Chapter 51

Rachel got home late from the theatre on the following Sunday night. A note on the counter told her that Kurt had gone to Pierce's for the night. Glancing into the living room, she saw Quinn's blonde head resting on the arm of the couch, her mouth slightly ajar as she breathed evenly in her sleep.

In the fridge was the remains of Quinn's cooking neatly stacked in Tupperware containers and Rachel pulled them out, fixing herself a plate and sitting at the counter while waiting for it to heat up. She was scrolling through her phone casually, trying to stay as quiet as possible to not wake Quinn.

There was a loud knock on the door that made Rachel jump. She could see Quinn stirring from in the interruption and she walked over to the door and stood on her tiptoes to look out of the peephole.

A tall blonde girl was standing on their welcome mat, her eyes red and puffy and her cheeks stained with tears. Rachel threw the door open in alarm and she felt Quinn appear behind her in the doorway.

"Britt, what are you doing here?" Rachel asked, gaping at their friend.

Brittany burst into tears, her sobs raking her entire body. Rachel stood there completely shell-shocked, so Quinn pushed past her and took Brittany in her arms, leading her back into the apartment. She kicked the door closed behind them and coerced Brittany into taking a seat on the couch.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" she said, her voice soft and concerned.

"She-she broke up with me!" Brittany squeaked out amongst her deep sobs. Her shoulders were heaving with the exertion of her crying. "She told me she couldn't do this anymore and that we needed to stop trying."

"Santana is just scared, B. I'm sure she didn't mean it," Quinn tried to reason with her.

"No, she said that it's like dating a ghost and she's not waiting around for me anymore." Her sobs became frantic again and Rachel flitted around the kitchen making them tea and glancing over at her girlfriend and Brittany nervously.

She joined them when it was ready and handed a mug to both Quinn and Brittany before retrieving her own. Brittany was shaking and Quinn put her mug down on the coffee table to wrap Brittany tighter.

"We're going to help you, B. How did you get here?" Her voice continued to be calm and soothing.

"I had a show in New Jersey and I called after the show and she broke up with me so I had someone drop me at the train station. I needed to see someone." Her crying had become silent, her chest not heaving so much.

"Well, we're here. Drink some of your tea. Are you hungry?" Brittany shook her head. "Drink some tea and then we'll try to get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll talk about everything okay?"

Brittany didn't respond but took a tiny sip of the tea. Rachel sat in the armchair, unsure how to help. Brittany and Santana had always been Quinn's best friends and while they all got along now, she still didn't know how to act as their friend. So when Quinn asked her to get the bed ready, she jumped up to find the extra pillow and turn down the blankets.

Quinn got Brittany to calm down a little more and drink her tea, before leading her to the bathroom and washing the makeup off her face and giving her a new toothbrush. She went back into Rachel's room and extracted a pair of shorts and tank top and delivered them to her friend. Brittany gave her a weak smile of appreciation and let Quinn lead her back to the bedroom.

Quinn helped Brittany into the bed before climbing in behind her and holding her tightly. Rachel got ready for bed, her dinner left forgotten in the kitchen. She climbed in behind Quinn a few minutes later, turning the light off and pulling the blanket over the three of them.

None of them slept well that night. Brittany cried until her body gave up with exhaustion and Quinn and Rachel took turns stroking her hair and hugging her close. Quinn snuck out of bed while Rachel and Brittany were snuggled up together. She called Joshua quickly to take the day off of work. She hadn't taken so much as a true lunch break since she had started and Joshua didn't give her a hard time.

She was awake at this point, so she started the coffee before ducking into the hallway. With a tap of a button, she called Santana. It rang for a long time before she finally heard a very raspy voice on the other end.

"What the fuck, Quinn? It's like 5 in the morning here."

"Why don't you tell me why I'm calling this early then. I have your girlfriend sleeping in my bed that showed up on my doorstep a mess in the middle of the night."

"Britt is with you?" Santana asked, her voice dripping worry.

"Yeah, because apparently my best friend is a fucking idiot." Quinn didn't try to hide the disgust in her voice. She hadn't seen Brittany this broken since before Santana admitted her feelings in eleventh grade.

"I can't take the heartache of missing her all of the time," Santana said, her voice weak.

"So the heartache of not having her at all is better than the heartache with a promise of love despite all odds?" They had always had a rough friendship because both of them were bitchy and manipulative. They were brutally honest and didn't sugarcoat it for one another. This wasn't any different.

"Quinn, I can't handle it. I love her so much and I'm holding her back and I'm lonely and miserable all of the time." Her voice was choked with tears now.

"Have you told Brittany any of that? Have you even tried to talk to her about how hard this is for you?"

Santana was silent and Quinn knew that her assumption was right.

"You need to fix this, Santana. You cannot let the best thing to ever happen to you walk away."

"What am I going to do? She's in the middle of a tour on the East Coast and I'm in California."

Rachel peeked her head out the door and signaled silently to Quinn that Brittany was awake inside the apartment.

"Book yourself a damn flight. Text me what time you need me to pick you up from the airport and I'll see you tonight."

She hung up before Santana even responded and headed back into the apartment to deal with Santana's better half.

Rachel couldn't get out of work that day and she shrugged apologetically as she left a couple of hours later. Santana forwarded her flight information and Quinn ducked into the hallway to ask Kurt to pick her up so that Quinn could stay with Brittany.

The day passed slowly, filled with trying to keep Brittany's mind off of her breaking heart. Quinn had her call in and take two days off of the tour. She would pick up with the crew in Boston after she had time to talk to Santana, although she didn't know that.

Rachel came home from work with a bag of takeout and Quinn tried to coerce Brittany into eating something, which had been a futile attempt thus far. She watched with a clenched heart as her friend pushed broccoli around on her plate, not even bothering to attempt a bite.

Kurt and Santana showed up shortly after Quinn had cleared dinner. Brittany was lying on the couch with her head buried in Rachel's lap, her sobs taking over for the tenth time that evening. She didn't even move at the sound of people entering and Quinn fixated her gaze on Santana's.

The Latina went pale at the sound of Brittany's obvious pain. Quinn gestured to the bedroom and knelt down next to Brittany on the couch.

"Hey, B? Can you come in the bedroom with me please?"

Brittany didn't respond, but let Quinn lead her into the bedroom. Her eyes were so red and puffy that she could hardly even keep them open, but they went wide at the sight of Santana standing there, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. Quinn slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her.

The three of them sat on the couch and stayed there in frozen silence. Kurt played with a loose string on the hem of his shorts, cell phone lying in his lap. Rachel was wringing her hands in her lap and Quinn reached over to place her own hand on top of Rachel's.

It was a long time before the yelling began. Quinn winced harshly at the sound of Brittany's voice.

"You promised you'd never hurt me, Santana! You promised you'd love me forever!"

Rachel tugged at Quinn's hand, interlocking their fingers securely.

It was almost two hours before the door to the bedroom opened and the two of them emerged. They were standing awkwardly apart, both of them with red, puffy eyes. Quinn and Rachel communicated silently. Santana followed Quinn out of the apartment while Rachel and Kurt tended to Brittany.

They walked silently down the busy streets of New York City before Quinn dragged Santana into a dark dive bar. She ordered them both sodas despite Santana's scowl and pushed her friend into a booth roughly.

"Well?" Quinn finally asked, meeting Santana's eyes across the table.

"We're both hurting so badly," Santana said, tearing up her cocktail napkin and stacking the pieces on the table.

"Does that mean you're giving up?" Quinn spat, feeling the anger rising up in her. She would never give up on Rachel just because her girlfriend was following her dreams.

"We don't want to. We're taking a little break for a couple of hours to calm down and then we're going to talk about how to fix things. I just can't stand being in our apartment alone night after night anymore. I'm going insane, Q."

Quinn sipped her soda and contemplated the appearance of her best friend. Santana was pale, her eyes sunken. She looked like she had lost weight and her hair was greasy and hanging flat against her cheeks.

"Come spend the summer in New York with us." She knew she'd have to check with Kurt and Rachel for sure, but they would never leave a friend hanging.

"I have my job at the café and the apartment," Santana responded lamely.

"You can get a job here for the summer and pay your rent like that. Do you have a friend that can get your mail and whatever?"

Santana nodded slightly.

"You don't have to be alone, Santana. You just have to not be so afraid to ask for help."

Quinn let Santana have one shot before they walked back to calm her nerves. Brittany was huddled on the couch between Kurt and Rachel when they got back, their arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"Hey, Rach, can I talk to you quick?"

Rachel hopped up and followed Quinn into their bedroom. Quinn explained what was going on from Santana's point of view and how she thinks the best thing would be for Santana to come stay until school started up again. Rachel agreed and pulled Kurt in to check with him before the three of them walked back into the living room.

Santana was sitting on the armchair, her arms pulled tightly around her knees, hugging them to her chest. Brittany was sniffling on the couch, staring at the wall in front of her.

"I know you girls have a lot to talk about still, but you're welcome to stay here for a while if you want to, San." Santana nodded appreciatively at them. Quinn gestured for them to use the bedroom again to talk things out now that they were a little calmer.

Kurt left to go hang out with Pierce and some of his friends, leaving Rachel and Quinn to cuddle up on the couch until their friends worked things out. Rachel fell asleep with her head on Quinn's lap and Quinn stroked her silky hair rhythmically as her thoughts swirled in her head.

Santana and Brittany had been a package deal for as long as she could remember. There had been moments when they strayed from one another slightly, but they always found their way back. They had their issues, but they had always made Quinn believe in true love.

It was after midnight when the bedroom creaked open and Santana emerged. She seemed much calmer than she had been earlier, though her eyes were still puffy from crying. Quinn carefully slid out from under Rachel, replacing her lap with a throw pillow before walking over to Santana.

"Britts just kind of fell asleep in your bed," Santana said, gesturing to the tall blonde curled up on Rachel's side of the bed.

"You guys stay in there tonight. You guys need the time together anyway. I have work tomorrow and then we'll figure out the logistics of you moving in if that's what you want to do."

"I don't want to be a nuisance," Santana started but Quinn cut her off.

"You're not a nuisance. You're my best friend."

That settled it. Santana gave her a quick hug and picked up her duffel bag that was sitting in the living room. Quinn pulled pajamas for herself out of a drawer and changed quickly before pulling a sleeping bag out of the closet and settling onto the floor of the living room after covering Rachel with a throw blanket. Santana took her turn in the bathroom before joining Brittany in the bedroom.

Quinn's alarm went off early the next morning and she stretched her stiff limbs. It hadn't been a great night of sleep and she rubbed her eyes sleepily before dragging her tired body into the hot shower. She crept into the bedroom after her shower to get clothes for work before slipping back out and into the kitchen.

Rachel woke to the sound of the coffee maker brewing Quinn's morning coffee and she sat up, her dark hair extra messy from sleeping on the couch.

She joined Quinn at the table as Quinn ate her toast and drank her coffee before packing a second mug to take with her. Quinn filled her in on her short conversation with Santana last night before kissing her goodbye and heading out to work.

Rachel puttered around the apartment, tidying up and cooking breakfast as she waited for the girls to wake up. At the smell of her banana pancakes, the bedroom door swung over to reveal a hungry Santana. Brittany appeared right behind her.

The three of them had breakfast and Rachel was glad to see that they seemed to have talked about most of their issues. Santana's hand stayed on Brittany's thigh through the entirety of breakfast and the two of them shared little smiles and sidelong glances.

Once breakfast was cleared and they all showered and got dressed to the day, Rachel led the two girls out for a fun day in the city. She played tour guide as Santana and Brittany walked hand-in-hand through the city. It was relaxing and the girls seemed to be enamored with one another, having gone so long with barely any contact. That evening Brittany would have to get on the train to Boston for her show the next day and Rachel could see the sadness flash through Santana's eyes every time the girl glanced down at her watch, seeing the minutes flying away from them and limiting their time together.

Quinn was able to get out of work at a reasonable hour tonight and the four of them went out for a quick dinner before they took Brittany to Port Authority to catch her bus to Boston. Quinn and Rachel each gave Brittany quick hugs before moving a few feet away to let their friends say another hard goodbye. A few minutes later, Brittany disappeared through the gate and Santana walked back towards them, swiping at her cheeks to clear the fallen tears.

They headed back to the apartment in near silence, but as soon as they entered, Rachel gathered them at the kitchen table to work out the logistics of Santana's move. Her fall semester classes would start in nine weeks. Brittany would be finished with her contract in twelve weeks, so they would only have three weeks apart and alone. In eight weeks, they would be returning to Ohio for the lake house reunion.

Rachel and Santana called some of her friends to ask them to ship her a couple boxes of her belongings and set up somebody to take care of her mail until she returned at the end of the summer. Once that was settled, they moved onto the classified ads to help Santana find jobs to apply for. Rachel set up a color-coded list for her to go check out the following day.

Quinn began yawning heavily from her long day of work on hardly any sleep. It was a cue for them to stop the work and get ready for bed. They got Santana a sheet and some extra pillows and a blanket to make up the couch. Once she was all settled, the two of them headed into their bedroom.

Life with Santana living with them was crowded, but fun. It had only taken her three days to find a job as a bartender/waitress at a sports bar in Midtown. Quinn joked that it probably had something to do with the low cut tank top she had worn to the interview that showed off her surgically enhanced chest.

The three of them and Kurt settled into a comfortable routine. All of their work hours varied, but they found time to eat together and play in the city as often as they could. Quinn could hear Santana chatting sleepily with Brittany almost every night after the blonde's shows and while Santana obviously missed her girlfriend a lot, she seemed so much happier than she had on their video chats from the past months.

Before they knew it, the 4th of July sprung up on them. Santana had to work, but the other three were off and they went to Santana's bar to hang out before the concert and fireworks display over the water. Just before they were due to leave, Santana came bounding toward their table, announcing that her boss had given her the rest of the night off.

They headed across the city and met up with Pierce and a couple of Pierce's friends. It was a hot night, but the sky was cloud free. You couldn't really see the stars because of all of the lights coming from the gigantic city. It was something Quinn had found odd when she had first moved to New York.

The music was loud and Pierce passed them each a red cup filled with liquor as they enjoyed the concert. Quinn let Rachel sway against her, their arms wrapped around one another. Santana was smiling and singing along, looking carefree for once. Kurt and Pierce were giggling and dancing together in their tiny amount of space. The fireworks were beautiful against the dark, glimmering surface of water with the backdrop of the high skyscrapers. Quinn was shining with happiness of being surrounded by the people she loved during the best summer of her life.

Work picked up for Quinn after the fourth and she was working almost twelve-hour days during the week. Mr. Shelski didn't believe in taking it easy in his work and Quinn understood how he had gotten the reputation he has so young. He was exceptionally talented, but very serious and professional. Quinn loved watching him work his magic when on set, moving gracefully around the models and barking orders, all while clicking the shutter of the camera to capture the shots.

Every morning she sat with him and went over the past shoots and analyzed pictures. He quizzed her and pushed her to continue to learn every day. Sometimes he gave her little assignments to work on around her busy work schedule.

It wasn't until the beginning of August that Mr. Shelski had her hold a camera during the workday. It was a slow day: only one shoot for a magazine fragrance ad. Quinn had learned quickly that these were Mr. Shelski's least favorite jobs, but followed him dutifully into the studio, eying the plain white backdrop and the little white table that held a bottle of perfume in a green glass bottle.

"Quinn, we need shots with the model loving the perfume. It's a simplistic shoot – no other props or backdrop scenes. Just the model and the fragrance. She's due on set in half an hour, so set up what equipment you would like to use."

"Excuse me, sir?" Quinn asked in confusion. Usually he told her exactly what he wanted for a particular shoot.

"I'm sorry, I thought my intention was clear. You will shooting this ad today." He gave her a light pat on the back before walking over to the snack table in the corner.

Quinn gaped at him for a minute before Joshua snapped her back to attention. She sprung into action, making requests to the helpers to get the lighting set up as she dealt with the camera.

The model didn't appear on the shoot at her designated time and Quinn found her manager, who got things moving. Quinn didn't want to get behind schedule when she was finally getting a chance to prove herself. Mr. Shelski kept his distance, but Quinn could feel him watching her as she set up the model with the fragrance and began shooting. With the first click of the camera, she was in the zone and was able to tune out everything but her and her object.

After two hours and a quick flip through the shots, she called it a wrap and thanked the model and her manager. Mr. Shelski appeared beside her, his lips curled in a small smile.

"I think you did a respectable job, Miss Fabray. Supervise the packing of the equipment and meet me in my office when you are done."

Quinn nodded and watched him stride across the room and into his office. She watched over the workers and made sure the camera was cleaned and packaged carefully before walking over and knocking on his door.

He beckoned her to enter and she crept inside the office, closing the door behind her and taking her typical seat in the chair in front of his desk. He had glasses perched on his nose and he was scrolling through the shots that were on the memory card Quinn had given him at the end of the shoot.

"You've learned a lot, Miss Fabray. I thought you did quite well today. This internship has never been just about taking pictures and making people look good. You commanded the entire shoot in a professional manner. The model's manager was very pleased with your demeanor towards the both him and his client."

Quinn thanked him, a blush coloring her cheeks. They walked through the pictures and Mr. Shelski left the final decisions up to her for the prints that would be passed along to the client for final approval.

He let her leave early with a firm handshake and a meeting time for the next morning. She hardly refrained from skipping out of his office in excitement.

Rachel and Santana were still at work when she got back to the apartment, but Kurt was sprawled on the couch watching television when she returned. Dropping her bag in the bedroom and grabbing a bottle of water, she joined him on the couch.

"No work today?" she asked him.

"No, off for the day," he responded, his eyes still fixed on his show. "You're done early today," he observed.

"Yeah, Mr. Shelski had a light schedule today and gave me the evening off. That's after he let me do my first shoot." She could hardly contain her excitement from her news.

"Wow, that's awesome, Quinn!" he said, turning to face her and giving her a one arm hug. "When Rachel gets off, we should go to Santana's bar to celebrate!"

The two of them made dinner together, Kurt singing loudly to the Wicked soundtrack he had blasting through the speakers. Quinn swayed her hips along with the music as she cooked, listening to Kurt's nearly flawless singing. She hadn't gotten to spend much time with Kurt since he had returned from Ohio and it was nice to get some time with him. Over dinner, they talked about his job at the little boutique and his FIT classes and her photography internship and her upcoming semester abroad.

Once dinner was cleaned up, she texted Rachel and told her to meet them at the bar and the two of them headed uptown to the bar Santana worked at. They spotted her behind the bar when they entered. It was pretty busy with the dinner crowd and Santana was moving swiftly mixing drinks at the bar. They grabbed two stools and she stopped over once the patrons were cared for and dropped a pint of beer in front of Quinn and a cosmopolitan in front of Kurt with a wink.

"To what do I owe the pleasure" she asked with a smirk, using the rag that was tucked into her apron to wipe a small spill on the surface of the bar.

"Quinn got to do her first shoot today, so we're celebrating!" Kurt responded for her, lifting his cosmo to his lips and groaning at the taste. "You are perfect at this," he said, gesturing down to his glass.

"That's awesome, Q," she said before a patron flagged her down for a drink and she took off again.

It was an hour later before Rachel appeared at the bar, but Quinn's jaw dropped open at the sight of her girlfriend. Rachel was wearing tight black jeans and black wedges, exposing her hot pink painted toenails. Her tanned arms were exposed in a plain white tank top with a scoop neck, leaving just a hint of cleavage visible. Her long hair fell in loose waves over her shoulders and her makeup was minimal. She looked stunning.

"Wow, you look beautiful," Quinn murmured as Rachel leaned in to kiss her in greeting.

Kurt gave a whistle and Rachel giggled, her cheeks turning red.

"Kurt told me we were celebrating something so I thought I'd get dressed up," Rachel explained, sliding onto the stool next to Quinn and interlocking their fingers.

Santana appeared, dropping a vodka and diet Coke onto a coaster in front of the brunette with a wink before disappearing to help a customer.

"Shelski let me shoot an ad today," Quinn said into her ear, her smile wide against the shell of Rachel's ear.

Rachel squealed in excitement and turned to capture Quinn's lips in a passionate kiss. Kurt tried coughing loudly to get them to pull apart, but Rachel wasn't having it. She only ended the kiss when she could hardly breathe anymore.

"I'm so proud of you, Quinnie!" she said excitedly, waving Santana over.

"What's wrong with your drink, Berry," Santana asked impatiently, toying with the strings of her apron.

"Nothing, nothing. Can we have a round of shots to toast Quinn's exciting news?"

Santana nodded and disappeared down the bar to mix them up a round of shots. She returned with a mixing tin in her hand and she lined up four shot glasses in front of them before neatly pouring the reddish liquid into the glasses and shoving one towards her three friends and keeping one for herself.

"To Quinn being awesome at taking pictures of sexy models," she said with a smirk, lifting her glass up to clink it against her friends'. They swallowed the shot together before dropping the glasses back onto the bar.

In their small amount of free time together, Rachel had all of them planning the lake house reunion. They had invited the younger glee club members and their significant others, so the house would be packed to capacity this time around. The only ones that hadn't yet responded were Finn and Brittany. Santana tried to be excited about the trip, but Quinn knew she was really hoping that Britt would be able to get a couple days away from the tour to be there at least for the weekend.

In her typical over-the-top compulsive nature, there was a notebook filled with food shopping lists and bedroom arrangements and possible activities sitting on the dining room table at all times. Kurt and Santana had taken to adding random things to the list that they knew would drive Rachel insane, like having a pig roast as one of the activities.

Quinn's work had picked up since Mr. Shelski had given her the shoot. He was trusting her more and giving her more responsibility around the studio. Her portfolio was growing rapidly from the shoots he was letting her work on and actually getting to handle a camera.

She was counting the days until the lake trip, but it was also creeping even closer for to start packing for London. It was hard to not be excited about spending four months in Europe, but the idea of leaving Rachel after this amazing summer was almost unbearable. She was watching how hard it was for Santana and Brittany make it work with the distance and the travelling and she couldn't help but worry about how it was going to work for them.

Kurt and Pierce were in his bedroom and Santana had paid Quinn fifty bucks to use her bedroom to video chat with Brittany before the blonde's next show. Quinn decided it was best to not let Rachel know about that deal and instead texted Rachel to meet her for dinner at a restaurant around the corner from the theatre when she got off of work.

The brunette came into the restaurant wearing the adorable red sundress that she had worn to work that morning. Quinn couldn't help but check her out as the brunette sauntered towards the table, a megawatt smile on her face.

With a swift kiss, she sat down across from Quinn and picked up her menu. They sat in comfortable silence as they perused their options and the waiter came to take their orders.

"How was work, baby?" Quinn asked, fiddling with the straw in her Diet Coke.

"It was long and I miss performing every time I walk in there and see other people up on stage."

"Why don't you start auditioning again, Rach?"

"Maybe when school starts again in the fall. I don't want anymore distractions before you leave for London than I already have."

"Baby, you shouldn't be putting off something that would make you happy and help your career because of me."

"God, Quinn, is it so wrong for me to savor the last month I have with you before you move across an ocean?"

The waiter brought their food and refilled their drinks. Quinn left hers untouched as she took in Rachel's face.

"I'm going to be back in four months. It's not forever. I'll be back for winter break and we'll have a few glorious weeks together and we'll go back to school and make it work just like we have been for the past year. We're going to be okay, Rachel."

Rachel was chewing her vegan lasagna slowly, her gaze focused on her plate.

"How can you be so sure?" It made Quinn's stomach drop to hear Rachel doubting their ability to stay together while she would be abroad.

"It's impossible to be sure, but I do know that I love you enough to do everything in my power to make it work. I'm not doing this to drive a wedge between; I'm doing this to hopefully give my career in a hard field a fighting chance. You of all people should understand that." Quinn was having trouble keeping the emotion out of her voice.

"You're a great photographer, Quinn. But you're still majoring in English. You have never actually said that you are going to put all of your energy into photography as a career."

"My dad will only pay for my Yale tuition if I major in something he approves of. It was hard enough convincing him and my mom to let me do an art minor. Do you really think that I wasn't seriously pursuing photography if I took an internship for the summer and a program across an ocean for four months?"

"I was merely stating fact, Quinn."

"Do you not believe that we can make it while I'm abroad? We've made it nearly a year of doing a long distance relationship, Rach. It's just a little more distance."

"When you're in New Haven, I actually have the ability to come visit you and see you for some weekends and be in the same time zone so our schedules match up a little bit. Have you not thought about all of the extra mountains we're going to have to climb to make this work?"

"Of course I have. But I'm not doubting that we can make it work like you are." The bitterness was seeping into her voice now despite her attempts to keep it out.

"Can we please just have dinner?" Rachel said quietly, not wanting to fight in the middle of a busy restaurant.

"Are we just going to continue to pretend like I'm not leaving in a month?" Quinn asked, stabbing a piece of potato with her fork and lifting it to her mouth.

"We can talk about it later."

The rest of dinner was finished in awkward silence. Quinn tossed some cash on the table when the check finally came and led the way back out of the restaurant. Rachel walked alongside her, her heels clicking against the pavement as they headed for the subway a couple of blocks over. Quinn could feel the weight of their conversation sitting on her chest and eating away at her. London was not worth losing Rachel over.

Santana and Kurt had left a note that they had gone out with some people, so Quinn marched right into their bedroom and Rachel followed her, closing the door behind them.

"What is it that you propose we do, Rachel?" Quinn asked bluntly, not bothering to ease into the conversation she knew they needed to have.

"I'm just going to miss you so damn much and I'm worried that you'll be having too much fun to miss me." Quinn looked over at her girlfriend to see tears rolling down her face. "Brittany said that Santana told her that was what happened when Britt went on tour."

"Rach, I miss you while you're at work for the day. Of course I'll miss you when I'm in London. Santana also doesn't make insane color coded calendars to schedule time to talk to deal with the distance. We've got the basics down and we can just make them even stronger while I'm away. I love you too much to not miss you."

"You really think we can make it work?" Rachel asked, wiping the tears as they streamed down her flushed cheeks.

"Of course I do. You're worth it all."

"I love you so much, Quinn." She pulled Quinn down onto the bed with her and snuggled her face into Quinn's chest as her tears started to dry.