I know this is short, and I'm sorry about that. I'm dealing with a few minor things about my life right now, so I hope you'd understand? If not, that's okay too :).
The following morning, Quinn was up before her usual moments of awake. She ignored the excitement in her chest when she took her shower, and she took extra time to pick her clothes. Her phone bleeped a message and she lunged for it, relieved that her eagerness was justified. Rachel told her to meet her at the small café along Fifth for their breakfast date.
Quinn gulped at the wording that Rachel used. She decided to ignore it, and instead she rushed out of her building to face her world again.
/
"Good morning, Quinn!" Rachel greeted her with the widest smile. "I ordered for you. Bacon and eggs with coffee, yes?"
Quinn smiled and resisted the urge to dip her head and meet Rachel's smile with her lips. Everything seemed to be a resistance of some sort today. "That's great, thanks."
She watched Rachel sip at her mug in silence as they waited for breakfast. The atmosphere was still, but certainly not stifling. Quinn revelled beneath it by splaying her palm against the rough wooden table. Rachel glanced at the distance between her hand and Quinn's, and so did the blonde.
Neither did a thing about it.
"Have you heard from Kim recently?" Quinn asked Rachel. At the brunette's look of surprise, Quinn rushed to explain. "We haven't exactly spoken since I published my first book."
"That's odd," Rachel said. "We just talked last week. She said she's been in Paris, working with European models." She shook her head, chuckling softly. "I think she's been sleeping with every one of them."
Quinn choked on her coffee and giggled. "That—that is not surprising."
"What about Brittany and Santana?" Rachel asked. "How are they?"
"Got hitched," Quinn replied.
"Oh, no way!" Rachel shrieked, bouncing on her seat in delight. "That's so great! Did you attend their wedding? When was it? I have to congratulate them now!"
Quinn shook her head and patted Rachel's knuckles. "Calm down. I'm sure they'll love to hear from you, but later, okay? Do you even have their number?"
Rachel bit her lip and shook her head. "I was hoping you'd offer it to me in my moment of excitement."
Ugh, so adorable… Quinn rolled her eyes at Rachel's antics. That's when the waiter decided to arrive with their food, and Quinn had to stop herself from drooling. The smell of bacon and eggs wafted into her nostrils, and it made her stomach made a loud noise of agreement at the thought of wolfing down the food in front of her. Rachel chuckled and thanked the waiter, who placed a platter of waffles in front of her. Quinn assumed they were vegan.
"So, how does it really feel to be one of Time 100?" Rachel grinned as she spilled syrup all over her breakfast. "Really, Quinn. When I saw World of Glass on the shelves, I squealed and bought it immediately!"
"Terrified," Quinn said as she swallows a line of bacon. "Of course it's what I always wanted, but a part of me wants to go back to the time when I am unknown and no one would care about what I want to say. Now, everyone jumps at the mention of a short story of mine." She watched Rachel who was smiling as she chewed. "Honestly, it feels great."
As they talked about Quinn's career, the blonde lost herself in the sound of Rachel's tinkling laughter, the way her voice dipped and swelled, like the notes of the song that's been muted in Quinn's heart. Muted and silenced, because the singer was gone. Since she's back, well… the speakers in Quinn's heart were in overdrive.
"How does it feel to sing on a Broadway stage?" Quinn asked, smiling when Rachel's face lit up. They both finished their meals and were now on their second cup of coffee. "And to top it off, haven't you just finished filming a movie?"
Rachel bobbed her head up and down as she bounced on her seat. "Yes! Mainstream media is great and it puts my name out there, but Broadway really is my true love. I'm hoping to come back one day, when this entire hubbub about movies and television shows are done. But yes!" She let out a breath, relaxing against her chair. "Broadway is lovely. But I should never forget my roots."
"I was there you know," Quinn blurted out, chastising herself for her own admission. "Spring Awakening, off-Broadway opening night. A-actually I went to every single one of your opening nights. And closing nights too." She saw Rachel's face, one of surprise. "You were amazing."
"Why didn't you say something?" Rachel said, covering Quinn's hand with her own. "You could've visited me!"
"I wanted to…" Quinn admitted, turning her palm up to lock her fingers with Rachel's briefly. "But I didn't think you'd want to see me."
"Quinn," the singer admonished with a shimmer in her eye. "I would always love to see you."
Not for the first time, Quinn believed the gentle words that left Rachel's lips.
/
Rachel and Quinn found themselves in front of Rachel's apartment after more than two hours of talking about the past two years. As Rachel searched her purse for her keys, Quinn rocked against the balls of her feet, watching her. Finally procuring her keys, Rachel faced Quinn with a pleasant grin on her face.
"Call me soon, okay?" Rachel ordered her with a stern glare. Quinn chuckled and held her hands up in arrest. "I'm not joking, Quinn!"
"I will," Quinn promised.
"Oh, hey baby!" Someone called out from the far end of the sidewalk. Rachel looked beyond Quinn's head and the blonde spun around to see a tall, scruffy man jogging towards them. He ran up to Rachel and pecked her on the lips with a loud smacking noise before Quinn could even look away. When he pulled back, Rachel glanced at Quinn whose face remained neutral, a small smile plastered on for effect.
"Where have you been this morning? I missed you?" Quinn finally recognized him as Vince, Rachel's co-star from her new movie. His hand moved to caress the swell of Rachel's hips, and that's when Quinn almost lost it.
"I'll talk to you soon Rachel." She said, her speech tumbling out of her lips in a rush. She flashed Rachel a brighter smile before clenching her fists and power-walking away. Quinn heard Rachel call her name, but opted to ignore it. Who was she kidding, anyways? Of course Rachel was in a relationship! Quinn's chuckle came off as morose and bitter as she rode the bus to her apartment. There was no way in hell she would wait for someone like Quinn!
Slamming the door of her apartment, she slumped on the couch and covered her eyes with her forearm. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she raised it to her cheek, letting out a grunt as her opening greeting.
"Quinn, Quinn!" Rachel was shrieking in the other line. "It wasn't—I need to tell you something!"
"Rach," Quinn chuckled while trying to bury the impeding moments of loss welling inside her chest, like some volcanic explosion waiting to happen. "You don't have to explain anything to me."
"Will you just listen?" Rachel demands and Quinn found herself conceding. "Vince and I are just dating purely for public relations. I-I don't feel anything for him, do you hear me?"
There was only one word that could describe Quinn's feelings, and it was of relief. "Really..?"
"Yes," she heard Rachel's firm tone. "So don't worry, okay?"
Quinn froze and clenched her fist around her phone. Worry about what, exactly? But instead of asking Rachel the question in her mind, she steered the conversation into something else; something more pleasant—something that didn't involve fake boyfriends or the threat of Quinn's last chance dangling by a thread above her head, waiting for the string to collapse, only to drop her to the nether.
