Chapter 4

It was already shaping up to be a stressful day for Quinn, and then three hours into her day at the zoo she realized her phone was missing. The only logical explanation would be that she left it at the restaurant, which could turn out to be a good thing. Since that night, and meeting Rachel, she couldn't stop thinking about the girl. Her soft brown eyes, her bright smile. So maybe, Quinn surmised, this was a blessing in disguise.

"Hey San, did anyone call back about my phone?" Quinn asked, walking into her office. Santana was already there, sitting at her desk with her feet propped up on the table. She had a donut in one hand and the paper in the other.

"Thephhffrestphhcalleff," she spoke around the chunk of donut she had in her mouth. Quinn rolled her eyes and sighed.

"In English please?"

"The restaurant called. They have it."

"Who called?" Quinn asked, immediately more interested.

Santana looked at her weirdly. "…The restaurant."

"No – who from the restaurant?"

"Uh, I don't know, some woman," Santana replied, already tired with the conversation.

"Young or old?"

"Are you kidding me Q? She was a fuckin' woman, I don't know. Do you want me to send one of the guys to get it?"

"Ok, ok, no, I'll swing by there later, it's fine," she responded, holding her hands up in mock defense.

"Awesome, freak. Now get out of my office," Santana ordered, bits of donut falling from her mouth.

"Lest you forget, this is my office, Lopez," Quinn said, quirking her infamous eyebrow.

Santana rolled her eyes, gathering her stuff and brushing past Quinn. "Not for long, Q-ball."

As per tradition, Rachel usually devoted her off night of the week to have dinner at Brittany's apartment, though depending on her schedule it usually turned into more than one night. The dinners now were even more entertaining because Brittany's apartment building was currently being renovated, so she was staying with her older sister and her husband and five kids for the time being. Before it was being renovated, they would usually come over to Brittany's, sans kids.

When Rachel walked in, Brittany's brother-in-law Steve was sitting at the table with one of their sons, Robbie, and she could just make out Megan cooking dinner in the kitchen.

"Hey Steve," Rachel greeted. Steve and Megan were possibly one of the funniest couples around. They were loving, hilarious, and absolutely adored their kids. Megan worked at a firm downtown while Steve was a cop. It was always a treat to have dinner with them, and Steve was a lot like an older brother to Rachel and Brittany.

"Hey Rach. You just missed, Britt. She went to wash up really quick before dinner. She was telling me about your little trip to the zoo."

"Auntie Britty was telling mommy about the gorilla at the zoo, and mommy said it was you," the little boy in Steve's lap told them, pointing at Steve. Rachel bit back a laugh at Steve's stunned face. She could see Megan holding back a laugh as well in the kitchen.

"Really?" Steve asked, putting his beer down.

Megan came out from the kitchen, a towel on her shoulder. "Oh, I did not!"

"Well Robbie, did she tell you about the hippos?"

Rachel couldn't hold it in anymore, as she let out a laugh. Megan glared at the two before she whipped Steve in the head with the towel. "Watch it, Steve. Did you change him?" Megan now turned to their youngest son, Charlie, who was sitting in his high chair joyfully.

"Uh, yeah, I'm gonna get to it."

"No, Steve! I asked you to do it twenty minutes ago! What have you been doing?"

"I've been saving lives all day, I wanna sit down and relax-"

"Oh very funny Steve," Megan replied sarcastically.

"I'll change him," Rachel smiled, quickly grabbing Charlie from his highchair.

"No, Rachel, Steve has got it-"

"Rachel, I got it," Steve told her, making no movie to get up.

"Steve get up right now," Megan threatened.

"Rachel, I'm telling you, I got it," he promised again as he took a swig of his beer and leaned back in his chair. Rachel was already walking back down the hallway. By this point, Brittany was bouncing down the steps with another one of the kids on her back.

"Hey guys, I heard Rach come in. What's for dinner?"

Steve suddenly turned serious as he put down his beer and lowered his voice. "Look guys, I invited Rudy to dinner tonight – y'know, to meet Rachel."

Megan looked scandalized. "Father Rudy?"

"Stop saying that, he's not a priest anymore."

"He will always be a priest to me. She is young and beautiful – she will meet someone on her own."

"How? She's here every night she has off."

"Besides, Rachel likes girls," Brittany cut in, though the two seemed to ignore that and continued to argue. Rachel eventually made her way back with a freshly changed Charlie, putting him back into his highchair.

"Woah woah, what's going on?" She asked.

"I'm sorry Rach, Steve went and invited some guy over here like a blind date for you," Megan told her, embarrassed by her husband's actions.

"What?" Rachel asked surprised.

"It's not a date, he's coming over for dinner-"

"Tonight?" Rachel asked, still a bit frazzled.

"Yes, tonight."

"I have to go get my scarf," she told them, running off to find her bag. Ever since her surgery, she had taken to wearing scarves to cover the long scar that went across her chest.

"Hurry, Rach," Brittany called.

Steve turned in his chair to call back to her as well.

"It's alright, I've already told him you've had some work done!"

Santana was extremely annoyed. She was sitting at a bar in Manhattan, surrounded by girls for Quinn to meet, but the problem was that Quinn wasn't actually there. She told the girls that she had to check where her friend was as she whipped out her phone and dialed the familiar number, waiting for Quinn to pick up.

"Quinn! Where are you?" She listened as Quinn gave some lame excuse. "You ran away the other night, you don't show up tonight, I though we were going to hang out, some best friend time."

Across town, Quinn was looking through her closet for her nice black flats. She was dressed to impress, and now she just needed the shoes to match. "San, I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling well. Maybe it was something I ate. I-I'm just going to stay in and relax tonight."

"What are you doing?" Santana snapped.

"Right now? Um, just watching a Mets game," Quinn came up with quickly.

"Really?" Santana smirked. "What's the score?"

"Score?" Quinn turned from trying to pull on her shoes, searching her bed for the TV remote to check the score of the game. She couldn't find it, and when she did, the damn thing wouldn't work. "Uh, it's, um – Mets are losing." She gave up, flinging the broken remote behind her. Santana responded with a string of curses and threats, before hanging up with a "Love you Q".

Quinn finally put her shoes on and was just walking down the steps when her dog walker Marissa stepped in with Oliver.

"Hey Quinn!" She said excitedly, unsnapping the leash from Oliver's collar.

"Hey kiddo. So, how do I look?"

Marissa took a moment to look Quinn up and down. "Tall."

"Tall?"

"Yeah, tall," Marissa told her again, slipping her night's pay in her back pocket.

Quinn laughed and shook her head. "Thanks."

"Brittany, it was fine, he was a nice guy, just...not my type," Rachel assured Brittany over the phone later that night. She was standing on her deck, admiring the view of the street.

"Yeah, well, at least we had a few laughs," Brittany said.

"Yeah we did." She paused for a moment. "Did you…did you notice how he wouldn't even let me hold the bowl of mashed potatoes?"

Brittany thought for a moment. "Yeah, but he was probably just being polite."

"No, Britt – it's like…as soon as they know, they think of me as broken."

"Well, I think they think of you as a kind, wonderful woman who has beaten the unbeatable odds."

Rachel smiled softly to herself. "You do, huh?"

"I do."

They talked for a little while longer and then hung up, Rachel getting up to head in for a quick shower before bed. She peered once more over the ledge of the railing to see her daddy sweeping up around the outside tables.

"Need any help?" She called down to him.

"No, sweet pea. I'm blessed with work. Get some sleep."

She stood there awhile longer, overlooking the street and the lingering couples. A few were locked in a passionate embrace, one that Rachel was jealous to watch. She wondered sometimes if she would ever find that special person. She tried to think of anyone in her life she could fall for. Maybe that blonde from the other night…no, that's crazy. She was too beautiful for her, too perfect. It was hard to imagine sharing her life with someone else, someone she truly loved. She lied awake some nights, her hand over her heart, wondering if all this work and all the pain she went through was even worth it. She had spent years trying to fix her heart, but had that in turn left her broken as a person and unwanted? These were the thoughts that plagued her, thoughts that ran rampant through her mind day and night, restless and unstoppable – until she found someone to stop them once and for all.

Quinn sat in her car, fidgeting with her hands. She was nervous, which is weird because Quinn Fabray does not get nervous. She is confident in her ability to be attractive, not only physically, but also with her personality. But right now, sitting outside of the restaurant, she was sweating with the idea of seeing the little brunette again.

"Suck it up, Quinn," she whispered to herself, finally clambering out of her car. She saw the closed sign on the door, and lifted her hand to knock. She waited patiently for an answer, and almost gave up when a tall, black man opened the door.

"Now, you are either very late, or very early," the man joked with her.

Quinn laughed and shook her head. "No, I actually left my phone here the other night."

"Oh!" The man nodded his head, opening the door wider to let her in.

"Yeah, I got a call about it earlier, I think it was a young woman."

"I'll have a look around for it, come in and have a drink," he told her, leading her through the bar.

"Ah, no thanks."

"Gotta get home to the husband, do you?" The man laughed, turning back to her.

"No."

"You're not married?"

"No…not really." She told him, pushing her thoughts of Liz to the deepest parts of her mind.

"Oh, well, I hope he didn't walk out on you." He told her honestly, and Quinn didn't know whether to feel personally invaded or affronted. She actually felt neither, because the man was oddly sincere in everything he said.

"Actually, she passed away."

The man turned back again, a look of surprise on his face. "Oh geez, I'm sorry. I hate to hear that. Well, come on, we'll have a drink to that."

She walked back into the restaurant to see a table of men drinking beer. There was a short man with glasses, and two older men all sitting around a table with cards in their hands.

"Men, this beautiful young lady is my friend, uh –" he motioned to her.

"Quinn."

"Quinn. Her wife is dead."

"Hey!" All the men called, jumping up to greet her with pats on the shoulder.

"That's Wally over there, that's Emmett here, and this is my husband Hiram, and I'm Leroy. So, welcome. Have a seat."

Quinn had to laugh as the men fussed with getting her a seat, finally allowing her to sit down. She watched as they dealt her some cards.

"I'm not too good with cards," she admitted.

"Have you got some cash?" Emmett asked her, a faded Irish accent breaking through his words. Quinn nodded. "Then you're in."

They played for a little while until Quinn finally decided to speak up. "So uh, everyone's gone for the night? All the busboys, waiters…waitresses?"

"Yup." Leroy told her, putting in a couple bucks.

Quinn looked at her cards disappointedly before dropping a couple bills herself.

Rachel sat in front of her vanity, fresh from her evening shower, a shower cap gracing her head. She was wearing her favorite bathrobe, the one her dads got her for Hanukkah one year. Her fingers danced along the collar of the robe, before she pulled the robe apart a bit by her chest, to inspect her scar. She stared at it in the mirror, the silvery line of flesh that stood out from her otherwise olive skin. She traced it lightly with her fingertips – from the top of her collarbone to between her breasts.

She turned away when she suddenly felt a cool breeze drift through her open window, breaking her from her thoughts. She could smell the onset of rain, so she ran down the steps to get her jacket so she could cover her newly planted flowers in the garden. She slipped on her coat and breezed into the dining room of the restaurant.

"Hey dads, I'm going to go cover my plants," she told them, passing by the table.

"Wait a second, honey," her daddy called to her, so she stopped to stand at the table, making eye contact with the stunning blonde from the other night. Her eyes immediately went wide.

"Quinn, I want you to meet my daughter Rachel," Leroy introduced them. "Isn't she lovely?" She asked him, and Rachel could see a glint in his eyes.

Quinn smiled softly and the stunned brunette. "Yes, she sure is." She watched amusedly as Rachel touched her hands to her shower cap, embarrassed. Quinn thought she was the most adorable thing she had ever seen. "We spoke the other night, I was here with uh…water lady."

"Mm, yes. It's nice to see you again Quinn."

It was silent for a moment, all the men at the table grinning knowingly at the two as they stared at each other. Quinn finally realized it and broke the awkward silence.

"I'm actually here because I left my phone the other night, and I think you called back…"

"Oh! Yes, I have it behind the bar." Rachel told her, still not able to break her eyes away from the amazing hazel orbs looking back at her.

"Rach, I'll get the phone, go cover you plants. Quinn, go help her." Hiram spoke from his seat.

Quinn turned to Rachel and watched as she hurried towards the door. "Do you need a hand out there?"

"No," Rachel answered immediately, slamming the door behind her.

Quinn smirked, and turned to the table. "Should I go?"

She was answered with choruses of yes. She followed Rachel to find her in a small garden, pulling a plastic cover over some plants. She jogged to where she was, taking the other end of the plastic and pulling it all the way over.

Rachel kept sneaking glances at her through thick eyelashes, smiling bashfully. "These ones are really fragile." She looked up to see Quinn just staring at her. She then looked down and saw that her robe was open a bit. She quickly pulled it, hoping she hadn't seen her scar, and then realized she was standing outside in a bathrobe and a shower cap. "I know, I look ridiculous."

"No! No, it's a lovely…hat."

"I mean, I'd take it off now, but then I'd have shower cap head," Rachel rambled, still fixing the plastic. She tended to do this when she was nervous. "Anyway, you saw my hair last night. Not that you were looking. But you know my hea- my hair." She was so embarrassed right now that she couldn't bear to look at the girl across from her.

Quinn just smiled at the girl, completely transfixed by her innocence and just plain adorableness.

"Thanks, by the way. For doing this," she said, motioning to the plants.

"It was no problem. I mean, you bought me dinner last night. Which was delicious, by the way."

"Good," Rachel smiled back at her.

Quinn then looked around the garden seeing all the different flowers that surrounded them. "Did you plant all of this?"

Rachel followed her gaze and nodded. "Yeah. There's no rhyme or reason to it, you just…let it grow."

"Amazing. I've never seen something like it, right in the middle of the city. It's like a garden." Quinn realized how stupid that sounded as soon as she said it, and shook her head at her scumbag brain. She then realized she had leaned a bit on one of the flowers. "Oh, sorry, I might've bent that one."

Rachel leaned over to take a look at the flower, completely invading Quinn's bubble with her amazing smell. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply as Rachel inspected the flower.

"No it's alright," Rachel told her, leaning back.

"God, you smell amazing." Her brain just really hated her tonight.

Rachel looked up at her with wide eyes. "It's the flowers. Well, not this particular plant, it's a tomato plant. But, um, all the flowers."

They finished putting the plastic on, and then Quinn spotted a small keyboard over by some of the plants. "Is that yours?"

Rachel looked to where she was. "Oh, yeah."

"Do you play?"

"Yes, and write music. I sing too, actually. I want to be on stage someday."

"Really? Like Broadway?"

Rachel's smile dimmed a bit. "Yeah, maybe one day. I should probably bring that inside." She thought for a moment as she let her fingers rest on the keys. "I guess I write a lot from my dreams."

Quinn smiled at her. "I bet you can't wait to go to sleep."

They stood in the garden for what must have been minutes, just staring at one another. It seemed to be a typical occurrence with them.

"Would you go out with me?" Quinn asked, and this time she actually agreed with her brain's quick thinking.

Rachel took no pause, seemingly in a daze. "Yes."

"Tomorrow night?"

"Yes."

"Eight o'clock?"

"Yes."

"Pick you up here?"

"Yes."

"Wow, you're a very difficult woman." Quinn joked, receiving a gentle smile in return. "You take that inside, I'll finish up out here."

Rachel nodded, taking the keyboard into her arms. "I'll find your phone."

She walked back into the restaurant to find the table suspiciously empty, all of the men's beer and cards still sitting out on the table.

"Dad, daddy?" She called out to the empty restaurant. "Emmett, Wally?"

"We're not here!" She heard Leroy's distant call from the kitchen. She rolled her eyes and took her keyboard upstairs.