Quinn was cursing herself for agreeing to meet Nate so early. She was doing well without a man in her life and now she was trying to make herself look beautiful after 5 hours sleep all because of a pair of gorgeous blue eyes. She straightened her hair and tried her best to look as fresh faced as possible with the help of a lot of make-up. She put on her sequin dress, navy cardigan and brown riding style boots. Cute but comfy. She could tell Nate was the outdoorsy type already there was no way she was risking heels. There was a knock on her door. Quinn looked up at the clock. Typical a boy who was right on time. She ran a brush through her hair again and sighed. She would just have to do. She opened the door flashing her brightest Quinn Fabray smile.
"Hey" she greeted
"Good morning" He replied handing her a coffee as she came outside.
"Thanks" she said accepting the drink.
Nate Archibald was too cute for his own good. Quinn knew not to trust anyone that seemed that perfect and charming there had to be a catch. Well meeting at 10am after hardly any sleep was the catch.
"So if it' ok with you I thought we could go for a walk in the park" He suggested.
Outdoors type, she knew it. Thank god for her flat boots.
"That sounds perfect" She replied smiling sweetly.
They had been walking together for a while and Quinn couldn't help but notice they were getting a lot of attention.
"So are you some kind of local celebrity?" She asked raising an eyebrow as a group of teenagers snapped a picture of them.
"No" He laughed "Well kind of I guess"
"And you're just some boy from Brooklyn?"
"Not so much anymore, I was staying there for a while but now I'm living with Chuck…..sorry I kind of lied"
Quinn stopped walking.
"Why would you lie?"
"I wanted to get a chance to talk to you and you didn't seem like you'd let me take you home unless I was going the same way, besides you shouldn't have been going off on your own"
Quinn furrowed her brow. She didn't like the fact that he lied, but he was right she wouldn't have accepted his offer unless she thought he was going the same way.
"So you headed all the way to Brooklyn and back to make sure I got home safe?"
"Yeah….I'm pretty lame" He replied running a hand through his hair "I'm usually a lot more smooth than that"
"Do you take a lot of girls home?" She countered with a smirk.
"Not what I meant"
"I know" she replied "I think you're very sweet Nate"
Quinn realised she was touching his arm and moved her hand quickly. Nate led her over to a bench sitting down.
"So tell me about you" He said as she sat next to him.
"What would you like to know?"
"Well I don't even know your last name" he pointed out after she had insisted on knowing his before he walked her home.
"Fabray"
"So Quinn Fabray what brings you to New York?" He asked "I want the life story"
"The life story?" She questioned with a smile "I'm from Lima Ohio, I graduated from Yale where I studied Drama and I moved here to make it on my own"
"Small town smart girl" He commented "You and Santana seem an odd friendship, how do you know her?"
"Me and Santana are odd?" She laughed "What about you and Chuck!"
"We went to school together, grew up together" He replied "We've had our rough patches but Chuck's a good friend when you need him"
"Same with Santana" She said with a fond smile "We went to school together, we were on the cheerleading team together, we joined glee club together, we can be downright bitchy to each other there's been some fist fights but she's there when it counts you know"
"You and Santana have come to blows?"
"More than once"
"Same for me and Chuck"
"I guess we're pretty similar then"
Quinn smiled as she watched a little girl running down to feed the ducks. It was like a little piece of paradise in an otherwise busy city.
"So you were a cheerleader?" Nate asked raising an eyebrow
"Pom poms and all" She replied "Head cheerleader for a while"
"And Glee club?"
"I know it's unusual but I loved it, we even competed in nationals here"
"You were good last night" he told her "I'll have to come and watch you at Chuck's charity night"
"Well Nate Archibald I think we should talk about you now you know so much about me"
"What would you like to know Quinn Fabray?" he asked in a mocking tone.
"What do you do for a living?" She asked
"I'm editor of a newspaper"
Quinn was impressed it was a high powered job for someone so young he had obviously worked hard. Sure he was rich he could have had it handed to him but Quinn didn't believe that. She thought Nate seemed genuine and honest. Other than the small white lie but then everyone lied. Secrets were necessary.
"What's it like living with Chuck Bass?"
"It's never dull" He laughed "What do you do?"
"Well it's not as exciting as your job, I do temp work in some offices Monday to Friday then I work at a diner a most nights"
"Not a lot of free time" He commented "That's a shame"
"I like to be busy" She shrugged
"But if I ask you out again how will you fit me into your busy schedule?"
"Again?" She questioned with a grin "I didn't know this was a date"
"Ok so if I ask you out for the first time" He replied with a heart melting smile.
"Maybe I'd find some time"
"Maybe…a difficult woman"
"Don't like a challenge?"
"I didn't say that"
Quinn was distracted when her phone pinged. She looked down and saw it was a message from Santana reminding her not to be late. Time had passed quickly with Nate he was easy to talk to. As for dating, really not what she needed in her life.
"I have to go, Santana reminding me not to be late" She said standing up "Thanks for today it was so nice of you to show me around"
"So can I see you again?" He asked standing up.
Quinn looked up at him. He towered over her. Tall and good looking was hard to resist but that didn't mean she'd make it easy.
"Maybe I'll bump into you around Brooklyn" She replied "See you later Nate Archibald"
"You will Quinn Fabray" He said with a smile.
Quinn rolled her eyes as Santana asked her for the fifth time why she hadn't given Nate her number.
"What happened to you encouraging me not to let a man define me?" She questioned her loud friend.
"Look Q when it came to high school drama and married professors avoid all you want but Nate Archibald is hot, nice and successful you need to snap him up while you can or someone else will"
"Santana I'm not interested in competing for some guy, besides he knows where to find me if he's interested"
"Quinn yes a boy should work for it but a number helps you're not Cinderella with a shoe he can bring back to you"
Quinn rolled her eyes and threw her breadstick at Santana.
"There's a bitch I know and love" Santana laughed throwing it back.
"The only one that can call me a bitch and say it with love"
"You're a slut too"
"Thanks so are you"
Both girls started to laugh. Quinn shook her head and took a sip of her coffee. She would think about the Nate situation.
"I'll see him Thursday I can give him my number then…happy?" Quinn said changing the subject.
"Ecstatic"
"So what are we going to sing?"
"Me and Rachel were thinking about our best performances since we don't have much time with work so going with some glee classics" Santana replied
"What were you thinking?"
"For you we thought come see about me….you can even sing it to Nate"
"Were you going to sing Trouty mouth?"
"No need for sarcasm Q, Nutbush city limits, Rachel is gonna sing all coming back to me now and we thought we could sing love song together"
"Sounds good me to" She replied with a shrug "Do you think Rachel can join in with the unholy trinity choreography?"
"We'll try our best to teach her" Santana said with a grin.
"What is Rachel doing?"
"Auditions, school maybe at work…not really sure"
"I really don't want to go to work tomorrow night"
"Me neither but think of the money"
"What money!"
"The money that's a little bit better than no money"
"I know I'm just tired"
"Late night and early morning with no in-between fun such a shame"
"Nice Santana"
"Would you have me any other way?"
"No I really wouldn't"
Quinn made sure she got an early night and planned a bit of a lie in. She wasn't in work til six the next night so at least she had time to rest and get a few things done around the house. She loved going out with Santana and was happy she was meeting people but a girl needs at least a bit of beauty sleep.