Quinn Fabray runs her hands down the folds of her dress and glances at herself in the mirror one final time. Satisfied, she switches off the light and heads for the door. She has been looking forward to this evening. It's been a somewhat stressful trip so far – not by dint of anything that's actually happened, but just from the nervousness and anticipation that has been building up within her ever since they made plans to visit David's parents in Connecticut. It has actually gone well – the Cabot's were very hospitable, she herself was charming and she's almost positive they have quite taken to her. David and she left for New York City on Sunday after the early morning service followed by a light lunch. It feels good to be by themselves again. She has definitely been wound up a little tightly over the weekend and can feel herself relaxing. David has planned a surprise treat for her – a Broadway musical followed by dinner and she's finally able to get excited about it.


She smiles up at David and accepts the arm he has extended for her as she steps out of the cab.

"Now, are you going to tell me what we're watching?" she asks in mock exasperation.

"Just around the corner, you'll see it in a minute…" he says, laughing. "Although, I guess I could blind-fold you …"

She comes to an abrupt halt, the rejoinder frozen on her lips as she finds herself face to face with the Eugene O'Neill Theater and catches her first glimpse at the name of the show. She doesn't know much about Broadway, but she does know one or two things about this show.

"Well, come on!" David is tugging at her arm impatiently "We have front row seats. The lead actress is really hot and she's supposed to be half naked through half the show. I wanted to make sure you didn't miss out." he says, leeringly.

"Topless. And in one scene." she thinks mechanically, and she bites her lip when her mind completes that with a "And yes, she is"


When the final refrain of "Mamma who bore me" is done, Quinn realizes that her mouth is open and that she has been holding her breath.

"She's gotten even better" she thinks with a slight shock, and then shakes her head. This is Rachel Berry we're talking about, and a Rachel Berry who has spent four years at Tisch at that. Of course she's gotten better.

She fidgets with her purse, praying that she isn't visible from stage. From the start of the show, she's sort-of held her handkerchief in front of her face hoping that will make it harder for Rachel to recognize her. Curse David for bringing her to the one show she was hoping to avoid. And curse her for not having come and watched this earlier; how could she have missed out on this for so many years?

It does not help that she has to watch Jesse St. James make love to Rachel. She had heard that Rachel was playing opposite him, but watching the two of them together just transports Quinn back to junior year and all the drama surrounding the prom.

Wendla's pregnancy and "Whispering" are the hardest to get through. The lyrics are deeply personal to her and Rachel brings so much passion to them that it's impossible to not think of her own "History" and Beth. It takes all her strength to stop herself from sobbing – and she isn't able to prevent a few stifled choking sounds from escaping from her throat. She's aware that David is glancing at her from time to time. She rarely, if ever, cries, but quite a few people in the audience are sniffing at this point, so she's reasonably confident that he won't think it too odd. Still, she knows she can't give in to the tears because once the flood-gates open, there will be no stopping them.

She's openly crying by the end. Seeing Wendla's grave was the last straw, though she can't quite make out whether it's because she's seeing herself in Wendla or she can't deal with the thought of Rachel being dead. David slips an arm around her and smiles gently.

She feels the buzz before she hears it. "Shit" David exclaims softly as he gropes around for his phone. Quinn feels warm around the neck, knowing that they are probably getting a few glares. David mumbles a "Sorry" and puts it on mute. He leans over and whispers to Quinn "I've gotta get this, babe. I'm going to run out when they're doing the curtain call. I'll see you outside?" She nods at him and relaxes back in to her chair. She realizes belatedly that her face is still wet and dabs at it forlornly with her handkerchief, smudging her now very runny eye-liner in the process.

David scrambles out as soon as the applause begins. On the verge of following him out, she turns for a final look at the stage…

… Only to find Rachel Berry's smiling face looking down at her.


"So, Berry, you've done good! You're living the dream" she tosses out, as casually as she can manage. Rachel just smiles at her for a minute while efficiently working on getting rid of her make-up before glancing down at the ring on Quinn's finger and saying "Thanks Quinn, it looks like you are too."

Quinn flushes deep and says in a low voice "Lucy. I've gone back to using Lucy."

She pauses expecting a flurry of questions and is a little surprised when they don't come. Her eyes wander around Rachel's dressing room, her fingers playing with the clasp on her purse nervously. She had been about to leave when the stage hand had reached her and told her that Ms. Berry was requesting that she join her in her dressing room; it was the one at the end of the hall with the gold star.

"His name is David" she continues eventually when Rachel doesn't break the silence "He's a financial consultant in L.A. and we're here on work for a couple of weeks. I mean he's working and I decided to tag along. And to meet his family." Quinn suppresses a strong urge to strangle herself. "I should go, he's probably waiting outside for me…" she says as she rises to her feet; only to find Rachel's hands on hers, gently, but firmly pulling her back down. "Quinn… Lucy. Please sit. I've sent Jeremy out with a note for David; he should be joining us as soon as he's done with his call."

Quinn sits back down. "You were amazing." she says belatedly.

Rachel smiles at her. "Thanks. I was really happy to see you in the audience today."

"When did you see me?" Quinn inquires out of curiosity.

"A few minutes into the first act. I have a habit of scanning the first couple of rows during performances."

"Whispering was particularly good"

Rachel says nothing, but tightens her grip on Quinn's hands – which comes as a shock to Quinn, because she hadn't realized that Rachel is still holding her hands.

There's a knock on the door to which Rachel absently responds with a "Come in" without turning around.

"Are you planning to see Beth…?" she begins but stops when Quinn rises, flushed, pulling her hands free in the process.

"David!"

David walks in with a "Hello, Hello! You didn't tell me you knew Ms. Berry, Luce!" and then, turning to Rachel with an outstretched hand "David. I'm a big fan, Ms. Berry" which makes Quinn wince a bit at the embellishment.

Rachel flashes a big smile at him and says "Rachel. Thanks so much, David, I'm so happy you enjoyed the show!", finally giving Quinn a glimpse of the Rachel she has expected to see for the last 15 minutes.

"So how do you know each other?"

"We were at high school together…" Quinn replies.

"Wow, Luce, you might have told me you went to school with Rachel Berry!" he exclaims.

Sensing Quinn's discomfort, Rachel interjects "Well you know how it is with high school! You want to forget you even went as soon as it's over!"

"So I take it Beth is some old school friend. I didn't know you knew anyone in New York, Luce"

Quinn responds quickly without meeting Rachel's eyes "Yes. We haven't been in touch."

Rachel continues to smile and work on swabbing her face.

Quinn presses on "Sweetie, shouldn't we get going if we want to keep our dinner reservation?"

David looks at his watch and frowns "Crap, we're late."

He then brightens and turns to Rachel "I know! Why don't you join us for dinner, Rachel? We have reservations at Kraft. You two can catch up on old times."

Rachel watches Quinn freeze out of the corner of her eye before turning to David and smiling. "Thanks David, but I can't. I have a work related appointment that I must keep." She turns to her dresser and scribbles a number on a scrap of paper which she hands to Quinn "I'm off-work tomorrow and have a late start the rest of the week. Give me a call if you're bored and want to hang out."

Then, addressing both of them, "Have a pleasant dinner and I hope you enjoy your stay in my lovely city. It was very nice to meet you David and great catching up with you again Lucy!"

She turns her face so David can kiss her cheek and hugs Quinn very briefly before they leave.