So, I know I have a Tartie story going on...but I got inspired by a couple gorgeous YT vids so this came out. I may or may not continue it later, I'm still deciding. I'll definitely write more Finn/Quinn later :) This is mostly inspired by the conversation I wished happened sometimes in the back nine, but alas, nothing. Set in the first week of the next school year/season. Spoilers for season 1.
Please tell me what you think :)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I wish... :/
He honestly didn't expect anyone to be in the choir room yet. They had 40 minutes till Glee practice. Everyone was supposed to be in class right now. He has a study period, but he just couldn't make himself go to the library. It was the first week of school, anyway; it's not really going to matter.
Lifting his head as he walks into the room, he sees a head of blonde hair, turning to the sound of his footsteps. He freezes; this is awkward. He hasn't really spoken to her yet. Well, he's talked to her. Just not alone. Not about anything other than Glee. He only saw her once during the whole summer, when Rachel made them go to Brittany's pool party. She wore a bikini, her body as good as he remembered it, though he rarely got to see it. It was like she'd never been pregnant.
There was a book in her lap, and he uses to his advantage, "I, uh, I can just go-" he stammers, pointing at it.
"No, no. It's okay, Finn." She smiles slightly, closing the book without marking the page. Glancing at the seat next to her, "We have the same study periods." Her smile widens a bit as she says it.
"How'd you know?" he asks, shoving his hand into his pocket as he takes a tentative step towards the chair next to her.
She looks at him, "You never cut class." It was a fact, he didn't. It was one of things he was proud of. But right now it made everything worse, that she knew him still.
He nods his head awkwardly, looking around the room for something to say, anything.
"We're allowed to talk, Finn." She says, before biting her lip, "If you want to?"
He just nods, again, and feels like a loser. Finally he just sits down next to her, dropping himself to the seat a little too suddenly so that his shoulder hit hers. She automatically twists herself away.
"How...was your summer?" he asks, the words feeling foreign in his mouth even though he'd been saying them all week to various people.
She bites her lip, not sure how much information to give, "It was... good."
She looks good, he couldn't help but notice. Her skin was tanner and her hair a little lighter from the sun. She had stopped wearing so much makeup and hairspray after leaving the Cheerios and he was glad she hadn't started again. He looks away before he thinks about it too much.
"You're living with your mom again, right?" He knew he was right, everyone in Glee knew what happened at Regionals and afterwards, but still, it felt like it he wasn't part of this story.
"Yeah..." she starts, thinking whether or not to go on, but giving in, "It's not bad, but she's trying to pretend like nothing ever happened. She wants to talk to Ms. Sylvester about letting me back in the Cheerios."
"Oh, uh, is that what you want?" he asks, trying to remember what Rachel had said about listening to someone's problems. Mainly though, she was talking about her own. He'd never talked to Quinn like this before. She'd never wanted to talk to him.
She bites her lip, uncertain, "I don't know. I don't think I want to go back to who I was before."
"Hey, you could be nice." He says it smiling, his hand touching her shoulder before he pulls it away quickly.
"Rarely."
"You've really changed, Quinn. Like in a good way. You're a nice person now." He means it. He didn't talk to her, but he notices things. How she became friends with Mercedes, was nicer to Artie. She had changed.
She turns her head too look at her, her gaze grateful. "I didn't know what I was missing," she admits.
He looks her in the eye for a second before looking away. He can't take it. They were the same eyes he remembered, all he could remember was those eyes telling she was pregnant, and that he needed to get a job and asking if they could be in love again.
He starts to talk but chokes on his words and ends up coughing so hard she needs to whack him on the back.
They settle into an awkward silence and the words come tumbling out of him before they can stop.
"Did you ever love me?"
Her eyes widen at the question and she looks scared. He knows he is.
She nods, her voice cracking when she starts to speak, "I didn't know what love was, then. But I did. Lord knows, I didn't show it though. "
Crap, he thinks, she's going to cry. He wonders whether to comfort her or change the subject.
"I wasn't exactly the best boyfriend..." he says, wondering whether he should bring up Rachel. Deciding against it, he's goes different path. "Have you heard about Beth?"
She bites her lip and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear before nodding her head. "Yeah, actually. Ms Corcoran invited me to visit her on the weekend."
"That's... nice?" he says, trying to gauge her feelings about it.
She shrugs, looking a little helpless, "I can't go alone. And P-" she turns to look at him as if asking for permission. He doesn't say anything, and she continues, "I think everyone's kind of forgotten she ever even existed now."
"I can come with you." He offers instinctively. She looks at him and they're both equally shocked. He shouldn't have said anything. She shouldn't have said anything. They should've moved past it like everyone else did. Move on with life. Focus on other things. He gnaws the inside of his cheek and thinks of Rachel and their date they planned for Friday and how she makes him smile and how she inspires him and then his gaze shifts to Quinn and all he can see is her face when he sang to her in her parents dining room before everything turned to crap.
"Finn, no, you don't h-" she says finally, resting her hand on his knee ever so gently.
"It's okay. I want to," he still can't believe he's saying this. And he also can't believe it's true. "I want to come."
She looks at him, then her hand before pulling it away. She smiles, "Okay."
He's about to say something else, even though there's not much else to say when the door opens.
They both look up suddenly, Finn shifting himself and his chair away from her. Mercedes, Tina and Artie walk in laughing, followed by Matt and Mike. He watches as Arties manoeuvres his chair next to the one Tina has claimed and laughs as she promptly lifts her feet onto his lap. Mercedes walks over to them, glancing at Finn before grabbing Quinn's hand and pulling her up.
"Girl, wait till you hear what I heard at lunch!" she says excitedly, and Quinn wordlessly leaves him to sit next to her friend in the back row of seats. He's about to say something to Matt when Rachel walks in, smile bright, cardigan brighter. He grins at her and she takes her seat, Quinn's seat, before taking his hand.
"I'm going to ask Mr. Schue to let us do a duet, because I've found the perfect song for us! You probably haven't heard it, but I've got their greatest hits at home, so we can listen to it and practice tomorrow night?"
He smiles and nods and squeezes her hand a little tighter. Her smile widens when she gets an idea, "I'm pretty sure my dads will let us order pizza!"
"Now you're talking!" he laughs and lets go of her hand to wrap his arms around her shoulders. Her head settles on his shoulder and her hair smells nice, like strawberries. He smiles.
Quinn's hair used to smell like lemons.