AN: The final part! There you go! I've rewritten it about a gazillion times but whatever, yeah, I changed the ending. It's still happy though =) I hope you guys like it. On another note, if there's ever anyone who would like to beta or co-write or anything like that with me, I'd really like it. PM me if you do! Enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think of it!
Quinn finished her day at Flowered Up in a daze, but it was a tear-free daze. She wasn't going to cry until she got home, so she avoided going home. She did groceries, practically in slow-motion, until she remembered that she might run into Rachel or Finn and then she decided to hurry instead.
Standing in front of her apartment door, she dropped her groceries at the door and ran away. It didn't take her long to decide that the best plan for tonight was to get drunk, preferably with Edie, who would take care of her. So that was what she did, and she succeeded in keeping the tears at bay.
Someone else spent that night intoxicated, and it wasn't Rachel. It was her husband. She had a bad feeling in her stomach that was quite easily explained. As if her scene with Quinn in the park hadn't distressed her enough already, now her husband had yet to come home and it was well after midnight.
The only reason she hadn't given him up as missing yet is that Puck had answered his cellphone, sounding reasonably sober, and said that he was with Finn. Finally, at 1:15 AM, Finn came bursting through the doors, sporting a mad grin on his face and talking about losing stress and relieving tensions.
"Rachieeee," he slurred, picking up his wife before stumbling and almost dropping her.
"Finn, put me down."
"I won't let you fall. I won't ever let you down, Rachie."
"Go sober up, please. I need to talk to you."
He put her down. "I can talk."
"I need you to remember this."
"I will, really, I'm not that drunk," he said with a mad grin on his face. Rachel tried to look into his eyes, but his eyes kept dropping.
"Finn, I am starting to get very frustrated right now and I strongly advise you to do as I say and drink at least a gallon of water. I will have you know that I do not stand for this behavior and strongly disapprove, but unfortunately there is nothing I can do now."
"Frustrated?" Finn said, with a wider grin. "Sexually frustrated?"
Rachel walked into the kitchen, inadvertently using herself as bait, because Finn followed his wife into the kitchen.
She poured him a glass of water. "Thanks," he said and gulped it down in one go. Rachel took the glass and filled it again. She repeated this procedure a few times, until she trusted Finn to do it himself.
"I'll be in the living room. Come find me there when you can touch your nose with the tip of your finger while your eyes are closed, because I really do need to talk to you."
Rachel walked out and sat herself down on the couch, crossing her legs and playing with her skirt.
This is the right thing to do. He's not better off not knowing. He deserves the truth. Even though this almost recalls our high school troubles, he should be aware of what happened and what will never happen again.
She tried to blink the tears away at the thought that it would never happen again.
Don't cry now. You've cried all day, haven't you? You must be strong. Finn doesn't deserve this. He cannot comfort you this time.
Finn walked in. He still wasn't completely sober, but walked relatively upright. Rachel sighed and stood up. This was the best she was going to get – she needed to get it off her chest now or she'd never have the courage again. She couldn't wipe this under the carpet like nothing had happened, because something had happened, and Quinn didn't deserve to be dismissed as a nothing. She was a something, a big something in Rachel's life. But now she was gone.
Finn crashed down on the couch with a moan, his feet sticking out at the end. He gave his wife a dopey smile and waved his hand. "Well, go for it."
Rachel tried to start, but found that she couldn't do it facing him. Perhaps it was weak of her, but she turned around and started pacing. She was so nervous, movement felt like the better option anyway. It at least gave her the illusion of something productive.
"I'm positive you must have noticed, Finn, that things have been a bit different between us as of late. Strained, if you will. And I am afraid that the responsibility of that strain fully lies with me. And even though it's…" her voice trailed off, and she got the distinct feeling that she wasn't Rachel, Mrs. Finn Hudson, but that she was acting out a scene.
Perhaps she was, she'd tried to figure out this conversation all afternoon, it was practically scripted in her mind. Thoughts of Quinn were pounding her head like a jackhammer, giving her a headache, but she talked through it, trying to keep her emotions at bay.
"Though it's over now, you still deserve to know the full and unfortunately ugly truth." She took a deep breath, running the script she'd mentally written through her head one more time.
"I wasn't looking for it, but this just happened to me. I went crazy, I went absolutely crazy for someone else. But please believe me when I say that it is in fact over now, and that I am so sorry. There are truly no words to fully describe how sorry I really am. And know-" she said, turning around. The hardest part was over.
"Know that… Finn? No, no, no, no! Finn!" She took a few large steps to the couch and shook her husband, but his eyes remained closed and his breathing was even.
"Finn, please! You need to hear this, it's incredibly important that you awaken somewhere between now and the next 5 seconds because you need to hear it now, and I can only do this once!"
The tears were now leaking from her eyes – where did those bastards come from anyway? Who knew that it were so many? – onto Finn's face. It hurt too much. Not just confessing everything and hurting Finn in the process, but also (and maybe mainly) thinking about Quinn. She couldn't. She really couldn't.
Her face morphed into a pained grimace as she tried to keep the sobs silent, until she trusted her voice again.
"I am staying," she whispered, her chestnut hair falling across her face as she leaned closer to him. "I couldn't, I wouldn't leave you. You have always been enough for me, Finn Hudson. You were the first boy I have ever loved, and you will be enough again."
She pressed a kiss to his forehead and covered him with a blanket. Maybe it was best that he had crashed on the couch, because there seemed to be more tears where these came from and she had an ominous feeling that she'd be crying herself to sleep.
She didn't know that it had been a conscious choice by Finn, which he'd only been able to make because… he still was conscious.
Quinn had gone out and gotten completely wasted, only to crash at Edie's place, rambling about things that Edie just didn't understand.
"If only I'd realized sooner, if I'd just gotten a fucking grip instead of spending so much time trying to figure myself out, if I'd been a little bit braver, maybe I could have had her in high school. There would have been no fucking Finn Hudson, no fucking Mrs. Finn Hudson and no fucking problem but just a lot of happy!"
She still hadn't cried, keeping her promise to herself: don't cry until you get home.
"Are you comfy, Luce?" Edie asked her, ignoring the rant. The blonde had been ranting all night about everything and not bothering to explain anything. She'd put some pieces together, though, and Edie had the feeling that if she was right, Quinn was really going to need a friend, need her.
"God, I would have loved a little more happy. Rachel is happy. She's dramatic, but I think she's also always happy. Bubbly. Positive. I could have used some of that in high school too."
"Who's taking care of your shop tomorrow?"
"I am," Quinn said, for the first time in hours directly addressing Edie.
"You're drunk."
"I'll sober up. Set the alarm clock."
"You really don't want that. You're gonna hate me tomorrow."
"The shop must go on," Quinn said with a goofy giggle. "No, seriously, I really gotta open it. I should. I will."
"Of course you do," Edie said, patting her friend on the back.
Sorry. Couldn't wake you. You'll live. – E
Quinn read the note a couple of times before crumbling it with a groan. What am I supposed to do now?
She massaged her temples, trying to get some of the pressure off her head.
Breakfast. And aspirin.
Quinn felt a little more content, eating breakfast on the couch. She was reading the newspaper, had the radio on and felt overall a little better as long as she didn't think too much. She threw down the newspaper when an overly familiar voice came out of the radio.
"Thanks, Jeff. It is my first interview."
"Oh wow! I'm honored. Are you nervous?"
"Not so much," Rachel said, "I have been trained for the media ever since I was 4."
"That's a long time! Did you always know what you wanted to do? By the way, if any of you good people out there have a question for this rising star, remember you can always call in!"
"Yes, I'd love to answer any questions from you," Rachel said, before going on to answer the actual question. "I've always known that this was my dream. There was never another career that I considered."
"Amazing, amazing. Your film, Lucky Leia, is doing very well in the theaters right now. There's even some Sundance talk surrounding it."
"I've heard that! I cannot tell you how happy I was to hear you. The film deserves this recognition."
"How was it to go to your first own movie premiere?"
"It was so special, I think I'll remember that night forever."
"I heard you went to it with another woman," the interviewer said, implying a question.
"I didn't, actually. I had been planning on going with my husband, but he couldn't get out of work. Once there, I happened to run into a friend."
"Alright, let's talk about your next movie then."
"Yes," Rachel said, "I'm very excited about it! I just signed on yesterday."
"The title is so far undecided, but I have the summary right here. It's a romantic comedy about 2 women, am I right?"
"Absolutely."
"How do you feel about playing opposite someone of the same gender?"
"Completely normal," Rachel replied without missing a beat.
"Really?"
"I'm a good actress. Plus, I grew up with 2 dads, so I'm not exactly a stranger to the concept of homosexuality."
"I don't think so," Quinn called out from the couch at the radio. She listened for a few more seconds before jumping up – adrenaline and maybe a little left over alcohol from last night flowing through her veins – and took her cell phone from her pocket.
"And we have a caller! Welcome, you're on the show! With whom do we have the pleasure?"
"It's me."
"Well, 'me', a little bit more of an introduction might be nice!"
"My name is Quinn," she said, deciding to use the name Rachel knew her by. "And I'd like to get back to the subject of how Mrs. Hudson is feeling about the same gender."
"I think we already covered this," Rachel said in a strange voice.
"Well, I thought maybe you'd like to add something."
"I'm sure I don't. I'm sorry Jeff, but I think that was all we had time for."
"Unfortunately, dear listeners, she's right. Thank you for your time, Mrs. Berry. Lucky Leia is in the theaters now, starring Rachel Berry! Now here's an oldie but a goodie, Happy Together by the Turtles!"
Quinn put down the phone, realizing she'd been hung up on by a freaking radio program. Her phone immediately started buzzing angrily in her hand, and she picked it up.
"Hello?"
"How dare you!" Rachel screeched in her ear. "After yesterday, this is what you do to me? You know I'm heartbroken. You know I feel awful. And then you pull a stunt like this? Who do you think you are, Quinn Fabray?"
"You feel awful? I'm so sorry that you can go back to your life, just go back to being with Finn, back to being a happily married housewife. I've got nothing to return to."
"Happily married? Do you think I'm happy like this? With Finn?"
"Well, why did you choose him?"
"You know things aren't that easy, Quinn. They never are."
"Do you even hear yourself?" Quinn said hotly. "You just admitted that you're not happy with Finn! You're Rachel Berry, the most self-centered person I know, and you're willing to accept this? Maybe you could be happy, with me!"
"You know I've thought about that."
"Have you? Have you really?" Quinn replied, plopping down on the couch only to stand up again. She knew she was making gestures as she spoke, looking like an idiot. "Because I think you would be happier with me. I could have made you happy. We could have been happy, together."
"Quinn, it's simply not an option."
"So you haven't even considered it?"
"I have, I considered it and came to the conclusion that it wasn't an option to begin with."
"Oh, you're a great actress but a horrible liar," Quinn said with a mad grin on her face. "I know you're lying right now. I've really imagined us together, and I think it would be perfect. Imagine me and you, Rach. Day and night, for the rest of our lives."
"I have to go now, Quinn. I hope you know you're hurting me right now."
"I didn't mean to."
"We would never have worked out."
"We would have been so happy together," Quinn said in a sad voice.
"Bye, Quinn."
Rachel didn't wait for Quinn to say goodbye before hanging up.
After this, Quinn decided that she could use a little bit of distraction. The only thing she could think of was going to work. So she went to work straight from Edie's. Best. Idea. Ever.
"God, just pick one already!" She said groggily to a woman with 3 equally huge and beautiful bouquets in her arms. "They're all pretty and they're just flowers, alright? Just fucking flowers!"
The woman huffed and left the shop without buying anything. Quinn groaned and laid her head in her hands. If she wasn't going to sell anything, she might as well have stayed at home and spent the day bawling with Ben & Jerry's. Before she could feel the tears welling in her eyes, she straightened her back again. No crying outside of home.
Quinn was good at pushing through stuff, so eventually the day got a little bit better. Until a familiar face walked in.
There were a number of people that she didn't want to see, but they could all very well be classified under one heading – familiar faces. She didn't want to see anyone that she knew. So of course, Puck walked in, sporting an incredibly angry expression.
"Is it you?" He asked, shortly and simply.
Quinn thought about a way out, but found that only blatantly lying would do the trick. Then she contemplated the blatantly lying option, but Puck gave her a look that told her that he already knew. He was just waiting for the last bit of proof. She gave it a last-ditch effort, though.
"What are you talking about?"
His frown deepened, and he suddenly looked older than he'd ever seemed to her.
"You know what I'm talking about, Quinn. Don't fucking lie to me."
Quinn bit her lip and reminded herself to not-cry.
"So it is you," he said, nodding gravely. "I knew it. I just, I knew it."
"I didn't mean for it to happen. Well, we didn't mean for it to happen."
"You haven't changed at all, have you? You're still the same Quinn from high school, only now you like girls. But you haven't changed one fucking bit."
She couldn't pretend his words didn't hurt her – they hit her exactly where it hurt the most. In her past, and in the very thing that made the present better; the feeling that she'd made progress and was a better person now.
"How is it going with that promise of yours? Not to be a homewrecker anymore and stuff. Going well? Or was it just all bullshit? Wrecked any homes lately? Like my fucking best friend's?"
He was getting more and more upset now. He'd seemed so put together, but now his high school persona was rearing its head. Quinn kept biting her lip to keep it from trembling.
"He called me, in the middle of the night. She didn't say who it was, but I figured it out. Somewhere, I knew you hadn't changed. You were just bullshitting yourself. How does it feel to be back, Quinn?"
"You're wrong," she said in a voice shaking with anger and hurt. "I have changed, I am different now."
"I think you're right, I think you're worse now. At first, you at least knew well what you were doing. You really were just a bitch. But now, you put up this all innocent front and its all fake!" He said, yelling out the last part. He took a few deep breaths and took control over himself again.
"Maybe you should go do another rediscovery, because this didn't work out real well either. It's bad enough that you just went ahead and ditched everyone, but now you do this? You're the worst part of Glee club, you always were, and you are now more than ever. Stop running, Quinn. The past will always catch up. This is the third time you've had to learn this. You should spare the world some pain, and finally learn your lesson."
He was completely calm when he said it, but she could see in his eyes that he was thinking about them – their high school time, their shared history, their child that was walking around somewhere. He walked away without any emotion in his eyes.
Quinn still didn't cry.
She was fiddling with her keys in front of the door to her apartment, once again searching for reasons not to go in. She knew she was running from the tears, but well, she hadn't been that big on crying, not ever, and she didn't want to cry about Rachel. She'd seen it coming, she'd known Rachel was married from the beginning. She shouldn't have let her in anyway, get this attached, have hope, not when the situation was so completely hopeless.
Suddenly, she knew what she really wanted. What she needed.
She needed to stop running.
Just like that, she took her phone from the pocket and dialed a number that hadn't changed in almost 10 years. It would be a short but expensive call, a call that she'd been avoiding for years.
"Mom? Hey, it's me. I'm coming home."
It was the middle of December, December 18th to be exact, and it was Rachel's birthday. Her dads had come over from Lima and Rachel was tired, so tired. She hadn't slept at all in days and she was dead on her feet, energy level at zero.
The doorbell rang, and Rachel opened the door to let her fathers in. Hiram handed her a huge bouquet of tiger lilies with a wide smile and hugged her. She was wearing heels and noticed that she was almost exactly as tall as him. Then her daddy came and hugged her so tightly into his chest that she almost couldn't breathe.
"Thank you for the flowers, they are lovely."
"We got them from that shop where I ordered your wedding flowers," Hiram said. And Rachel pursed her lips. Didn't want to know that.
"Good thing we were just in time," Leroy added, before walking on to shake Finn's hand. "Congratulations, you kept her alive for another year."
"I think my excellent condition plays a part in that as well, daddy. What do you mean just in time?"
"Well, we got them last night already. You don't happen to have a cup of tea for me, do you?"
"Of course," Rachel said and got busy with her 'lady-of-the-house-duties', putting the flowers in a vase and making tea for her dad.
"But why didn't you get them this morning?" She asked from the kitchen, trying not to sound too curious.
"Well, we happened to pass it on our way to the hotel. But it's a good thing we didn't wait, 'cause the girl said we were her last order before leaving."
"Leaving?" Rachel said, dropping the vase on the stove.
"Rachel, honey, I know you can be clumsy but it helps when you pay attention to what you're doing."
"Leaving where?"
"Oh, I thought you knew? Well, turns out, it was Quinn Fabray from Lima! I never knew her well of course, and I hadn't recognized her at all! But we got talking and she told us she was going to Lima for a while, and maybe travel a little after that."
"Good for her," Leroy added. "Taking a break, everyone should do it once in a while. God, wish I could."
"She's gone?" Rachel said softly. "She's in Lima?"
"Holy shit," Finn said, looking at Rachel wide-eyed. Rachel met his look and saw immediately that he knew. "I have to go."
"No wait, Finn!" Rachel yelled out. This was exactly what she had been afraid of. This was the whole point of not telling him who, of not making it concrete, but making the most important part that she'd chosen him. He looked as if he'd forgotten all about that now.
"Don't make any rash decisions, please," she pleaded with her husband.
"Shouldn't I have said that to you?"
"I didn't make any rash decisions, I just had my fair share of rash actions. I thought my decision out well enough, Finn. I chose you."
"Honey, what's going on? What choice?" Her dad tried to inquire carefully.
"Jesus, Rach, you don't want this. You're just a coward, you're waiting for me to do it, aren't you?"
"Please, this isn't worth it."
"Do you really want me to do it? Fine, I'll go."
And it seemed like he really was going to do just that. He tied his scarf around his neck and picked up his coat.
"Finn," Rachel said, but stopped protesting.
"Rachel, I just wanted you to be happy, you know that right? And I wanted to be the one thing that made you happy. But if I'm not, I can't stand in the way of your happiness."
He put on his coat and gave his wife a lingering look.
"What you're feeling is the unstoppable force, which means that I have to move."
Rachel blinked away her tears as she hugged the man who had become her best friend over the years. He hugged her back and pressed a kiss on her forehead. He walked away, leaving a stunned Hiram and Leroy.
"Daddy, do you happen to have a Kleenex on you?" Rachel asked in a choked voice. Leroy hurried to her side with an old-fashioned handkerchief. She blew her nose and walked into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water with shaking hands.
"Rachel," Hiram started carefully, "What happened, honey? What was Finn talking about?"
"Quinn… Lucy… well, Quinn. Quinn Fabray."
"From the flowers? What about her?"
"I'm in love with her. I am, I love her."
"You're in love with Quinn Fabray?" Leroy asked in a stunned voice.
"Who tortured you in high school?"
Rachel nodded. "Same one."
"Who is… a girl?"
Rachel nodded again. "I believe you can state that accurately, yes."
"Honey, I think you have to explain to us," Leroy said, putting his arm around his daughter.
"We reconnected at the wedding. I… we fell in love. I was married. I chose my husband. And now my best friend slash husband has left me and Quinn is nowhere to be found."
"She's not nowhere to be found."
"Practically."
"She's in Lima. She just went home. You can, too."
Rachel looked at her father with tearful eyes.
"Go to Lima?"
"If she's worth it. We can go right now, we'll be there by tonight."
"I'm not sure if that is an exceptionally good idea, daddy. Impulsive actions haven't always given me the best result, and this plan, albeit very romantic, could fail in a number of ways."
"I didn't say it would work for sure, I asked if she was worth it."
"She is," Rachel said without hesitation. "She is worth it."
"Let's go," Leroy said, grabbing her hand and dragging her from her own apartment, barely giving Rachel enough time to grab her coat.
"Are you sure you're gay?" Her mother asked. She finally released Quinn from her death grip.
"You don't look gay," she added.
"I am," Quinn said, smiling. Judy was blinking away her tears and kissed her daughter on the cheek.
"I'll make you some tea."
"Thanks, mom."
This was exactly what she came for. Home, someone taking care of her, and it felt surprisingly good to be back. She settled on the couch, and a couple of minutes later her mother came in with tea before sitting down next to her – not across from her like she did when Quinn was younger.
"I'm so glad to see you here, Quinnie," Judy said. "Although I'm not sure if I can call you that anymore. You're so beautiful, and so mature!"
"I think there's a clause somewhere that says you can always call me Quinnie."
Judy sniffled and smiled. "Oh God, sorry about this. I'm a mess."
"That's alright."
Judy blew her nose a couple of times and poured some tea into Quinn's cup, before grabbing the sugar pot.
"Not for me, thanks," Quinn said.
Judy smiled at her. "No sugar? So much I'll have to learn."
She handed Quinn the tea and the younger blonde took a sip.
"So, what made you come home now?"
"It felt right, I think I really needed it."
"Why did you need it?"
Quinn knew that Judy knew something must have happened before Quinn would go home. She bit her lip.
"Something happened."
"I know," her mother said, confirming her suspicions.
Quinn's hands started shaking and her mother quickly took the tea away from her before hugging her daughter. The sobs were wrecking Quinn's body, and her mother held her tighter in an attempt to still her.
"Shhh," her mother said. "I know."
On their way to the airport, Rachel was sitting in the back of the car, something she hadn't done since before she got her license. At first, she'd only been excited, but now the nerves were making their appearance. She remembered why she avoided the back seat when she felt herself getting carsick.
"Dad, stop the car. I think I'm getting carsick."
"Rach, honey, you haven't been carsick in almost 10 years."
"I am now, I can feel it. My stomach is all knotted up and I feel like I'm going to throw up."
Leroy gave her a look over his shoulder, and she said: "Please keep your eyes on the road, if you start swaying now, I promise you that I will puke."
"You're not carsick, sweetie. You're just nervous. Take a couple of deep breath. Hiram, talk to her."
Hiram opened his mouth for the first time since they left.
"So, are you officially gay now?"
"I don't know," Rachel said. She wished she had more room so she could pull up her knees to her chest and feel more protected. "I love Quinn."
"What about my grandchildren?"
"Hiram, give her a break! There are ways around that, you know that. That's how Rachie came to be."
"But now… do you still want them?"
"Of course I still want kids. I'm thinking 2 or probably 3. Here's the plan, she'll carry the first, while we look for a donor that resembles me the most and I work on my career. Then later, when my career has kicked in and is well on its way, which should be in about 2 years max, we will switch the process and I will carry the second one. I believe the third should be Quinn's again, because, well, with my career choice you can't afford to get pregnant too often."
"Wonderful," Hiram said, "That's settled then."
"Indeed," Rachel answered her dad.
"I love you two," Leroy said.
On the airport, it wasn't too difficult to get a flight to Lima. People didn't very often go to Ohio, so there was room enough in the next flight to Dayton. It was about 2 hours flying, and according to Rachel, that was wholly unnecessary.
"Did you know that in Japan, they are making airplanes almost as fast as space shuttles? Within a couple of years, we can cross the Atlantic in maybe 5 hours. We'd be in Lima in a heartbeat, an hour tops. The technology is there. Could anyone explain to me why we don't seem to be using it?"
"We're very sorry," Leroy said, dragging his daughter away from the desk.
"I'm in love, mom," she started. "I mean, I'm really in love. And she's married."
"Married? To another girl?"
"No," Quinn said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "To Finn Hudson."
"Finn Hudson? Your Finn Hudson?"
"Not my Finn Hudson. He's Rachel's. And Rachel is his."
"You're in love with that Rachel Berry from your old Glee club?" Her mother said in a stunned voice.
"Yeah, yes. That's the one." She picked up her tea again, doing her best to keep her hands still, and took a long sip.
"How did that come about?" Judy asked her daughter with wide eyes, and Quinn laughed.
"Do you want the long version or the short version?"
"Whatever is easier, honey."
"The short version it is."
But as Quinn started talking, she felt like the emotions were pouring out of her body along with the words. She hadn't told anyone the whole story, and it felt so relieving. She didn't need to keep anything in, not about Rachel, Lima, Lucy, being gay, she could finally say everything. Judy barely got about a third of the story through Quinn's sobs, but she got the gist of it.
"I feel like curling up and dying somewhere," Quinn said in a choked voice. Her tears had stopped flowing, but the gallons of slime in the back of her throat had yet to subside.
"You can't think like that. You shouldn't scare your mother by saying things like that."
"Sorry," Quinn muttered and curled up against her mother.
"Does she love you?" Judy asked in a soft voice.
"No," Quinn tried, but her insides immediately identified the word as a lie. She stayed quiet for a few seconds, before saying:
"Yes. But it doesn't matter."
"It's all that matters, Quinnie."
"No it isn't. She's married."
"But she loves you. Trust me. It's all that matters."
Quinn sniffled into her mother's neck, taking in the comfort, feeling the responsibilities seep out of her. With so many day-to-day troubles gone, her mind seemed clearer, almost like someone cleaned it up. But even after organizing her thoughts a little, she found that she couldn't agree with her mother.
"She loves me. But sometimes love isn't enough."
Her mother hugged her tighter to her side, and Quinn sighed.
"Oh honey," Judy said, kissing the blonde hair of her daughter.
"I'm so in love with her," Quinn continued. "I can't... I can't go back. I can't see her, I can't speak to her. I have to get over her. I think I'm going away for a while."
"You already are away."
Quinn shook her head. "She's everywhere. Here too. I see her everywhere I go. This is where we grew up together, do you really think this place won't remind me of her?"
"Sorry, darling. But you are away from her and from your New York life, aren't you? Isn't that enough?"
Quinn shook her head again. "No. I think I'm going far away. Maybe Europe, or Australia. I don't know where I'm going yet, but I think I'm going to take a break from life."
"It's your life," Judy Fabray sighed, trying to keep her own opinions inside of her. She didn't really want to bother her already, not when Quinn had just gotten back.
"Do you wanna go soon?"
"Yes," Quinn whispered. "As soon as possible."
"Why are you here, then?"
"I needed you. I needed my mom."
Judy smiled. "You have no idea how much I loved hearing that."
"But I really should go. Tomorrow."
"So soon?"
"It's really better, mom. I'm not happy in Lima. I'm happy with you, but I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I know you have work, you don't have to drop me off at the airport."
"Quinnie..."
"I'm here for tonight though."
Judy took a deep breath.
"I'm going to visit you in New York when you get back."
"Really?"
"Yes. We're going apartment hunting. I want to be closer to you."
Quinn's mouth dropped, and she looked up at her mother.
"You're leaving Lima?"
"The day you get back to New York."
Quinn crawled back into her mother's side, allowing a few more tears to drop.
"I love you, mom."
"I love you too."
It was late at night when Rachel and her dads arrived in Lima, and it was almost impossible for her dads to drag her home.
"You don't know where she's staying, it's the middle of the night, Rach, please. You have no idea how to do this."
"Of course I do."
"Rachie, please. Just sleep on it. You're going to make a lot of drama and God knows that that's better in the daylight."
"But the dark adds to the drama!"
"Yes. And if there's anything we don't need, it's more drama."
"Dad! I'm an adult, I can make my own decisions!"
"We'll treat you like an adult again when you start behaving like one."
It was 6 AM, still dark outside, and the streets of Lima were deserted. The entire town was still asleep.
Well, almost the entire town.
Rachel had awoken her father's half an hour earlier, after not sleeping the entire night. Her energy levels were high, but she was running on pure adrenaline and her reserves.
"Come on, let's go!"
"We can't just go bursting into the Fabray manor at this-"
"Dad, this will happen. I am behaving like an adult, and I have made the mature decision that I can wait no longer. I have to go now."
"Then we're coming with you," Hiram said, kicking his husband out of bed.
6:00 AM and Quinn was saying goodbye to her mother. 6:01 and she was in her cab. Passing by Rachel's old house, she could swear she saw a Rachel-shaped shadow behind the curtains. Yeah, it was definitely time to go. Now.
"Where to?" The cabbie asked her.
"The airport. Quickly, please."
"You got it," he said, stepping on the gas.
It was 6:30 by the time Leroy pulled into the Fabray driveway. Rachel was out before he'd even put the car in park, ringing the doorbell. At 6:30 in the morning.
Judy opened the door eagerly, but her face dropped when she saw the brunette in the doorway.
"Mrs. Fabray? I'm looking for Quinn."
"You're her, aren't you? I know you are."
"I am," Rachel said confidently.
"She left."
"She what?" Rachel asked, uncomprehendingly.
"She took a cab to the airport about a half hour ago. She's going to Paris."
"I'm too late?" Rachel said in a stunned, heartbroken voice.
Judy got an excited smile on her face.
"Let's go, go, now, hurry!" She said, ushering Rachel away from her doorstep and to her car.
"We took our own car, I'm with my dads."
"We're taking this one, I'm driving," Judy said. "Tell them to get in."
Rachel motioned to Judy's car, and Leroy unbuckled his seatbelt. "I think we should follow her."
Quinn was there first, mostly thanks to the insane driving skills of her cabbie. She paid him and got out. Her flight was leaving soon; she was headed back to New York to take the flight to Paris from JFK. She barely had any time to kill at the airport.
Judy was a mad woman behind the steering wheel, her sense of excitement heightening her senses. She raced to the airport in practically no time at all, even though it still seemed to take forever to Rachel.
"Seriously," Leroy said, "I drive totally acceptable and I always get the monologues about dangerous driving and you're not saying anything about this?"
"Emergencies are different," Rachel said, jumping out of the car the second they hit the airport.
The airport suddenly seems surprisingly big and also uncommonly crowded. Rachel chewed on the inside of her cheek. Part of her felt like she'd already lost, like it was already too late.
"Quinn!" She called out, but her voice was hoarse through a veil of tears that seemed to be blocking her throat. She coughed. This is not the time for your voice to fail you.
"Quinn!" She tried again, but with little success. A man sitting a few feet away from her gave her a short, uninterested look, before picking up his magazine.
Rachel closed her eyes in an attempt to focus. She was awesome at drawing attention to herself. By using her strengths. Her biggest strength was her voice. But her voice wasn't made for screaming, it was made for singing.
Taking a page from Blaine's book, she climbed on the desk of some obscure travelling agency, took a deep breath, and started singing.
"Imagine me and you," she sang, "I do. I think about you day and night, it's only right, to think about the girl you love, so happy together."
This worked, alright. People went quiet and turned to her. Rachel blindly took her phone from her pocket and used speed dial to get to the number she wanted. She held the phone away from her mouth, as not to scare Quinn with the volume of her voice. It already filled the entire hall.
"If I should call you up, invest a dime, and you say you belong to me and easy my mind, imagine how the world could be so very fine… so happy together."
"Get out of my way," she heard Quinn say. Only the blonde top of her head stuck out above the crowd, and Rachel motioned for the crowd to part. They listened as only an audience could listen to a great performer. She still couldn't see Quinn though.
"I can't see me loving nobody but you," Rachel sang with an excited edge to her voice. The blonde head was approaching swiftly and Quinn was down there, just like that, eye-level with Rachel's ankles, singing along.
"When you're with me, baby the skies will be blue, for all my life. So happy together," Rachel sang through her smile. Quinn had taken her hands and was trying to pull her down, but Rachel pulled her up instead. Or at least a little, so Quinn could scramble on top of the desk without too much trouble.
"So happy together," They finished simultaneously. Quinn cradled Rachel's face in her hands like it was a treasure. Every trace of hesitation evaporated from her body as she kissed Rachel fiercely on her lips.