So, I've been rather stumped... considering I originally wrote this as a one shot. But I thought I'd try to continue it. I own nothing. Unbeta'd, so I apologize for any errors.
Quinn was such an emotional mess of anger, heartbreak and frustration that by the time she made it to the garage and into her car she realized that she had no idea where she was going to go.
She couldn't go to Harry's; by the time she'd make it to Godric's Hollow she'd have to head back for work. There was no way in hell she'd go to Ron's. And her friends from the hospital... well she couldn't very well go and crash with them.
She contemplated going to the hospital but she was sure if she went there, everyone would ask ... and she really didn't want to explain. Just the thought of explaining brought a new wave of tears to her eyes.
"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." She hit her forehead against the steering wheel with each word.
Hermione wasn't fairing much better up in the apartment. Merlin had been cowering in the corner of the bedroom when Quinn and Hermione started shouting at each other. When Quinn left, the door slamming and shaking the apartment, the pug had started nudging his nose against Hermione's sobbing form, whimpering.
Merlin's whines distracted Hermione for a second, but then when she saw Merlin's head cocked to the side in confusion, a new wave of guilt and sadness overtook her. She pulled the pup into her arms, holding him tightly against her chest, mumbling into his fur "Mer, how do I fix this?"
The following morning, Hermione woke up and reached for Quinn, everything from the previous night flooded to the front of her mind. The blonde wasn't there, in her place Merlin was snoring softly, the small jewelry box resting on the pillow near Hermione's head.
She checked her cell phone; her heart dropping when she didn't have any missed calls or text messages. She buried her face into the pillow and let out of a muffled yell, startling Merlin awake.
Hermione sat up abruptly, grabbing her cell phone and making a decision.
I'm sorry. A million times sorry. Come home. Please? x H
She sighed, deciding she should get ready for the day and figure out how to fix this mess since she was sure that Quinn was too stubborn and realizing that she had played a decent hand in the hurtful words tossed around the previous night.
Hermione checked her phone throughout the day while she was at work, frowning each time when she noticed Quinn hadn't responded. She texted and tried calling, leaving message after message for the blonde. Every time the call went directly to voicemail.
Her sadness started to turn to concern when Quinn hadn't respond to any of her texts or phone calls by the time Hermione returned to the apartment from work. She even called Harry and Ron to see if the blonde had been rash enough to drive all the way out to their houses.
Where are you? I'm worried. Please let me know you're okay. x H
When she didn't get a response, Hermione finally decided to call the hospital.
"Hello. Yes, Dr. Fabray please? She's not there? Sorry, this is Hermione. Yes, oh. What time did she head home?" Hermione worried her lip. "Oh, okay. No, that's okay, thank you."
Hermione hung up, a sense of dread settling into her stomach as she dialed Quinn's number.
Just as it had earlier in the afternoon it went to voicemail.
"Quinn? Can you please call me? Please, I'm really really worried. I called the hospital; they said you headed home two hours ago. I know you probably don't want to talk to me. Just. Please, call me and let me know you're okay? Please?" Hermione's voice was barely a whisper by the end of her message, fresh tears starting to leak down her cheeks. "I love you. Call me back."
Hermione ended up falling asleep on the couch with Merlin curled at her feet and her cell phone tightly clutched in her hand. She woke up to the sound of the front door closing and immediately shot off of the couch, knocking Merlin out of his pleasant slumber as she rushed to the door.
"Quinn?"
The blonde was standing in the entryway and looked up, surprised to see Hermione running towards her.
"Oh my g-d," Hermione threw herself at Quinn; not caring about anything, just glad to see the blonde was okay. Quinn was surprised to say the least, but couldn't stop herself from relaxing into Hermione's embrace, enjoying the comforting warmth the other girl offered. "I was so worried," Hermione buried her head into the crook of Quinn's shoulder.
Quinn rather awkwardly put her arms around Hermione; unsure how she should react considering the last time she spoke to the brunette she'd left in such a heat of anger. "Yeh," Quinn mumbled against Hermione's hair.
"Don't you ever do that to me again," Hermione stepped out of Quinn's space, tears trailing down her cheeks as she hit the blonde on the arm fiercely. "I don't care how upset you are at me. Don't you ever worry me like that again, Quinn Fabray."
Quinn flinched, cowering a little at the brunette's attack. To say Quinn was confused would be an understatement. She was exhausted from work and lack of sleep, sore from sleeping in her car and absolutely bewildered by Hermione's emotional state.
"Where were you?" Hermione continued not seeming to notice Quinn's shocked and confused expression. "I called Harry. I called Ron. I called the hospital. You didn't return my calls. Merlin, Quinn, I nearly called the police I was so worried!" She stomped her foot a little to emphasize her point.
"Well?" Hermione looked expectantly at Quinn.
"I… I just came to get a few things," Quinn said softly, too stubborn to admit that she had returned in hopes of getting a decent night's sleep on the couch.
The reality of everything hit Hermione like a ton of bricks and her face fell at the realization. "Oh. Um, of course…" she mumbled, biting her lip nervously.
Quinn mentally slapped herself for being so stubborn as she shuffled her way past Hermione and down the hall to the bedroom on the pretense of getting more clothes. Hermione leaned against the frame of the bedroom door as she watched Quinn gather some shirts from the closet.
"Where are you staying?" Hermione asked quietly.
Quinn's hands stilled at the question before replying, "You know Colby at the hospital…his place."
Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly, "Yes… I spoke with him when I called the hospital."
Quinn closed her eyes, mentally cursing herself and silently praying her lie would slide by, "Yeah."
Quinn moved passed Hermione towards the hall closet, not daring to meet the brunette's gaze.
"Doesn't Colby have blankets?" Hermione asked.
Fuck, Fabray. "Yeah, I. I just feel bad making him do laundry," Quinn recovered.
Hermione didn't believe the blonde for a moment, but the last thing she wanted to do was start another argument. All she wanted to do was for things to go back to normal. For Quinn to stay and snuggle with her in bed like before.
"You could always stay here," Hermione offered, moving closer to Quinn.
Quinn's jaw tightened, the idea of sleeping on a bed sounded divine, but she just couldn't. The words from the pervious night were too fresh and she was just too stubborn.
"Colby's waiting up for me," she supplied as she made her way to the front door, her chest tightening.
"Of course," Hermione whispered, wrapping her arms around herself and following Quinn to the door. "Quinn?"
"Yeh?"
"I-" Hermione's eyes were shining as she stepped in front of the blonde, forcing Quinn to look at her. "I'm sorry…"
Quinn just swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, "Yeah. Me too…"
Hermione chocked back a small sob at Quinn's response, which seemed so defeated, so final.
Quinn stood in the doorway, her chest tightening as she looked towards the elevator and then back at Hermione.
Hermione stepped forward and as though she understood the internal struggle the blonde was fighting, she leaned forward and placed a small kiss to the blonde's cheek before the blonde left, "Come back to me…"
Review please. Let me know your thoughts, because I definitely don't know how I got here, the characters in my head seem to be driving the story at the moment, but I'm not sure what direction just yet. Thoughts and ideas always welcomed