Best Intentions 1/2
Title: Best Intentions 1/2
Author: emmelia24
Rating: PG
Pairing: Quinn Fabray and Rachel Berry though purely platonic
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. This is purely and simply fiction. The characters belong to Fox and Ryan Murphy and a bunch of other people I do not know.
Spoiler: Episode 16 Original Song
Summary: Oneshot: Basically how I think the piano scene in last night’s episode should have gone down though I love that scene with all my heart.
A/N1: Hello! So I know this isn’t my normal story but I had a random inspiration boost last night and wrote this until like….I can’t say when otherwise some person will yell at me…Anyway, this is a little oneshot I’m quite proud of. Expect the next chapter by like Monday or Tuesday of my regular story. Also, the song Quinn sings is a song I wrote so yeah. which is here --> My song :) I hope you guys like that as well. A little musical taste of me : ) As always, a huge thanks to my kick ass beta cdn_torii who edited this in like seriously 1 hour. Crazy! Enjoy!!! Comments/Reviews would be amazing
Rachel Berry shut her locker with a confident slam before making her way to the auditorium.
The hallways were empty and exactly the way the young brunette liked them. Her pleated skirt swished back and forth as she held her song binder, complete with lyrics, staff paper, and seven perfectly sharpened pencils, tightly to her chest. Her stomach has butterflies, but not the good or reassuring kind. These were mutant butterflies. A knot in the pit of her stomach told her that this confrontation with Quinn would not be pretty. Unbeknownst to the blonde, Rachel had overheard her conversation with Finn earlier that day before lunch regarding the status of their relationship, which as far as Rachel was concerned, was still undecided. Just by looking at Finn’s blank face and half smile, she knew he wasn’t sold on the idea of dating Quinn again. And it was that ounce of doubt that Rachel clung to as she entered the deserted auditorium.
She approached the all-to-familiar black baby grand piano she had come to love with all of her heart. Quinn Fabray sat at the instrument, her nimble fingers absentmindedly playing a series of notes. A pair of hazel eyes rose as the music stopped to meet Rachel’s now faltering eyes.
“You’re late,” she said with just a hint of venom.
Rachel’s eyes averted Quinn’s slight glare. She couldn’t let Quinn know how frightened she still was of her wrath. With a deep breath, she asked her first and perhaps the hardest question to answer.
“We’re friends, right?”
Quinn considered the inquiry, slightly taken aback by the abruptness of the question.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she answered, a response the brunette certainly had not been planning on.
“Like,” Rachel continued, “everything happened last year…you gave your baby to my mom we kind of bonded over it, right?”
Her heart was beating at a dangerous rate, but she paid no attention. All she concentrated on was Quinn.
“What’s your point?” she almost snapped, but not entirely.
Before Quinn could object further, Rachel just spit it out.
“My point is that uh- I know we haven’t spent a lot of time together this year but…I thought that we were…close enough to be honest with each other.”
Quinn’s eyes pierced through her with a burning, yet contemplative gaze. It felt like she was reading into the depths of her mind, trying to find a motive; and she succeeded, almost as if she knew what was coming all along.
“Go ahead,” she said encouragingly before she gave Rachel the green light, “ask me.”
“Fine,” she stammered immediately, suddenly full of gusto that she had lacked a few minutes ago when those two eyes penetrated her like a laser beam.
“Are you and Finn together?”
It had been a question that occupied her thoughts almost twenty-four hours a day. Finn, long the object of her affection, had once chosen her over her sworn enemy but now, after their two break ups, had seemed to rekindle his love with the ex-cheerleader. And nothing upset her more than being rejected for someone as beautiful, smart, and bitchy as Quinn. She had to know. She had to know whether it was time to gather her weapons and fight for Finn’s love.
“Yes,” she said robotically, “it’s been a couple of weeks.”
Quinn saw Rachel’s face falter, the news seeming to resonate deep within the starlet. She scoffed at her pettiness, the fact that she was still pining away after that doofus who deserved so much less than Rachel angered her more than she would like to admit.
“It’s like Groundhog’s Day with you, Rachel.”
Her eyes leapt up, noting the lack of degrading nickname.
“How many times do you have to make the same mistake to realize that it’s not going to work out?” she said coolly, not with the usual animosity she normally displayed toward Rachel.
Not this again, Rachel thought. Quinn was always trying to tear her down and prove to her that Finn never wanted her; but they both knew better.
“Well, thank you for being honest with me, Quinn. And-and I’m happy for you and Finn but don’t go and try to rewrite history okay? It was real between us. He chose me over you,” she retorted, knowing that was a fact even Quinn couldn’t’ dispute.
“And how long did that last for?” she asked again, though her lack of malice was beginning to annoy her now.
How could she say these hurtful things without yelling or screaming and still hurt her just the same? The worst part was that she couldn’t even argue with that question. Her relationship with Finn was at best described as on and off but the reality was it was short lived. They couldn’t hold it together longer than a few weeks. Quinn was right and that angered her more than anything. It also hurt her more than words could describe.
“Why are you being so mean?” she whispered with broken eyes.
The blonde rose from her perch to address Rachel more clearly. A flowing dress that halted at her knees complimented her flawless shape. As she grew closer, Rachel heard her inhale a shaky breath. Their eyes met momentarily and what she saw shocked her more than the news of the pregnancy; she didn’t see the normal guarded, indifferent, cold eyes that haunted her day in and day out. The eyes staring at her were open, vulnerable, something she hadn’t seen since the day Finn discovered the paternity of Quinn’s child. She was fascinated by them.
“Do you want to know how this plays out?” she asked quietly.
She took Rachel’s silence as a yes.
“I get Finn,” she stated, “you get heartbroken, and then Finn and I will stay here and start a family.”
Before Rachel could protest, she couldn’t help but hear the sorrow, almost dread, in the blonde’s raspy voice.
“I’ll…become…a successful real estate agent a-and Finn will take over Kurt’s dad’s tire shop,” she managed to choke out, her voice suddenly shaky and unsure.
As Rachel gazed into Quinn’s eyes, she felt something she had never felt before when looking at the blonde: pity.
“You don’t belong here, Rachel,” she pleaded her eyes begging Rachel for forgiveness, almost offering her a truce, “and you can’t hate me for helping to send you on your way.”
Rachel was in shock; she had never seen Quinn like this before. She had never seen her so miserable, so vulnerable. At the same time, she had a nagging voice in the back of her head that was yelling “THIS IS A TRAP! SHE WANTS YOU TO FEEL BAD FOR HER!” Yet for some reason, she couldn’t believe the voice.; that didn’t mean she was aborting her plan to begin the same war with Quinn for the male lead of New Directions they had waged for almost two years now.
She shook her head and protested.
“I’m not giving up on Finn. It’s not over between u-,”
“Yes it is!” Quinn exclaimed, causing Rachel to jump back with surprise, “You’re so frustrating!” she cried as she slammed her hand down on the hollow instrument.
Her brown eyes widened with shock. Where was all of this anger coming from?
“And that is why you can’t write a good song,” she added, “because you live in this little school girl fantasy of life. Rachel, if you keep looking for that happy ending, you are never going to get it right.”
Suddenly, she lost her voice. The harsh reality of Quinn’s words hit her like a brick wall. The fact that she had the audacity to claim Finn was not what shocked her; what rendered her speechless was the fact that Quinn Fabray just said she, Rachel Berry, was going to get out of this town. It was almost as if she believed that Rachel was better than her and would escape this hellhole. Did she actually believe that?
“Let’s just get back to work,” Quinn said with a huff, trying to hide her tears and obvious pain.
Suddenly, Rachel didn’t want to be around Quinn anymore; her stomach was churning violently as she envisioned Quinn’s future. No, she couldn’t think about this. She couldn’t feel sorry for Quinn. Quinn was the enemy, the bad guy, her arch nemesis. She had a song to write, a song that didn’t involve Quinn. It was too much. It was all too much. She was so overwhelmed that she decided to leave Quinn, forget about what had just happened and return to Finn, return to their fighting ways. It was so much easier when they hated each other. Now that Quinn has showed that she cares for Rachel in some small way, everything was complicated. And Rachel wasn’t sure how to handle it. She wasn’t sure if she should be infuriated and upset over the fact that she would never win Finn back or be determined to get Finn back, or be sorry for Quinn, or feel gratified in some way because Quinn believed she would be successful one day.
“Actually, I think I’ll be writing this song on my own,” she said before the tears she had been desperately trying to hide fell down her cheeks.
Just as she was about to exit full force ready with a new found vigor to prove Quinn wrong, her rapidly moving legs froze at the sound of a sob. A single sob that echoed throughout the empty theater. Rachel literally felt her heart break. She couldn’t make her legs work; she simply stayed put behind a think black curtain, her ears in Quinn’s direction, as she listened to her cries. Suddenly, she felt a desire to run back and take her into her arms and make her stop crying. That desire was quickly extinguished when the sobbing ceased.
Then, out of the silence emerged a single voice singing an unfamiliar song accompanied by a gentle piano.
I am running from tomorrow
And I don’t know where I am going.
My heart keeps on pounding.
I don’t know when I can stop.
Rachel felt her heart race as her ears eagerly drank in the sultry yet angelic voice emanating from the blonde sitting at the shining black baby grand piano. She knew who was singing, but the lyrics would have never pointed her in Quinn’s direction.
People ask me, what do I want?
I can never give them the answer.
Why can’t I answer?
I don’t know.
It’s a question that haunts my mind.
The blonde’s shoulders rose as her hands moved with purpose to the next chord. With a deep breath, she belted out the first chorus that sent a rush of chills down Rachel’s back.
Here I am.
Waiting, searching and hoping.
My mind is standing still and
My legs are in constant motion.
But you stop me, and hold me tight.
Let me open my heart,
Make me believe it’s alright.
Rachel was silent. She watched with wide eyes as Quinn’s fingers danced effortlessly from key to key, flawlessly playing a melody that would be sure to reverberate in the corners of Rachel’s mind later on. Her feet refused to move and she was rendered frozen to the spot she had arrived in: her binder clutched too tightly to her body, her heart thrashing against her chest, mouth open slightly, eyes wide in shock and awe.
So I keep running, running blindly
Searching desperately for the answer.
Turning corners, crossing bridges
But it is nowhere to be found.
So here I am
I’m still waiting, searching and hoping.
My mind is standing still and
My legs are in constant motion.
But you stop me and hold me tight
Let me open my heart.
Make me believe it’s alright.
As Quinn elegantly sang her run, a sudden realization hit Rachel. Quinn didn’t want that future. She didn’t really want to have Finn or become a real estate agent or raise a family in Lima. Quinn was settling though Rachel didn’t understand why. She had everything. She had her prince charming, the intelligence, the connections, the beauty that would get her anywhere she wanted. Why should she expect such an awful future when she had the potential for greatness? Why was she limiting herself to a life she dreaded when it was more than possible for her to live one she loved?
I’m still running, I’m still running
I’m still running from tomorrow.
But the pain inside of me is numbing,
The pain inside of me is numb.
I look to you
You’re loving eyes,
And suddenly I can stop.
Stop the pain, stop the running.
Stop the never-ending suffering because
Here we are,
Trusting, kissing and loving.
There’s no more hurt and there’s no more pain
Because it’s me and you
Me and you
It’s just me and you, ready to face tomorrow.
It all made sense now. Quinn wanted what she has wanted all of her life. She wanted to catch the first train out of Lima, the home that never really was her home. She wanted the opportunity to stand out for all the right reasons not because of popularity or from manipulating the system. Finn was all Quinn had left. High school was her last chance at being great and powerful. Deep down Quinn knew that once they graduated from this hellhole she would stay and Rachel would leave. But what was hurting Quinn was that she should want the future she previously described. She should want a husband, white picket fence, children running around happily while she cooked and cleaned while her husband worked for their food; but she didn’t. Quinn was dreading the future, running from tomorrow and now Rachel knew that this wasn’t some ploy to hurt her or discourage her from pursuing Finn. It was a warning, but it was not the same as the previous threats she had received from the blonde. This was a warning telling her to forget Finn and forget high school because in a few years none of it would matter. The slushies, the names, every word Quinn had yelled at her, the insults, the pornographic drawings, the pain and the hurts wouldn’t matter once she made it to Juliard. And Quinn believed it with all of her heart.
Silently, with hot tears rolling down her flushed cheeks, Rachel approached the piano once more, though this time with nothing planned to say. Her back facing the fast approaching brunette, Quinn began to sob lightly, the movement jolting her body forward as she drew her face into her hands. The need to hold the shaking blonde grew with each step as Rachel’s heart beat quicken and her palms moistened with sweat. Carefully, she reached out a trembling hand and placed it gently on Quinn’s shoulder.
The blonde practically jumped off of the bench, her eyes wide with shock and cheeks red with embarrassment.
“Rachel!” she cried, her hands moving viciously to conceal her tears.
The brunette simply stared at the girl who used to terrify her more than any other human being on this earth. She stared into the eyes that use to send daggers her way whenever their paths crossed. The girl sitting before her was not the girl who called her Treasure Trail and slushied her daily. This was someone different; this was the real Quinn, the terrified, vulnerable, hurting, and miserable Quinn. Never had she seen the head bitch in charge so broken; she should have felt some satisfaction from this, some sort of cosmic revenge perhaps, but all she felt in the moment was sympathy and pain. She wanted so much to heal her wounds, hold her, put the pieces back together, and start over. She didn’t deserve the future she was subjecting herself to; she deserved so much more. Yes, she had made mistakes but no one should have to settle for a life of misery.
Quinn’s eyes locked with Rachel’s in a gaze that left the brunette breathless. It said everything Quinn had ever wanted to say to Rachel, or to anyone that would listen.
I’m sorry. Forgive me? I’m scared. Make it go away, make the pain go away.
“Quinn?” she asked softly, as she moved closer to the piano.
She sat down gently on the leather bench, her skirt draping over the furniture. With a small turn of the head, she gazed at Quinn with a surge of confidence. A single tear escaped from its hazel chamber and danced down a porcelain cheek.
“What?” the blonde breathed shakily.
Rachel’s lips curled into a hopeful smile as she tentatively took Quinn’s quivering hand into hers. The warmth that overcame her was remarkable and it filled Rachel’s heart to the brim with something she had never felt in her entire life.
“You don’t belong here either, Quinn,” she whispered.
Author: emmelia24
Rating: PG
Pairing: Quinn Fabray and Rachel Berry though purely platonic
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. This is purely and simply fiction. The characters belong to Fox and Ryan Murphy and a bunch of other people I do not know.
Spoiler: Episode 16 Original Song
Summary: Oneshot: Basically how I think the piano scene in last night’s episode should have gone down though I love that scene with all my heart.
A/N1: Hello! So I know this isn’t my normal story but I had a random inspiration boost last night and wrote this until like….I can’t say when otherwise some person will yell at me…Anyway, this is a little oneshot I’m quite proud of. Expect the next chapter by like Monday or Tuesday of my regular story. Also, the song Quinn sings is a song I wrote so yeah. which is here --> My song :) I hope you guys like that as well. A little musical taste of me : ) As always, a huge thanks to my kick ass beta cdn_torii who edited this in like seriously 1 hour. Crazy! Enjoy!!! Comments/Reviews would be amazing
Rachel Berry shut her locker with a confident slam before making her way to the auditorium.
The hallways were empty and exactly the way the young brunette liked them. Her pleated skirt swished back and forth as she held her song binder, complete with lyrics, staff paper, and seven perfectly sharpened pencils, tightly to her chest. Her stomach has butterflies, but not the good or reassuring kind. These were mutant butterflies. A knot in the pit of her stomach told her that this confrontation with Quinn would not be pretty. Unbeknownst to the blonde, Rachel had overheard her conversation with Finn earlier that day before lunch regarding the status of their relationship, which as far as Rachel was concerned, was still undecided. Just by looking at Finn’s blank face and half smile, she knew he wasn’t sold on the idea of dating Quinn again. And it was that ounce of doubt that Rachel clung to as she entered the deserted auditorium.
She approached the all-to-familiar black baby grand piano she had come to love with all of her heart. Quinn Fabray sat at the instrument, her nimble fingers absentmindedly playing a series of notes. A pair of hazel eyes rose as the music stopped to meet Rachel’s now faltering eyes.
“You’re late,” she said with just a hint of venom.
Rachel’s eyes averted Quinn’s slight glare. She couldn’t let Quinn know how frightened she still was of her wrath. With a deep breath, she asked her first and perhaps the hardest question to answer.
“We’re friends, right?”
Quinn considered the inquiry, slightly taken aback by the abruptness of the question.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she answered, a response the brunette certainly had not been planning on.
“Like,” Rachel continued, “everything happened last year…you gave your baby to my mom we kind of bonded over it, right?”
Her heart was beating at a dangerous rate, but she paid no attention. All she concentrated on was Quinn.
“What’s your point?” she almost snapped, but not entirely.
Before Quinn could object further, Rachel just spit it out.
“My point is that uh- I know we haven’t spent a lot of time together this year but…I thought that we were…close enough to be honest with each other.”
Quinn’s eyes pierced through her with a burning, yet contemplative gaze. It felt like she was reading into the depths of her mind, trying to find a motive; and she succeeded, almost as if she knew what was coming all along.
“Go ahead,” she said encouragingly before she gave Rachel the green light, “ask me.”
“Fine,” she stammered immediately, suddenly full of gusto that she had lacked a few minutes ago when those two eyes penetrated her like a laser beam.
“Are you and Finn together?”
It had been a question that occupied her thoughts almost twenty-four hours a day. Finn, long the object of her affection, had once chosen her over her sworn enemy but now, after their two break ups, had seemed to rekindle his love with the ex-cheerleader. And nothing upset her more than being rejected for someone as beautiful, smart, and bitchy as Quinn. She had to know. She had to know whether it was time to gather her weapons and fight for Finn’s love.
“Yes,” she said robotically, “it’s been a couple of weeks.”
Quinn saw Rachel’s face falter, the news seeming to resonate deep within the starlet. She scoffed at her pettiness, the fact that she was still pining away after that doofus who deserved so much less than Rachel angered her more than she would like to admit.
“It’s like Groundhog’s Day with you, Rachel.”
Her eyes leapt up, noting the lack of degrading nickname.
“How many times do you have to make the same mistake to realize that it’s not going to work out?” she said coolly, not with the usual animosity she normally displayed toward Rachel.
Not this again, Rachel thought. Quinn was always trying to tear her down and prove to her that Finn never wanted her; but they both knew better.
“Well, thank you for being honest with me, Quinn. And-and I’m happy for you and Finn but don’t go and try to rewrite history okay? It was real between us. He chose me over you,” she retorted, knowing that was a fact even Quinn couldn’t’ dispute.
“And how long did that last for?” she asked again, though her lack of malice was beginning to annoy her now.
How could she say these hurtful things without yelling or screaming and still hurt her just the same? The worst part was that she couldn’t even argue with that question. Her relationship with Finn was at best described as on and off but the reality was it was short lived. They couldn’t hold it together longer than a few weeks. Quinn was right and that angered her more than anything. It also hurt her more than words could describe.
“Why are you being so mean?” she whispered with broken eyes.
The blonde rose from her perch to address Rachel more clearly. A flowing dress that halted at her knees complimented her flawless shape. As she grew closer, Rachel heard her inhale a shaky breath. Their eyes met momentarily and what she saw shocked her more than the news of the pregnancy; she didn’t see the normal guarded, indifferent, cold eyes that haunted her day in and day out. The eyes staring at her were open, vulnerable, something she hadn’t seen since the day Finn discovered the paternity of Quinn’s child. She was fascinated by them.
“Do you want to know how this plays out?” she asked quietly.
She took Rachel’s silence as a yes.
“I get Finn,” she stated, “you get heartbroken, and then Finn and I will stay here and start a family.”
Before Rachel could protest, she couldn’t help but hear the sorrow, almost dread, in the blonde’s raspy voice.
“I’ll…become…a successful real estate agent a-and Finn will take over Kurt’s dad’s tire shop,” she managed to choke out, her voice suddenly shaky and unsure.
As Rachel gazed into Quinn’s eyes, she felt something she had never felt before when looking at the blonde: pity.
“You don’t belong here, Rachel,” she pleaded her eyes begging Rachel for forgiveness, almost offering her a truce, “and you can’t hate me for helping to send you on your way.”
Rachel was in shock; she had never seen Quinn like this before. She had never seen her so miserable, so vulnerable. At the same time, she had a nagging voice in the back of her head that was yelling “THIS IS A TRAP! SHE WANTS YOU TO FEEL BAD FOR HER!” Yet for some reason, she couldn’t believe the voice.; that didn’t mean she was aborting her plan to begin the same war with Quinn for the male lead of New Directions they had waged for almost two years now.
She shook her head and protested.
“I’m not giving up on Finn. It’s not over between u-,”
“Yes it is!” Quinn exclaimed, causing Rachel to jump back with surprise, “You’re so frustrating!” she cried as she slammed her hand down on the hollow instrument.
Her brown eyes widened with shock. Where was all of this anger coming from?
“And that is why you can’t write a good song,” she added, “because you live in this little school girl fantasy of life. Rachel, if you keep looking for that happy ending, you are never going to get it right.”
Suddenly, she lost her voice. The harsh reality of Quinn’s words hit her like a brick wall. The fact that she had the audacity to claim Finn was not what shocked her; what rendered her speechless was the fact that Quinn Fabray just said she, Rachel Berry, was going to get out of this town. It was almost as if she believed that Rachel was better than her and would escape this hellhole. Did she actually believe that?
“Let’s just get back to work,” Quinn said with a huff, trying to hide her tears and obvious pain.
Suddenly, Rachel didn’t want to be around Quinn anymore; her stomach was churning violently as she envisioned Quinn’s future. No, she couldn’t think about this. She couldn’t feel sorry for Quinn. Quinn was the enemy, the bad guy, her arch nemesis. She had a song to write, a song that didn’t involve Quinn. It was too much. It was all too much. She was so overwhelmed that she decided to leave Quinn, forget about what had just happened and return to Finn, return to their fighting ways. It was so much easier when they hated each other. Now that Quinn has showed that she cares for Rachel in some small way, everything was complicated. And Rachel wasn’t sure how to handle it. She wasn’t sure if she should be infuriated and upset over the fact that she would never win Finn back or be determined to get Finn back, or be sorry for Quinn, or feel gratified in some way because Quinn believed she would be successful one day.
“Actually, I think I’ll be writing this song on my own,” she said before the tears she had been desperately trying to hide fell down her cheeks.
Just as she was about to exit full force ready with a new found vigor to prove Quinn wrong, her rapidly moving legs froze at the sound of a sob. A single sob that echoed throughout the empty theater. Rachel literally felt her heart break. She couldn’t make her legs work; she simply stayed put behind a think black curtain, her ears in Quinn’s direction, as she listened to her cries. Suddenly, she felt a desire to run back and take her into her arms and make her stop crying. That desire was quickly extinguished when the sobbing ceased.
Then, out of the silence emerged a single voice singing an unfamiliar song accompanied by a gentle piano.
I am running from tomorrow
And I don’t know where I am going.
My heart keeps on pounding.
I don’t know when I can stop.
Rachel felt her heart race as her ears eagerly drank in the sultry yet angelic voice emanating from the blonde sitting at the shining black baby grand piano. She knew who was singing, but the lyrics would have never pointed her in Quinn’s direction.
People ask me, what do I want?
I can never give them the answer.
Why can’t I answer?
I don’t know.
It’s a question that haunts my mind.
The blonde’s shoulders rose as her hands moved with purpose to the next chord. With a deep breath, she belted out the first chorus that sent a rush of chills down Rachel’s back.
Here I am.
Waiting, searching and hoping.
My mind is standing still and
My legs are in constant motion.
But you stop me, and hold me tight.
Let me open my heart,
Make me believe it’s alright.
Rachel was silent. She watched with wide eyes as Quinn’s fingers danced effortlessly from key to key, flawlessly playing a melody that would be sure to reverberate in the corners of Rachel’s mind later on. Her feet refused to move and she was rendered frozen to the spot she had arrived in: her binder clutched too tightly to her body, her heart thrashing against her chest, mouth open slightly, eyes wide in shock and awe.
So I keep running, running blindly
Searching desperately for the answer.
Turning corners, crossing bridges
But it is nowhere to be found.
So here I am
I’m still waiting, searching and hoping.
My mind is standing still and
My legs are in constant motion.
But you stop me and hold me tight
Let me open my heart.
Make me believe it’s alright.
As Quinn elegantly sang her run, a sudden realization hit Rachel. Quinn didn’t want that future. She didn’t really want to have Finn or become a real estate agent or raise a family in Lima. Quinn was settling though Rachel didn’t understand why. She had everything. She had her prince charming, the intelligence, the connections, the beauty that would get her anywhere she wanted. Why should she expect such an awful future when she had the potential for greatness? Why was she limiting herself to a life she dreaded when it was more than possible for her to live one she loved?
I’m still running, I’m still running
I’m still running from tomorrow.
But the pain inside of me is numbing,
The pain inside of me is numb.
I look to you
You’re loving eyes,
And suddenly I can stop.
Stop the pain, stop the running.
Stop the never-ending suffering because
Here we are,
Trusting, kissing and loving.
There’s no more hurt and there’s no more pain
Because it’s me and you
Me and you
It’s just me and you, ready to face tomorrow.
It all made sense now. Quinn wanted what she has wanted all of her life. She wanted to catch the first train out of Lima, the home that never really was her home. She wanted the opportunity to stand out for all the right reasons not because of popularity or from manipulating the system. Finn was all Quinn had left. High school was her last chance at being great and powerful. Deep down Quinn knew that once they graduated from this hellhole she would stay and Rachel would leave. But what was hurting Quinn was that she should want the future she previously described. She should want a husband, white picket fence, children running around happily while she cooked and cleaned while her husband worked for their food; but she didn’t. Quinn was dreading the future, running from tomorrow and now Rachel knew that this wasn’t some ploy to hurt her or discourage her from pursuing Finn. It was a warning, but it was not the same as the previous threats she had received from the blonde. This was a warning telling her to forget Finn and forget high school because in a few years none of it would matter. The slushies, the names, every word Quinn had yelled at her, the insults, the pornographic drawings, the pain and the hurts wouldn’t matter once she made it to Juliard. And Quinn believed it with all of her heart.
Silently, with hot tears rolling down her flushed cheeks, Rachel approached the piano once more, though this time with nothing planned to say. Her back facing the fast approaching brunette, Quinn began to sob lightly, the movement jolting her body forward as she drew her face into her hands. The need to hold the shaking blonde grew with each step as Rachel’s heart beat quicken and her palms moistened with sweat. Carefully, she reached out a trembling hand and placed it gently on Quinn’s shoulder.
The blonde practically jumped off of the bench, her eyes wide with shock and cheeks red with embarrassment.
“Rachel!” she cried, her hands moving viciously to conceal her tears.
The brunette simply stared at the girl who used to terrify her more than any other human being on this earth. She stared into the eyes that use to send daggers her way whenever their paths crossed. The girl sitting before her was not the girl who called her Treasure Trail and slushied her daily. This was someone different; this was the real Quinn, the terrified, vulnerable, hurting, and miserable Quinn. Never had she seen the head bitch in charge so broken; she should have felt some satisfaction from this, some sort of cosmic revenge perhaps, but all she felt in the moment was sympathy and pain. She wanted so much to heal her wounds, hold her, put the pieces back together, and start over. She didn’t deserve the future she was subjecting herself to; she deserved so much more. Yes, she had made mistakes but no one should have to settle for a life of misery.
Quinn’s eyes locked with Rachel’s in a gaze that left the brunette breathless. It said everything Quinn had ever wanted to say to Rachel, or to anyone that would listen.
I’m sorry. Forgive me? I’m scared. Make it go away, make the pain go away.
“Quinn?” she asked softly, as she moved closer to the piano.
She sat down gently on the leather bench, her skirt draping over the furniture. With a small turn of the head, she gazed at Quinn with a surge of confidence. A single tear escaped from its hazel chamber and danced down a porcelain cheek.
“What?” the blonde breathed shakily.
Rachel’s lips curled into a hopeful smile as she tentatively took Quinn’s quivering hand into hers. The warmth that overcame her was remarkable and it filled Rachel’s heart to the brim with something she had never felt in her entire life.
“You don’t belong here either, Quinn,” she whispered.