I'm back with another chapter! I know the updates for this story is no where near as frequent as my 'Different Worlds' one, but I hope you all are sticking around to continue to read. I am still very passionate about this story and aim to complete it in its due time.
Big thank you to my Beta, achelefan24. She is a very busy girl who still manages to put time aside to get these chapters back to me.
I do not own any Glee.
Chapter 3: Memories, Part 2:
Quinn's Dream State:
Quinn's eyes start to refocus on a new memory. She looks around and finds herself in the choir room. Half of the football team sits on one side while the Glee Club sits on the other. She still feels tingles in her left hand, and wonders why they are still there. Rachel and Puck are singing a duet together of 'Need You Now' and she can't help but smile at how well they sing together.
She looks up at the chairs on the risers and finds her younger self sitting next to Sam. Her younger self is hunched over with her elbows on her knees and she's beaming as she watches Rachel and Puck perform, the older blonde smiles at seeing herself so carefree and happy. As the song is just about to finish, everything fades away.
The blonde looked around and found herself again in the choir room. Mr. Schue and Coach Beiste were talking to both Glee and the football team about performing at half time during the Championship game and the Jocks weren't happy at all. Mr. Schue then went on about how the Cheerios have been given an ultimatum by Ms. Sylvester about choosing Cheerios or Glee. "They have a choice. Us, or the Cheerios competition," Mr. Schue stated.
"Well, obviously Quinn is gonna choose the Cheerios," Rachel added quickly.
Older Quinn scrunched up her face, and looked over at Rachel.
'Why didn't Rachel mention either Santana or Brittany? Why did she just talk about me?'
Finn started to back Quinn up but the older blonde didn't focus on him as everything started to fade black.
Quinn pops up in the hallway and overhears her younger self talking to Santana about Brittany's fashion sense. They were both dressed in a carousel horse sweater and an argyle skirt. Tina then walks up to them and joins in on their fashion chat, "Seriously, she's a genius and an icon."
"Who is?" Rachel asks as she walks up to the girls.
Older Quinn sees Santana roll her eyes but hears herself answer Rachel. "Brittany. Who did you think?"
"Who knew that taking off that Cheerios uniform would turn her into a fashion institution," Santana added.
"Is this a joke?" Rachel asked.
"No. That sweater is. Who wears a reindeer sweater?" the Latina voiced.
"Uh, all three of you," Rachel said, starting to get frustrated.
"No. This is a carousel horse," Tina said.
"If you want to know what to wear, just look to Brittany," older Quinn hears her younger self say. The blonde actually then took the time to look at what she was wearing and what Rachel was wearing.
'They were quite similar… sorry, Rachel.'
"Look. She took the look from me, okay? I paid her," Rachel said.
"You're a terrible liar, Rachel," Tina spoke again.
"I can't believe you would take this away from poor Brittany," younger Quinn says. Older Quinn bites on her lip as she watched herself talk to Rachel.
"It's sad. You're just sad," Santana says.
Rachel then storms off and Quinn's memory goes black.
She sees her younger self walking up to Rachel, Quinn quickly looks around and from what she remembers they were at Rachel's house in Rachel's dads' Oscar room. Quinn refocuses on herself and then turned to look at Rachel.
'My God, what is she wearing?!'
Rachel is dressed in a ridiculous green gown… Quinn didn't even know what it was… or where the brunette would have purchased something like that? Was there a Granny's R Us?
"Hey, girlfriend. Having fun?" Rachel enthusiastically asks younger Quinn.
Older Quinn is about to watch her younger self reply but suddenly feels a tightness in her chest. It's like the shooting pain she felt when she had that memory of Britney Week. The blonde grabs her chest in pain.
'What the hell was that?'
Then everything goes black.
The blonde sees herself in a classroom, which is holding a Celibacy Club meeting.
'Oh yeah, I rejoined that.'
It only consisted of her younger self, Rachel and Ms. Pillsbury. The teacher just started the club meeting talking about their previous meeting which was about how Rachel spent the hour quizzing Quinn about her relationship with Finn. Older Quinn sees herself roll her eyes.
"Questions somebody still refuses to answer," older Quinn hears Rachel whisper.
The blonde turns to see her younger self answer Rachel, "And I will continue to refuse to answer them because they are none of your business. All I will reveal is that I rejoined the Celibacy Club to focus on me."
'Is that the real reason why I rejoined?'
"Me too. Finn is Kryptonite, which is why I'm focusing all my energies on my songwriting," Rachel happily voices.
Ms. Pillsbury then goes on a rant about being terrified of the 'hose monster' or something, and lame 'Chastity Charms' but older Quinn stopped listening. The older blonde is starting to become fed up with all these flashbacks and memories.
'They all involve Rachel, in one-way or another. First I was being a bitch to Rachel, then I was kind of checking her out and thought she was hot... which I still don't understand why I even thought that, and then that hand touch...' Quinn trails off. Her left hand still has tingles.
'Why the hell am I seeing Rachel Berry?!' Older Quinn thinks and anger starts to boil.
Before she could refocus her energies on Ms. Pillsbury, everything blurs away.
Quinn shows up in the choir room and Miss Holliday is talking to them about sex education. Older Quinn notices herself sitting next to Rachel. Why they are sitting together, the older blonde has no idea, but for some reason she feels like she needs to watch herself and Rachel, so that's what she does. The blonde continues to watch while Miss Holliday is speaking about Finn thinking he got his girlfriend pregnant via hot tub, and that Brittany thinking that storks bring babies.
The older blonde watches Rachel start to shift in her seat… to her it looks like Rachel is becoming uncomfortable but then she notices that Rachel moves her pointer finger and tries to brush it against her younger self.
'Okay, what the fuck was that?'
She then sees herself staring at Rachel while the brunette starts to address Miss Holliday, "What about those of us who choose to remain celibate?" Quinn watches Rachel move to touch her younger self's right arm, but quickly sees herself push Rachel away, while Miss Holliday says, "Oh, well, I admire you. Although I think you're naive and possibly frigid, I do admire your choice."
Older Quinn burst out in laughter as she sees herself and Rachel stare at each other in shock.
The substitute teacher then talks about how "...every intimate encounter that you're ever gonna have in your life is gonna start with a touch."
'Okay... Ummm, Rachel just tried to touch me not even a minute ago... Coincidence? Hang on. What the hell am I thinking?'
Miss Holliday then burst out singing 'Do You Wanna Touch.' Older Quinn turns and watches the performance. Santana and Brittany joined the substitute doing a dance routine with chairs, and the only thing older Quinn could think of in that moment was, 'Hot.'
Rachel and her younger self are the only ones left sitting on the risers together until Miss Holliday dances over to them and pulls them down to join the rest of the Glee members. Older Quinn watches on as her younger self and Rachel dance with the substitute teacher.
Then the memory starts to fade away.
Quinn opens her eyes and looks around. She spots herself right near the choir room door, looking inside. She walks over to see what her younger self is looking at and notices that Rachel and Finn were in their alone. Chatting and laughing together. Older Quinn immediately ignores Rachel and Finn and even her younger self, she was over it, over everything. She wants out and wants out now. The blonde looks around and starts to scream.
'I don't want to be here! Send me home! Get me out of here!' Quinn yells out. But nothing happens.
'I don't want to be here anymore! I'm over it! I'm over everything!' But again nothing happens.
Tears start to fill her eyes. She's not sure how much more she can handle. 'What is the point of me even being here, and why is Rachel the center of each and every memory?' Quinn doesn't get it... But she doesn't want to get it.
Everything fades black.
Quinn opens her eyes and sees she is in the choir room. She rolls her eyes. 'I guess this isn't going to end any time soon.'
Mr. Schue is telling them that they couldn't use the 'My Chemical Romance' song they planned to use for Regionals and Rachel steps up to voice her opinion on the matter, "I think we should write original songs for Regionals."
"All those in favor of voting Rachel down a second time?" Santana asks the Glee Club.
Everyone starts to raise their hands, besides younger Quinn. Older Quinn watched herself address the club, "No, I think Rachel is right. This team works best when we push ourselves and do something a little different."
"Well, that's true, but if all the other teams are doing amazing songs we're not gonna be so good," Mercedes adds.
"You're right. We're not gonna be as good. We're gonna be better. We won't be using other people's words or music. It'll be our own- our own heart, soul, not just our voices. We have a really talented songwriter in our midst. Rachel..." Older Quinn watches on as the brunette whips her head around to younger Quinn. "I was thinking maybe you and I could write a song together."
Older Quinn just shakes her head. 'One minute I'm checking out Rachel and the next minute I'm trying to sabotage Rachel's life... I don't get it.'
"I'm with Quinn and Rachel. I mean if these two can agree on something, it's probably an idea worth considering," older Quinn hears Finn say.
The Glee Club members start to discuss the idea of everyone writing songs for regionals, and just before things start to go black for Quinn, she sees Rachel turn around in her chair and lock eyes with her younger self.
Older Quinn sees herself in the auditorium playing on the piano. She then notices Rachel coming in and walking up to her.
'Oh, no!' If there was one memory from Junior year that she remembers between her and Rachel, this is it… well this one or Prom. 'Oh crap! Prom!'
"You're late," she hears her younger self say.
"We're friends, right?" Rachel asks.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Like, everything that happened last year. You gave your baby to my mom. We kind of bonded over it, right?" Rachel voices. A small pang of pain hits older Quinn in the chest.
"What's your point?" the younger blonde asks.
"My point is, is that- I know we haven't spent a lot of time together this year but I thought that we were close enough to be honest with each other."
"Go ahead. Ask me."
"Fine. Are you and Finn together?" Rachel asks.
Older Quinn watches on. "Yes. It's been a couple of weeks. It's like Groundhog's Day with you, Rachel. How many times do you have to make the same mistake to realize it's not gonna work out?"
"Well, thank you for being honest with me, Quinn... and I'm happy for you and Finn. But don't go and try to rewrite history, okay? It was real between us. Her chose me over you," Rachel unhappily expresses. Older Quinn feels another hit to her chest, this time more painful than the others she's experienced.
"And how long did that last for?" the younger blonde asks.
"Why are you being so mean?" Rachel sadly states. Quinn watches her younger self start to hop off the piano stool to walk closer to Rachel.
"Do you wanna know how this story plays out? I get Finn. You get heartbroken. And then Finn and I will stay and start a family. I'll become a successful real estate agent and Finn will take over Kurt's dad's tire shop. You don't belong here, Rachel..." Older Quinn watches her younger self start to tear up. "...and you can't hate me for helping to send you on your way."
Rachel started to shake her head, "No. I'm not giving up on Finn. It's not over between us."
"Yes, it is! You're so frustrating!" Older Quinn hears her younger self yell. The older blonde could see and hear how emotional she was getting and the pain in her heart was starting to become more painful. "And that is why you can't write a good song, because you live in this little schoolgirl fantasy of life. Rachel, if you keep looking for that happy ending then you are never gonna get it right. So we're done with that, and why don't we just return to our work, okay?"
The older blonde watches herself exhale and walk back to take a seat on the piano stool. "No. I think I'm gonna write this song on my own," Rachel states as she turns to leave. Older Quinn watches her go and sees the brunette start to cry.
'What the hell have I done? And why do I feel horrible? But most of all, why do I feel like this conversation felt like it had nothing to do with Finn, but everything about how I felt?'
Then everything blurs away.
Quinn opens her eyes and notices she's at the backstage of an auditorium, but not McKinley's. She then hears the voice of Rachel singing and turns to find herself at Regionals. The brunette is singing 'Get It Right.' Older Quinn notices herself standing just behind Finn. The older blonde walks up to herself and continues to stare between her younger self and Rachel.
Older Quinn closes her eyes and continues to listen to Rachel sing. Trying hard to not feel the pain in her chest... 'What's going on?'
Once Rachel finishes singing, Quinn expects to go to another memory but the brunette introduces the New Directions and they start to sing 'Loser Like Me'. Older Quinn watches her younger self and the rest of the Glee Club perform trying to not think about the pain, but as she watches herself throw the Big Gulp cup filled with confetti and watches herself look over at Finn and Rachel hugging, the pain gets too strong and she grabs her chest and hunches over... Luckily everything turns black.
The older blonde sees herself in the choir room with the rest of the Glee members and Mr. Schue is talking about awarding a MVP for Regionals, "So, per an unanimous vote by all of you, our Regionals M.V.P is... Miss. Rachel Berry."
Everyone starts to clap and Quinn sees herself turn around in her chair and smile at Rachel. 'Yes I do remember voting for Rachel, she did deserve it with the song she wrote.'
Rachel stands up to get her little star trophy off Mr. Schue and then turns to talk to the Glee members, "Well, first of all, I just wanna say how amazing the song you guys wrote was. I-I was so inspired. You know, it's- it's funny, I've won a lot of trophies before for singing competitions and dancing competitions but I've always felt like the girl who never gets the brass ring."
Quinn watches her younger self as Rachel continues. "And maybe I never will. But today and at Regionals the way you guys believed in me and took a chance with me- All I've ever wanted was to feel special and to feel chosen. And I just, um-" Quinn watches Rachel's eyes fill with tears. "I wanted to thank you guys so much for giving me that..."
Older Quinn watches the Glee members jump up and go give Rachel a hug. Another shooting pain goes through her heart when she watches her younger self get up and go join the hug.
But then the memory blurs away.
Younger Quinn and Finn walk up to Rachel who was at her locker. "So, uh, the Brainiacs asked us to be benefit heads for the Night of Neglect," Finn says.
Younger Quinn smiles, "And we would like to select you head of talent relations."
"We figured you're probably used to relating to talent because you're so talented," Finn adds.
"Well, first, I'm honored that you came to me. But I think it's a little insensitive of you to be flaunting your dating in my face."
"Fantastic," the younger blonde voices with a broad smile, ignoring the last part of Rachel's sentence. "Cause we are having problems with one of our performers."
Both Quinn and Finn then go on to tell Rachel about how Mercedes wanted green M&M's, humidifiers and puppies to wash her hands with.
"Stars make demands the way that babies make messes in their diapers. They can't help it. What a star wants is to just feel appreciated and respected. They just wanna feel like they're being heard," Rachel nods enthusiastically.
"Well, she seemed pretty serious about the puppy," Finn says.
"Well, obviously, hers is a talent that we have neglected. I can relate. So leave it to me. I'll take care of it," Rachel says as she closes her locker and turns to walk away.
Older Quinn watches Finn smile at the brunette walking away and then notices herself looking a bit angry and upset... then the memory fades to black.
"Oh, my God. You're getting a nose job," older Quinn hears her younger self say as she pops up in the choir room.
"I'm considering having a minor procedure to repair my deviated septum."
"So a nose job!" Santana states.
"Look, I'm happy with the way that I look, okay?"
'Obviously you're not if you want a nose job, Rachel,' Quinn thinks as she shakes her head.
"And I've embraced my nose. But let's say I wanted to have a slightly more demure nose? Like Quinn's, for example," Rachel comments.
Older Quinn scrunches up her face, she totally forgot about Rachel wanting to get a nose like hers. The older blonde watches her younger self choose to not look at the brunette. Quinn knew why she didn't stare at Rachel, but only she knew why... no one else found out until later that week, until one of her deepest darkest secrets was revealed... Lucy Caboosey.
"I would never change my appearance for vanity but the doctor said that it could possibly improve my talent which would help us all for Nationals, so-" Rachel says with a shrug of her shoulders.
The older blonde shakes her head… 'This is ridiculous,' the blonde states before everything fades away.
Quinn opens her eyes and sees her younger self flicking through a magazine in the doctors office and Rachel's sitting very uncomfortably next to her. "Thanks for doing this," Rachel says as she leans over to the younger blonde.
Older Quinn watches herself turn to face Rachel with a smile plastered on her face, "I'm surprised more girls haven't asked me. My nose is awesome. I can totally count on your vote, right?"
The older blonde shakes her head. "Yeah. T- Totally," Rachel says.
"Okay," younger Quinn smiles as she turns to look back at her magazine in her hands.
Older Quinn continues to watch Rachel, the brunette reaches out to grab something off the coffee table but then thinks twice and doesn't get it. The older blonde can tell that Rachel is fighting to ask the younger blonde something. Older Quinn watches Rachel turn to her younger self, "So what's it like?"
The older blonde sees her younger self turn to Rachel. "Looking like you look."
Older Quinn shakes her head, 'How can Rachel not see how pretty she actually is... Maybe it has something to do with the nicknames you used to call her, Quinn…' the older blonde says to herself.
"I pretty much have a warped sense of the world. Being a hot 17-year-old, you can get away with or do anything you want. So I kind of always assume that people are always nice and accommodating."
The older blonde then sees the doctor knock on the open door and walk into the waiting room and the younger blonde and Rachel stand up. "Okay... So, we, uh, ready to pull the trigger?" the doctor asks as he looks up from the chart.
"Not- Not quite yet. I was kind of hoping that I could get an idea of what I might look like after the procedure," Rachel turns to look at Quinn who is smiling back at her. "Um, this is my friend Quinn."
"Nice nose," the doctor states.
"Thank you," older Quinn watches herself say.
"Very nice," the doctor adds.
"Yeah, well, Rachel wants it," the younger blonde states as she turns to look back at the brunette.
"No problem. So I'll click some pics, make up some photo composites. We'll be ready to rock and roll," the doctor adds as he walks off.
Older Quinn watches herself smile at Rachel and lightly places a comforting hand on the brunette's shoulder, her left hand shooting with tingles... Just like when she watched her and Rachel touch hands in 'Dog Days are Over'.
Present Day:
"Rachel, Dear. Do you mind staying a while longer? I'd like to go home and pick up some extra things for Quinn. It's just I haven't wanted to leave her bedside since everything happened," Judy struggles to whisper out. It was obvious the women was worn out.
Rachel looks up from staring at Quinn. She had been talking to the non-responsive blonde for a few hours now, while Judy just sat there trying to find some light in this dark time. The brunette begins to nod, "Of course, Mrs. Fabray. I don't plan on going anywhere, my fathers' know where I am."
Judy nods, stands up and grabs her things to leave. "Will you call if..." the exhausted older blonde starts but can't finish the last part of her sentence.
The brunette starts to nod, "I'll call if there is any slight change. Take you're time, Mrs. Fabray... maybe go have a warm bath. It might help you relax a bit."
"I think I'll start to relax once Quinn decides to wake up and I know she's okay... but thank you, Sweetie," Judy says as she starts to make her way out of the hospital room, turning around to take one last look at her daughter laying there, a tear sliding down her face.
Once Judy left the room, Rachel refocuses back on Quinn, "You're going to wake up, Quinn... you have to. There are a lot of people here waiting for you... More than you think you know..." Rachel trails off and she moves her right hand to re-embrace with the blonde's left hand.
Quinn's Dream State:
Older Quinn sees herself back in the choir room, she spots herself on a stool next to Rachel and they have just started to sing a mash up of 'I Feel Pretty/Unpretty.' The older blonde stands there and watches herself perform her first and only duet with the brunette.
'We actually sound really good together,' older Quinn says to herself. While the older blonde watches her younger self sing with Rachel, she thinks it's the perfect time to think over what these past flashbacks and memories are about and why she was here. What happened before she started having these flashbacks and memories...?
'Car crash!' Quinn says out loud as her eyes widen with realization... 'I was texting Rachel... and then there was a truck... Oh crap!' The blonde starts to freak out. 'Am I dead?' she asks herself. 'But why am I experiencing this pain? First the stomach and now this chest pain I've been feeling... You don't feel pain when you're dead do you? And what's with this tingling feeling with my hand... When did that start?' The blonde starts to think, her eyebrows shooting up to her hairline. 'When Rachel and I touched... Rachel! All these flashbacks and memories involve Rachel in one way or another... But why?' Quinn says as she shakes her head. She has no idea why. 'First I was being an absolute bitch to Rachel... then I was checking her out... then I thought she was hot. Now I feel like I'm just going in circles with my emotions with her...' Quinn was utterly confused. So being Quinn Fabray, she ignored it all and refocused back on the performance.
Rachel, Quinn, Together
I feel pretty (You can buy your hair if it won't grow)
Oh so pretty (You can fix your nose if he says so)
I feel pretty and witty and bright (You can buy all the make-up that M.A.C. can make)
But if you can't look inside you
Find out who am I to
Be in a position to make me feel so damn unpretty
I feel pretty
But unpretty
After the performance, older Quinn watches herself turn to look into Rachel's saddened brown eyes and then another sharp pain shoots through her chest. The older blonde pulls her hands up to try and relieve the pain but it just continues to get stronger and stronger... As if the pain is pumping harder and harder with every heartbeat.
'Well fuck... I guess I can't ignore this...'
Then everything goes black.
The bell rings and Quinn and Finn open up their lockers to grab their books for their next classes.
"What you're doing is terrible."
"I have a nice nose. Rachel asked me for help, and I'm giving it to her. And once again, we are fighting about Rachel. I'm your girlfriend."
"Look, this isn't about who's my girlfriend. Mr. Schue is trying to get us to accept ourselves for who we are and you're helping Rachel do the exact opposite. That's not cool."
"Well, maybe I'm not down with this week's lesson," older Quinn see's herself say, the younger blonde slamming the locker and walking off, not listening to anything Finn has to say.
Quinn sees herself amongst the other Glee members in the choir room, and watches Rachel talk to everyone about getting a nose job, stating that it will be less Hebraic and more 'Fabrayic.' Older Quinn watches herself, the younger blonde isn't making eye contact with the brunette while she speaks and shows the Glee Club the pictures of what she will look like after the surgery.
"Rachel, please don't do this... You're beautiful," Finn says, cutting off Rachel's rant.
'I wish I had the courage to say that...'
"This isn't a discussion. I have made up my mind. Rachel Berry is getting a nose job."
Quinn shakes her head as everything blurs away.
Quinn opens up her eyes and sees her younger self and Finn just finish singing a duet of 'I Don't Wanna Know,' receiving an awkward small clap from the rest of the Glee Club members.
"Yeah, it was lovely, but I prefer Quinn's duet performance of 'Lucky' with Sam better. Since you and Sam have become closer lately, maybe you should do duets together more often," Rachel voices. Older Quinn started to chuckle at Rachel's blatant backlash.
"Where is Sam? Quinn and Kurt are both here today, so we know he's not doing the dirty," Artie said.
Quinn watches her younger self ignore Artie and look straight at Rachel, "I know what you're doing. You want Finn and I to stop singing together so that you can sing with him again."
"Frankly, yes. Finn and I have amazing proven harmonies. When it comes to Nationals, it makes more sense for him to be paired with me," Rachel states back with confidence.
"Well, it's not happening. Not as long as Finn wants to be with me," the younger blonde voices angrily.
"Wait. I thought you said this relationship was about trust," Finn adds.
"Oh, I trust you. I just don't trust her!"
"Quinn, I don't think you can mandate who pairs up for Nationals. All right? Vocal Adrenaline doesn't need any help from us," Mr. Schue states.
"I love being here, and I want to win... but my relationship comes first. I'm sorry, but, Finn, if you want to be with me, no more songs with her," younger Quinn says as she turns to leave and storms off out of the choir room, the storm off was just like the one older Quinn recently watched at her locker with Finn.
'And they say Rachel is over dramatic.'
Quinn refocuses on her surroundings and notices she's back in the choir room… yet again. The older blonde sees Rachel start to talk, "Mr. Schuester? If it's all right with you, I'd like to do my own reinterpretation of my favorite Fleetwood Mac song."
"Great, Rachel. Which song?" Mr. Schue says handing over a microphone.
"'Go Your Own Way'. It's a song about the painful breakup between Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks..." Rachel stands up and walks to the middle of the choir room. "Traditionally, it's sung by a man but today Rachel Berry's gonna put her own feminine twist on it." Turning to point to Puck "Hit it."
Older Quinn watches the brunette sing 'Go Your Own Way'.
'Being subtle was never your forte.'
The Glee Club starts to clap. While older Quinn turns to her younger self, looking pretty pissed off and not clapping at Rachel. "Don't you think it's maybe a little inappropriate that you chose to sing a love song to my guy?"
"You're such a hypocrite! You Little Miss Perfect Prom Queen! You're a cheater who cheats in cheap motels with Sam!"
"Nothing is going on between Sam and I," younger Quinn voices, getting frustrated.
"Enough, guys," Mr. Schue states, while the memory starts to fade away.
Quinn sees herself and Finn at Breadstix walking over to Rachel, Jesse St. James... 'Oh I forgot he showed back up.' Mercedes and Sam. Older Quinn stops dead in her tracks when she looks at Rachel.
'She's stunning.'
"You look amazing. And don't forget to vote Hudson-Fabray tonight." Older Quinn rolls her eyes as she hears her younger self tell the small group. Finn starts to talk but she gets distracted, by staring at Rachel...
'Why am I just seeing you?' Older Quinn whispers out, but obviously gets no response as everything goes black.
The blonde refocuses and sees all the junior year dressed formally in the gymnasium.
'Prom!'
The older blonde turns to the stage and sees Rachel up their performing 'Jar Of Hearts'. Quinn watches the brunette perform and notices that Rachel isn't taking her eyes off one particular spot. She looks through the crowd of students dancing and notices that her younger self is slow dancing with Finn. Rachel is staring straight at them.
Finn is staring up at the brunette as she continues to sing. A sharp pain pumped through Quinn's chest as she sees the two staring at each other.
'Fuck!' the older blonde yells out loud. 'It keeps coming back… and it hurts worse, every time!'
Just as Quinn refocuses back on her younger self and Finn, she noticed herself look up and watch the brunette. It was only for a few seconds but there was something in the younger blondes eyes that held so much emotion… so much meaning.
But before the older blonde could think about what she was thinking, the memory blurred away.
"Quinn, you need to calm down," Rachel says as she storms into the bathroom after Quinn.
'Oh, no!' older Quinn says with wide eyes as she watches her younger self and Rachel in the bathroom together.
"This is your fault! Nobody ever would have voted for me cause they know he would rather be with you!" the younger blonde yells with tears in her eyes.
"That's not true-" *SLAP* Older Quinn gasps as she sees the younger version of her slap Rachel across the face… hard.
"I'm so sorry," younger Quinn expresses as more tears start to form in her eyes.
Rachel just shakes her head, not saying anything, so younger Quinn continues. "There's no way I'm staying at this school. I'm gonna transfer out," the younger blonde states as she turns to face the mirror. Older Quinn continues to watch Rachel. The brunette slowly moves her hand up to rub her face and walks to the mirror to exam the mark that Quinn left.
"Most girls would be upset about being slapped in the face but I happen to appreciate the drama of it," Rachel says as she continues to look in the mirror. Older Quinn watches her younger self turn away from the mirror and lean back against the sink. "I know you think it's hard to be you, Rachel. At least you don't have to be terrified all the time."
The older blonde watches Rachel dampen a paper towel at the sink, "What are you scared of?"
'Not being honest with the feelings I have for you,' Older Quinn whispers out loud and all of a sudden her eyes go wide and her chest tightens... 'What did I just say?'
"The future," the older blonde hears her younger self say, pulling herself back into the memory in front of her. "When all of this is gone."
"Look. You have nothing to be scared of. You're a very pretty girl, Quinn. Prettiest girl I've ever met, but... you're a lot more than that. Here," Rachel says as she reaches down and takes the wet paper towel from the blondes hands, "May I help?" Rachel asks as she starts to fix up Quinn's makeup.
'I just slapped Rachel in the face. And she's here asking to help me…' Older Quinn shakes her head as things start to fade away… but not until she received tingles in her cheek as the brunette wipes the wet paper towel on her face.
Quinn looks around and sees herself in a parking lot, the older blonde spots her younger self getting into Finn's car, she walks over there and looks inside. "Sorry. Long line in the restroom. Everyone was fixing their mascara. You did such a great job with the funeral. I'm so proud of you. Why are you crying?" older Quinn hears her younger self say to Finn.
"Because I'm breaking up with you," Finn expresses.
Older Quinn watches her younger self's reaction, "Because of Rachel?"
'Rachel is the first person that comes to my mind?'
"Cause you still love her?" younger Quinn adds.
"I shouldn't have done this with you. I thought that I could fix everything from last year, but I- I can't," Finn says not looking at Quinn. "I just can't. And... that feeling that Sue was talking about in there... of being tethered to someone, I- I just- I don't feel that way about you."
"But you do with her?" younger Quinn asks, Finn starts to slowly nod. "No. We're not breaking up. I can handle your confusion with Rachel until you get over it. We're gonna stay together, and next year we'll be prom king and queen and-"
Finn turns and looks at Quinn, "Just stop it. Okay? I don't want that life."
Older Quinn sees her younger self exhale. 'You deserve better than this,' older Quinn says out loud to her younger self as she shakes her head.
"Don't you feel anything anymore? This is real. This is happening," Finn says raising his voice.
"Are you happy now?" younger Quinn says as tears start to flow down her cheeks. "Is this me feeling enough for you?"
"Quinn, I'm sorry. I still love you," Finn expresses trying to reach out to Quinn, but the blonde moves away. "Just don't touch me!" younger Quinn raises her voice and opens up the car door getting out and slamming the door as she walks away. Older Quinn watches her younger self walk away from the car as the memory starts to fade away.
The blonde opens her eyes and sees herself leaning against a bench looking at a magazine with Santana. Older Quinn looks around and realizes she's in the lobby of the place they stayed at in New York for Nationals. The older blonde then spots Finn and Rachel walking past her younger self and Santana talking together. "So what's going on with you and Jesse?" Quinn hears Finn ask the brunette.
Older Quinn turns and looks at herself, she wasn't in the mood to watch Rachel interact with the tall boy because of the last memory she just encountered, so she watched herself. She watched her younger self just stare at the two, the blonde ignoring what Santana was saying to her...
The memory then disappearing.
Quinn sees her young self, Mercedes, Tina, Santana, Brittany, Kurt and Lauren all having a hardcore pillow fight in the girl's hotel room, feathers were going everywhere. Older Quinn watches herself jump over to Rachel who's sitting at the desk writing, what Quinn can only remember must be a song for Nationals, the older blonde watches as her younger self smashes the pillow in her hands against Rachel's head and then jumps away to rejoin the pillow fight.
Older Quinn burst out laughing... 'Woops.' Everything then fades away.
The older blonde refocuses and sees her younger self hunched over the bathroom sink, tears in her eyes.
'What happened?'
"Quinn, quit hogging the bathroom. I needs to re-pencil my eyebrows on," Santana yells through the door as she bangs on the glass.
Older Quinn watches herself wipe the tears away and turns from the mirror opening the door, "It's all yours." The older blonde then follows her younger self out and sees that Brittany is also with Santana.
"Everybody's already in the other room working," Santana says as her and Brittany follow the blonde to the beds.
"Oh, yeah? Is Mr. Schue in there? Cause I think I'm gonna tell him that Rachel and Kurt keep sneaking off," younger Quinn states as she grab her jacket and turns back to her friends.
"You can't do that. He'll have to suspend them," Brittany states.
"And then there goes our chances at Nationals. Darn," older Quinn hears her younger self say sarcastically.
"You know what? We get it. You're pissed about Finn dumping your sweet ass. Get over it," Santana states.
"I don't wanna get over it, okay?" younger Quinn lashes out.
"The only person that you're sabotaging here is yourself," the Latina adds.
Younger Quinn's voice raises high as she yells at Santana, "I don't care about some stupid show choir competition!"
Brittany's eyes go wide as Santana yells back at Quinn, "Well, you should because this is the one chance that we have to actually feel good about ourselves."
Older Quinn watches her younger self calm down and start to tear up, "Aren't we supposed to be the popular girls?" Santana and Brittany quickly scoff. "So why can't we have our dreams come true? She has love. Tina has it. Even Zizes hooks up."
'She? Who's she?'
Tears start to fall down the younger blondes face, as she goes to sit down on the edge of the bed, Santana and Brittany quickly following. Older Quinn sees her younger self cry. A shape pain hits the older blonde in the chest and tears start to fill her eyes. "I just want somebody to love me."
Santana starts to talk but older Quinn is too distracted by the pain in her chest, her heartbeat is pounding harder than ever before and the pain is excruciating... Time starts to go back and she looks around her and it looks like she has just pressed a button to rewind. It starts to play again and she sees herself standing back up with Santana and Brittany. "She has love." And then it fast forwards, the pain still pumping through her arteries… but she tries to focus, she sees her younger self again on the bed with Santana and Brittany on either side of her, "I just want somebody to love me."
Older Quinn thinks... 'She has love... I just want somebody to love me...' Past memories start to resurface and then it clicks... Eyes go wide, her hand clutching her chest, her heartbeat pounding and pounding away... Faster and harder than she's ever felt...
'I'm in love with Rachel Berry.'
And then Quinn feels her heartbeat literally stop within her chest as the pain gets too much and everything goes black... but this time she's scared that she's never going to wake back up...
Present Day:
"No Finn, I can not come watch 'Hot Tub Time Machine' with you. I'm with Quinn and she needs me right now," Rachel said angrily in the phone.
"Come on, Rach… You've been avoiding me since the wedding. What's going on?" Finn asks through the phone.
"What's going on? Do you really have the audacity to say something like that! Quinn is in a coma, Finn… because she was heading to our wedding and had a car accident," the brunette huffs.
"Yeah… but she's in a coma… meaning that she won't know if you're not there. So come over, I miss you."
Rachel's eyes go wide, "Did you just hear what you said, Finn? How inconsiderate do you want to be. Quinn is our friend, we should all be here for moral support, even if she's unconscious. All our other friends have been texting me while I've been here, all asking how she is… and what have you been doing? Asking for me to come over!"
"She won't remember anything, Rach," Finn voices.
Rachel scoffs, "You don't know what the mind can do while in such a stressful state. Studies have shown that people can hear and remember what happens while they are in a comatose state… and maybe Quinn's dreaming… and dealing with some stuff we can't comprehend… she might need someone here… and I want to be that someone… I feel like I need be that someone."
"Are you breaking up with me?" Finn asks ignoring the brunette.
"We were getting married only a few days ago, Finn… of course not. But if you're not going to be mature about this, then I'm hanging up the phone now!" Rachel huffs one more time and disconnects the phone call before Finn can respond.
Rachel closes her eyes and takes a steadying breath before turning to reface the blonde in the bed. She places her phone in her lap and then moves her hand up to lightly touch the blonde's cheek. "I'm sorry about that. Finn can be so insensitive at times… I guess he just doesn't understand everything that's going on. No one actually does… everyone has been texting me asking if you're okay and I don't know what to tell them. What should I tell them, Quinn?"
The brunette takes another breath and then moves her hand down to embrace Quinn's. "Santana texted me and said she tried to come visit today but the nurse refused. She even told her that you were sisters, but the nurse didn't believe her and told her to go away. Apparently the nurse didn't believe that you could have both a Latina and a Jewish sister," Rachel lightly chuckled, "I can only imagine what Santana would have said to that… I'm surprised we didn't hear her, but I guess I'm lucky that I came here first. You're mom has been so kind to me… and I don't even deserve it," Rachel expresses as a tear starts to flow down her cheek. "I'm so sorry, Quinn. I just hope that when you wake up you don't hate me and want to slap me for what I've done to you… even if I think I deserve it."
Rachel pauses and then lightly chuckles, "You remember what happened between us last year at Prom?" The brunette shakes her head and lightly smiles, "You know I think you earned that win… if the majority of our school didn't want to torment Kurt, I think that you would have won… I voted for you," Rachel whispers out.
Rachel hears her phone buzz and looks down to see a new text... from Finn. The brunette rolls her eyes and then places the phone back in her lap, the screen still displaying a new text message... the brunette was obviously ignoring it. "Sorry, that was Finn, again," Rachel said as she looks back up at the blonde.
"You know these past few days I haven't said anything to him, I've been too distracted with worrying about you... I want to make sure you're okay, Quinn. You need to be okay... I need you to be okay, Quinn." Rachel takes a breath and gives their embraced hands a light squeeze, "It's okay for me to be distracted, right? And not want to talk to Finn right now? Our wedding can wait... right?" Rachel shakes her head. "It's okay to be angry with Finn right now, right? He was so tactless... but Finn is so immature sometimes. Finn and I will work it out... because you always forgive your first true love, right?" Rachel whispers out. It was like she was wanting Quinn to agree with her. "And Finn is mine... right?" the brunette adds.
Then before Rachel can say anything else, the monitors start to beep alarmingly and a nurse comes running in. The brunette jumps up. "What's going on?" Rachel yells as tears start to fall.
The nurse ignores her and immediately pushes her way to the back of the room and presses a button, more beeping sounds errupt and Rachel yells out as nurses and doctors run into the room. "What's happening?!"
"Where's your mother?" one of the nurses asks.
"She... she's at home... she went home. What's wrong with Quinn?" Rachel breathes out as tears run down her face.
"Get the crash cart!" a doctor yells as he starts cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Quinn.
"What's going on?!" Rachel yells.
"Get her out of here!" the doctor yells as he continues to push on Quinn's chest.
The nurse that just spoke to her pulls her by the arm to the door, "You need to call your mother... right now."
"Flat line!" another doctor yells as she read the monitor.
"Quinn!" Rachel yells as she gets pulled from the doorway to not look inside. She tries to pull out of the nurses grasp but she is too weak to do anything. The last thing she sees as her eyes get torn away from the doorway is the doctor placing the defibrillator paddles on the blondes bare chest and yelling out "CLEAR!"
Rachel chokes out tears as she hears the sound of the defibrillator shoot an electric current through Quinn's body, trying to make her heart repump life back into her.
