It's been a while, but I finally found the time to write this third chapter since I'm on break. Quinn and Lana meeting up after the FAYZ. Let's see what happens. ;-)

Quinn sighs, glancing at his phone. It's 12:25… he thinks. She said she'd meet me here at 12:30.

"Excuse me, sir?" A hostess approaches Quinn.

He smiles at her. "Yes, sorry? Is the table ready?" Quinn asks.

The hostess nods. "Right this way."

Quinn stands up from the bench and follows her to a table, in the back of the diner. It had been about a year since he had last seen her, at that one interview with CNN. But it was as a group, so it wasn't really the same, and he didn't want Sam or Edilio or any of his other friends to think that he was hung up on a girl for so long. But Lana was special, they didn't get it. Quinn bites his lip. He didn't want to ever go back to the hell that was the FAYZ, but at least he and Lana could talk to one another without some adult coming up to them and saying how sorry they were, or some magazine like TMZ thinking they were some new, hot couple. "The story they made on Sam and Astrid…" Quinn laughs softly to himself, shaking his head slowly. He missed Lana, though. Her snarky, no-nonsense attitude, her attractive yet not beautiful looks, her rare smile that she seemed to only dish out for certain people. He takes out his phone again, opening the camera, looking at himself. Quinn rubs his hair. He hadn't changed, not that much. He still enjoys fishing, and even interns on a boat, so his physique has kept up. And he got taller. "That's a plus…" he mutters, straightening the collar on his shirt. Quinn looks down at his phone, at his text thread with Lana. He had gotten her number from the group chat, but eventually worked up the courage to text just her. From there they had semi-normal conversations, but there was still tension and awkwardness. There always had been, since that kiss, in the darkness. It had been so long ago...but since then she had broken up with Sanjit, and, well…. Quinn just felt lucky that his dad had gone to Vegas for a business deal, and Quinn asked to go so he could visit Lana. Thankfully, she offered to grab lunch together. And she seemed pretty excited that he was visiting. Quinn pushes his hair back again and bites his thumbnail. He realizes this and smiles sadly. "Just like Caine…" he says quietly, sighing and waiting for his crush to arrive.

Lana walks up to the door of the diner, checking to make sure that the address was right. She takes a deep breath outside, not sure if she was ready to see him again. It had been so long since they had last talked, and she wasn't sure if he'd even be the same guy he was. And even though she had moved on from Sanjit at that point in her life, she still fondly yet frighteningly remembered the kiss that she and Quinn had shared in the darkness, when they thought that all hope was lost. How they were both desperate, scared, and full of hormones, grabbing and touching each others' bodies, never wanting to let go. The heat that they shared, the intimacy, and...and...Lana touches her face. It is hot, and she realizes that she is blushing. She swallows, frowning. I'm not supposed to be like this… she thinks to herself. I'm not like that, all embarrassed over a kiss. I'm better than that. I'm Lana Arwen Lazar. So what if I enjoyed it? I'm a teenager, I'm allowed to. Whatever. After the FAYZ, Lana had gotten herself back to normal. Well, relatively. Her period had gone back to normal and color had returned to her skin and hair. Physically, she was back to how she was before the FAYZ, and she had even gotten a bit taller, and her boobs and butt had gotten a bit bigger. So people could say that she was hotter. Of course, she was still mentally fucked up and had almost tried to kill a kid who dared to flirt with her. Yay...puberty… she sighs, still pacing outside of the diner. People glance at her, walking by. I probably should go inside… Lana grumbles, entering the diner. She glances around at the booths, looking for Quinn.

A hostess walks up to her. "Hello, welcome. Are you by yourself, or are you waiting for someone?" She asks Lana.

"I can find him myself," Lana says, pushing past the hostess to find Quinn. She finds him in the back of the diner, nervously taking sips of water. "What, are you that scared of me?" Lana says, smirking as she walks up to him.

Quinn's eyes widen, and he puts down the glass, making a small smile. "Lana, hey." He stands up out of the booth and walks over to her. Quinn spreads his arms for a hug while Lana offers her hand for a high-five. Quinn bites his lip, awkward, backing away.

Lana swallows. "Ha, oops. My bad," she says, punching his shoulder lightly. "I missed you, Quinn. It's nice to see you," she says, patting him on the shoulder. They both sit back down at the booth. She picks up the other glass of water at the table, taking a sip.

"You...um...you're looking good," Quinn says shyly, scratching his chin.

Lana nods. "Thanks, you're not so bad yourself. What did you grow 3 inches?"

Quinn nods. "Yeah, just about. You look taller too. And...I don't know, just more vibrant."

Lana makes a small smile. "Thanks, Quinn. I mean, I've been eating and sleeping proper amounts, so my period's back and my boobs are bigger, so I can resume the glorious time of my life that is puberty. Yay."

Quinn blushes slightly and looks away. "Oh...um...that's...that's great...um…"

Lana laughs. "What, scared of the wonder of the female body? Vagina. Uterus. Fallopian tubes," Lana says, extending each word. "Sam told me he had a...similar reaction to Diana, so I guess you two are more similar than you thought. How's he doing, anyway?"

Quinn takes a sip of water, clearing his throat. "Oh, well, he and Astrid are doing great. Their house is really nice, and Sam's invited me to stay with them once I graduate. So I think I might do that unless something else comes up since I'll still be close to my parents and whatever. Oh, and Sam and I go surfing every Friday, after school, since I have my internship on a fishing boat on weekends."

Lana nods, interested. "Oh, wow, so you still fish? That's really cool. And it's great that you and Sam are still close."

Quinn nods, smiling. "Yeah, Sam's great. But how have you been? I know you were...going to therapy and...um...never mind…"

Lana frowns, closing her eyes. She sighs, opening them with a serious expression. "No, I'll talk about it. I've gone to therapy, yeah. I'm still screwed up in the head, and I don't know if I'll ever be fully better. But I'm working on it. And I've improved a lot during the year. I was supposed to go to a session today, but I decided to get lunch with you. I had to prioritize, you know?"

Quinn's eyes widen in concern. "Are you crazy? I'm not a priority, you should be helping yourself heal!"

Lana rolls her eyes. "Still the big, dumb, caring idiot. I don't care about my mental health right now. I'm fine here, with you." Lana pats Quinn's hand softly.

Quinn smiles, blushing slightly. "T..thanks, Lana. That's nice of you to say. So, um, what do you want to eat?" Quinn says, moving his hand out from under hers to grab a menu.

Lana sighs, biting her lip. She crosses her arms. "Just a burger and fries. And a chocolate shake."

Quinn nods, looking down at the menu. "Good choice. I'll get the same then, but with a vanilla shake." A waitress walks by them, and Quinn signals to her. He orders his meal, and then Lana's. The waitress takes their menus and walks away.

"I could've ordered myself, Quinn," Lana says.

Quinn's eyes widen. "Oh...I...um, sorry. Didn't realize," Quinn replies.

Lana frowns, narrowing her eyes. "Hey," she says, grabbing his face. "What's wrong? You're acting weird."

Quinn bites his lip. "It's nothing, I promise..."

Lana raises her eyebrow. "Don't be a dumbass, I can see right through you. Don't lie to me."

Quinn gulps, intimidated by Lana's ferocity. He takes a deep breath. "I just...I...can't stop thinking about...you know...when we kissed."

Lana lets go of Quinn's face, sitting back. "Glad it came out."

Quinn smiles. "That's what she said." Lana rolls her eyes. "Sorry," Quinn says. "It's just...I've still thought about it, a lot, and I...I don't know, I enjoyed it, and I missed you and I've been thinking about you, and…"

Lana stands up, leaning across the table, and kisses Quinn, grabbing his head with her two hands so they could stay like that for a few seconds. She breaks away, smirking at him. "I enjoyed it too. And I enjoyed that. A lot."

Quinn's eyes are as wide as possible, and he sits down, amazed. "You know, Quinn, I said that I might consider going out with you in the real world. And, hey, look where we are. The real fucking world."

Quinn smiles, happy. He starts laughing. "Sorry...sorry...I shouldn't. It's just, I've...this is...wow. I had this whole plan to win you over and then we'd kiss again, but you just ruined it. Damn, you're such a dom."

Lana's eyes widen this time, and she also laughs. "I guess I am. It was cute when you tried to be, though." Lana stands up from her side of the booth and slides in next to Quinn. "But we can talk more about us after lunch. I'm hungry, and I want to eat."

Quinn nods. "Yes, ma'am."

The rest of the meal goes smoothly, with Quinn and Lana both eating and enjoying their food, having conversations about how their lives are going, with school, friends, and families. Eventually, they both pay for their meal and they stand up, exiting the diner, walking next to one another.

Quinn intertwines his hand with hers, squeezing her hand. "Hey, Lana?"

Lana looks over at him. "Yeah, what's up?"

Quinn bites his lip. "Well, um, after high school, do you think that you're going to go to college?"

Lana thinks for a few seconds. "I don't really know. Maybe, maybe not. I'm not sure right now. Why do you ask?"

Quinn swallows. "Well, I was thinking that maybe, if you wanted to, once you finished college, you could move to closer to where I live, either in the same town or pretty close or whatever. Maybe we could even get a place, I don't know, together. But it's just a stupid idea...I don't know…"

Lana stops walking, facing Quinn, who swallows nervously, despite him being a foot taller than her. "Quinn, I absolutely hate Vegas. I would literally love nothing more than to live with you, near Sam and Diana and Astrid after high school." She kisses his cheek and wraps him a tight hug, placing her chin on his chest and looking up at him. "That is, as long as you're cool with Patrick waking you up at three in the morning to go for a walk. And, assuming we'd share a bed, Patrick would sleep with us. No negotiating. Am I being too forward? Maybe. Do I care? Nope."

Quinn's eyes widen, and he breaks from the hug, pushing his hair out of his eyes, surprised. After staring at Lana in shock for a few seconds, he bursts into laughter. "Shit, that's...wow. I mean, we still have like a year and a half of high school to get through, but it's nice to plan ahead. Wow...man, um...yeah, that's fine. Wow." Lana smirks again, punching his arm. Quinn rubs it, grabbing her hand and resuming their walking. He looks over at Lana. "Well, my dad still has like two hours left at his meeting. Probably more. What do you want to do?"

Lana thinks for a few seconds, scratching her cheek. "Well, we can either walk around the shithole that is Las Vegas…or…" Lana grins mischievously. "Or we can go back to my apartment to watch tv and make out. And...well, whatever happens, happens. If you think you can take me."

Quinn tilts his head, smiling. "Like I said, complete dom. But I'll try my best to please you. I've never really...done this before, making out and...anything else, um, with any girl, but I'll try my best with you."

Lana punches Quinn's other arm. "And that's all I'll ever want," she says, grabbing his arm and eagerly pulling him in the direction of her apartment. They were both happy, and they were both together, and that was all that mattered.