She blinked and it was over. Somewhere in the span of that one-second blink, she had muttered two words—'I do.'

Something was off. Something didn't feel right. When a girl gets married, she is supposed to hop into the backseat of a limo with her dapper husband. They are supposed to kiss and laugh the whole way to the reception. They are supposed to show up late to the reception because they can't get enough of each other. Rachel knew she had some crazy ideas about love and marriage fueled by her childhood fantasies, but she knew that being happy on her wedding day was not a fantasy.

Except it was a fantasy.

Because instead of smiling dreamily at one another, she and Finn were sitting in the backseat of Burt's '57 Chevy (it was the only thing they could get on their shotgun wedding budget.) And Burt was driving, so kissing Finn went out the window. But why couldn't she get herself to look at Finn and tell him how happy she was? How happy they would be? And why wouldn't Finn look lovingly back at her? Instead, it was just awkward silence the entire way to the reception—well if you considered finger sandwiches and light refreshments a reception.

Maybe all couples dealt with post-wedding awkwardness. Maybe it was just an inevitable factor. Every couple probably wondered, "Where do we go from here?" and suffered momentary awkwardness. That was it. That had to be it. Rachel wouldn't concern herself over nothing.

She figured that with the traffic, they would show up late to the reception anyway. Then she could put on her Broadway smile, muss up her hair a bit, and pretend that she and Finn had gotten busy in the back of Burt's car. She'd pretend to be the happiest girl in the world.

That would be easy, because parties she could do.

The traffic began to ease up and cars finally started to move ahead of them. She wasn't sure what had caused it—because there was never much traffic in rural Lima—but she saw flashing lights driving away in the distance. As Burt pulled through the intersection, it was clear there had been an accident.

The cars had been towed away already, but there was still debris and glass all over the road. Rachel hoped it was no one she knew, but felt reassured when she remembered that all of her friends were at her wedding and had decided to take the main highway to the reception because it was quicker.

But as Burt drove past she felt the slightest of tugs on her heart. She figured it was just more post-wedding awkwardness.

Finally, they reached the VFW hall for the reception. She put on her big smile, swallowed her nerves, and gave Finn a sloppy kiss that left him with a dopey smile, and the two walked through the doors hand-in-hand.

It wasn't the huge applause she pictured for her wedding day. Then again, she always pictured herself getting married at 25 after she won her first Tony and the reception would be at the Plaza. But that was her silly fantasy. She had her friends now.

Her fathers approached them both. Her Daddy had a very fake smile on his face and her Dad just glared at Finn.

"We're very happy for you both," said Leroy.

"Thanks Dads. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get this party started," she grinned.

The first ten minutes of the reception were spent watching Mr. Schue and Santana argue over music choices. There was a very retro jukebox at the VFW hall that had Mr. Schue itching to play some tacky 80s power ballads. Santana, on the other hand, was insisting that the wedding, being a high school wedding, required high school music but settled by allowing Schue to play only one 80s song. He chose Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round." Rachel rolled her eyes and laughed, as she walked over to the punch bowl. She knew Santana would one day find her calling as a lawyer.

"Shit," she muttered under her breath as her ring slipped off into the bowl. "Shit shit shit."

She turned around to see if she could get any help, hopefully without alerting Finn. Suddenly, a young woman with dirty blonde hair who kind of looked like she worked there approached her.

"Hi," she said with a smile that reminded Rachel of someone.

"Hi. Do you work here? I could really use your help. You see I…"

"No, uh actually, I did your flowers."

"You did? I meant to ask my fathers about that. They told me it was too last minute to order flowers for a reception, so you see, I didn't think we'd have decorations. But my flowers are nice. Did my dads order them? Or maybe it was Carol?"

"No, uh we haven't met. I'm Frannie. Frannie Fabray."

"Fabray? As in Quinn's sister? I'm sorry but what…"

She laughed a little. "Quinn told me you'd be shocked. Let me explain. After your argument with her in the bridal shop, she felt pretty guilty. So she gave me a call. I'm a florist in Columbus She asked me to help, said it was an emergency and promised to pay me back by working part time this summer. So that's how you have flowers," she shrugged and smiled a very genuine Fabray smile.

"That explains the gardenias. And the pink ribbons?" whispered Rachel.

"Sorry what?"

"Nothing. But if you're here, then where's Quinn. Did she send you in her place? Because I assure you that is unacc…"

"No. Quinn was supposed to be here. I've been calling her nonstop but nothing. I need her help packing up the flowers later, so maybe she's just stuck in traffic? I honestly don't know."

"Nor do I. I thought she was my bes…my friend. I thought she'd want to be here. But she really didn't support my choice…" she said with a sigh.

"I know Rachel," said Frannie, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let's get your ring out of this juice bowl," she chuckled "and then we'll see if we can reach Quinn."

"You don't have to help."

"I'm technically working your wedding reception so I technically have to help," she smiled as she rolled up her sleeve.

Rachel couldn't get over how similar Frannie's smile was to Quinn's. It was that same quirky closed mouth smile that turned down just a bit and made Quinn look like she was going to burst with joy. It was Rachel's favorite smile. She loved bringing that smile out of Quinn. Her mind wandered back to two days ago in glee when she'd said "I'm looking forward to being friends with everyone for the rest of my life" but had specifically meant Quinn. And Quinn knew it because there was that gorgeous closed mouth quirky smile.

"Coast clear?" Frannie's question snapped Rachel back to the present.

"Yeah, yeah. Everyone's still arguing about the music."

Just as Frannie managed to fish Rachel's ring out of the bowl, her phone began to ring.

"Here," she said, handing Rachel her ring. "I need to take this call. Go back and enjoy your party."

Rachel turned to walk back towards her friends and family when she realized she hadn't even said two words of thanks to this girl who not only provided her reception with flowers, but also just sacrificed her right sleeve to a bowl of punch.

"Frannie? I know we just met, but after everything you've done today, can I hug you now?"

Frannie turned around with tears in her eyes. Her phone was shaking in her hand. Rachel noticed she was exhibiting the tell tale signs of syncope, well fainting, and immediately stepped to her side.

"Frannie, what is it?"

"Ra…Rachel. I have…to go…it's," she let out a sob. "It's Quinn."