A/N: I normally don't write angst, but this was bugging me. Title is from Miserable At Best by Mayday Parade.
Quinn has cut off all contact with Lima, because quite honestly, she doesn't want to hear about how the Hudsons are moving into their first child having another child. Because of this, she never hears about the divorce. It was messy but for the best of both parties, even if it's too little too late.
But Quinn never hears about it. She goes about her life, struggling to keep that dreamy girl with the bright brown eyes and the argyle-clad thighs out of her mind.
On the other hand, Rachel hears all about Quinn. Perhaps a better way to put it is that she searches out whatever she can find. She keeps worn newspaper clippings about Quinn's brief Broadway run in a shoebox under her bed. When Quinn lands a supporting role in a summer blockbuster, Rachel is first in line at the Lima movie theatre. She watches from the swivel chair of her cubicle as her childhood nemesis's career grows and thrives far beyond what her wildest dreams held for her.
And years later, at the silly little high school reunion that she almost skipped because she couldn't find a sitter for the kids, she sees something that makes her heart stop beating for several long instances. She wasn't expecting Quinn Fabray, highly-acclaimed movie actress and two-time Oscar winner, to show up in the town that tore her down and poured acid in her open wounds. She still holds that air of daunting authority, but it's more subtle. Rachel can't help but gasp - she's just as beautiful as she was ten years ago, but more. She has a refined quality about her, and something that Rachel can't quite place.
Hazel eyes are scanning the room restlessly, until they finally meet their target. Rachel feels chills run down her spine, and for the first time in years, a smile threatens to cross her face. What if—
"Looking for something?" Rachel hadn't even noticed the brunette woman slip up next to Quinn. It seems odd to her that someone as famous as Quinn would bring a friend to a high school reunion in Nowhere'sville, Ohio, but then she sees Quinn press a quick kiss to the other woman's cheek and tangle their hands. Oh.
That thing about Quinn that made her so beautiful? It was pure, genuine happiness. Maybe once upon a time, Rachel could have shared in that. Instead, all she can do is watch the pair walk away and think about how she so completely missed her chance to get it right.