A/N: This will probably be the shortest chapter of the story, but I felt like the chapter needed to end where it did. I hope you all won't hate me for how I ended it. Also, if you would like to see other Glee characters appear leave me review, or send me a PM, and tell me who and what you'd like to see them as, and I'll do my best to make it happen. You guys have been so awesome! Thanks for the continued support for this fic! Now enjoy the new installment!
Sitting in her room that night, clean and in her nightwear, Quinn sat by the warm fire reading a book Leroy had given her after their talk. Never before had she been more grateful for the escape the books give her. After talking to Leroy Quinn couldn't believe she had been so stupid. She should've known not to jump to conclusions with Rachel. Of course the girl was in love with someone else already. What was she thinking? Rachel is the princess; she probably has hundreds, if not thousands, of suitors just waiting for her. They had a better chance marrying her than she did.
And so she read. She read about dragons in far off lands, brutal kings that once ruled, and creatures she never knew existed. She read until the fire started dying then she marked her place in the book and placed it on the table, and just sat there, staring into the flames like she did earlier in the evening. As she sat there, her eye lids began to get heavy and she had just closed her eyes when a knock sounded on her door. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she got to her feet and answered the door.
There on the other side stood a very timid and exhausting looking Rachel. Quinn was in no mood to talk to, or even look at the brunette. So instead of her usual charming and loving voice she spoke with a voice she hadn't used since her encounter with Karofsky and Azimio on that fateful day. "Go back to bed, Rachel. I don't want to talk to you."
"But we need to talk," Rachel pressed as she bypassed Quinn and walked into the room. "There are some things I need to confess and I need you to understand."
"Not tonight, Rachel. Please. I can't deal with it tonight."
"That's too bad, because I can't sleep until I tell you everything and the truth about what's been bothering me these past days." Quinn opened her mouth to say something but Rachel cut her off. "I'm not just betrothed to Finn…" She sighed. "We grew up together and throughout the years I've fallen in love with him. I had dreams about him and me, about how our family would be like… B-but then I met you and ever since then I've dreamt about you and me and about our family. And now Finn's coming tomorrow and he's going to "officially" ask me to marry him and I don't know what to do. Because somewhere between that day you saved me and today, watching you and constantly thinking about you, I realized that it's not him that I love anymore, it's you. But now, I can see that you're angry with me for not telling you about me and Finn, and I'm guessing that you hate me for what we did in the stables. And I can understand that you probably don't feel the same any longer, and I apologize so sincerely from the bottom of my heart for doing this. I honestly had no idea what I was thinking when I started all this. You were never part of my plan before, Quinn. But now, now, I can't even fathom…" Her voice had cracked somewhere in her speech, and she now had tears rolling down her cheeks.
Quinn wished she could just kiss away Rachel's pain, but she couldn't so she settled for the only thing she knew she could do and control. Stepping up to the girl she wrapped her arms around her and held her close to her chest. It didn't take longer than a couple of seconds before the girl in her arms broke down into sobs. Quinn tightened her hold and kissed the top of her head then began to shush her soothingly. "It's okay, Rachel. Just breathe, love, breathe. I know we're not exactly in the most ideal situation, but things will work out the way they should, you'll see. And if you truly want to marry Finn, then you'll have my support a hundred percent. And if not, then you'll have my support as well. I did promise to always be your friend and I carry through with my promises. And just for the record, I love you too. I fell in love with you the moment I first saw you in the town when I heard an angelic laughter from above the noise of the crowd. Don't ever think that I'd stop loving you, because it's impossible." Quinn placed another kiss to her head and held onto her.
Quinn eased them unto the bed and lay down with her arms still wrapped securely around the princess. No other words were passed between them for the silence between them was comfortable and they didn't want to risk ruining it. So instead of talking any further, they both closed their eyes and basked in the other's warmth. It wasn't long until Quinn felt Rachel's slow even breathing against her neck and knew that the girl had fallen asleep in her arms. Quinn knew she wasn't going to get any sleep that night so she soothing ran her hand up and down Rachel's arm. Tracing every hair and memorizing the warmth she emits, she doesn't know if she'll ever get the chance to hold her like this, so she concentrates on the sound of Rachel sleeping and the feel of her body half on top of her own. Then the morning light filtered through her window and she knew her moment with Rachel was coming to an end.
And just like that, Rachel began to stir in Quinn's arms. Nuzzling her face against Quinn's neck, Rachel released a content sigh and held tighter unto the blonde. "You're so warm and perfect," Rachel said half-asleep.
Quinn just smiled at the princess and after placing a kiss to her head she said, "As much as I would love to stay here with you, I have to get up and get to work. And you have to get up and get ready for your boyfriend." That seemed to snap Rachel awake as she jolted up and looked at Quinn with broken eyes. Following suit, Quinn too got up and began to get dressed for the work day. "Please don't look at me like that. You don't get to be heartbroken. You've been cheating on him with me. I don't mean to be rude about it, but it's just where we are, Rachel. I love you and I would gladly risk my life for the chance to be with you completely, but you're still in love with Finn. Am I wrong?" She was met with silence. Tying the draw string on her pants she walked over to the brunette and moved a piece of hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. "Look me in the eye and tell me that you don't still love him and that you'd risk your life for me too."
Rachel's voice broke. "I c-can't."
Quinn nodded, expecting that answer. Her heart burned as if it was on fire with no means of being put out. "So I have to let you go. As I said last night, I love you and I will never stop loving you. But I have to let you go. We can't kiss anymore, we can't make out in the stables, and you certainly can't spend the night here again. Because it'll lead to us both wanting more and I would prefer us not to be killed. So I'm letting you go. We can still be friends, but that's all we can be. And who knows, maybe one day we will be able to be together, but until then, we can't be anything more than friends. You have to marry Finn."
Rachel stood up from the bed and tears were starting to emerge in her eyes as she stared at the blonde. She had thought that they had worked things out last night, but apparently Quinn had things she needed to say and she needed Rachel to understand them and how she feels about everything. "I'm so sorry, Quinn, for everything."
Nodding, Quinn said softly, "I know, Rachel, I know. And I am as well. I shouldn't have kissed you in the stable and placed that back on your shoulders. Especially when you said we couldn't in the first place. And I apologize for not saying this all last night, but you needed comfort and that's what I gave you. I gave us both one more night of just being us, and that was all I could give you. It's all I can give you. I don't have anything, Rachel. I'm just a simple blacksmith from a broken family, who had to run and give up every piece of my family I had, just so I could live another day. Sure, I can offer you protection and love, but you need security and a stable household. That I just don't have."
"I can do without all that. Quinn, I love you, you don't need to give me fancy things. Lying in your arms last night was more than enough for me, do you know why? Because I feel safe when I'm with you. I have ever since that day when you saved me from those men and got a scar on your eye because of it!"
"Then why are you still in love with Finn? Why is it that you're going to say "yes" when he asks you tonight?"
"Because I love him! I love him more than I thought I did and I can't just do that to him. It's not fair."
"You're right; it isn't fair, not to him, you, and not to me. But answer me this: do you love him more than you love me?"
Once again Quinn was met with silence. The silence saying what Rachel apparently couldn't, but it was just enough for Quinn's heart to shatter to pieces. "You know what? Don't say anything, I've heard enough. Please go so I can finish getting dressed. I'm already running behind and I still need to make up my work from yesterday when we were… Please leave, Rachel."
Quinn turned around so she couldn't see the broken, hopeless look on Rachel's face. She knew that looking at Rachel, and seeing that look on her face, would cause her to do something irrational and her actions would just make things more complicated. Complication was the last thing they needed more of. They were trying to un-complicate things, not make them worse and more difficult to solve.
The feeling of Rachel's sad eyes on her back wouldn't leave her. She knew she was still standing there; probably trying to come up with something that would make all of this better, but the sound of her sniffles was what completely dismantled her. "Quinn…" Rachel's raspy voice invaded her and it took every muscle she had to not turn around and scoop the girl up in her arms like she did the night before. The sound of footsteps retreating cause her to hold her breath and she wanted them to come back and leave. Knowing that Rachel held the decision in her hands made her want to turn around, drop to her knees and beg Rachel not to marry the boy, but to run away with her instead. Then the usual cheery voice, that was now hoarse and coaxed with tears and regret said from the door way, "Please don't hate me." Then the door clicked behind her and Quinn knew she was gone.
A/N: As I said, please don't hate me! Thoughts? Suggestions? Leave a review! :)