most of their flights aren't leaving until the next day, but quinn leaves that afternoon. she doesn't say goodbye to rachel, or to anyone else for that matter, but rachel finds a note on her bed in quinn's plain handwriting-
rachel,
when i came here this summer, i didn't expect i'd make many friends. i know i can come off as pretty indifferent, and that has a tendency to keep most people at a distance. so imagine my surprise when i met you and you just plowed through all of that and saw right into me.
you're an amazing woman, rachel. funny, talented, charming, kind-hearted. i don't know if you can ever forgive me for all the hurt i've caused you, but i hope you can, because i truly believe you're my anam cara, my 'soul friend,' and i'd hate to have to live the rest of my life without you in it.
come and find me in boston if you have the time. i'd love to spend some time with you back in 'real life.'
love,
your quinn
rachel doesn't know what to make of it, but mostly she's just tired, and, surprisingly, a little bit relieved that quinn is gone. the letter's mention of 'real life,' however, gets her thinking about her own real life. quinn's on her way back to boston, where she's working on her master's in art history. rachel and santana graduated that spring, and santana's already got a job with a theater company as a tech. kurt's starting grad school in the fall. blaine's moving to the city to start teaching high school drama.
but rachel has absolutely no plan. she sighs, folding quinn's letter into a tiny square and slipping it into her wallet. it's a problem for another day. right now, it's time to get to work.
the first thing she does is convince blaine to move in with her. it doesn't take much work. he needs a place to stay, she's got the space, and she can certainly use the extra rent money. and within a week, she's got herself two part-time jobs set up for the fall, one as a receptionist, and the other giving voice lessons at a nearby music school. rachel starts to feel a little bit of her old tenacity coming back; it's a good feeling.
she sees a lot more of santana than she had expected. they live in the same neighborhood, and with brittany all the way in california and kurt and blaine in the throes of young love, it seems only natural that they spend time together.
one night, as they stumble in from a long, boisterous dinner, rachel's cell phone rings.
"it's quinn," rachel gasps. "what do i do?"
"what do you want to do?" santana shrugs.
rachel answers it, but santana presses her head close to rachel's so she can listen in.
"hello?"
"hi," quinn's voice is timid again, "i'm so glad you picked up. what are you up to?"
"oh, santana and i just got back from dinner. what about you?"
"i'm taking a bath."
the mental image flashes across rachel's mind, and her phone slips from her hand, hitting the floor and ending the call.
"subtle, berry."
"why would she call me from the bathtub?" rachel says with nervous exasperation.
santana just rolls her eyes at her. "ok. i'm going to go home and let you take your booty call in private, but call me tomorrow, alright?"
"yeah, alright," rachel says, her voice quavering as she bends down to retrieve her phone from the floor.
when she's able to steady her fingers long enough to dial quinn's number, she calls her back.
"i'm sorry about that," she says, "i dropped my phone."
quinn laughs a little. "that's alright. can you talk now?"
"sure."
"i miss you, rachel. i miss you a lot," quinn confesses.
the adrenaline starts coursing through rachel almost immediately. "i miss you too, quinn."
"do you think you could come and stay with me for a while?"
"for how long?"
"how long do you have?"
"i don't start my jobs for another two weeks."
"well, then, as long as you want until then, i guess. i really need you here." she doesn't say why though, and rachel, of course, doesn't ask. she just throws some clothes in a bag and catches the first train to boston the next morning, leaving a note for blaine and texting santana on the way.
dude. you are so going to get laid, santana texts back.