in the cup settled into the ground. "You always were trouble Puckerman, but I never thought you would go like this. I thought we had forever."
Out of the corner of her eye Quinn noticed aa figure weaving it's way through the varying headstones. In her weekly visit to the cemetery she'd never seen anyone else bringing flowers to their loved ones. After the first time she thought nothing of it. Why would she? The people of Lima were a selfish people. It didn't surprise her that no one cared to visit the people they loved.
Something about the stranger struck her as familiar. Something in the way she moved or perhaps the way she carried herself, strong yet somehow defeated. Then it hit her. The long brown hair, the ballet flats, the squared shoulders, and drooping head. A sight she'd caused on more than one occasion. As far as Quinn knew no one had seen nor spoken to Rachel Berry since Finn put her on the train to New York. No one knew how to reach her when Finn died, but they all assumed she knew when a plaque dedicated to him came in the mail.
Quinn hesitated to go over. Surely the girl would need privacy, but Finn's grave had been her next stop. Slowly she began her journey over, careful not to step on any broken branches, not wanting to scare the other girl. She watched with a small smile as Rachel set down a bouquet of lilies at the base of Finn's grave before gently placing a small stone atop it.
Quinn faltered in step as she watched Rachel sink down to her knees to face a smaller stone. She hadn't seen it before. Finn 's grave was set, for the most part, alone, but as she let her eyes drift from Rachel's small form she noticed a rather small patch of upturned dirt as if something small had been buried there.
Quinn hesitated, folded her arms behind her back, and bit her lip before she gathered up the courage. "Rachel? Rachel Berry?" She whispered.
Rachel stood immediately, her spine automatically stiffening, and she turned. "Quinn. Hello."
"I, um, brought flowers for Finn." Quinn smiled an awkward smile and bent to lay the flowers next to the ones Rachel brought. She made a mental note to bring some sort of cup to hold his flowers so they didn't blow away in a storm.
"Oh, yes, how kind of you. I have brought some as well. I was very distraught to hear of his accident. How is his mother and Burt? I wanted to come for his funeral, but I couldn't get away." Rachel sniffled and wiped at her red rimmed eyes with a tissue.
Quinn shrugged. "She took it really hard, of course, but I guess she's doing better. It's hard to lose someone you love, but it's even more so to lose your child."
Quinn watched bewildered as Rachel wrapped her arms around herself and began to shake so violently Quinn was afraid she would collapse or give herself a massive headache. She waited for what felt like forever for the smaller girl to speak. "Oh yes, how silly of me." She finally croaked out.
"Rachel? What's wrong? Is it something I said?" Quinn asked.
Rachel shook her head no, and Quinn could quite clearly see that the brunette was struggling for words. Not just out of a loss for them, but also because of the sobs wracking her body.
Quinn moved closer, putting her arm around the tiny girl and pulling her into an awkward side hug. Quinn wasn't great at comforting, but she knew she had to try. She had no idea what to say. Sorry the guy you loved died? Sorry he broke up with you and sent you away? Sorry I was so mean to you in high school? None of that would do. Awkwardly looking around Quinn caught sight of the small unfamiliar headstone. Suddenly, everything made sense.
Ronan Berry
2012-2016
Beloved And Cherished Son
You Were My Best Four Years
"Oh Rachel, I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Forgetting rivalries, awkwardness, years of torture, and years away Quinn wrapped her other arm around the shaking girl, gently tangling her fingers in the soft brown hair of the other girl.