"Rachel! Rachel! Over here. Get over here right now!" Brody waved frantically from his table in the corner of the Starbucks across from Lincoln Center.
He'd been in the middle of teaching the Collegiate Shag (appropriate he thought) to his weekly swing class when he got a text from Rachel.
If you'd like to continue your 'quinnterogation' then I'm game. Because boy, do I have news for you ;)
As soon as class was over, Brody practically ran across the street, dodging cabs and bicycle delivery boys. He needed to hear that news and he needed to hear it now.
He ordered for both himself and Rachel and sat in the far corner, hoping Rachel would feel comfortable telling him whatever she had to tell him away from the Starbucks/tourist crowd. Then again, he figured it wouldn't be a problem because if he knew anything about Rachel it was that she had no filter, even in public.
Just then, Rachel walked in and Brody frantically waved her over. She smiled and then turned to Kurt. Brody audibly groaned at the thought of having to sit next to such an ignorant know-it-all. He was certain Kurt would have something to say about this 'method acting' business. And Rachel would stupidly listen to him.
"Oh you ordered for me! Thanks Brody! I'll get you on our next coffee run."
"No, no it's on me Rach," he smiled genuinely. Then he turned to Kurt and smiled sardonically. "Nice to see you and your infamous hippo broach again, Hummel."
"Likewise," muttered Kurt. "I'm gonna go order, Rachel."
"Hurry, sit down and tell me everything before your gay bff comes back and ruins the mood."
"Brody, be nice. I know you don't like Kurt, but he's still really broken up over Blaine. Give him a break."
"Okay whatever, I could care less about his lifetime movie of a life," Rachel glared at him and Brody rolled his eyes. "Alright. I'll try. If you promise to spill your news. Now."
"Okay, gosh. So…" she paused, purposefully drawing out Brody's suspense. "I sent Quinn a facebook message."
"What? Are you kidding me, Rachel? This is what you dragged me all the way uptown for? To tell your stupid-and-clearly-gay-friend-because-he's-playing-matchmaker-as-we-speak that you sent Quinn Fabray a fucking facebook message…" Kurt said in one long breath.
Brody was about to curse him out, but stopped when Rachel just shook her head.
"Kurt, just sit down. You needed to get out of that apartment because when you're not at work, you're watching sappy romantic comedies on Netflix. And as much as I love rom coms like the next girl, it's getting overwhelming. You needed to get out. Even if it is to hear me tell Brody about messaging Quinn."
Kurt huffed. "I just don't get the point of this method acting stuff anyway. And why Quinn?"
Rachel took a large swig of coffee. "Well, I don't know. When Brody mentioned needing to be more comfortable with kissing girls, the first person I thought of was Santana."
Kurt nodded. "Naturally. Remember when you all did that performance of 'I Kissed a Girl'? Even if I'm gay, I still liked that."
The two burst into a fit of giggles. Brody groaned. He hated when they got all nostalgic.
"But then I thought I can't just kiss Santana. a.) She always hated me more than anyone else did, even Quinn. And b.) I could never get between the adorableness that is her and Brittany."
"True. And them being the only ones who have lasted since high school—don't wanna ruin that." Kurt sighed.
"Then I thought maybe it should be someone random. But I loathe random hookups. So my next thought was clearly Quinn. I mean she was the closest friend I had at the end of the year, besides you of course, and she's so close—like distance-wise. And I have that metro north pass."
"Ah yes—those passes almost solidified my Quinn Fabgay theory."
Rachel blushed.
"Wait, Kurt you found that totally weird too? Cause when Rach told me she had a long-lost friend from Yale who bought her a $400 dollar metro north pass, alarms went off in my head too."
"Quinn Fabray has always set my gaydar off. Since we all found out that it was her drawing pornographic pictures of Rachel in the girls bathroom."
"What?! Shit, this really might work."
"Sorry Brody, it probably won't. Despite my gay suspicions of Quinn, they all kind of dissipated the moment she got pregnant."
"What the fuck? Pregnant?! Wow Rachel, way to leave that minor detail out."
"Guys, calm down, goodness. I'm just planning to drunkenly hookup with Quinn. There's no way she ever would be, but what does it matter if she's gay?"
"Good point, Rach. Anyway so Kurt gets the idea. Now please tell me this news that I've been so patiently waiting to hear for the past ten minutes."
"Right, the facebook message…"
Quinn woke up early as usual that Friday morning. She was one of maybe twenty freshmen who had the absurd luck of having Fridays off. Most Friday mornings she'd wake up around seven to the sound of Sam leaving for work. This morning there was no Sam. There was only Quinn and some of the residual thoughts that had plagued her before she fell asleep last night.
Quinn got up, pulled her hair back and threw on her running shoes. It was the first Friday ever that she wished Julia had stayed the weekend. She needed some company. But she figured that going for a long cold November run would beat sitting in her empty, lonely dorm with just her thoughts to occupy her. That tended to lead to bad things (her skank phase, her Seacrest tattoo, trying to steal a baby, her pregnant phase.) Quinn had grown a bit in college and now knew what she needed to do to avoid these dips in her mood.
The cold hit her full force when she stepped outside of Donnelly, but it was refreshing. It silenced all thoughts of Sam and Rachel and instead she focused on the chill, then the beat of her feet hitting the pavement, then the rate of her heart, then the sweat beading on her skin.
About an hour and a half later she was back at her dorm showering. She felt much better. She would deal with all that other shit later. If anything, she'd probably see Sam at Joe's house tonight and Sam would apologize and take it back and everything would go back to normal.
This feeling didn't last very long, however.
Quinn opened up her laptop to get started early on a paper for her Romanticism course. Facebook must have been the last tab she had open and oddly there was a message in her inbox. Quinn perked up, thinking it might be Sam apologizing for how she left things last night.
Instead, Quinn almost double over from what felt like a punch to the stomach.
It was a message from Rachel. Rachel, of all people. Why did these strange and timely coincidences always manage to happen to her? It was like her life decided to write itself like some bad screenplay.
"Fuck…" she muttered to herself as she began to read the message.
Dear Quinn,
Leave it to Rachel Berry to start a facebook message with "Dear…"
You might be wondering why I'm writing you. It's been a while, I know. But the other day I found myself realizing that the two closest friends I had in Lima were you and Kurt. Clearly, I've managed to stay in touch with Kurt—us being in the same city and what not. But I must admit, I've failed miserably at keeping in touch with you. Which really makes no sense, seeing as we both have metro north passes. Anyway, I just wanted to check in and see how things are? Perhaps we can keep in touch from here on out.
Rachel.
Quinn stopped reading and realized she was crying yet again. She wiped at them furiously and realized this really needed to stop.
She was not going to take Sam's stupid advice. Yes, this feeling was the perfect emotion to channel into her Helena portrayal. But she was Quinn fucking Fabray. She was better than that.
Quinn gulped back the last of her sadness and began typing. If there was one way to get over this stupid unrequited love, it was to make herself realize that there never was and never would be a chance with Rachel. There was only friendship, one that she intended to keep.
With that she realized Rachel was online and began tentatively typing.
Hey
She held her breath,
Hi Quinn!
And then smiled.
How are things in the big apple?
No! Not fair! I asked in my first message how things were with you. You have to answer first!
Okay haha. Things are good, well were good. But for the most part they still are.
That's great to hear! Wait…what do you mean were?
Nothing, really. But classes are amazing. Yale is beautiful. New Haven is…well actually kinda sketchy. Oh and you and I are probably even more alike now. I'm hopelessly in love with the theater.
That is amazing, Quinn! I cannot wait to finally see you again! We'll have so much to talk about!
So how about you?
Oh man where do I even start? New York is everything I hoped it would be and more. I still can't believe I'm here. And NYADA was rough in the beginning. It's really cutthroat and competitive (though I'm sure Yale is the same.) But after I got over the breakup, I branched out and made friends and I'm happy I have Kurt here with me. It's really wonderful now. It sounds stupid, but I like to think I'm thriving.
Rachel, that doesn't sound stupid at all. I always knew you would make it in New York. I'm so happy to hear that even in as a freshman, your future looks bright.
Thank you, Quinn.
But what was that you said about the breakup?
Oh I was sure you would've heard from Santana or Puck or someone. Finn and I had this pretty horrible but much needed breakup.
Really?
Yeah.
Hmm.
What?
No, it's nothing. I was just thinking about what you said earlier about having lots of things in common to talk about.
Did you and Puck breakup?
Hahaha! Rachel, despite what you said at the end of last year, Puck and I were never went to be. Accident gone wrong. Literally.
Oh well, then I'm guessing you were dating someone at Yale?
Yeah kind of. But just like you and Finn, it's over.
Oh I'm sorry to hear that Quinn. What's his name?
Quinn did not want to go there. This conversation had been easy and comfortable thus far; she didn't have the heart to turn it around. So she just typed.
Sam
Quinn! I think you should stay away from Sams.
Yeah haha
Alright, well I unfortunately have to go. I have vocal lessons at 11. But can we please continue to catch up next time we're both on facebook?
Of course, Rachel.
And maybe we can put those metro north passes to good use soon.
Yeah, maybe.
Okay, bye Quinn!
Bye Rachel!
Quinn smiled and closed her browser. Finn and Rachel broke up. She grinned. They broke up. She laughed out loud in her empty dorm room. And then she quickly turned to her Romanticism paper. She could totally understand Heathcliff's motives now throughout Wuthering Heights.