There were so many things he wanted to say, so much he wanted to tell her. But he couldn't. He stood, numb, watching as tears tainted her beautiful face. It was as though he'd been turned to stone again.
Quinn didn't seem to notice. "Riley has been a perfect gentleman all day," she told him through her sobs, "He has been polite and charming and I don't think I've ever been treated with more respect, not even from Harry." She swallowed thickly, seeing Jay do the same. In all honesty, she couldn't remember when she last felt so much at the same time. She was angry, heartbroken and so ridiculously in love with him that she briefly wondered if her heart could take it all. "You hurt me," she exclaimed, more tears falling as she pointed an accusatory finger at him, "You left, you broke the promises you made." Gesturing in the general direction Riley had disappeared in, Quinn tried to make him understand. "He is a brand new start, someone I can trust because he hasn't hurt me yet."
Once again, Jay found himself on his knees for her. He wasn't entirely sure why he always fell to his knees in confrontations with her. Maybe, he acknowledged, his body was showing him what he needed to show her. That he would always be at her mercy, always at her beck and call, hers to do with as she pleased. The world as he knew it had crumbled when he met her. She watched him silently and he knew that she knew. He loved her.
"You stole my heart like the thief you are," she choked, "You didn't give it back." And that was the gospel truth. That was the one thing he hadn't shattered between them. Her heart. He had carried it with him, always, and kept it safe in his love for her. Quinn walked up to him, looking down into his eyes. They were as filled with tears as hers and she knew he expected her to hit him. She saw the saw both Harry and a still crying Evie flinched when she threw her hands up in exasperation, more sobs escaping her. "And now I don't know what to do," she continued, "Because I have the most perfect fresh start waiting for me but you still have my heart."
For the first time since her arrival, Jay spoke. His voice was rough and thick, but the honesty in it couldn't be denied, not even by her. "I'm not giving it back," he rasped, reaching out to take her hand, "Not unless you give me mine, and I really don't want you to do that." The fact that she let him touch her surged like electricity through his veins but he couldn't stand just yet. He needed to remain where he was, stripped bare and vulnerable, to truly make her understand. "I love you, Quinn," he confessed his own tears falling as a fresh wave tumbled down her cheeks, "And I don't ever want to stop and you can't make me." Behind him, Evie was sobbing into Harry's shoulder. In front of him, the love of his life held his future in her hands.
"I don't want you to give mine back either," Quinn finally whispered, barely able to see through her tears, "I don't think I could ever hate you unless you decided to give it back." In the end, she didn't have to see. She felt it as he stood, swept her into his arms and kissed her as though the future of the kingdom depended on it. She felt him smile between kisses, felt it in the tightness of his embrace. He loved her. She loved him. He was the thief that walked around with her heart in his hands. She was the princess that walked around with his in hers. It had been a tough negotiation. But the outcome was so far beyond anything she'd ever dared to hope for.
Evie's sobbing had them breaking apart and Harry was equally relieved and perplexed. "Love, why in the hells are ye cryin'?" He knew why Jay and Quinn were crying. Their crying made sense. Evie's most definitely did not. It had been an emotional end to a conflict that had lasted years, he understood that. He didn't understand why Evie had been so moved by it. "Ye're mental, did ye know that?" He winced when she hit his chest hard and glared up at him through her tears.
"I'm just so happy for them."
"Ye can't seriously 'ave been cryin' happy tears through the whole thing."
"Of course I can, I knew it would end like this!"
Jay wiped Quinn's tears away as their friends continued to bicker. Gently cradling her face, he pressed another kiss against her lips. When he pulled away, Quinn smiled up at him and the words escaped him before he could stop them. "I love you."
"I love you too." The road to that realization had been long and littered with hindrances. But nothing had ever been more worth it.
Needless to say, Jay ended up staying at Evie's with Quinn and Harry. With many, many protests from the latter. Quinn had done her best to assure him that she was drained and had to sleep since she had work to do in the morning but when she woke up and exited Evie's guest room, the pirate was asleep outside. She stepped over him, walking downstairs into the kitchen to find Evie whistling as she worked on breakfast. "Has he been out there all night," Quinn asked as she hoisted herself up on the kitchen island and grabbed a chocolate chip pancake, "Also, is this edible?"
"Yes to both of those," Evie answered, carefully measuring how many blueberries to add to the second batch, "I tried everything, he wouldn't budge." She turned to face Quinn, using a wooden spoon to fold the berries into the batter. Her eyebrows shot up as she took in her friend's appearance. She grinned suggestively. "Judging by that outfit, I'm surprised Jay's still alive."
Quinn looked down at what she was wearing. While she could understand what Evie was getting at, she rolled her eyes. "He knows I usually sleep in a nightgown, so he offered his t-shirt," she explained, adjusting the sleeve that had fallen off her shoulder, "It was all perfectly innocent."
"You want help covering that hickey?"
"Please."
The girls chatted quietly, waiting for their significant others to wake up. It was no real surprise when Jay emerged from upstairs first. He kissed both of them on the cheek and accepted the plate Evie held out to him. Taking his place between Quinn's legs, his bare back against her chest, he dug into his breakfast. "What's the plan for today," he asked between bites of blueberry pancake, "I've got Tourney and some classes." Both girls replied with work, smirking at the dismayed look on Jay's face.
"Actually, that reminds me," Evie said, sweeping past Harry as he stumbled down the stairs, "I've been working on something for you." She headed to her design room, picking up the outfit that had been created when she'd left Quinn at the hospital. Smiling nervously, she held it up for Quinn to see. It was fairly simple, a practical choice for Quinn's line of work. The pencil skirt had a checkered pattern, each square holding a different suit. The black squares had gold spades or clubs, while the white ones had red hearts or diamonds. A simple, loose, black blouse with gold lace around the neckline and the end of the sleeves finished the outfit. Evie held up a pair of red pumps in her other hand. "What do you think?"
Quinn grinned at her friend. "You've really come into your own, haven't you?" She accepted the outfit, looking it over before she hugged Evie tightly. "Help me get ready?" And with that, Harry and Jay were left alone in the kitchen as the girls went upstairs. Evie carefully covered the hickeys that were visible and fixed Quinn's hair while the blood-haired girl found a lipstick that suited her. They shifted after a while, Quinn weaving an elaborate braid into Evie's blue locks while the designer did her own makeup. Once done, they appraised each other. Ensuring that they were equally immaculate, they went back downstairs.
Their lovers' reactions had both of them doubling over in laughter. Harry dropped his fork, the pointy end landing on Jay's foot, which caused him to accidentally hit the pirate in the head with his plate. "Glad to see our efforts don't go unnoticed," Evie quipped, kissing Harry's cheek, "But you all need to get going." Quinn and Harry were expected at the hospital and Jay had practice to get to. Evie herself had several fittings booked for the day. She watched her closest friends leave, feeling as though all the pieces had fallen into place.
At the hospital, Quinn warmly greeted Naveen and Tiana again. "Well, Your Highnesses," she said, putting her pen down, "You are, as of right now, free to go." She shook their hands as they left and turned to Harry, "Since you already know the routine, could you go check on Beast," she asked, moving over to check on Pinocchio, "I doubt he actually drank the tea I prescribed, so… just make sure Belle hasn't killed him." The pirate nodded and headed deeper into the ward while Quinn smiled at the man waiting for her.
Just as she was ensuring that he wasn't turning wooden again, Harry came running. "Quinn, something's wrong." She dropped Pinocchio's clipboard, rushing after him. Beast was trashing in his bed, clutching the mattress so tightly Harry feared that he would rip it apart. "I'll hold 'im down," he said, already securing a belt around Beast's thighs, "Ye gotta figure out what's wrong."Quinn nodded, eyes frantically scanning over the former king. The doors slammed open and Ben came running with his mother and Mal, but neither Harry nor Quinn really took notice.
"What is going on?" Ben was perplexed. Harry was on top of his father, pinning his arms down with his knees, while Quinn was searching for something. To his horror, Ben realized that his father was in serious pain, his face scrunched up in a grimace that made them all wince. Mal moved forward before Ben could stop her, grabbing Quinn's arm.
"What have you done?"
Quinn tore free from Mal without replying, backhanding her in the process. The glare exchanged between them was cold enough to freeze hell. But the blood-haired princess had better things to do than to get into fights with her half-sister. She turned away, looking at what was placed around the former king. There was a vase of snapdragons and a couple of books and a bag of sunflower seeds. It didn't make sense. None of those things could cause a reaction. Then she spotted it. A vial on the floor. She picked it up, smelling the substance it had contained as it smeared over her fingers. Eyes widening, Quinn pulled Harry away from Beast, just in time for the man to become the beast.
The belt tied around his thighs was useless against the snapping and breaking of bone as Beast transformed. Once fully formed, he stilled. Belle hesitantly approached, placing her hand on a furry arm. Beast's eyes flew open as he let out a monstrous roar. Some parts of his newly transformed mind must've recognized that Belle was someone important to him. Harry and Quinn weren't as lucky. With brutal strength, Beast grabbed both of them by the throat, throwing the pirate across the room as he lifted Quinn off her feet. There was no stopping him. No one dared to interfere, for fear of ending up like Harry.
Black spots clouded Quinn's vision. She knew that if someone didn't do anything soon, she wasn't likely to survive. The last thing she heard before losing consciousness was the sound of the doors slamming open and someone calling her name.
Evie gasped as she burst into the Morphilogus Ward with Jay. Quinn was worryingly limp in Beast's grip and a body that looked suspiciously like Harry lay on the floor on the other side of the room. Jay was already moving deeper into the ward, heading toward Beast and Quinn. After a moment's hesitation, unsure who to attend to first, Evie rushed to make sure Harry would be okay. He was groaning weakly, which meant that he was alive, at least. She glanced over to her friends in time to see Jay jab a needle into Beast's neck and inject a liquid before he caught Quinn as she slipped from the former king's grasp. Tears rose in Evie's eyes as she realized that the red-haired girl wasn't responding to anything Jay tried.
There was something that shook Mal to the core as she watched one of her best friends beg and plead for the girl who had straight up slapped her to wake up. She had tried to use spells to make Beast release the redhead, but just as it had that day at House of Cards, her magic failed her. She realized with a start that it only ever happened around her half-sister. Her half-sister, who lay lifeless in Jay's arms. The way he looked at her made Mal's chest feel tight. He had admitted that he'd dated her, but the queen-to-be could tell that there was a lot more to the story. She had been with Ben for years, at that point, yet he didn't look at her quite like Jay looked at Quinn. If only her magic worked she could help. She paused. Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out the ember. Their magic. Hesitantly, Mal kneeled beside Jay and took Quinn's hand. "A loving heart is here at stake, help this sleeping princess wake."
There was a tense silence as several seconds passed. Jay refused to cry. Crying meant accepting the unacceptable.