CHAPTER 16
Earlier that day…
"Everything here is dark and sketchy and seems illegal. It's like shopping in Puck's mind."
"Oh, good luck, baby."
"Love you, bye."
Quinn hung up the phone and the elderly owner of the bridal shop turned to her.
"Now, what sort of dress did you have in mind, dear?" She asked.
"Oh, nothing too huge or-or poofy. I'm not really a girlie girl." Quinn replied. "But I would like to look like a beautiful princess."
"I saw a couple up front that were nice." Santana said.
"By the window?" The lady asked. Santana nodded and the lady turned back to Quinn. "No offense, dear, but those are a little out of your price range." She remarked before scuttling away.
"Where does she get off? She doesn't know how much money I make!" Quinn spat.
"Oh, these women are experts. They can guess your net annual income just by looking at your underwear." Rachel explained. Quinn sighed.
"Damn you Old Navy and your reasonably-priced three-packs!" Quinn exclaimed.
"At least we get free champagne!" Rachel commented, raising her glass.
"And cake!" Santana added, pointing at the free cake at their table. "Speaking of which, Rachel, have you decided what to do about your doughnut fellowship?"
Quinn glared at Santana but Rachel didn't notice.
"You know, I don't know. I mean, I want to go, but I don't want to lose Finn. I even thought about distance, as if that ever works."
"Ugh. All talking and no sex. Kill me now!" Quinn exclaimed.
"I know it sounds lame, but I actually think that Finn might be The One." Rachel murmured. "That's pretty hard to walk away from."
"Well, I don't know. I'd feel a little Stepford turning down a huge opportunity to chase some guy I'd only known for 3 months." Santana remarked.
"But this isn't just some guy. This is Finn! He's amazing! He's the best guy I know."
"Yeah, in America. But German guys? Whew! I would let them bread my schnitzel any day, if you know what I mean." Santana said. Rachel's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"I really don't." She replied.
"Sex." Santana snapped. Just then, Quinn walked out of the dressing room in her first dress. It looked absolutely hideous, to say the least.
"Oh!" Santana and Rachel exclaimed, not wanting to be rude.
"It's okay, guys, I hate it." Quinn stated.
"Just horrible." Santana remarked. "I mean, short in front, long in the back? That is the mullet of wedding dresses."
"It's bad, it's really bad." Rachel murmured.
"You know, Rachel, Sam and I did long distance once. In college, I did an art course in Paris. I was the only American there. It was really lonely. I only had one friend, Gabrielle. She was kind of homely and strange-looking, and she was really self-conscious about this little mustache she had. Anyway, halfway through the semester, she just stopped talking to me, and I never figured out why. And then I had nobody. The only thing that got me through was knowing that my soulmate was back at home waiting for me. If Finn's your soul mate, then it may be worth it to hang onto him."
"But how am I supposed to know if we're soulmates? It's too soon."
Suddenly, Rachel's phone rang and she picked it up.
"Ooh. Speak of the devil. Hey sweetie." She said.
"Hey, random question. How do you feel about cats?" Finn asked.
"Cats…. Hated the musical, love the animal."
"A cat person. Why am I not surprised?" Santana muttered to Quinn. Quinn slapped her on the shoulder.
"Okay, bye." Rachel said, hanging up the phone and turning to Santana and Quinn. "Why does Finn want to know if I like cats?"
"Maybe he's going to buy you one." Santana remarked. Rachel's eyes widened.
"I did hear barking in the background. Maybe he was in a pet store. Does he want us to get a cat together?"
"Maybe he's using an adorable kitty to guilt you into staying." Santana gasped.
"Oh, that is low!" Rachel said. "Do you think that's what he's doing?"
"Oh, I wouldn't even wait to find out. I would be on the next plane to Germany!" Santana exclaimed. Suddenly, Quinn walked back into the room in an equally horrific dress.
"Aw…" Santana and Rachel said, extremely untruthfully.
"Wow, you guys are sucky liars!" Quinn exclaimed.
"I don't know what to say. It's bad." Rachel laughed.
"Ugly, ugly, ugly." Santana added.
"You know what? We're doing this all wrong!" Rachel exclaimed, standing up. "I am going to get you one of those front window dresses just for fun!"
When she walked away, Quinn turned to Santana.
"Are you okay?" She asked Santana.
"I'm fine." Santana replied.
"Okay. Just kind of seems like you're trying to hustle Rachel out of the country."
"I'm not, I'm just trying to support her. She got a super-important dessert scholarship." She remarked, sarcastically.
"Stop being sarcastic! It is a super-important dessert scholarship!" Quinn snapped. "Wow, that's hard to say without sounding sarcastic. Look… I know you're not Rachel's biggest fan, but she seems to make Finn happy. So think about that before you use your miles to buy her a plane ticket."
Suddenly, Rachel ran over to them with a stunning dress in her hands.
"Somebody say 'Beautiful princess?'" She asked.
"Oh, my gosh, it's perfect!" Quinn exclaimed. "Oh! This dress is totally going to get me laid on my wedding night."
Quinn eagerly ran into the dressing room, leaving just Santana and Rachel in the main room.
"Oh, look how happy she is!" Rachel exclaimed. "You know, I've always thought of myself as one of those independent women who would never let any guy mess with my career, and now i'm actually thinking about it. I feel guilty, like it's un-feminist or something."
"I know what you mean." Santana murmured.
"You do?"
"Well, I'm always putting my career ahead of my relationships and… to be honest, there's a lot of lonely nights in that job description."
"See, that's what I'm afraid of!"
"Choosing Finn over your career doesn't make you un-feminist. Maybe it just means that you guys would be happy together."
"Santana… I think that you are the coolest. I'm so glad that we're friends."
"Oh, no way… you're the coolest." Santana smiled.
"No, you are!" Rachel responded.
"Okay, I am." Santana laughed.
"I'm going to stay." She decided. Just then, Quinn walked out of the dressing room, this time in a gorgeous dress.
"Oh, I am so beautiful!" Quinn cried as she admired herself in the mirror. "Oh, don't tell me how much it costs. Just snap my neck now so I can die this pretty!"
"Wow, you look incredible." Rachel said.
"Okay, okay, how much is it, on a scale of never to never ever?" Quinn asked. Santana checked the price tag.
"Never ever, ever, ever, ever… times infinity." Santana replied. Quinn groaned.
"Well, it's okay. You know, what makes a bride beautiful is that she's just happy to be getting married." Quinn murmured, sitting on the table, right on top of the free cake. Santana and Rachel's eyes widened and they gasped. Quinn misinterpreted their reactions. "Oh guys, I know I look amazing, but the important thing is that Sam and I love each other, right?"
"Yes, you're right." Santana murmured. "But also… you just sat down in the cake!"
Quinn turned around and gasped.
"Hey, hey, you know what? It's going to come out!" Rachel reassured her, unconvincingly. "Because it's only… chocolate and raspberry."
"Ok, come on, get up, let us see how bad it is." Santana said. As Quinn stood up, her heel caught on the back of the dress, causing it to rip. That was when the owner of the shop walked back to them.
"And how will you be paying for this?" She asked.
"Credit card…s." Quinn replied, glumly.
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"Okay, before you say anything, I wanted to give you… this." Rachel said, taking out a divine looking cupcake from her bag. "This is what happens when you, you know, let them finish baking." She laughed. Finn held it in his hand and looked at her.
"I want you to stay." He blurted out.
"I need to go…"
"You're going?" Finn asked, reeling in shock. Although he knew that it was definitely the right decision for her to go, he selfishly wanted her to stay.
"Yes. I have to." She stammered.
"So that's what you decided?" He asked.
"Well, no… I mean, I actually came here tonight leaning toward staying, but when you just told me to stay, it made me realise that I have to go."
"What is this, opposite day or something?" Finn asked, confused.
"No." She replied.
"So it is?"
She laughed nervously.
"Finn, we've only been dating for three months. I can't stay here just for you."
"I was totally going to tell you to go, but then you gave me this cupcake and it reminded me how great you are!"
"Well, is there any chance that you would move to Germany with me?" She asked.
"Well, that's just crazy." He remarked. She raised an eyebrow.
"Woah. Okay. So it's fine for e to make sacrifices for you, but for you it's crazy."
"But you have a job here and a life. I'd have nothing there." Finn explained.
"You'd have me!" She exclaimed.
"We've only been dating three months." He replied and he completely realised her point of view. He groaned.
"Oh, it's not far! It's not fair that we have to break up! I hate this!"
"So… we're breaking up?" She murmured, tears springing to her eyes.
"I guess so."
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"God, that sucks man." Sam said as Finn told him the story the next morning.
"It's just too much pressure too soon. I mean, maybe it was silly to even think that we could make it."
"Look, I understand that you guys needed to break up eventually but why today?" He asked.
"She's leaving tomorrow." Finn murmured.
"Yeah, but she's still in town. So spend one more amazing day together. Finn, think about it this way: if you knew that you were going to lose your leg tomorrow, would you sit on the couch and cry about it, or would you run, jump and do awesome air kicks while you still could?"
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"So we can sit around and cry, or we can run and do awesome air kicks before our leg gets chopped off." Finn explained to Rachel a couple of hours later. He had called her and asked to meet at the bar and she met him pretty quickly.
"Wait, so we're sharing the leg?" She asked, confused. Finn laughed and shook his head.
"No, the leg is a metaphor."
"Okay, but how could the leg be well enough to do awesome air kicks one day, and yet still so sick it needs to be chopped off the next?" She questioned. Finn rolled his eyes and sighed. "I don't know, Finn."
"Come on, we've had a good run. Why end on a fight?" He asked.
"Well, what would you want to do?" She asked.
"Let's do all the stuff we talked about doing and never got around to."
"Like go to the Met?" She asked, eagerly.
"Yeah, and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge."
"See some monkeys at the zoo."
"Go to that French-Vietnamese place we keep passing and say we want to try."
"Wow!" She exclaimed ."We better get going!"
"Yeah, big day!"
And that's exactly what they did with their last day. The museum, the bridge, the restaurant… no, that was a lie. They just had sex all day.
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Later that day, Quinn and Santana were sitting at the bar while Puck and Sam were buying drinks. Sam was wearing his new suit and he loved it. Quinn, however, wasn't having nearly as much fun.
"Quinn, you have to tell him. That dress cost a fortune." Santana said. Quinn shook her head.
"No, I'm just gonna wait for the next time Sam really screws up, and then I'll just slip this in and it won't seem so bad by comparison."
"Well, here's hoping he cheats on you." Santana stated.
"Yeah, but only, like, second base." Quinn laughed. Up at the bar, Puck and Sam were flexing their suits.
"Look at us: two guys in suits." Puck remarked. "You feel that slight tingle? That's every girl in the bar wanting you, and every guy wanting to be you. Actually, it's mostly me, but you're getting some of the splash."
Puck and Sam carried the beers back to the table.
"Hey, babe." Sam said, kissing Quinn and sliding into the booth.
"So, have you thought any more about coming to work for Puck Corp?" Puck asked. Quinn scoffed.
"Oh, please… your company is not called Puck Corp." She laughed.
"Yet." Puck replied, before taking a sheet of paper out of his pocket and handing it to Sam. "Oh, I almost forgot. Sergei sent me your bill."
Sam's eyes widened as he read the charge.
"P… Puck, this says $4000! I thought you said that it was one-third price!" He shouted. Puck shrugged.
"Yeah, must be a 12 thousand dollar suit. Oh, well, guess you'll have to come work at my company!" He smirked. Sam suddenly realised something...
"You set this up! You set this whole thing up!" He yelled.
"I most certainly did…" Puck's voice trailed off before he said the word not and he sipped his scotch gleefully.
"Well, it won't work. Even if I have to get two extra night jobs, I'll pay your precious tailor. I'm not selling my soul." Sam replied, before turning to Quinn. "Baby, I know that this will makes things harder, but I will make it work, I promise."
"I destroyed an 8000 dollar wedding dress." She cried.
"So what time's the interview?" Sam asked Puck.
"9 am, and you'll need new shoes. Don't worry, I know a guy."
Sam glared at him.
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The next morning was the dreaded morning. Finn had driven Rachel to the airport and they were standing at the entrance, ready to say goodbye.
"Well, I'm glad we got to spend the day doing awesome air kicks." Rachel smiled.
"Yeah, I was almost too tired for all the sex." He joked. She giggled.
"I'm going to miss you so much." She murmured.
"I'm going to miss you too." He replied. They kissed for a long while and only pulled away for air.
"Hey, you know, I mean, if when I get back, we're both still single, we can…"
Finn nodded and looked down. This was the saddest he had been for years and he was struggling to hold it together. Rachel slowly turned around and walked towards the check in desk. Just as she was about to disappear, Finn gathered his courage and called to her.
"Look, I know it never works for anyone, but… do you want to at least try long distance?" He asked.
"Yes! Yes!" She exclaimed, running over to him and giving him a long, passionate kiss.
"We can beat the odds." Finn stated.
"Odds, schmodds." She exclaimed.
"It's gonna work! We're going to make it work. It'll work!"
It didn't work. Long distance was and is a terrible idea, a really terrible idea. Just awful. But more on that later…