Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"
A/N: I wrote all of this in about twenty minutes after watch "On My Way" so it's probably really rough, but there it is.
Face It. Quinn's not Coming.
Rachel doesn't want to believe it, but sadly facts are starting to stack up against her faith in her friend. She knows that Quinn was in her heart of hearts is still against them getting married, but she had seemingly accepted that it was going to happen whether she supported them or not. Rachel knows that Quinn was putting her own feelings and concerns aside to be happy for Rachel and Rachel kind of loves her for that.
She also knows that Quinn was doing it strictly for her. The venom in Quinn's voice the other day in the dress shop when Quinn said Finn's name made abundantly clear how Quinn now felt about Finn. To be honest, that really wasn't anything new. All of Quinn's objections to their relationship had always been about Rachel, about how Rachel deserved better, about how Finn wasn't good enough for Rachel. It was never once about Finn.
Finn stood staring at her expectantly. She could feel his eyes on her back. He'd said it was now or never and she'd turned away to text Quinn again. She hadn't been able to turn back to him.
Rachel stood staring at the clock. At 5 o'clock they would lose their spot. After five they would have to wait to get married another day and Kurt's constant comments about waiting and Quinn's disapproval would wear down her resolve or she'd get into another fight with Finn about something. She'd have to ask him what his plans are for after graduation and he still wouldn't have any. It wasnow or never.
At the absolute last second Rachel and Finn go into the hall where the Justice of the Peace was waiting on them. Finn walks down the aisle past the row of empty chairs to stand at the makeshift altar. Burt and Carole follow him and sit in the front row.
Everyone knows that that they should start making their way down the aisle but there's no plan for it and there's no music and no one knows what to do. Everyone looks at everyone else waiting for someone to lead them. Everyone was so used to Rachel doing it but her brain is elsewhere still. Mr. Schuester isn't there. Finally, it's Santana of all people that starts humming. It's Bruno Mars' "Marry You" the song they sang for Burt and Carole's wedding.
Rachel notices and thinks it's tacky that they're recycling a song from another wedding but she can't think of anything else, so she says nothing. Instead she looks back to the door once again hoping against hope to see it open and the last missing member of the group come back to them.
It doesn't happen.
They still didn't have a processional order so Blaine, attempting to take the lead and hoping people will follow, proffers an elbow to Santana thinking to maintain the traditional boy-girl paradigm but Santana just rolls her eyes at him and shoves him slightly in the general direction of Kurt before taking Brittany by the arm and they walk down the aisle together. Next go Mike and Tina followed by Blaine and Kurt. Mercedes pushes Artie's chair and they're followed by Sugar and Rory. Puck throws his arm around Sam's shoulder and they make their way down bro-style.
Hiram and Leroy each offer Rachel an elbow and she accepts both of them. The group switchs songs to "Here Comes the Bride" and the Berry men start to move forward but Rachel doesn't. Rachel's busy being distracted by all the ways that this isn't her dream wedding.
Rachel is an ambitious, career-minded girl, but she is still a girl. More than that, she's a girl who likes to make plans. So, yes, she's thought a lot about what her wedding will be like… and this is just not it in so many ways. There's no band and the music is wrong. They have bouquets but there aren't any other flowers. There are suppose to be pink and white lilies as far as the eye can see. They're inside at the Allen County Courthouse, not outdoors in a park. Her dads are here but her Nana's not. Her dress is pretty but she bought it at a Dressbarn and had it altered by a woman named Theresa. It was supposed to be handmade by Vera Wang or Donna Karin or Kurt Hummell especially for her. The paparazzi are supposed to be camped out a mile or so away on a nearby hill with cartoonishly long lenses just to try to get a blurry photo of her in her dress to sell to the tabloids for obscene amounts of money. And when it's over they aren't going to huge reception with a four tiered cake and an enormous spread of food but rather to the Berry house for finger foods. They aren't going to a beautiful Honeymoon Suite but rather back to theirseparate houses. They aren't going on a honeymoon to Fiji or Paris or Madrid… they're just going back to school on Monday.
And Quinn's not there.
Quinn's not there.
Quinn's not there.
Quinn Fabray is not fucking there!
Rachel knows something is wrong… well pretty much everything is wrong, but the only thing she really cares about right now is that Quinn isn't there. She knows something is wrong because Quinn promised that she'd be here and she's not here.
A moment after her hesitation, Hiram and Leroy both look at Rachel doing everything they can to keep the smiles from their lips at Rachel's hesitation. They don't want this and now they have hope that Rachel has, at long last, come to her senses and realized what a mistake this is.
Their hopes are dashed a moment later when Rachel plasters on her Superstar smile and nods to each of them. Hiram counts out time softly with the music so that they all proceed forward at once. They've practiced this. Rachel does it automatically without thinking. Instead she's listening for the doors to the hall to open, listens to hear Quinn trying to slip in as quietly as possible without disturbing the goings on, but she knows it's not going to happen, because something is wrong.
But then when they're five paces from the altar, the door does open although not quietly. Rachel knows without looking that it's not Quinn. She doesn't know who it is but she would know if it was Quinn and it wasn't Quinn. She looks back slowly dragging her fathers to a halt.
It was Miss Pillsbury. Her lips were tight and her eyes were downcast. Rachel knew it. Something was wrong. Something had happened to Quinn. Herdamned sixth sense was never wrong. It was right when it told her that there was a good person underneath Quinn's bitchy exterior. It was right about Quinn keeping secrets about her baby. It was right about Quinn's ulterior motives for helping with her song last year. It was right about Quinn needing someone to reach out to her at the beginning of this year. It was right when it told her to go after Quinn at Sectionals.
So when her sixth sense had told her to seek out Quinn's advice about Finn's proposal… that means it was right then, too. Which means that Quinn was right.
Rachel looks from Miss Pillsbury to Santana and sees that she knows too. Santana looks to her and nods her head silently. Rachel withdraws her arms from her fathers', hands Leroy her bouquet, and slipps her engagement ring off. She power walks to the altar. Finn offers her a hand up the step but she sticks the ring in his open palm instead. She closes his fist around the diamond and softly says, "I'm sorry."
Without another word or glance, Rachel turns and marches up the aisle trailed quickly by Santana and Brittany while everyone else looks on confused and Finn looks stunned, crushed.
Rachel didn't want to hurt him but it was going to happen now or later and she would apologize once she knows that Quinn will be okay, and once she could wrap her head around the enormity of what was occurring to her. Every time her sixth sense told her anything it was always in relation to Quinn in some way.
When Santana is flying down the streets of Lima en route to the hospital, Rachel, from the back seat says, "Brittany, Santana, do-do you consider each other soulmates? Do you even believe in such a thing?"
"We do," Santana says.
"And we do," Brittany adds.
"Have you ever… have either one of you ever just known when the other needed help or was in distress in some way?"
"Yeah," Santana says simply.
"All the time," Brittany elaborates, "Why?"
"All things considered," Rachel says, "I want to tell you to slow down, Santana, but I can't… Quinn needs me."