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Fifty Words for Forgiveness
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Time To Think
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You had been asleep, curled up under your covers and oblivious to the world when your phone had gone off. The vibrating against your bedside table and the obnoxious blaring of the ringtone was enough to pull you from your sleep, and leave you cranky at the intrusion.
Reaching out blindly, you grabbed the phone and shut your eyes tighter at the blinding light it was emitting. Once you had it in hand properly, you squinted enough to see the answer button on screen and sloppily pressed it.
"Hello?" you asked, still not fully awake and still too tired to enter Snix mode.
"Santana, it's Brittany, are you awake?" Your body relaxed at the sound of her voice, and Snix was no longer needed.
"I am now. What is it? Did Lord Tubbington escape again? He'll be at Rachel's house. I told you, he likes to stalk her-" you began, yawning tiredly. That fucking cat was causing so many problems. Brittany needed to chain him up or something, because she was not going to go looking for him anymore.
"No, it's about Quinn. Can you sneak out tonight?" As soon as Quinn's name was mentioned, you sat up in your bed and rubbed the sleep from your eyes, willing yourself to wake up properly.
"What about Quinn?"
"Santana, can you sneak out? I'll be there in ten minutes to pick you up if you can," Brittany said, ignoring your question.
"Yeah, I can do that. Now tell me, what's wrong with Quinn?"
"Good, I'll see you then."
Without wasting a second, Brittany hung up and you were left holding the phone to your ear, your heart beating frantically and the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. Throwing the phone onto the bed next to you, you slipped out from under your covers and raced over to your wardrobe so you could put some proper clothes on.
Once dressed warmly for the weather, keys, cash, and phone in hand, you opened your bedroom door and listened to the sounds of your house. Your parents should definitely be asleep, as they both had to be up early for their shifts, which meant this wasn't going to be too hard. You only had to make sure you didn't make too much noise and wake them.
Sneaking out into the hallway, you closed your door as quietly as possible and tiptoed towards the stairs. Again, you quietly stepped down them, praying that you were in fact missing the squeaky part of the steps, before landing at the bottom, adrenaline coursing through your system.
From there on out, it was easy. You headed to the backdoor and unlocked it, then stepped outside, locking the door behind you. The cold night's air hit your skin harshly and you shivered, but made quick work of darting round the house to the double parked car waiting for you.
Brittany opened the door on your approach and you slipped into the passenger seat, holding the door closed until a few houses down before closing it properly. The two of you had perfected that routine on the nights one of you were grounded and a party or sex was to be had. Nothing could keep the two of you apart, and this familiar scenario had you thinking nostalgically on what once was. Thank God, you could still be friends with Britt.
"So what's going on with Quinn? You're kinda scaring me," you confessed, turning in your seat to look at Brittany while she drove, fumbling to put on your seatbelt in the process.
She was in her pyjamas, long plaid trousers and a hoodie, with her hair recklessly falling over her shoulders. The bags under her eyes implied she'd been woken up mid-sleep, and that had your heart rate picking up further. You needed to know what was going on.
"You don't need to be scared, we just need to go pick her up," Brittany replied, eyes on the road still.
"Pick her up? It's almost two in the morning. Why are we picking her up? Did she call you?"
"No, she didn't call me, but I just know we need to go get her."
"Brittany, this isn't making sense," you mumbled, running a hand through your hair. You just wanted explanations.
Before you could continue, your phone began ringing again, and you sucked in breath through your teeth, fearing it was your parents. You were sure you had been quiet enough to sneak out, but maybe you hadn't. Maybe they'd heard the car door shut or maybe they'd seen you leave out their bedroom window. Fuck.
Blindly answering your phone without looking at the screen, you prepared for the worst.
"Hello?" you asked, somewhat anxiously in case it was your mother or father getting ready to yell at you. It wouldn't be the first time, that was for sure.
"Santana, it's Rachel. You need to go to Quinn's house. I don't know exactly what's happening and I can't get in touch with Brittany but you should head over there as soon as poss-" You sighed in relief as soon as she spoke, and sinking back in the chair, you shot a relieved smile at Brittany, who had been watching with a nervous frown. She knew just how Dr. and Dr. Lopez could get when you snuck out.
"Britt and I are already on our way there," you answered, easing Rachel of her fears.
She must have seen something. She had to have, otherwise how the hell could she have known? Brittany just knew things, Rachel saw them. For the both of them to find out, that had to mean something big was going down, and that made your stomach queasy with the thought.
"You are?" Rachel asked, surprise in her voice.
"Yeah."
"Oh. Well, good. Quinn needs people right now, so I'm glad you and Brittany are going."
"What did you see exactly?" you practically demanded.
"Santana, it really doesn't matter. You should go, go be with Quinn, she needs you. Have a safe night, and I'll talk to you tomorrow. Okay?" A part of you couldn't believe she was blowing you off like that, but another part knew better than to ask in the first place.
"Rachel, please, tell me," you begged, needing to try again, to know what was happing, how Quinn was, if only to ease the feeling in your gut from getting worse and worse with each passing second.
"I can't. It's not my place. Goodnight Santana," Rachel said, her voice small, unsure.
"Night." You ended the phone call with a sigh and shook your head. What the hell was with your friends keeping important things from you?
Brittany didn't looked surprised by this turn of events, and she avoided your eye contact throughout the drive. When the two of you finally arrived, you couldn't help but wonder if they had been wrong. The house didn't look like anything out of the ordinary was going on inside it, and the neighbourhood appeared to be like every other at two in the morning in Lima, quiet and peaceful.
Once the car was off, Brittany opened her door to get out and you tried to do the same, only to have her reach over the console and tug on the sleeve of your hoodie. You looked back, surprised, and wondered what was going on.
"Stay in the car," Brittany said, her tone firm and unwavering.
"What? Why?!" This was fucking ridiculous.
"You need to stay in the car. Please, Santana, this is important. You can't go in there. You'll make it so much worse. You need to stay here."
"Brittany, she needs me," you argued, just assuming that Quinn would in fact need you. You needed her right now, so surely it was the same. You needed to know she was okay.
"No, you can't, and I don't have time to explain. So please, promise me you'll stay in the car," Brittany repeated, shaking her head.
"Brittany!"
"Santana!" she cried back, playing you at your game. Normally you could protest enough and she'd give in, but that was clearly not happening as you looked into her eyes. They were strong and bold, ready to take on your challenge as if it was nothing, and you knew you weren't going to win this. She would lock you in the boot of her car if she had to, so it was better to just concede.
"Fine, I promise, but there better be a fucking good reason," you barked, crossing your arms over your chest.
"There is, and you can thank me for it later. Be good and don't you dare break your promise."
So there you sat, fuming in the front seat, watching as Brittany locked you in and darted round the side of the house. You knew exactly what she was up to, and it stung you couldn't go with her. The Fabrays kept a spare key to their back door hidden in their garden, and Quinn had been kind enough to show you both where it was when you were fourteen. You would put your trust fund on Brittany grabbing that spare key and letting herself in.
Tapping your hands on your knees nervously, you waited. There was nothing to see, nothing to tell you what was going on, what with the curtains and blinds shut, making it impossible to know what was happening. Chaos could have been erupting, and you sat there none the wiser.
If promises didn't mean so much to you, you would have gotten out the car and followed Brittany. But you couldn't do that. You knew better than to break a promise to Brittany, and until she returned, you were going to have to sit there and be patient.
A flash of movement at the front door caught your eye and you sat forward, trying to see as much as possible. Quinn came out first, her Cheerio bag overflowing with clothes over one shoulder, another similar looking bag on the other, and in her arms a box. Her hair was hanging over her face as she looked down at the ground, walking blindly towards the car, but you knew from the shakes in her body that she was crying.
The light from the open front door casted outwards on the lawn, encasing her as she moved down the path, and then Brittany appeared behind her, shutting the door, and the light inside. Brittany, too, was carrying bags, but used her free hand to steer Quinn over to the back of the vehicle and unlocked the boot.
You didn't say anything as it opened, and turned in your seat to look at them. Brittany was whispering things to Quinn, receiving the odd nod and shake of her head here and there, but that was it. You couldn't hear what was being said, and you didn't dare interrupt them, wondering if you'd actually end up making things worse.
Closing the boot of the car firmly, Brittany led Quinn to the backdoor and opened it for her. Quinn sat down herself, wrapping her arms around herself in the process, and Brittany had to lean round her to put her seat belt on her. Closing the door as softly as possible, Brittany moved round the car and crawled in the back with Quinn, much to your surprise. Where you all really going to sit there in Quinn's driveway?
"I need you to drive. Take us back to mine," Brittany called, throwing you the keys between the seats and you struggled to catch them in time. So that answered that question.
There was no room to argue, as much as you wanted to crawl in the backseat and console Quinn, Brittany had already beaten you to that and was holding her.
You did your best to climb over the console and slide into the driver's seat, foregoing getting out the vehicle, and you turned on the car as fast as possible, desperate to leave. It didn't take you long before you were reversing into the street and heading towards Brittany's house.
In the back, Quinn had buried her head in the crook of Brittany's neck, while the other blonde held her tight and continued to whisper things to her. You tried to hear what was being said once more, but it was as if Britt knew because she asked you to turn the radio up. You couldn't exactly argue, so did as you were told, and resigned yourself to the fact that you just weren't meant to hear.
Brittany would explain it all, you just had to be patient.
Fucking hell, that was not an easy lesson to learn, and if Fifty Words hadn't helped it, you seriously doubted you'd master patience in the next ten minutes.
However, you were doing an important job, you told yourself as you drove, and it was with a relieved sigh, you parked the car in Brittany's drive minutes later. Unsure whether or not you were to get out, you waited until Brittany had taken Quinn inside the house, leaving her things in the car, before stepping out the vehicle.
The front door had been left ajar, and the lights lit up the lawn as you leant against the driver's door, waiting for Brittany to come back. She'd either be taking you home or letting you come inside, and as much as you longed for it to be the latter, you knew better than to get your hopes up.
When she did return, and closed the door behind her, you feared the worse. However, she just gave you a sad smile and then encased you in her arms. It wasn't until you had your head buried in her neck that you were upset, close to tears even. Where the hell had this come from?
"She's okay, relax. She's fine. She's safe now," Brittany murmured, rubbing your back soothingly and letting you grip her hoodie tight between your fingers.
With her words, the emotions made sense, and the feeling of dread seeped out your body and disappeared. You had been so scared, so terrified for her, and you hadn't even gotten a chance to check Quinn was alright. But Brittany said she was, Brittany said she was safe, and that's all that mattered.
"What happened?" you choked out, frantically trying to wipe the stray tears away.
"They kicked her out. So she'll be staying with me now, for however long she needs to," she replied, flittering her gaze from yours, as if knowing you wouldn't be happy with that response.
"What happened, Britt?" you asked again, pleading with her, desperately needing to know why they kicked her out. You had a suspicion, you had a thought, but it almost seemed too scary to think about.
"We should go inside and talk," Brittany said, taking your hand and leading you towards the house. This did nothing to settle your nerves, but you followed.
The lights were on in the living room and kitchen when you entered, with the upstairs of the house in darkness. You chanced a look around to see if Britt's parents were awake but you couldn't see or hear them. As if knowing, well she did know, what you were thinking, Brittany filled you in.
"I told my parents before I left that Quinn would be coming back to stay with us. She's in the spare bedroom, and they are going to talk to her tomorrow. They don't want to make things worse for her tonight," she whispered, leading you towards the study in the back of the house.
Opening the door, you heard the familiar hissing of Lord Tubbington as Brittany pushed him back inside, and let you enter. She waited until she had locked the study door before releasing his collar, and the cat went dashing back to hide underneath the couches. Clearly he was still under house arrest after his last escape.
Taking a seat on the other couch, you curled up into the arm and pulled the blanket over you, desperate to just be wrapped up warm and tight and forget about everything that was going on. Brittany gave you a sad smile as she approached, and you let her fall into your side, curled up in the blanket with you.
You suspected that if Quinn was willing, she would be upstairs comforting her instead. But knowing Quinn like you did, she would be trying to piece together her mask, pretending she wasn't hurting and desperate to be alone.
"So what happened, Britt? Or are you not going to tell me?" you asked after a moments of silence. You just needed to know Quinn was okay, and depending on what happened tonight, she might not be.
You knew Russell Fabray ruled with an iron fist, whether Q would tell you as much, and you knew Judy Fabray was too meek and docile to stand up to him. The reign of terror and fright she lived in, one you were fully aware of but one that was never spoken of, had to have a bigger affect than what you had seen. And after the last time she was kicked out and how horrible that was, you knew the emotional scars of this one would be bad. But, fingers crossed it was only emotional scars.
So you needed to know. You couldn't handle the thought of her being hurt and choosing to be by herself. You needed to know what you were dealing with for when you went upstairs and made it clear to her that you were never going to leave her, no matter the emotional issues she was going to be dealing with.
Brittany just had to tell you.
"They know she's gay. I don't…there were too many emotions and thoughts for me to pick up exactly what happened, so I don't know if she told them or they found out, but they know. Her father kicked her out, her mother was just in a daze."
"They didn't…he didn't hit her or anything ,right?"
"No," Brittany shook her head and gave your hand a squeeze. "It was a lot of yelling and arguing but nothing like that." You nodded and processed this information, but knew it still wasn't good news exactly.
Russell was an intimidating and scary man, and Quinn always bowed under his regime. So for her to have them find out, or for her to have told them, she must have known what she was going up against, and that had to be terrifying for her.
Jesus, your chest just ached with the thought of her going through this.
"Did I…did I pressure her into this?" you wondered.
You had wanted her to come out, but surely she knew you only wanted her to do it when she was ready. You didn't want her to rush things. You didn't want her to force herself to come out just because she thought she was losing you. You thought you had made it perfectly clear that you were going to be there for her, always. But maybe you hadn't. Maybe you'd pressure her and now she was without a home, again, and emotionally distraught. Did you do that to her?
"No! No, not at all," Brittany quickly replied, tugging you to look at her. "You didn't pressure her. Santana, this is what Quinn and I have been talking about these last few weeks. I've been helping her with stuff? Well, this was it. She wanted to come out, she wanted to see how that would work with her beliefs. You didn't pressure her, and she'll tell you the same."
"But she was scared I was going to forget about her for Rachel-"
"She was scared, but she knew you wouldn't, not as long as she made the effort to at least try. Before, she wasn't considering it, but these last few weeks she's been trying, trying to put herself first, her happiness first, and that's why she wanted to come out. It was not you."
You bit your lip and considered her words. It seemed plausible, and you didn't want to sound like one of those people that were convinced everyone's problems revolved around them, but you just weren't sure. You didn't want to hurt Quinn in anyway, and now all you were worried about was having done just that.
"Now you know why I couldn't have you entering the house," Brittany added, shrugging one of her shoulders.
"What do you mean?"
"She told them she was in love with a girl, but she didn't say who. If you had entered, you would have given it away, you would have consoled her like a lover, not a friend, and it would have caused more damage. She had to do this without you. She had to do it on her own so that she never risked resenting you for your involvement," Brittany explained, watching you carefully.
You frowned at her words, and especially at how exact Brittany sounded. It all made sense, yes, and you could understand where the reasoning lay, but it niggled at you.
"You make it sound like you had that all thought out," you finally said, turning to look at her, to gauge her reaction.
Her silence told you enough and you shot her a surprised look. She'd planned it out. She'd thought it all through. She'd known. She had known and hadn't said anything. She hadn't warned you. She hadn't warned Quinn. She knew and yet didn't say a word. Okay, you shouldn't have been surprised that Brittany knew because she knew nearly everything, but this felt wrong. This felt seedy that she didn't tell anyone. Why hadn't she?
"You knew this was going to happen."
"Yeah. I did," she confessed, and you were at least a little thankful for her honestly, but that didn't hold back the glare that was on your face and the overwhelming ache in your chest for being left out of the loop on this.
"And Rachel?" you asked, remembering the phone call in the car. She had known, but her vision could have seen to that. However, her words, they were peculiar now that you think back on it. She said she couldn't get in touch with Brittany, almost as if this was expected.
"I told her my suspicions a few weeks ago. I could sense something was coming, but I didn't know when it was going to happen, just that it would. We agreed that it was best you didn't know ahead of time."
"I could have helped her!" you cried out, pushing her hands away from you. "I could have been there to support her!" How could they both agree to keep this from you? How could they do that? They both knew how much Quinn meant to you. Why, why would they do that?!
"You couldn't have, Santana," Brittany began, shaking her head at you. "Can't you see that she needed to do this on her own? You would have helped her, you would have been standing next to her as she told her parents and it would have gone horribly wrong. Then, in the light of day, she would have looked at you and only remembered her parents' disgust, and it would have ruined your relationship. You couldn't help her. You couldn't have done anything without risking losing her completely."
"You and Rachel both agreed this?" Her reasons made sense, and you hated that they did, because one part of your brain wanted to argue it might not have worked out that way. But, you were arguing with a psychic and the girl who knew everything so it maybe was a lost cause.
"Yes, and the only reason Rachel called you was because she couldn't get through to me and didn't want Quinn being alone."
"But that wasn't your decision to make!"
"And it wasn't yours to make either! Quinn didn't go to you, Santana. She came to me, and she came to me for the exact same reasons Rachel and I withheld that piece of information from you. She knew it would ruin things. So no, you don't get to be angry here." Brittany shook her head in annoyance, and you knew she was losing her patience with you, but come on! The girl you loved was going to get hurt and they didn't tell you! They made it so you couldn't help!
"I'm not…I'm hurt, I'm hurt, Britt, not angry. She's been going through all this and I've been…I just wish I could have helped her," you said, taking a deep breath and trying to control the pain inside.
"You can help her. Help her now," Brittany replied, reaching for your hand once again.
You let her take it, and with a small hug, she pulled you up off the couch. It seemed that was all you were going to get, and while you had a million other questions, you did want to see Quinn. You were desperate to see Quinn.
Plus, you knew Brittany wouldn't tell you anymore, but Rachel damn well would. You'd be having a very interesting conversation with her tomorrow at school, that was for sure.
*0*0*
Sitting in Brittany's spare bedroom, the very one Rachel and you had slept in two weeks ago, Quinn sat at the top of the bed, tissues clenched in her right hand, and her stare vacant. You were watching, wondering when it would happen, when she would say something.
Brittany had left only a few minutes ago, after making sure Quinn didn't need anything, and you had made to leave, too, because she didn't look to want company, but Quinn had grabbed your arm and kept you there. Now, as you were sitting at the bottom of the bed, you couldn't help but wonder why.
A part of you wanted to crawl up the bed, hold her to you tightly, take all her pain away, but it was futile. She was shut down, closed in on herself, and you wouldn't be able to penetrate that shell with a fucking atomic bomb. Girl was numb, and she'd only come back to the land of the living when she felt like it.
Regardless, a part of you couldn't help yourself, and you advanced, crawling closer, seeing her eyes track your movements. You placed your hand on the bedspread, palm side up, and within seconds, her hand was in yours. That had you smiling. She was still in there, still willing to show you affection.
"Will you just stay with me tonight?" she finally said, sounding raw and even more broken than you anticipated.
"Of course." As if you'd leave her.
With those words, she let go of your hand and moved under the covers, all the while you put the lights out and joined her. Within seconds she was in your arms, holding onto you tightly, breathing you in. There weren't any tears, and you suspected she'd cried herself out, but she was still shaking with vulnerability, and you kissed the crown of her head to ease her fears.
Sleep was unlikely to come to you, but you expected that, so it wasn't a surprise to watch Quinn wake up several hours later from the sound of Brittany's parents moving around the house with a look of surprise on her face, and then recognition.
"Hi," you whispered, caressing her hair away from her face.
"Hi," she croaked back, her voice still sounding sore. "You stayed." She smiled a little at that, and you nodded. "Do you want to hear something crazy?" she then whispered, and you raised your eyebrows in curiosity. "Guess who offered me a place to stay a few weeks ago."
"Who?" You had a suspicion, but you needed to hear it from her. Plus, if Quinn didn't want to talk about last night, you weren't going to push it. If she wanted to talk about other things instead, you would.
"Rachel," she laughed humourlessly, shaking her head against the pillow. "I tortured her for years, and she offered me a place to stay just in case I got kicked out. Just in case. It's like she knew." Quinn bit her lip, and you swallowed anxiously.
You didn't want to add fuel into that fire, and kept the truth to yourself. You didn't need to give Quinn another reason to hate Rachel. But then she went and surprised you.
"Why can't I hate her?" Quinn asked, looking at you for some miracle answer, as if you held the reason she was after.
"Because she's too nice." Yes, you were annoyed she had kept this situation from you, but that didn't make her a horrible person.
"Why, though? Do you know how easy it would be for me if I hated her?" There was a desperation to her voice as she spoke, and you suspected that her issues with Rachel might possibly be tied in with how she was coping in regards to last night.
"How would it be easy? What would that fix?" you asked, unsure whether it was okay to actually ask questions. Quinn didn't seem fazed by it, though.
"Because, the more I see how nice she is, how kind she is, how in love she is with you, I can't help but think I don't deserve you. I don't. She's…and I'm not...I love you but she's…" Quinn wiped at the first tear to fall and then went to hide her face in the pillow. You cupped her face to prevent just that.
"Do I get a say in this?" you whispered, drowning yourself in those hazels.
"What?" She frowned and sniffled, placing one of her hands on your chest, above your heart.
"Do I get a say in who I love?" you repeated, giving her a soft smile to try and lighten things up.
"Of course you do, Santana," Quinn replied, actually rolling her eyes as she did so.
"Then I pick you. You. It'll always be you. You think you're selfish, and unkind, and maybe you are, but I still love you. Do you not get that? You don't need to be perfect for me. You don't need to bend over backwards to accommodate me. You don't need to do everything right to be with me. I just want to be with you." She bit her lip hard and you feared she was going to draw blood. "You were so brave coming out last night," you finished, feeling the need to tell her.
Regardless of how that whole situation went down, you were proud of her. Brittany had said she'd told her parents that she was in love with a girl, and that must have taken a lot of courage. So yes, you were damn proud of her, even if she wasn't.
"I was fucking coward, I couldn't even…he just started yelling and I sat and took it-" she began, shaking her head, winding herself back up, her hazels becoming withdrawn and distant.
"Shh," you murmured, pulling her closer to you, holding her body tight against yours, still trying to take her pain away. "You were brave to me."
"I don't know what's going to happen-" she began, and you cut her off once again.
"Relax, we'll work it out tomorrow, okay? Brittany's parents said you can stay here, and she's got your things-" This time, she cut you off.
"I know, she's been stealing from me for weeks. Now I know why."
"She's been stealing from you?" Okay, that took you by surprise. You knew Brittany had been trying to prepare for whatever was coming, but you didn't suspect she'd actually do that. You thought Quinn only had what they managed to grab last night.
"Yeah, she started borrowing my clothes after cheerio practice, or ask to borrow some of my favourite movies, books, CDs, and I know she stole the blanket and soft toy I had for Beth, the baby album I had, but I guess it all makes sense. She took the things I wouldn't have even thought to grab in a rush to get out there."
The sadness in her eyes, the thoughts of last night still plaguing her mind and the hopelessly lost look she was sporting made you act rash. You needed to comfort her, and your words were never enough for Quinn.
Leaning forward, cupping both of her cheeks in your hands, you kissed her lips, softly, gently, and pressed your forehead against hers. She kissed you back, as if desperately grasping onto the contact, the support, before you broke the kiss.
"We'll make sure you get everything you need, okay? I promise you. If I have to break in and rob the place, I will," you said seriously, and she cracked a smile, the first happy one you'd seen since yesterday at school.
"Shush, don't talk nonsense," she swatted your arm as she spoke, and you shook your head.
"I'd do it." And you would, even if the Fabrays changed their locks, you'd still get in and get her things. Puck hadn't taught you how to pick a lock and break a window for nothing.
"I know, I know you would," she said softly, her eyes already looking lighter.
This time she closed the distance, kissing you, as if testing the waters again, and you kissed her back as carefully as possible. Despite the urge to kiss her, devour her, and use your body to take her pain away, you knew you couldn't. This wasn't what the two of you were about anymore, and for that you were thankful.
"I'm going to need some time," Quinn whispered against your lips, having broken the kiss.
"We don't have to decide anything," you replied, swallowing your lust at the taste of her lips once more.
"I know, I just feel like an asshole, fighting so hard to be with you and then when I finally come out I'm saying no." She exhaled and shook her head, looking annoyed with herself, and you caressed her cheek to get her attention. You just need those hazel eyes focused on you and you could make it better. She needed to see your emotions to understand everything.
"Are you saying no, or are you saying not right now?" you asked, begging for it to be the latter, but a part of you knowing that it could be the former. If it was, you'd accept it, and be there for her as best as possible. You just wanted her to be happy, even if that wasn't with you.
"Not right now. Definitely not right now. Never no. I just need time," Quinn replied quickly, her eyes pleading with you to understand. You did, and your heart soared with the thought that she wanted to put herself in the right place before allowing this relationship to start properly. She wanted to try, she just wasn't ready yet.
But she hadn't given up on you completely.
"You can have all the time you need," you answered.
The unspoken words put a shine back in Quinn's eyes, and she nodded, shooting you a thankful smile, pulling your body back to hers. It was obvious, it was crystal clear, so blatant that it practically spoke itself.
You'd wait.
You would always wait for her, no matter what.
*0*0*