"Rachel."
I turned around and at first I didn't recognize her. She was just another girl out at the bar after a night of clubbing, with a dress covering far too little and makeup covering far too much. She had the look of someone who was once extremely beautiful, but something, probably alcohol and drugs, had taken away some of her shine.
She slid into the booth opposite me, pushing a beer towards me and taking a swig of her own. I was about to tell her not to waste her time or money on me when she leant closer. There was no mistaking those large green eyes.
"Quinn." I gasped.
"Yeah." Quinn let out a half hearted laugh.
I took in the sight of her. She was a mess. Her hair was no longer the golden color I remembered it as. It was jet black but with blond roots shooting up, pulled back in a messy ponytail. Her beautiful eyes were weighed down by the dark bagues and sadness plagued her face. It broke my heart to see her like this.
"You look good." She said, not quite meeting my eyes. I looked down at my clothes. I'd just come from work, a read through for my next broadway show in which I'd be portraying Maureen from Rent. My brown hair fell smooth and straight down my back, and I'd donned a neat black pencil skirt and a red Dior top that cost far more than I was willing to admit.
"Thank you. I was at work..." My voice trailed off. "I'm actually meeting Kurt and Blaine here in a bit, you remember them? Kurt's a designer for Vogue now, and Blaine's rehearsing for the revival of Hairspray, he'll play Tony."
"He's on broadway too." Quinn said, raising her eyebrows. "Seems like everyone is some big thing except for me."
"I-I'm sure you've got something going for you as well." I said kindly, reaching across the table to grab her hand. She just pulled away quickly.
"No, Rachel, I don't." She said angrily. "I'm a bartender. I'm a failure. And do you know why? It's because of you."
Tears welled up in my eyes. The memories came flooding back to me. Quinn and me in high school, kissing in the empty classroom, keeping it a secret from everyone. I swore I was going to marry her, back then. I was so young and naive. She broke my heart that very year. It upset me to see Quinn the way she was now, hurt and broken. But it also hurt me for her to blame me, because she hurt me too.
"You were the one who ended things with me!" I exclaimed.
"I said we could spend some time apart, figure it all out. You still had Finn on your mind, and I had Puck. We were going to our separate schools after high school, we would be apart anyways. But it didn't take me long to realize it was you that I wanted. Only you."
"Why didn't you come back for me?" I cried. "I waited so long for you. Every night I thought of you, of us. But finally I told myself you weren't coming back. I forced myself to push you aside, to banish every memory you and I had ever made."
"I came back." Quinn said slowly. "But it was too late. "You were already engaged to Finn. You married him that spring." Tears rolled down her cheeks. "I never got over you, Rachel Berry. I quit school and found a new love in booze. It ruined me."
Seeing Quinn after all these years was a huge surprise. I'd thought about her so many times, imagined her life now, and how ours would have been if we'd never broken up. Those feelings I'd had for her were all coming back to me now. The joy she'd brought me, the way she made me feel like I was so special, nobody ever gave me that again. Not even Finn.
"Finn loved me, and I loved him." I said. "But that was over long ago."
I held up my hand to reveal a ringless finger. Quinn gasped.
"Eight months ago." I said. "But in reality the sparks died down much longer ago than that."
"What about our sparks?" Quinn said. She reached her hand across the table to hold mine. Our hands fit into each others' perfectly.
"Our sparks haven't been strong in a long time." I said carefully. "But," I continued, "They never died, and I can feel them growing stronger."
Quinn smiled through her tears. Her hair hung in her face. I reached over and pushed the strand behind her ear, looking into those deep green eyes. I'd had to convince myself to marry Finn. Finn was nice, he was sweet, he was dependable. Finn would make a good husband, I told myself. But with Quinn there was no convincing necessary. I knew for sure I wanted to be with her. I suppose I'd always known, I'd just tried so hard to convince myself otherwise. But there was no mistaking this feeling I was feeling .
They say the eyes are the window to the soul, and with Quinn that was true. Looking into her eyes, I saw the beautiful girl I'd loved my whole life. I saw our past, in it's glory. And then I started to see our future, and I knew it was what I wanted.
"I've loved you since the day I met you, and I will until the day I die." I whispered. Then I leaned forwards and I kissed her full on the mouth, our fingers still intertwined.