Special thanks to everyone who has left a review since the previous chapter was posted:
Anyonn, DarkBlueMint, misshastix, elalsb, Harley Quinn Davidson, Anyonn, pierce22, WiccaWoman17587, Original-Badass, LiteratureLover34, Chakram-Frisbee, immablackstar, gllover22, miralinda, fridaglee17, and 2 Guests (including polux)
Your support is greatly appreciated, along with the support of everybody who has followed this story and/or added it to their favorites.
Thanks again to ScorpioP for some more in-depth critiques.
Extra special thanks to all the people who have left a review for each chapter as the story has gone along. More than anything, you guys have been the ones to help me along with the writing of this story.
Chapter 12: A Good Day
The two of them were lying together on the couch of the apartment one day when Rachel's mind decided to wander.
"Do you ever wonder about the future?" Rachel asked the curled-up form on her lap.
Quinn forced one eye open, a wariness there as she looked up at Rachel. "Sometimes," she said.
Rachel didn't pry any further, and she saw the gratitude in Quinn's eyes when she realized this. She would let Quinn keep this to herself, as much as she could. It had been Rachel's only stipulation when they realized that things were serious between the two of them, after months and months of commuting back and forth between NYC and New Haven – that Rachel would not be the one to propose. Quinn would have to be the one to make that step after everything that Rachel had done to get and keep them together. Quinn had accepted this, though it had admittedly caused her to falter, and that was enough for Rachel.
Content with having finished that line of thought for the time being, her mind diverted to other subjects. The new subject is very closely related, however: memories of the Lopez-Pierce wedding. It had been her first foray into being a maid of honor, a role which, while she had always wondered about, she never expected to be at the side of Santana Lopez. She also never expected to look across the aisle and see her girlfriend as the other maid of honor, her for Santana's imminent wife.
She remembers the blinding smiles on both Santana and Brittany's faces, and she wonders how her own smile on her own day will look in comparison.
The ceremony had been surprisingly down-to-Earth considering that Brittany was one of the brides, but it had worked beautifully. There had been nothing to distract from the love that stood at display. Afterward, Rachel and Quinn had given their speeches, and Quinn had gifted Santana with a hug while they both shared sad smiles. They weren't friends, and there was too much hurt and too many bad memories for them to ever be, but they were friendly acquaintances, and that was more than they had ever really been before.
Dani had come, at the request of both Santana and Brittany, and it had been slightly awkward, but it had also been good for everyone to see her again, and for them to meet her new girlfriend. She had quit her job at the diner by the time they had all come back, much to the distraught of everyone involved. Santana had tracked her down shortly after their return to NYC, and when she had come back to the apartment, red-eyed and all, she had told them what Dani had said to her: that it would just be too painful for both of them to continue working there, that they shouldn't worry because she had already found another job, that she always knew this was going to happen and that it was okay, and that her leaving meant that there was now an open waitressing position at the diner if Santana knew anybody in need of some work.
It was that last bit that had finally made Santana cry.
Still, it had been good for all of them to see her again. Brittany had quickly become best friends with Dani, and Rachel and Kurt both were happy to be reunited with her. Quinn and all of their other Glee friends at the wedding had grown to like her as well.
The night had ended with Brittany hurling the bouquet like a football and managing to hit both Kurt and Blaine in their faces with it, which was about as subtle a signal any of them could manage at that point. All-in-all, it was the most fun Rachel had ever had at a wedding.
"What's the matter?" Quinn asked, because she could still read everyone as fast as she could the dozens of books that had migrated over to the apartment, even when only able to feel their body tensing.
Rachel debated for a moment whether or not to say anything at all, but she eventually said, "I'm thinking about my wedding with Finn."
The way Quinn's body tensed and then suddenly collapsed was one of the most heartbreaking things Rachel had ever seen, but she refused to let Quinn go when she tries to move, keeping her arms wrapped tightly around Quinn and pulling her body closer. "Stop," she said, voice as gentle as it was firm. "I was just thinking about how Santana and Brittany's wedding was more fun than my own."
"Because you didn't get married," Quinn said. "Because I got into a car crash—"
"No, that's not why. Would you stop and listen to me for one second, please?" she asked. Quinn's body was still limp, but it wasn't as bad as it would have been back when they were starting out. Rachel had never thought that she could hate anyone, but she loathed Quinn's parents every time she saw just how much they had done to their poor daughter, and she hated them even more when she joined Quinn at therapy and listened to her talk about them.
It was fitting that Frannie has tossed aside her last name without a care and was now happily known as Mrs. Thompson, and that Quinn now introduced herself as Lucy Pierce, Brittany's family having officially adopted her around a year ago. It was what Russell and Judy deserved; more importantly, it was what Quinn and Frannie deserved: to be finally free of their parents in every way possible.
When Rachel spoke, it was with that at the front of her mind: just how much Quinn deserved after everything she had gone through. "My wedding with Finn was never fun at any point. Not the engagement, not the planning. Everyone was always telling me that it was wrong, and that I shouldn't do it. They all said I was making a mistake, you included," she said, pinning Quinn with a steady gaze that made her mouth snap back shut. "And you were all absolutely right: it was a mistake. It was too soon, and it wasn't trying to achieve anything on its own. It was me giving up, and I'm glad I didn't go through with it."
She sighed and rested her chin atop Quinn's head. "What was that thing you mentioned in the last therapy session? You said you were planning out a speech when on the way to my wedding, right before you got in your car accident. What was it?" she asked, knowing Quinn would indulge her the answer, because Quinn would always indulge her.
She did, however grudgingly the words came out. "I was going to... to march up into your room dressing and tell you what a mistake you were making, and that you didn't have to do that, that when someone proposes you aren't obligated to accept, and that you didn't have to let go of your dreams to be happy," she mumbled against Rachel's chest. "I was going to ask you to break-up with Finn, because there were other people that loved you, and you were hurting them by giving up on everything you had ever aspired to, when they knew that you could make it. People like me. But it doesn't matter."
"Yes, it does," Rachel said, but Quinn shook her head.
"It might have been a mistake then, but maybe you two still would have gotten married someday. When you were both ready."
"Maybe," Rachel conceded. "Maybe one day we would have gotten married, when it was the right time. But maybe I would have married you, anyway. Maybe one day we would have tried, and I would have discovered just how much I could love you. And maybe we would have gotten married, and Finn would have been there with all of our friends, and he would be happy for us like the rest of them.
"But I'm sick and tired of that word: 'maybe.' Because I don't know what would have happened of happened. But this is what I do know," she said, taking hold of Quinn's face and lifting her up so she could stare into those hazel eyes she loved, only magnified by the glasses Quinn wore. "You and I are going to get married, and we are going to invite each and every friend we have. I am going to have Santana as my maid of honor, and Kurt as my best man because I absolutely refuse not to have the both of them up there with me, and you're going to have Brittany as your maid of honor and Puck as your best man, with Mercedes as your bridesmaid. And we are going to get married, and we are going to go on a honeymoon to some gaudy place where we'll frolic in the sun and make love under the moon, and then we are going to come home and spend the rest of our lives together, and you are finally going to write a sequel to that horrible story, and in that story the dragon will come back to life as a beautiful maiden and she and the princess will live happily ever after. Understood!?"
Quinn gaped at her. "Will you marry me?"
"Yes, of course I will!" Rachel huffed. "That was the inference, was it not?"
"No, I mean—"
"I am fully aware of what you mean, Lucille Pierce. I'm saying 'yes.' Do you have a ring?"
"It's, uh, in my travel bag," Quinn replied, still in a daze.
"Well then, go get it, and I will put my exemplary acting skills to work and pretend to have no idea as to what is about to happen."
But Quinn didn't move. She stared at Rachel as a smile slowly spread across her face, growing until the point where it was blinding with how much joy it radiated. She jumped up off the coach and planted a kiss on Rachel's lips, still beaming. "I'll go get it," she said before dashing off to the bedroom.
Rachel hummed and closed her eyes, preparing herself for the role. She would be ecstatic: jumping for joy, probably crying a little, hugging Quinn tight and kissing her, so happy to be getting married to the girl she loved—
Her eyes snapped open.
It was within seconds that she arrived in the room they shared. Quinn was rifling through her bag, but she looked up at the sound of Rachel running into the room. She didn't have a chance to say anything before Rachel jumped into her arms, squealing, "Oh my God, we're getting married!"
And her fiancé burst out laughing.
The End
Author's Note:
So when I wrote this story, I just typed up the first chapter out of the blue one day with no forethought as to the rest of the story. Then people actually read it and seemed to like it, and so I was like: "Oh God, what do I do now?"
Yeah, I actually didn't have much if any of this story planned out. As much apparent foreshadowing and as many drips of information there were, I didn't actually consider the future of the plot too heavily. I just left vague foreshadowing so that I could then fill it in with whatever I came up with later. It wasn't until Overflow that I actually sat down and thought through the entire plot. Originally, I just posted the first chapter, then the second chapter, and then I had to hurry and write up the rest of the story because I set that fast schedule for myself. I have some regrets about the story, but all-in-all, I think it worked out pretty well.
I can't tell you how much the response has meant to me, so I hope the special thanks at the beginning of every chapter have communicated that to some degree. Seriously though, all the people reviewing/favoriting/following the story really meant a lot, and inspired me to try and write my best, so thank you all for that. This marks the very first time I've ever finished a story, and I credit that entirely to you guys.
About my next story:
There Was a Soul Here is my next story, and it is available now. It's going to be very different from Price of Omission in that I actually had the whole thing planned out before I started writing, so hopefully it'll be better.
For anyone who doesn't know, TWaSH revolves around Quinn dealing with heavy depression during the high-school years. Something terrible has happened to her, and the people of McKinley High know some of the details, but they don't know everything. Now Quinn's friends are trying to save her while they still have the chance.
Next Story: There Was a Soul Here
Available Now (Check my profile for it and all my other stories)
