Summary: Song!fic to the song Surrender by Billy Talent. Quinn and Rachel's kind-of friendship kind-of more than that before college.
She reads a book from across the street,
Waiting for someone that she'll never meet.
Talk over coffee for an hour or two,
She wonders why I'm always in a good mood.
Rachel pulls up to the coffee shop and hops out of her car with a spring in her step, faltering slightly when her eyes find the blonde at the table by the front window. Quinn looks so calm and unguarded from this side of the glass. Her hair, slowly getting long again, falls gently around her face, curling at her ears and barely brushing her shoulders. Her glasses are perched on her nose in such an adorably cute way. She has a book in her hand and smiles as she flips to the next page before taking a sip from her coffee. Rachel only wished that things would stay this way when she sits down with the girl, but she knows that when she enters the small shop Quinn's walls will slide back into place.
Rachel knew that she wouldn't be able to knock the walls down right off the bat when she and the other girl had started spending time together after graduation, but she had just hoped that maybe she could sneak through the cracks eventually. But Quinn was always protecting herself, no matter how hard Rachel tried to show her that she wouldn't hurt her.
Quinn looks up from her book and her eyes lock with Rachel's. The brunette feels a slight flutter in her belly when the girl smiles at her and nods her head in the direction of the chair across from her. Rachel smiled back and makes her way inside. By the time Rachel has ordered and sat down the book is gone, the glasses are gone, and Quinn doesn't look as calm as she had before. Sighing, the diva shakes her head and tries to ignore the pain she feels at the other girls hiding herself.
Killin' time before she struts her stuff,
She needs support and I've become the crutch.
She'll never know how much she means to me.
I'd play the game but I'm the referee.
While waiting for Rachel to order Quinn takes some time to gather herself. She doesn't like letting her guard down around the girl, and yet she finds that more and more often it's harder not to slip. She puts away her book and pulls the glasses off her nose. Normally she wouldn't wear them in public but she's basically blind and she's still waiting for her contacts to come in the mail. Last weekend, after a fun in the sun day with Brittany and Santana before they left for California, Quinn had been putting her contacts away and the other blondes cat decided that they needed to go for a swim in the toilet. She had wanted to yell at the cat, cuss him out because obviously he did it on purpose, but she knew that it would make Brittany sad and that was one of the last things she wanted to do in their last days together before college.
She was still a little shocked that it was all over. No more high school, no more cheerios, no more glee club. It was time for real life and all three of the girls had confessed that they were kind of scared. They had always wanted to get as far away from Lima as possible, Quinn especially, but now that it was nearing time to go they were having second thoughts. Why had they rushed it so much?
Quinn shakes her head and lets her eyes find the short brunette who was still waiting in line. Even from this distance and without her glasses Quinn could tell that she looked stunning. It had seemed that the girls questionable fashion sense had disappeared as soon as high school was over. She was now wearing jeans and a navy blue blouse, both of which hugged her perfectly. Quinn closed her eyes and took a breath before Rachel's musical laughter drew her out of her thoughts. The boy behind the counter, Quinn vaguely recognized him as someone from around school, was blushing and handing Rachel a napkin and a pen. Rachel's beaming smile caused Quinn's heart to flutter as she watched the girl sign the napkin and hand it back to him before winking and making her way to Quinn.
"Can you believe that he actually wanted my autograph? I mean, I'm not even famous yet. Obviously he saw us at one of our competitions and was just too shy to ask for it then but still, it's so exciting to think that one day that will become a regular thing!" Rachel said after a bit. Quinn smiled and nodded. Of course she could believe it. She wanted the girls autograph to. Always has, and maybe one day she will actually ask her for it.
Even though I know what I'm lookin' for,
She's got a brick wall behind her door.
I'd travel time and confess to her,
But I'm afraid she'd shoot the messenger.
Rachel and Quinn talk for over an hour before they get up to go for a walk. They head in no direction in particular and neither of them say anything for a bit before Quinn finally breaks the silence.
"I'm going to miss you, you know." Quinn blurts out and Rachel watches as her cheeks color at her words. She smiles at her and, in a rare act of bravery, she grabs Quinn's hand. She doesn't know exactly why she does it, just that she needs the contact.
"I won't be that far away, you know." Rachel says lightly. Her eyes find their way back to Quinn who is looking down at their linked hands and chewing her lip.
"Does that mean I'll be able to visit you in New York?" Quinn asks shyly and Rachel realizes that this is the blonde finally letting her walls slip, if only slightly.
"Of course! It would be quite silly to live so close to each other but never get to see you." Quinn smiles at that but won't look at Rachel. Instead her eyes find a small park and she slightly tugs Rachel in that direction. They let go of each other's hands when they get to the swings. Rachel sits on one and Quinn almost automatically starts pushing her. Rachel feels that flutter in her belly again. After a bit Quinn sits down next to her and swings slowly.
"Does it ever scare you?" Quinn asks after a bit and Rachel slows her swing to look at the blonde.
"Does what?" Quinn still won't look at her but she can see the furrow in the other girl's eye brows.
"Leaving." Quinn sighs and finally meets Rachel's eyes. She looks so… lost.
"Sometimes." She answers honestly. "But then, sometimes the things you're scared of can be the most worthwhile of experiences."
I think I found a flower in a field of weeds,
I think I found a flower in a field of weeds.
Searching until my hands bleed,
This flower don't belong to me.
This flower don't belong to me.
Why could she belong to me?
They head back to their cars when it starts to get dark, their hands once again linked. Quinn doesn't know exactly what it means, if it even means anything, but she doesn't really mind. In two days Rachel will be leaving and in four days Quinn will, but for now they have this... whatever it is. It's a foreign feeling for Quinn to not worry about what is going to happen after they leave. But she knows that Rachel will still be in her life after Lima, and for now that's enough for her.
Thanks for reading. Review?