-Chapter 27-
Rachel and Quinn adjourned to bed early that night and changed into their pajamas before settling down into their bed. Quinn slipped her fingers between Rachel's and sighed.
"You know I love you, right?" Quinn started.
"I do. And I love you."
"Rachel, I'm never going to be one hundred percent okay with you leaving or staying here, okay? But I'm more okay with you leaving than staying. You need to do this, Rach. You need to. I don't want you resenting me or Elizabeth if you stay in Ohio…"
"But Quinn…"
"No, no buts. You will resent it. You will always wonder what would've happened if you had gone and don't tell me you wouldn't because you will. If you go then you'll never wonder what could've happened if you'd stayed. I swear to you, Rachel, I swear I will wait for you and we will work it out. We'll talk every single day and everything, I swear."
Rachel sighed. "Quinn, what if I decide to stay there?"
Quinn swallowed hard and blinked back her tears. "Then you'll just have to buy a plane and-"
"I'm serious, Quinn! This isn't funny!"
Quinn dropped her head and looked down at the blanket, Rachel moved closer to her and wrapped her arms around the blonde's shoulders.
"I don't know," Quinn whispered. "I can't leave here, Rach. Not unless Puck moves with us and he won't…I don't know what will happen, Rachel."
"That is exactly why I am going to OSU."
"No," Quinn growled. "One year, you promised me! Two semesters, if you hate it then come home and that's it. I won't ever bring it up again."
Rachel pulled Quinn down to lie down and turned off her bedside lamp. "One year," the brunette surrendered. "And you're coming to New York with me to get set up."
"Of course."
……………
The entire glee club saw Finn off at the airport before graduation. There were rounds of hugs and tears and Quinn sobbed into his chest after he said goodbye to Elizabeth.
"It's just basic training, Q," he reassured her. "No big deal."
Quinn sniffled and nodded. "I know."
Puck pulled Finn into a tight hug and Finn whispered something to the mohawked boy and Puck just nodded.
"What'd he say?" Quinn asked when Finn was walking toward the metal detectors with his mother.
"Just told me to take care of you guys or else he'd throw grenades at me."
Quinn sniffled a few more times and Puck hugged her.
……………
Rachel made sure her dads had their video camera going at graduation and they sent a DVD to Finn. He wrote them an e-mail saying he loved it and some of the guys were nagging him because he cried a little when they dedicated the ceremony to him and then the shots of Elizabeth with Quinn and Rachel afterward. What Quinn didn't mention in her letter was that Figgins wanted the senior class of New Directions to sing but they refused to do so without their male lead.
Quinn had to do her best to not cry when they started packing up Rachel's things. Quinn migrated her clothes into the closet and dresser as Rachel packed hers away in boxes in preparation to make the move at the end of July. They started going shopping together for sheets and things to make storage a little easier in Rachel's dorm room. She'd gotten a singular room but it was tiny-looking according to the pictures they'd found online so Quinn was helping her come up with different ways to conserve space.
It was debated back and forth whether or not to let Elizabeth come with them to New York. Rachel insisted the toddler get to experience the city while Quinn said she was too young to really appreciate it. Rachel eventually won out. Quinn started taking Tuesdays off from the furniture store to give her time with Rachel and Elizabeth before Rachel had to leave. They would go to the park or if it was really hot Puck would let them tag along to go swimming in whatever pool he was cleaning. Quinn gave a disgusted groan every time he would start flirting with the woman of the house. Puck tried to give her the extra tips he got, in his words "because the cougars dig that I got a kid. I totally get tipped twice as much when she's around" but Quinn refused. Finally on a Sunday afternoon when she picked Elizabeth up he handed her a small bank book and Quinn furrowed her eyebrows at him.
"For her college fund or whatever," he said with a shrug. "I told you I was gonna help out and I am, okay? I'm going to keep putting money in it since you won't take any. It's not for you, it's for her."
Quinn sighed and smiled. "Okay, for her."
"I'm getting my own place at the end of the summer. There's this place where the rent is really cheap. It's only a one bedroom but I figure that will be okay for a while until I can get something bigger. So like…make me a list of stuff she needs, okay?"
"Puck, you should be keeping this money so you can make sure you have enough to buy furniture."
"I got it covered, babe. With mowing lawns and doing all that other stuff I'll be fine. Plus, my mom said she is gonna buy new furniture from you when I move so I'll take our old stuff."
"Fine, but if you need money then take it out of here, okay?" Quinn said, holding up the bank book.
"Will do, Baby Mama."
The day the U-haul trailer was packed and attached to the back of the Berry's SUV was one of the hardest days Quinn had in her life up to that point. The next day they would be leaving at six in the morning to drive to New York City and then the day after that they would be moving Rachel into her dorm then spending a few days sightseeing before Quinn, Elizabeth, and Rachel's dads returned to Lima.
Quinn and Rachel made very good use of their last night together after going to dinner and watching "The Wizard of Oz". Rachel snuggled into Quinn's side after their third round and giggled.
"What?" Quinn whispered after Rachel stopped laughing.
"Nothing," Rachel said. "It was just really, really good."
"When hasn't it ever been really, really good?"
"Well there was that time a few weeks ago when Elizabeth crawled out of her bed to come to ours."
Quinn groaned. "I've never seen you get dressed so quickly."
"I don't want to go," Rachel whispered.
"It's okay, Rach."
Rachel sighed. "I'm going to miss you."
The three Berrys and two Fabrays were up early the next morning. Elizabeth, Rachel and Quinn crammed into the back seat, Rachel in the middle, and they headed for the interstate. The ten hour drive was made even longer by pit stops to change Elizabeth. It was surprisingly quiet aside from the movie that was playing to keep the baby entertained. Rachel and Quinn mostly just snuggled together, Rachel's head on Quinn's shoulder and their fingers laced together. When they were about an hour away from the city Quinn had dosed off but was jerked away by a sniffle and Rachel trembling next to her.
"What's wrong, babe?" Quinn groaned. She pulled Rachel in closer to her and the brunette buried her face into Quinn's shoulder.
"I don't want to go," Rachel whispered. "Let's turn around and go home, okay?"
Quinn sighed. "Two semesters. They'll go by really fast, I promise."
They found a hotel near the campus and checked in, Rachel, Quinn, and Elizabeth in an adjoining room with Rachel's dads. Everyone was exhausted aside from Elizabeth who demanded she get to jump on the beds so Rachel and Quinn of course gave into her and they bounced until Elizabeth finally tired herself out and fell asleep. Quinn put her down on the pull-out couch and slipped into bed with Rachel and pulled the brunette into her.
The next day was hectic navigating through the other freshmen who were also moving into the dorms. It took nearly all day to get Rachel's room set up just the way she wanted and she somehow convinced Quinn to let her dads take Elizabeth for the night so the blonde could stay in Rachel's room with her. They didn't sleep much and Quinn was certain that at some point Rachel's neighbors were going to come in and yell at them to shut up but when they heard the stereos just turn up louder they both laughed and Rachel pounced on Quinn again.
The next day they took a tour of the campus then went to Central Park and the zoo. Quinn took tons of pictures of Elizabeth with the ducks and sent a few on her phone to Brittany. Rachel's dads surprised the pair with two tickets to Wicked for that night and they again took Elizabeth. The seats weren't the best in the world but they both watched, completely fixated, their first Broadway show and they agreed that it was ten times better because they had gotten to see it together.
On their last day there were about a hundred pictures taken just at the Statue of Liberty alone, the same with Times Square. Rachel demanded she get to stay at the hotel that night so she could say goodbye in the morning and because her tears still worked on Jim she did. She didn't let go of Quinn once that night and the blonde knew this because she didn't sleep. She just watched Rachel. She was close to telling Rachel that she could come back to Lima with them and they could all live happily ever after and she was sorry she ever forced her to come here but she knew she couldn't. Quinn wasn't about to let Rachel give up a dream or even a potential dream. So, when they woke up in the morning and Quinn packed hers and Elizabeth's things, she told Rachel she loved her and she'd call her when they were on the road and when they got back to Lima.
"I love you," Rachel whispered against Quinn's neck when she hugged her.
"I love you, too Rach. You're going to be fine, okay?"
Rachel nodded and pulled away. Her eyes were red to match Quinn's and Rachel burst into full on sobs when Elizabeth reached up for her. She picked the girl up and held onto her, Elizabeth kissed Rachel's cheek and smiled.
"Rachel no sad!"
"I'm going to miss you, my little gold star," Rachel sniffled and kissed the baby's temple.
"Come on sweetie," Quinn said, reaching for Elizabeth. "We have to go. Rachel's going bye-bye."
Elizabeth's eyes widened and she clung onto Rachel's neck. "Rachel no bye-bye!" the toddler squealed. "No!"
Rachel burst into a fresh round of sobs while Quinn pried a kicking and screaming Elizabeth off of the brunette and handed her off to Jim.
"She won't remember me!" Rachel wailed. "She's going to forget me! Quinn…Quinn I can't leave her or you…I can't!"
"Yes you can," Quinn said sternly. "She's not going to forget her Rachel, okay? I need you to get in that cab and go to campus and make friends and try out for theater and do all of that college stuff, understand? I need you do to it for me."
Rachel shook and clung onto Quinn again. The blonde kissed the top of her girlfriend's head and knew if she didn't pull away right then she never would. So she did. She kissed Rachel goodbye and helped her into the cab and shut the door and watched the yellow car drive out of the hotel parking lot before she got into the SUV and slumped down in her seat.
"I know you didn't want to let her go," Chuck said.
"She needs to do this," Quinn sighed, holding back tears. "She needs to. I don't want her to regret never giving it a chance."
"And that," Jim said, "is why I know you're in love with her."
