HERE WE GO YOU GUYS! XO 53, 54 and Epilogue coming quickly after!


One, step, two, step, three steps later.

Can I kiss you goodnight?

She chose happiness.

She chose easy. She chose a life without the unbearable need to breathe. She chose to keep walking. She chose to nod to her father. She chose Janey.

"I'm happy, Dad," she breathed, finally able to decide.

"Then let's get you married," he sighed, patted her hand and walked them forward. One heel in front of the next, she stepped. She expected her decision to lift a weight off her chest. She expected the knot in her stomach to dissipate. She expected the images of Quinn to evaporate, flutter away and get lost in the wind. She expected to see her relationship with Janey pass over her eyes as she walked down the aisle...

But all her decision did, was remind her of the choice she didn't make.

It reminded her of the girl she didn't choose.

And each step she took, a new image hit her. The wrong images. Each press of her heel into the plush, white sheeted aisle and she saw a new image.

She saw Quinn's back as she hauled her up the stairs.

Right foot together.

She saw her quivering against her bed, revealing her feelings and wanting nothing but to kiss her.

Left foot step.

She saw their first date and felt the truck rocking over the molehills.

Right foot together.

She saw Quinn leaning in to kiss her, because she couldn't not, and she felt the pull of her lips and the slip of her tongue and the beat of her heart.

Left foot step.

She saw the loveseat in her living room and felt Quinn's body beside hers, her lips against her ears and she heard the muttering of her readings.

Right foot together.

She saw Thanksgiving and the first time they touched themselves. She felt Quinn shivering beside her, panting in her ear and laughing about eager beavers.

Left foot step.

She saw the homecoming dance. She saw Quinn in her baby blue dress and her vulnerable heart and her unwavering devotion. She saw her fingers type out a text to out them.

Right foot together.

She saw the park and the swing and the shore and heard Quinn's voice singing in her ears.

Left foot step.

She saw the first time Quinn went down on her in the car in the front yard. She saw her birthday against the tree.

Right foot together.

She saw Quinn saying goodbye to Leroy as she watched from the hospital window unknowingly. She saw the blonde squeeze his hand, promise to be stronger and promise to be brave- one day.

Left foot step.

She saw college and Quinn's books and her passion and her side-slung messenger bag and her drawing on her bulletin board.

Right foot together.

She saw her arms spread wide in the airport. She saw herself crying when that view disappeared. She felt her heart beating thinking of all the joy she would find in the world.

Left foot step.

She felt her beneath her, pushing into her and promising the world as they gasped, panted and fell further in love.

Right foot together.

She saw her in Leroy's arms, laughing and then grimacing and then quivering in fear. She saw her screaming about serial killer this and serial killer that.

Right foot together.

She saw her running down the hill at the lake house with no purpose but to find Rachel, kiss Rachel and love Rachel.

Left foot step- step.

She saw that smile on webcam and remembered slowly peeling off her clothes, watching Quinn remove hers as well. She saw that hand dipping down and slipping between her legs. She saw her screen fog up.

Right- right foot together.

She saw her bookstore- book shop. She saw the chaise in the corner- Quinn hated chaises. She saw the coffee pot- Quinn drank tea. She saw the picture of herself on the desk and the picture of their families on the wall.

Left foot- left foot step.

She saw her face in the cab as she grinded above her with nothing but ecstasy and thank-fucking-god syndrome. Why had she not seen it?

Right foot step- no together.

She saw pictures of her in Madrid; she saw free, confident and liberated Quinn. She saw passion. She saw drive. She saw her doing it all for herself and only because of Rachel.

Left foot, left foot step. Left foot needs to step.

Why was her left foot not stepping?

Her eyes fluttered closed.

She saw Quinn standing before her, naked and stripped down with only a red barrette. She saw her shaking, crying, trembling.

She heard her, "Choose me."

Right foot step- no left- no right together.

Left foot step.

What was she doing?

She wanted Quinn.

She wanted Quinn more than anything in her life. She wanted Quinn more than Broadway. Singing was only singing when she had Quinn behind her. Singing was only singing when the blonde applauded, smiled and rooted for her. Broadway was just a job without Quinn.

Right foot together.

Making love was just sex without Quinn.

Kissing was just a dentist appointment without Quinn.

Vows were just words without Quinn.

What was she doing?

She opened her eyes and felt her father stop.

Yes, they stopped. They stopped. YES.

She didn't have to do this. Her dad stopped.

"Welcome to the matrimonial bonding of Janey Jansen and Rachel Berry. Today we celebrate a new bond. Today we celebrate a new love."

Oh, no. He stopped because they were there. He stopped because it was the end of the road. She was there with Janey to her right.

Oh, no. What had she done?

She felt her dad take her hand and move it through the air.

I love you and I would be proud, the proudest father in the land, to give you away and place your hand in Quinn's.

Holy mother of god, what was she doing?

Her hand landed in Janey's and she gulped. They stepped forward, fathers standing behind them, and the crowd sat down like an army, echoing off the ballroom walls and slamming into her heart. She felt Quinn's hand in hers on the hill by the dock. She felt a flimsy grass ring fall over her finger. She felt her heart pound alive, slam out of her chest and right into Quinn's.

There was no more dodging, there was no more doubt, there was no more fear. Fear was love, god dammit!

God, what was she doing?

"What a beautiful afternoon," the minister began. He should be a rabbi. And Quinn should be to her right. God, what was she doing? "Today we gather to celebrate the joining of these women in love, respect and marriage."

Shit, what was she doing?

Her eyes watered and her heart continued to slam out of her chest.

Janey's hand felt foreign in hers.

"In the words Richard Bach-"

Richard Bach?

Who was Richard Bach?

"A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys," he read and Rachel's jaw fell. This wasn't in her layout. This wasn't in her plan. "And keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly be who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we're pretending to be."

Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

"Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we're safe in our own paradise. Our soulmate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. When we're two balloons, and together our direction is up, chances are we've found the right person. Our soulmate is the one who makes life come to life."

Her face flamed hot and her toes curled.

What was happening?

She needed out. She needed out now.

How could she get out?

She darted her eyes to Noah to her left.

He calmly stared at the minister, listening to every word.

Why was he paying attention now?

She darted them again, held and burned them into his back. Feel it, Noah. Feel it. Feel her gaze, feel the heat. Someone is staring at you.

He looked right, met her eyes, smiled sadly and then turned back to the minister.

Dammit, Noah!

She darted her eyes back to his.

"Today we join Janey Jansen with Rachel Berry in a lifelong bond of love above all else," he continued and the hand in her right clenched hers.

She was going to throw up. She was going to throw up on the altar.

She gulped and darted her eyes back to the Noah.

He turned again to give her a quick smile and her eyes bulged. He did a double take and then locked on.

Get me out of here.

His eyes narrowed in confusion.

She pinched her lips, set her face on fire and screamed at him.

He gaped, in the most subtle way, and looked back to the minister in disguise. And then, slowly, ever so slowly, he pulled back to her.

She nodded lightly. He cocked an eyebrow.

She nodded again.

His eyes bulged.

Do something, she mouthed.

His mouth formed an o and his eyes widened with no clue. What was there to do? What did she expect him to do?

She felt hundreds of eyes on her. She felt them on her back. She felt them staring, listening, and falling into the romance.

God, what was she doing?

She didn't want to marry Janey!

She wanted to smack Quinn! And then love Quinn. Fight for Quinn!

"Love bleeds from our insides and if we are lucky, flows into each other through respect, adoration and commitment," the minister continued. Oh, no. Oh, no. "Love is endless, love is blind, love is forgiving and love is forever. In the words chosen by Miss Berry, 'If all else perished, and she remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and she were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it.' With that, we read that love knows no bounds. That love doesn't exist without a fight."

That wasn't her reading. It wasn't her reading.

It was Wuthering Heights.

Quinn was still there.

And had managed to rewrite her wedding ceremony to tell her everything all over again and once more.

"Love conquers all. Love is passionate, love is angry, and love is unforgiving," he muttered, eyebrows twitching at his contradiction from earlier. But he continued anyway.

She shot her eyes to Noah.

Quinn is here.

What?

Quinn is here, she mouthed.

What?

Do something!

"You cannot run from love. You cannot escape its hold. You cannot escape its power. It will come back to you and it will slam- slam into your heart," he stuttered, eyeing the paper closer.

She was there, she was there, she was there!

"And now for a reading- a reading, another one, okay," he fumbled. "'You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your togetherness, and let the winds of heavens dance between you.'"

Her heart slammed out of her chest, bounced through the room and like radar, ached for Quinn. Where was she? Where was she?

And god, what was Rachel thinking? Her heart pounded out of her chest and she felt fucking ALIVE. She felt alive and terrified with hundreds of eyes on her back.

"May love bring you happiness, together, apart, and forevermore, like bees of a hive and short stacks in a- in a hayfield," he stumbled.

Bee.

Short stack.

She'd rewritten her entire ceremony. She'd plugged herself out there one last time for Rachel. She did everything. She gave everything. Because she was perfect, beautiful and astounding: Quinn freaking Fabray.

God, she loved her.

"And now," he announced to the crowd, "I ask who gives these women?"

"I do," Hiram whimpered.

"I do," Janey's dad called.

They stepped back from their posts and sat down with the crowd as Janey and Rachel stepped up to him. Noah fell directly to her left and she wanted to reach out and grab his hand, yank him and beg him to do something.

She had to do something.

She had to turn around and walk away.

She had to, but god there were people everywhere.

There was press everywhere.

She would be on the front page of every paper and every magazine and on every internets- all of them! She would be the crazy celebrity who bailed in the middle of her wedding.

Oh, my god, but she needed to bail.

Noah!

She screamed inside, clawing at her heart and setting her tears free. Her muscles tightened in fear as they stepped up one level and then the next, falling to their knees at the foot of the altar.

She was getting married.

She was getting married and to the completely wrong woman.

She loved Quinn. She was in love with Quinn. She forgave Quinn. She wanted to live of life of pain and breathless air and riptide current if it meant she could live beside Quinn.

And if I can make it the rest of my life without breathing right by your side, if I can make it through the rest of my life with my only goal as to make you smile, if I can make it the rest of my life with no purpose but to love you like our hearts were meant to rip open and love someone, like god meant for us to, I'd die a happy girl.

Fuck, she was so in love with Quinn.

What the hell was she doing?

She wanted to make her smile. She wanted to love with her heart ripped open, with her feet out from under her, with her soul pounding the pavement.

She wanted to make her Daddy proud.

She wanted to place her hand in Quinn's.

And oh my god, she was kneeling at altar with another woman.

Noooaaah!

"And now, to the friends and family of Janey and Rachel, I must ask; does anyone present in this room and in the presence of God, object to the union of this couple?"

Noah!

Object!

Object!

Her father.

Her father was there!

Dad, object!

Brittany!

Brittany, object! You're second row, center! Object!

Someone, please god, object.

Quinn was there; she'd rewritten her ceremony.

Quinn, object!

Object!

But nothing came.

Silence stabbed through her ears and pierced her heart.

She could stand herself. She could object to her own marriage, she could do it. She could cause drama, set the paparazzi on fire, light the rumor mill aflame and quite possibly humiliate herself enough for the rest of her life.

She could stand and object!

She wanted to stand and object.

Her legs wobbled beneath her. Her knees shook against the carpeted altar. Her palm sweated against her dress.

And her feet wouldn't move.

They wouldn't move.

She couldn't stand. She couldn't object.

She was going to marry Janey and she couldn't do a damn thing about it. Where was her fire? Where was her need to always be right? Because this was so, so wrong. Where was defiant, bossy, loud mouthed Rachel when she needed a lifeline and a fucking-

"I object," called from behind them and a gasp thundered over the crowd.

Oh, thank god.

Eyes whipped to the far right side of the room.

"Who objects?" the minister called, hand over his eyes to peer into the crowd. "Please stand."

Janey sneered and they turned to follow the gaze into the crowd.

And not a hundred feet away, her knight in shining arm took to his feet.

Fred. Rachel grinned, she grinned and her heart leapt into her chest.

"Sir, may I ask why?" the minister added.

"I was promised a different… other… bride up there. And frankly, I object to the one with the fire engine hair."

She hadn't even invited Fred.

God, Quinn was everywhere.

And then a chair squeaked in the middle of the room and eyes fell to it.

"I object, too," Brittany called. "Because I've always wanted to Taylor Swift someone. Also, the redhead."

Rachel gaped. And Janey scowled.

Noah stepped down to the floor.

"I object, too."

"What- what's-" the minister stuttered.

"Because Rachel's in love with Quinn," Noah finished. "And I object on those grounds."

Hiram stood.

"I object, too. Because my late husband would kill me if I didn't."

"Me, too!" shrieked from the back of the room. The crowd whirled around and Judy Fabray crawled out from behind the last row of chairs, pulling a shy and blushing Russell right along with her. "We object on account of falsities and other she's-not-in-love-with-the-redhead matters."

Judy reached behind the row of chairs, grabbed a hand and yanked.

Palo took to his feet, face flaming in embarrassment.

He looked over the crowd, all eyes on him.

"No hablo Ingles."

"Palo! He objects, too!" Judy yelled.

Rachel grinned.

"What the fuck," Janey muttered.

And then the double doors down the middle aisle burst open.

"Don't do it!" Quinn wailed and then froze, eyes upon the oddly standing crowd members and Rachel and Janey on their knees staring her direction- before she busted in.

Oh, shit.

What was happening?

"You object, too?" the minister squealed.

"Others object? Yes! Yes, I definitely object whole-heartedly."

"What's your reason?"

"How much time do you have?" she smirked and dropped her eyes to Rachel's. The brunette trembled in a slight laugh and fell in love all over again.

"What's going on?" Janey's dad boasted and hit his feet.

"Rach," Quinn muttered, drawing the distracted brunette's eyes back to her own. "Choose me."

And for the first time, she chose with her heart and her soul.

She stood, turned to the minister and gave him a humble smile.

"I object, too."

"What?" Janey shrieked and pulled up to her feet. Rachel turned to her.

"I'm not in love with you. We're not right and you don't deserve this."

She deserves worse, Quinn thought.

"I'm sorry," Rachel murmured, genuinely, sincerely and openly for the first time in months. "I'm so sorry."

Janey's eyes fell to her dress, her hands, and then the crowd.

"You- I can't- we're- Rachel!"

"Don't make it worse," she whispered.

Janey eyed the crowd out of her peripheral vision and fell in step with Rachel's train of thought. Cameras were everywhere. She wasn't meant to make a scene. She wasn't meant to fight, to bust into weddings, to throw down.

Not in front of cameras.

"This is embarrassing," she whispered.

"Come here," Rachel sighed, took her hand, turned to the ballroom and smiled. "Just hold my hand and walk with me."

Janey breathed.

And at that, they walked down the center aisle, hand in hand and hearts astray until they passed through the double doors. The ushers pulled them shut and deafening silence fell over the lobby as Janey, Quinn and Rachel fell into a room alone. It didn't take seconds.

Janey lunged towards Quinn and shrieked, "You fucking-"

"Walk away," Quinn said, stance firm and voice laced with nothing but finality. She wasn't angry. She wasn't bitter. She was just over it.

And she was the one.

Janey knew it.

And Rachel just stood there.

With a scoff, a huff and an eye roll to Rachel's inaction, she turned on a heel and stalked through the lobby.

She was a vision of a bride in despair and loneliness.

And the wreckage screamed beautiful.

Quinn watched her go, appreciating the exquisiteness of it all.

And then she turned to Rachel and she found pulsing brown eyes.

And she found her wearing Judy's pearl bracelet.

A lifetime of happiness, pain, courage, soul-seeking, dreams, anger, and love floated between them, met in the middle and simmered to a boil. It was as life should always be, standing in front of the one you love and with only two wants: kiss them or hit them.

They would wrestle through life forever, Rachel knew.

But it was exactly as she imagined, every time she closed her eyes.

"I'm in love with you," she sighed with a shrug of her shoulders, because life gave her absolutely no other choice in the matter.

"What changed your mind?"

"You," she whispered.

And Quinn lit up.

She lit up with her lit up because of Rachel Berry smile and then she stepped forward, wrapped her arms around her soulmate's neck and kissed her.