Carrie wakes with a jolt and bolts upright in bed in a panic. She looks around the dark room, slowly remembering where she is and how she got there. Looking to her right, she sees Quinn lying on his back on top of the covers, fully clothed with one hand resting behind his head, the other resting across his chest, his lips parted just slightly. She relaxes, realizing the nightmares were in her head – remnants of the previous day.
She looks again at Quinn and smiles, feeling thankful he's still here, then slowly lays down again, facing him. She watches his chest rise and fall, his eyes twitch. Carrie reaches her hand out and rests it on his upper arm, feeling the warmth radiating from under his shirt. Quinn immediately senses her touch, but doesn't stir. Instead, he allows himself the pleasure of knowing she is there, lying next to him, reaching out to him. He focuses his thoughts on the sensation of her fingers wrapped ever so gently around his arm, the sound of her breath, the weight of her body against the mattress next to him.
Carrie eventually closes her eyes again and drifts back to sleep.
Around 4:00a, Quinn flutters his eyes open. The room is still and dark, and Carrie sleeps soundly next to him. He turns his head slowly, trying not to wake her. She is curled up in a fetal position, one hand resting under her chin, the other still draped across his bicep. He closes his eyes again and tries to burn the feeling and the moment into his soul and store it forever. Though he wants to reach out and touch Carrie, he knows the safer thing to do is quietly leave. He takes one final glance at her then slowly crawls off the bed. Finding a pen and pad of paper, Quinn scribbles a note and then pulls the car keys from his pocket, leaving both next to Carrie's bag, then sneaks from the room and leaves.
About two hours later, Carrie wakes to the sun shining through the curtains into her face. Her heart sinks when she sees that Quinn is no longer there. Though she knows nothing physical happened between them, they had shared a level of intimacy that was new and scary and intense. Fuck, she thinks as thoughts of Quinn collide with thoughts of Brody in her head.
Rubbing the sleep and hangover from her eyes, Carrie sits up and looks around the room for her belongings. She sees her bag on the dresser and grabs for it, knowing she's got some aspirin and a toothbrush inside. She pops two pills in her mouth, then rises to find water and sees the keys and note from the corner of her eye. She stops, picks them up, and reads the note.
'Morning,
Coffee awaits you back at the safe-house. Hope to see you soon.
Q
P.S. You snore like a freight train.
Carrie smiles broadly and stares at the note a little longer, then heads towards the door.