A couple of days later Quinn and Sam were strolling down the hallway hand in hand. "Sorry I wasn't there the other day when you needed me," he was saying to her, "I was trying to find a job, y'know, for a little extra cash…"
"Its fine, Sam. It was just really hard to think Beth was there celebrating her birthday without me. And, it kinda still is but I feel better, I can learn to move on from this, I can."
Sam brushed his lips against the top of her head, then lifted his and began to speak again. "She's not going to hate you, Quinn. She is in a great place with Shelby, just believe that." Quinn nodded and they walked the rest of the way down the hallway in silence. That was, until, Mercedes approached them.
"Quinn, can I ask you something" she said, looking at the couple.
"Sure..." Quinn replied, slightly confused, before Sam kissed her on the cheek and strolled off towards a bunch of jocks. Mercedes began talking whilst falling in step with Quinn.
"I've missed us, Quinn. Ever since you moved out of my house last year we have been growing apart and I want to be like we were." Before Quinn could reply she continued speaking, "So, I was thinking we could do a duet together in glee cause I'm tired of Rachel getting all the solo's. What the club needs is a mix of your stunning voice and my chocolate thunder." Quinn smiled at this, the first smile in a while, and nodded.
"Sure," Quinn began, "I've missed us too and I would love to sing with you, Mercedes. When do you want to ask Mr. Schue?"
"How about tonight after your cheerios practice? I have to stay behind anyway to see a teacher." Mercedes and Quinn agreed to meet then and go to talk to Will.
In cheerios practice later that day Quinn was feeling a lot better. She was putting everything she had into her flips and turn off's and Coach Sylvester was looking impressed. "Q!" Sue screamed, "That was excellent. The rest of you; sloppy! Hit the showers." Santana scowled at Quinn. Ever since Quinn got put back onto the squad Santana was getting ignored and she hated it. As Santana walked past Quinn on the way to the door she gave her a little nudge. It took everything Quinn had not to retaliate; she did not want to have to deal with anything which may get her down, including a fight, which is why she just carried on walking.
When Quinn walked out of the locker room, Mercedes was waiting. She gave her a big smile which was returned and the two began to walk to the choir room where Will's office was. When they got there they could here Will talking to someone and the door was closed. The conversation did not sound too intense so they decided that Mercedes would knock on the door just to let Mr. Schue know they were there.
"Come in" Will said when there had been a knock on the door. Mercedes entered the room first closely followed by Quinn. They quickly saw that the person he had been talking to was none other than Shelby Corcoran and immediately after seeing her, Quinn's stomach tightened. Surprised to see them both in his office, Will began to say something when Quinn looked down a saw a one year old girl sat on the floor playing; Beth. Quinn drew in a sharp breath and her hand rushed up to cover her mouth. She felt light headed and everything around her began to blur. She could hear Mr. Schue's voice and Mercedes calling her name but she took nothing in. Instead, she turned and ran out of the office, tears rolling ruthlessly down her face. She ran as far as he could before she had to stop and lean against some lockers. Her legs crumpled beneath her and she was sat on the floor sobbing. She felt pain and regret and hurt. She felt as if she could faint at any second and she just wanted to rewind to 5 minutes ago when she had been finally happy. After Quinn had sat there for about 10 minutes crying into her hands which held her face Will approached her.
"Quinn?" he asked, walking towards her, face full of concern. He sat down beside her and the empty hallway was silent for a few seconds. "Quinn, I'm sorry. I shouldn't agreed to meet Shelby in the school. I shouldn't have assumed you wouldn't come..." Again, they sat in silence for a few minutes with the only sound being Quinn's delicate sobbing. After a while she lifted her head a lent it against the lockers, she was still crying but more quieter now.
"Where is... where are they?" she whispered between sobs.
"Shelby has left and Mercedes wanted to make sure you were okay but her mom came to pick her up so she had to leave too. Quinn, is there anything I can do for you?
Suddenly she burst into a whole new round of tears, "Why me?" she cried. Not knowing what to do, Will put his arm around her and let her lean on his shoulder.
"You've been through so much, Quinn. And you are strong enough to get through this." And that is how they sat for as long Quinn needed it.
