A/N: Hi!

So, the next two (initially two but can turn out to be more) chapters are based on Rachel and Quinn's after-fight situation. They're parallel and I was thinking about uploading them on the same day, but I couldn't finish Quinn's on time :( So this is Rachel's. And there's a Taylor Swift song reference, let's see if any fans can spot it!

I also wanted to say I absolutely love reading your reviews! You guys are wonderful! Thank you for the feedback! 3

And special thanks to my beloved giraffe friend (whose name is also Júlia) because she's been giving me great advice about this chapter and this story as a whole even though she doesn't ship Faberry :)


Rachel's legs falter and she collapses onto the floor, sliding down her front door. Untamed tears fall from her eyes. She feels her throat burn and her head spin and wishes she was strong enough to get up, open the door and plead Quinn to stay. But of course she isn't. How can she possibly be, knowing doing that will most likely never be enough given the blonde's seemingly unstrikable irritation?

With her ear incidentally glued to the door, Rachel hears strong steps in the corridor, some sort of metalic slam and unintelligible yells in Quinn's barely recognizable rage-filled voice. Moments later, she hears the elevator leaving. After that, the corridor is taken by nothing but silence.

That's it.

Quinn is gone.

The brunette remains shattered on the floor for some time, wrapping her knees with her arms, occasionally wiping away tears only to have new ones stream down her cheeks less than two seconds later, not ever wanting to move.

That is, until she hears the doorbell ring.

A gleam of hope crosses her eyes. She gets up and cleans her face; the lack of will to leave the floor is miraculously gone. Who can it be but Quinn? She twists the doorknob, radiating expectancy. The door opens, but, instead of the blonde, Rachel sees a much taller figure standing in front of her.

Her mouth opens in a mixture of surprise and disappointment. Of course it's Finn. Quinn would never come back, not after their fight. She doesn't even know why she ever thought she would.

Rachel wouldn't have been disappointed in having Finn there if this was two days before… In fact, this isn't a letdown because he's here; it's because Quinn isn't. She's daydreamed about this moment for the past two weeks, but all she can think about now whatsoever is how upset her friend must be. So much that she even wishes Finn had never decided to come. That feels quite wrong, but it's so bold and ingrained in her mind she can't disguise it or even try to make it go away.

Before Rachel can even say anything, she's being pressed against Finn's body in a hug.

"Finn", she whispers, trying to catch her breath after he's been holding her for the longest five seconds of her life.

"Rachel, God, I've missed you!" Finn exclaims, letting go of the hug right after and finally seeing her swollen eyes and red nose and having his expression changed to worry.

"Hey, have you been crying?"

"No… I'm alright." Rachel wipes her eyes, still trying to hide the traces of her breakdown.

"I can see it, Rach. Does it have anything to do with Quinn?" Finn frowns.

"What? What do you know about Quinn?"

"What's there to know? I met her downstairs, she wouldn't say why she was crying either."

"She was crying?" Rachel asks worriedly.

"Yes... What is all this about?"

"Oh, we… Had an argument."

"That's basically what happens every time you and Quinn are around each other. What was she even doing here?"

"That's not true... We're friends now, believe it or not. She just... Stopped by to check up on me and I asked her to stay for the weekend."

"Friends? Since when does she care?"

"She's nothing like you think she is, Finn."

"Oh wow." Finn frowns again. "Anyway, we haven't even talked about why I'm here."

"Okay, so let's talk about it."

"I want to join the army in Georgia. I told you I was going, but now for the first time in my life I feel like this is the one thing I have to do. My dream, you know?"

"Yeah... That's great, Finn." Rachel replies with a thin smile, trying to show as much positivity as she can.

"No… I mean, it's bad for us."

"I thought you set pretty clear when I got in that train that we were going to let the future lead us and hope we eventually turn out to be together. So, basically, I've been trying to forget that 'us' for the past two weeks."

"But you didn't have to forget it."

"Look, I really did think I was going to marry you, Finn, and when I got here, I didn't even know what was going to happen. I assumed it was over and you'd already started the process of 'setting me free' because we haven't talked since then. Not even one e-mail or phone call or text or tweet! Nothing!"

"I just wanted what was best for you."

"I know you did, but we could've talked about this, we could've decided on something…"

"You'd never have agreed."

"You didn't try!"

"Rachel, what I'm saying is…"

"What you're saying is you have finally found your dream, Finn. And I have mine. And if by coming here you expect me to go on my knees and beg you to stay instead of going to the army, you're wasting your time. I'm not going to make you give up your life to be with me."

"But…"

"You can't complain! You did the same thing to me by sending me here!"

"And you said I was wrong! We can talk about it now! Please…"

"No! Serious damage has been made! I'm halfway through letting you go now! You can't just show up and ask me to take a million steps back and plead you to give up what you've taken so long to realize you wanted! That'd be bad for both of us."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"If you're saying you hadn't already, yes, I am. You should go now, Finn. This is not a good time."

Finn is tempted to complain but he figures he doesn't want things to end badly.

"I… You're right, Rachel. I'm sorry." he gives in.

The brunette nods.

"One last hug?" Finn beckons.

Rachel can't help but smile and accept being wrapped by his arms once again.

"I'm sure the way you shine will put those Georgia stars to shame." he whispers, letting go of the hug and kissing her forehead tenderly. "And hey, maybe you should solve your stuff with Quinn. You both seem really shaken up."

"Yeah..."

"Good luck with that."

"Thank you, Finn."

"You're welcome, Rach. I'll just go now. I love you."

Next thing, Rachel's closing the door behind Finn and part of her finally feels in peace. At least now she knows they're on the same page and he's headed to something he really wants. At least now she knows he's going to be fine. The other part, though, screams Quinn's name and yearns for something to be said or done. She sits on her couch and checks her phone for texts or calls, but there's nothing. She clicks on Quinn's name and starts typing a message.

Quinn, I hope you're not upset. I miss you.

She erases it. Duh. Of course Quinn's upset.

Quinn, I'm sorry… I miss you. Please don't let this get to us.

Rachel never presses the "send" button. Instead, she tosses her phone over to the side, sighing and letting her back rest on the couch.

Suddenly, though, she hears a buzz on the other side of the living room. After looking for the source of the noise, she finds Quinn's phone on her table, lit up with a new text message.

How did it go with Berry? - Santana

So, the blonde forgot her phone. That has to mean she's coming back to get it.

Rachel ponders on whether she should reply to Santana, knowing Quinn's passcode is the date she got early admission to Yale. She decides not to do it, since the blonde is already mad at her and she doesn't want things to get worse. Soon, the phone buzzes again.

Q, you never leave your phone! Unless you and Rachel are making out you have no reason not to answer me!

Rachel suppresses a smile. Santana's crazy.

She almost turns her head to the side seeking hazel affirmation in the amusement of the moment, but then she remembers Quinn is not there and her face falls again.

Later, Rachel lets herself fall on her bed. It's been such a tiring day... It's weird to think everything was going so well in the morning... Now she's alone in her apartment, lying there, missing the coziness of the previous night and smelling Quinn's piercing honey scent everywhere. She closes her eyes but all she sees is hazel ones smiling at her. And choppy blonde hair. And pink lips.

Making out with Quinn suddenly doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

Wait. What?

Rachel frowns and tries to block her thoughts because these ones definitely shouldn't be there. She is unable to sleep for hours because of them, which is desperating because she's Rachel Berry, the star, and that obviously means her flawless voice needs to be preserved with an insanely strict sleep schedule.