She ran to her locker and through eyes blurred by tears managed to open her lock and tug her large backpack out of the small space. She grabbed the keys Gwen had given her from the shelf and rushed to the bathroom. Dodging girls reapplying their make-up she slid into a stall and shut the door just as the tears fell. She sat down on the cold tile floor and rested her head in her hands. Why did this have to be so hard? She had been talking to Gwen about this since they got back from the warehouse in Vancouver, but she'd been thinking about it for a couple weeks. Why, now that it was actually happening, was it so hard? She wiped her eyes and sniffed, raising her head. She couldn't stop now, not when she was so close to getting out.

Standing up she pulled out a pair of jeans, a long-sleeve top, and her jacket from her bag. She changed out of her party clothes and into these as quickly as she could manage through her hazy vision. She looked down at herself and swallowed. Fingering the image inducer on her left wrist she took a breath before unstrapping it. At once her appearance returned to normal and she let out a heavy sigh. She tucked it into her pocket, planning on sending it back to Mr. Xavier when she had the time, and pulled out her scarf from her bag. She knew that she'd get strange looks and probably get called out as she left the building but it didn't matter. She expertly wrapped the material around her head and tucked the loose piece into the back. She fished her gloves out of a side pocket and tugged those on as well. She paused, thinking about if she had forgotten anything, before remembering her shoes. "Crap," she hissed. Her boots were still sitting at the bottom of her locker.

She stood on the edge of the toilet and checked to see if the bathroom was empty; for once it was. She snuck out of the stall and, as stealthily as possible, went back to her locker where she hastily exchanged her shoes; let some lucky girl find her flats.

Her hand lingered on the front of her locker door as she pushed it closed; she wasn't feeling sentimental about the locker or the school, but about what the closing of this door meant: it meant that this was all over. She didn't get why it was so hard. This was what she wanted, what she needed, so why was it so hard!

"Quinn?"

She froze at her name being called by an all too familiar voice.

"What are you doing…?"

She turned, keeping her eyes on the floor.

"Shit. Did your inducer break? And your…" Mark's voice trailed off. "Where are you going?"

"Somewhere," she replied. "I'm not fully sure yet."

"What are you talking about?" He was standing right in front of her now; there was no means of escape. For the second time that night she wished that a distraction would pop up that would make Mark leave; she couldn't stand him being in front of her when she was trying to leave.

"Answer me Quinn," Mark demanded. "What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving," she replied in a small voice.

"Where?"

"I told you: I don't know. I have a train ticket but I'm not sure where to get off."

"You're leaving? Just like that? But-" He struggled to speak. "You can't. Why? How? Since when? Who…" His voice trailed off as he stared at her, his eyes filled with tears. "You can't leave Quinn," he whispered.

"I can, and I am," Quinn replied. "You can't stop me Mark. Just let me go, please. I don't want to stay here anymore. Don't get me wrong, it's nice and the people are great and everything but it's just not my place. I'm feeling trapped, confined… caged."

A smile twitched on his lips. "Bird reference?"

She forced on a smile of her own. "Hey, I'm trying to be gentle here. I could just say fuck off, push past you, and walk out."

"I'd run after you, I'd come with you. Hell-" He glanced in the direction of the gym doors before turning to stare back at her. "-I am coming with her."

His words made her tense up and she shook her head sharply. "No. You are not. You are not coming with me."

"Yes I am. You can't stop me."

"Hell I can!" She glared and balled her hands into fists; she would do anything to make him stay, even if that meant knocking him out right now. "You are not coming with me Mark. This is your home, this is your family; I'm not going to let you leave it all."

"You're my family too Quinn, and I can't just leave you."

Quinn's eyes widened and she backed up against the lockers, her shoulders sagging. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. She was… family to him? Oh god no. She bit her lip to stop it from trembling. God damn him. He was tearing her in half; one part of her desperately struggling to leave while the other yearned to stay with him. He was all she had after all…

"Don't say that," she whispered. "Don't call me that. You're killing me Mark… You know I love you but I cannot stay here."

"Alright."

Quinn blinked. "Alright?"

"Yeah, just let me go talk to Jake and Caim and I'll be right back." He turned away and Quinn grabbed his shirt. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I'm coming with you," Mark replied, not looking at her.

"No." She shook her head again. "No. You. Are. Not. I need to go by myself Mark. Just let me go. I've already promised Caim that I'll visit-"

Mark whirled around and caught her up in a bone crushing hug. She dropped her bag and returned the embrace. "You'd better," Mark told her. "You had better come back or I'll come find you." Quinn laughed quietly and he reluctantly let her go. "One thing though…" He undid the strap of his forever frozen watch and Quinn frowned. "What are you-?" she asked. He took her hand and fastened the watch around her wrist. "So you'll never forget," he explained softly, a tear trailing down his cheek.

Quinn smiled and hugged him again. "I could never forget you."