Quinn Fabray walked down the streets of Lima, crying. They had just gotten back from New York and Finn and Rachel were back together (obviously). Part of her knew she deserved it, she had treated Rachel like crap and Karma was coming to bite her for it. But part of her thought that the universe just didn't want to see her happy, like they enjoyed seeing how much they could break her before she couldn't put the pieces together anymore.
She heard thunder crack overhead and she groaned. It was supposed to be summer and not only was she wearing a jacket, but now it was about to rain and she didn't have an umbrella. She pulled the hood on her jacket up to cover her long, blonde locks. She had went against Santana's suggestion to cut her hair in New York and just decided to put some pink streaks back in it, like she had when they did Lady GaGa in Glee club. She thought they turned out great.
She continued walking as light droplets of rain started to fall. She crossed her arms over her chest and tried not to think, but of course she did. And of course she thought about the one thing in the world she didn't want to think about ever again.
Finn.
She hated him. He broke her heart. He loved Rachel more than her. She never wanted to see him again. But, deep down, she knew that Rachel deserved Finn. She hated to admit it, but it was true. The first time they dated she was awful to him, making him think his best friend's baby was his. She wasn't any better the second time. She was still crazy and jealous and just wanted Berry to fall off the side of the Earth. But she hurt more than just Rachel the first time around. She hurt someone who genuinely cared about her and loved her for who she was at that moment, not for anything that happened last year.
Sam Evans.
She felt an ache in her chest as she thought about Sam. She was so stupid with their relationship, so careless with his heart. All he had ever done to her was love and support her. And she traipsed all over it. She hated that Sam would barely look at her now, and that when he did his eyes were filled with sadness and hatred. She knew she deserved it, but she hated the fact that she lost Sam. Not that she wanted a relationship with him again -she didn't want to hurt him any more than she already had- but she wished she could at least have some sort of friendship with him. But she knew at that moment it was too hard.
The rain started falling harder and she groaned and started running for shelter. She ran a good two blocks before she found a coffee shop. She was soaked and freezing and just went in. The coffee shop had its air conditioning on, and Quinn thought she'd freeze. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered as she walked to an empty table and sat down.
She heard a burst of laughter erupt from a few tables away from hers and turned to see a group of boys in Dalton uniforms, except for one, Kurt. She realized that the Warblers were having a get-together and included Kurt because, well, Kurt was now a part of Kurt and Blaine and nobody really had the heart to separate them. They were too happy when they were together.
She walked to the counter to order a hot chocolate. The cashier rang it up and it ended up being a little more than the blonde anticipated. She was eighty-three cents short. She sighed and felt as if she was going to burst into tears as she looked at the lady helplessly. Just when she thought she couldn't hold back the tears anymore, she heard a male voice behind her say, "Don't worry about it. It's on me." before putting down the exact amount of money Quinn needed to buy her drink.
The lady handed Quinn her cup and smiled at her. She thanked her softly and turned around to face the boy. He was from Dalton (obviously) and he had straight, dark brown hair and eyes. His hands were in his pocket as he looked at her, shyly.
"You didn't have to do that." She finally said, softly. She didn't want to feel like she needed someone -least of all a guy- again so soon. And she didn't want to be indebted to someone either.
"I know. But I hated seeing the look on your face, like you were trying so hard to hold it together but were going to lose it at any second. So, I helped." The guy replied honestly. Quinn was shocked. Had she really looked like that? Was her face that easy to read? She had spent most of her life trying to hide her emotions and now this one Dalton boy knew everything about her? It was a little unnerving.
"Thank you. I'll pay you back though. I really only needed eighty-three cents." She replied and the guy shrugged.
"It's no big deal. I'm Nick by the way. Nick Duval. And you are…?" He asked, trailing off.
"Quinn Fabray, ex head Cheerio at McKinley. Why do you ask?" She asked, her guard instantly going up. The guy just shrugged once again.
"You seem interesting, that's all. And I don't mean that in the cliché 'I've never met anyone else like you in my whole life. We're destined to be together way' either. You just seem… different than most people. A good different."
She rolled her eyes. "Still sounds pretty cliché to me." She quipped, which caused him to laugh. She couldn't help but smile. He had a contagious laugh.
"Well, again, thank you for the money, I will have Kurt pay you back, and maybe see you around." She said, quickly, once she realized she was losing her shield around him. She couldn't afford to. She couldn't hurt another person. She tried to walk away, but he looked at her, confusedly.
"Okay?" He said, but sounded slightly sad. Quinn looked at Blaine, begging him to make eye contact. Luckily, he did and she darted her eyes toward Nick.
"Nick! Come on! You're missing the fun!" He yelled to the pair.
Quinn looked at him and smiled. "Guess you better get back to your friends." She said. "I'll see you around, Nick." She added softly.
Nick smiled and nodded and walked back to his Dalton friends. Quinn made her way out the door as quickly and quietly as possible. She didn't want anyone to see her leave or start crying again.
NQNQNQ
That night, as she lied on her bed, she thought of the boy who had helped her that night. He seemed nice. And unassuming. And he was really good at reading people. Quinn was intrigued by him. But she couldn't be. She had already hurt too many people. Finn. Puck. Sam. Finn. Again. Rachel. She didn't want to add the nice guy that had helped her out just because it was "the right thing to do" to that list. She wasn't even sure she could get close to another person again.
But, even as she thought and knew all of these things, she couldn't help but think of his smile or his infectious laugh and how his brown eyes looked sad when her protective shield went up around her. She couldn't help but think that she wanted to get to know this guy. And what scared her was, with school out for the summer -and her and Finn being broken up- there was nothing stopping her from doing it. As she rolled over and turned off her light, there was one other thought in her mind.
She was so screwed.
So… again. No real explanation. I really like Nick's character and I think he needs more love and Quinn… well, I have a love/hate relationship with Quinn. I hate what she did to Sam. He loved her and she just broke his heart, without really even caring that she did. But at the same time, when Finn broke up with her in "Funeral" and he asked her if she felt anything at all, I felt for her. Really felt for her (and let's face it, I've never, ever been Finn's biggest fan).
And, so, this was born! Should I continue it? I'm thinking of making it a chapter story. But I don't know. What do you guys think? Review and let me know!
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee if I did the Warblers (and Klaine!) would get A LOT more screen time!
