Summary: Song!fic to Set Fire to the Third Bar by Snow Patrol. It's New Year's and Quinn is tired of the Almost's.
I find the map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms, and state lines
The distance from 'A' to where you'd be
It's only finger-lengths that I see
I touch the place where I'd find your face
My fingers in creases of distant dark places
"Are you sure you're not coming, Q?" Quinn looks up from her book to find April, her roommate, standing in their doorway sliding her jacket on. She's wearing tight black jeans that hug her ass just so, and a shirt that shows just a tad too much cleavage. She was headed off to the New Year's party that most of Quinn's 'friends' were attending. A bunch of drunken, sweaty college students jumping around to horrible music just didn't appeal to the blonde.
"I think I'll sit this one out." Quinn says softly and April rolls her eyes, most likely tired of Quinn always rejecting her invitations. But she never stopped trying, which Quinn really didn't mind.
"Next time?" The other blonde asks with a hopeful look.
"Yeah… next time." With that April is out the door and Quinn is staring at her book, the words fuzzy and out of focus as her mind floats away to her memories.
"You're seriously pathetic." Santana states as she plops down next to Quinn on the couch. They're at Pucks New Year's party for the fourth and final year. Something about it all seems different, like everyone knows that this is the end of a tradition that they don't want to end.
"Why?" Quinn asks the girl without even bothering to look at her. Santana scoffs.
"Look at yourself, Q. You're sitting over here watching her watch you and you're not even going to do anything about it?" Quinn's head snaps to Santana at that.
"What are you talking about?" She knows very well what Santana is talking about, but she chooses to act like she doesn't in hopes of not giving too much away. Again, Santana scoffs.
"The eye fucking. You and Berry haven't taken your eyes off each other once." Quinn is about to deny it when Santana's face grows serious, yet softer. "Look, Q, we only have a couple months left. If you're going to do something, it should be now." The other girl then stands and makes her way over to her girlfriend who is dancing in the middle of Pucks living room. Later Quinn will think that it's actually kind of impressive that Santana brought the guy with grabby hands to his knees without spilling a drop of the drink in her hand.
Quinn's eyes slowly trail back to the brunette who is still watching her. The other girl smiles and Quinn almost makes her way over to her. She almost takes her in her arms and kisses the daylights out of her. Almost.
But instead she sips her drink and they sit there sharing soft smiles until Puck drags her to dance, one last time and Finn sweetly asks Rachel to dance as well. They end up watching each other more than their dance partner and they 'accidently' bump into each other a few times as well. The first time it happens Rachel giggles so softly Quinn barely hears it over the music. Maybe she doesn't hear it all but knows that look on Rachel's face means that she's giggling. How can someone be so adorable, and beautiful, and wonderful all the time?
Her phone beeping pulls her out of her thoughts. She glances at it and sees that it's 12:04 on New Years' day meaning that there will be more and more texts as the night goes on. She opens her phone and wishes each person a happy new year's back but stops when she reaches Santana's message.
She's here, Q.
That's all it takes to send Quinn's emotions in each and every direction. She feels nervousness, excitement, and longing jump from her heart to her stomach.
Who's where?
She texts back knowing that Santana knows she knows who. But she needs to know the where. She needs to know because her shoes are already on her feet and her arms are in her jacket. She needs to see her. She needs to be brave this time.
Berry's at the bar with Me, Britt, Kurt, Blaine, and Mercedes.
Quinn's out the door and headed to her car without really thinking about it. She knows it will take her a little over an hour to get there, but she still has that small sliver of hope that things will just… work out this time.
What bar?
She's headed in the direction of New York City when she gets the text from Santana. She really should thank the girl sometime. She's always there for her, in her own way.
I hang my coat up in the first bar
There is no peace that I've found so far
The laughter penetrates my silence
As drunken men find flaws in science
When Quinn sees the sign for her exit in ½ a mile it finally hits her what she's doing. She left her dorm at midnight to search for a bar in the middle of New York that the girl might not even be at anymore. Glancing at the clock she sees that it's 1:36. She's probably home by now, tucked away in her bed.
God Quinn doesn't even know if she has someone that she's tucked in with. What if she traveled all this way and the girl isn't even single? What is she even thinking? She almost skips the exit. She almost decides to just turn back and go home. But when it comes to Rachel almost isn't good enough anymore.
It takes her over 15 minutes just to find a parking space remotely close to the bar. When she finally gets inside she texts Santana. The girl appears in front of her moments later, the expression on her face making Quinn's heart sink.
"She left, Q." Quinn sighs. How could she be so stupid?
Their words mostly noises
Ghosts with just voices
Your words in my memory
Are like music to me
I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
I, I pray that something picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms
Quinn is sitting at the bar nursing her drink when Kurt finally finds her. He has that look on his face, the one saying that he just automatically knows what's going on. Quinn hates that look. She doesn't want anybody in her business. Not right now. Not ever.
"You really care about her, don't you?" Idiot! Of course she does. She wouldn't travel 90 some odd miles at midnight on New Year's for just anybody.
"Yeah… I really do." She says with a resigned sigh.
"Come on." Kurt says after a bit, tossing a few bills on the counter to pay for her drink. He loops his arm around her and basically drags her up. She doesn't want to go anywhere right now. She just wants to sit with her drink and think about how big of an idiot she is for thinking something good could have actually come from this.
"Where are we going?" Quinn asks after shrugging Kurt off and voluntarily following him. Why not, y'know?
"You'll see." They climb into a cab after Kurt gives Blaine Quinn's car keys. He gives the driver an unfamiliar address.
"I could have driven, you know. I'm not drunk or anything." Kurt laughs at this and squeezes her hand.
After I have travelled so far
We'd set the fire to the third bar
We'd share each other like an island
Until exhausted, close our eyelids
And dreaming, pick up from
The last place we left off
Your soft skin is weeping
A joy you can't keep in
They stop at an apartment building and Quinn instantly knows where the boy has brought her. But now she's not so sure she wants this anymore. So many things have changed. There are so many things that could go wrong. What if… what if she gets hurt? Kurt seems to sense the shift in her and loops his arm around her again, pulling her out of the taxi.
"Kurt I can't." She almost pleads and it surprises both of them. She's just so scared. The boy takes her hand in his and locks eyes with her.
"Yes you can, and you will." He says sincerely and Quinn doesn't know what her emotions are doing. She wants to hug him or run away or run inside.
"What if sh-"
"Don't. Just try. Trust me." Kurt cuts her off.
I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
And I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms
Nobody answers the door when she knocks. After having taken a few moments to breathe and analyze what she was doing Quinn had gone inside alone. She needed to do this by herself.
But the brunette doesn't answer the door, and Quinn feels like her heart might be just a little bit broken as she slowly makes her way back outside. Kurt is leaning against a railing and Quinn wonders how long he was planning to stay there. What if Rachel had answered? How long would he have waited?
"The roof." He says and Quinn feels her brow furrow. Kurt notices this and looks up. "She goes up there to think sometimes."
I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
Quinn takes the stairs two at a time until she reaches the final level before the roof. This day, night, morning… whatever it is, it's going to be the death of her. She's feeling too much all at once. She takes a deep breath and reaches for the handle. The door makes a swoosh sound as she pushes it open. Glancing around, Quinn's eyes land on the figure standing by the edge of the roof. She's looking up, watching the stars. Her arms are wrapped around herself and for the first time that night Quinn realizes that it's actually quite cold outside.
Ever so slowly she makes her way to her girl. She whispers a soft "hey" when she's close enough for the brunette to hear but not too close to make her jump out of her skin. Still, the girl twirls around quickly and has that adorable 'I'm going to talk your ears off via rant' look on her face. But the look fades away when she sees that it's Quinn standing there. She blinks a few times before taking a deep breath and stepping slightly closer to the blonde.
"Hey." She says in a whisper. "I can't believe… I mean… it's actually you."
and I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms
Thanks for reading! Review?