Rachel left the cold cocoon that use to be her home; she knew she needed to speak to Santana and explain why she told Quinn, and to give Santana a chance to explain everything to Brittany. The drive across town was long and painful; Rachel's mind kept going over the harsh words and looks that passed across Quinn's face the night before. The concern where her wife was last night the sick feeling in her stomach was growing; the pain in her heart was becoming unbearable.
Quinn was stuck in the mid-morning traffic, her eyes still stinging from the tears that wouldn't stop falling, her mind playing tricks on her. Every time she would hear a song on the radio, it would bring forward an occasion or a time when she was with Rachel and happy. Happy together, what happened to the couple that were so in love, where did their trust go?
Rachel slowly pulled up to the large, looming building. The look of the building was terrifying enough, now she needed to tell her friend that their mistake had become common knowledge and she was going to destroy another family. Walking slowly to the glass open plan office of Ms Santana Lopez was becoming too much, the tighting of her chest, another of her panic attack was coming up, but she needed to do this. She needed to be honest and try and make thing right. To start with she needed to speak to Santana.
"Berry! What are you doing here?" Santana was shocked to see Rachel in the office, she didn't even notice Rachel's dishevelled look.
"She knows" Rachel couldn't lift her eyes from the carpet; her breathing was erratic.
"What?" Santana slowly walked towards the open glass door and gradually closed it. Not wanting any of her colleagues to overhear the conversation she was about to have. "I mean how? When? Does Brittany know?" The questions zipping through her mind were coming thick and fast. The fear in her eyes had been the first time Rachel had ever seen this emotion from Santana.
"She knew something was up, she kept asking. She guessed. She knew. I don't know how but she knew." Rachel just kept talking, not making full comprehendible sentences just letting her mind run and the words spill out.
"Oh god! What are we gonna do?" Santana started pacing her large airy office, the large open space started feeling extremely claustrophobic. The realization of their mistake fully hitting home, the guilt making Santana drive heave. Seeing Santana in such a state of guilt and panic caused Rachel to panic more, controlling her breathing was becoming a real issue. Santana suddenly seeing Rachel unable to breath crossed the room to help control her breathing, she didn't want to take Rachel to the emergency room. Placing a hand on Rachel's back trying to calm the other woman down, wasn't working the contact seemed to make the situation worse, the touch of her hand on Rachel's back felt like a burn, a sordid touch.
What both girls didn't see was the blonde watching from across the office, the woman watched carefully the touches the scene appeared so intimate from afar. Her Wife and best friend seeking comfort from one another. Seeing such a moment was causing pain in her heart, but that emotion was overcome by anger. Anger that her love of her life was with another, the woman she declared her love for in front of her family and friend. The women who she chose over her own father. She was seeing red, she was seething with anger.
"Don't touch me. Please" This was all Rachel could manage through her ragged breathing. She didn't want her friend to touch her; she didn't want anything from her. She just needed to warn her, because Brittany would be devastated just like Quinn.
"What the fuck is going on here? A little romantic meeting? So you two can laugh at me, so you can have a good joke on my behalf." Quinn was angry, that was clear but no other emotion was showing. She didn't want to give the two any pleasure of seeing her broken.
Rachel automatically rose from the chair and walked towards Quinn, seeing her made her breathing automatically come under control. Seeing her wife, always helped. "No, it's not like that. I came here to let Santana know, so she could speak to Brittany. I didn't want Brittany to hear it second hand. She deserves to hear it from San." Rachel held out her hand to touch Quinn's porcelain skin. Seeing Quinn flinch from her touch, was all it took for Rachel to realise that she had broken her family. Her family would never be the same.
"Q, listen. What happened was a mistake. We knew it was a mistake straight away. We regretted every moment. We both decided to forget it. The moment was not worth this pain. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you." Hearing Santana apologise was a miracle. In all the years of their friendship, Quinn had never heard her apologise.
"Why? Why would you two hurt me and Brittany like this? I don't understand. Rachel's told me she felt she was losing me but you. You were my best friend, you are meant to look out for me, not go chasing my slut of a wife around." Quinn was surprised at her own words; she was surprised they left her mouth. She never thought of Rachel in such vile terms.
"Q! Don't call Rachel that. She doesn't deserve that. We made a mistake." Santana was surprised at her own action of defending Rachel. She didn't know why she felt the need to protect her old nemesis.
"Oh isn't that cute, you defending your little ..." Quinn saw the hurt on Rachel's face, and the guilt came flooding back. Quinn couldn't understand why she felt guilty for hurting her; Rachel had hurt her so much worse. Rachel had betrayed everything.
"I'm sorry. Please. Please can we go somewhere and talk. I know I made a mistake. Not just a mistake, I broke everything but I want to fix this. Please let me try. I love you that's never changed. I want to be able to see the love you once had for me reflecting back at me. I will do anything. Please Quinn." The emotional plea from Rachel, sent butterflies flying around Quinn's stomach. Quinn knew she needed to understand, she also knew that her life without Rachel wasn't worth anything. She knew they needed to talk sooner or later. She just didn't know that later might not ever come.
"I can't. I can hardly look at you. I need space. I also want you to stay away from me Santana. You are no longer my friend. You are nothing to me." Quinn needed to run out of the office, she had just lost her second family. This pain hurt more than the first time. This time she felt hallow.
Three Days Later
Rachel hadn't heard anything from Quinn, Santana or Brittney, she had missed all her show's rehearsals and performances, she simply wondered around the shell of a house like a zombie. Not eating, drinking, washing, she wasn't living she was simply now existing. She didn't want to be in this house, she didn't want to be. The pain she feels, is her fault, the pain she made her family feel is her fault, those simple phrases constantly repeating in her head.
Kurt was beginning to get more and more concerned about Quinn's erratic behaviour, one minute she was talking happily to Beth on the phone, and then next she was crying non-stop to the daily soap operas. Her moods weren't much better; Kurt asking a simple question would end up having his head bitten off, or her falling into a deep depression and not being able to talk for the next few hours. Kurt was beginning to worry about her frame of mind, insisting she goes and see Mercedes at the doctor's office.
Nobody had heard from Santana and Brittney, wanting to give the two some privacy and work through their problems the old group of friends left them alone.
Day Four
Kurt unable to make Quinn get out of bed today, decided today was time for an intervention. He was scared seeing his friend in such a state of disrepair that he knew it was time to call in the big guns. He simply collected his phone from the table and hit call. "Hey, it's me. We need to talk. It's about Quinn. She needs our help." Kurt spoke quietly and quickly into the phone, not wanting Quinn to overhear his plans. He needed this to work.
Rachel was no longer walking around like a zombie, she was now curled up in a ball on her's and Quinn's beds, desperate to keep some kind of reminder of Quinn near her. The smell on her pillow was intoxicating.
Day Five
Kurt walked down the busy mid-town street, nervous about the fact he had gone behind his friends back. Kurt strolled into the busy coffee shop, looking around for his friends, hoping he will finally get some help in dealing with Quinn.
"Hey, Kurt. We are over here." The familiar sounding voice came booming over the top of the noisy coffee shop. Walking over to the familiar looking group, he couldn't help but smile with pride, at how quickly his friends came together in a crisis.
"Hey Guys" Kurt pulled Tina into a familiar hug, since they left school; everyone had kept in touch and tried to meet up regularly. However, the frequencies these days had become fewer and fewer between. Looking around the table, he saw Tina's husband and close friend Mike, they both were looking well. Happily married, it appears married life suits these two.
"Finn, thanks for arranging this." Kurt pulled up a chair and sat next to his step brother. "Mercedes, is coming but she's running late, apparently she has an awkward patient this afternoon." Kurt smiles at the group.
"So where's Artie?" Tina spoke looking around the coffee shop, hoping to finally bury the past. This is the first time the group has had together for a crisis. Normally everything was very laid back, and that meant Artie could always keep Tina and Mike at a distance.
"He's tagging along with Puck, but Puck needs to arrange a babysitter for Beth, so they are arriving in tomorrow. I said I will catch them up on everything tonight." Finn spoke with pure determination, he didn't know what was going but he knew his friends were in trouble.
"Sorry I'm late guys. I had some crazy patient." Mercedes made her way around the table greeting all her friends. Finn had been very mysterious about the reason for the meeting but she knew one of her friends was in trouble, and that all she needed to know. She phoned Kurt last night after her conversation with Finn, hoping that her fellow gossip queen would be able to help with some details. However, Kurt was strangely quiet, and this worried Mercedes more than anything.
"So who's going to tell us why we are here. What's going on guys? Mercedes was determined to find out which one of her friends was in trouble. "And where is Ms PowerPoint?"
"Okay, i best start from the beginning. Quinn's in trouble. She and Rachel have broken up. She's staying with me at the moment and she's not handling this very well. To be honest she's a complete mess." Kurt looked around the shocked faces of his friends.
"What? I don't understand. Rachel and Quinn? Don't be silly. Those two are crazy in love, to be honest watching them together makes me feel sick" Mercedes was beyond shocked, she couldn't even believe what Kurt has said.
"Wait, it gets worse. Santana and Brittney have also split up. They are still living together but they can't stand to be near each other. Brittney is moving to LA, at the end of the month." Kurt could see the confusion growing in the eyes of the people surrounding him.
"Are you saying that they all decided to just break up? Why? This doesn't make any sense." Tina was holding tightly onto Mike's hand, she couldn't imagine the group without those two couples.
"What I'm about to tell must not be repeated to Puck, Puck will kill someone. And I don't want Quinn to kill me." Kurt felt physically sick as he thought about the pain that must Quinn must be in. Just the thought of it was painful for him. He couldn't imagine how Quinn felt.
"Rachel and Santana slept together, and Quinn found out." Kurt was barely speaking above a whisper.
"No, Rachel wouldn't do that. She doesn't believe in cheating." Finn stood up above the group. He trusted Rachel above everyone around the table and he couldn't comprehend what Kurt had just said.
"I know, that why I think this is hitting Quinn so hard. She never once thought Rachel would do such a thing. I'm worried about Quinn, she's not herself. She's broken and i'm not sure if she can be repaired. But we have to try; we have to try for Beth's sake." Kurt put his hand on Finn's shoulder hoping to calm the emotional man down. Kurt knew the group would be bewildered, but he also knew that it was only this group of people that stood a chance of repairing the broken Quinn and Brittney.