A/N: I love Finn and Quinn fluff, but I love Finn and Quinn angst that much more. I have about seven or eight chapters planned out in total. Each chapter will have a sort of theme song, which I implore you to listen to should you have the time. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts. Finn and Quinn forever!

Song: Home
Artist: Daughtry

Quinn carefully veered her car into the vacant parking space. As she took her keys out of the ignition, a heavy sigh escaped from her cherry lips. She rested her hand on the door handle for a moment afterward, but hesitated, ultimately deciding to retract her hand.

No. This was definitely a bad idea. Honestly, she was what? Twenty six now? What good would a walk down memory lane do?

More importantly, how did she even end up here? Back in Lima, Ohio? In front of Breadsticks of all places?

"You know why," the voice inside her head answered her. "Finn."

Finn. Just thinking about him brought a bittersweet smile to her face. Yes. He was the reason she was back here, the reason she was sitting in her car right now contemplating her life.

Finn and Rachel had still been together when they had graduated, so Quinn imagined that they were happily married to each other by now. In fact, she had seen Rachel on Broadway last year (not intentionally of course). A colleague of hers had dragged her to see the show with him. If she had known that Rachel Berry would have been playing the female lead, she would have pardoned herself from the event with whatever pathetic excuse she could come up with be it diarrhea or something equally pressing.

God forbid they had had any children. She had never kept in touch with anyone from McKinley. That was sort of the point when she had left Lima, Ohio for good. She had wanted to leave everything, especially him behind. Her mother knew very well why she had wanted to leave so desperately. Even her father had known.

"Running away doesn't mend a broken heart Quinnie," she assured her, hugging her daughter tightly before she boarded her plane to New York. "I was young once too as hard as that may be for you to believe. I know these things from experience sweetheart."

Quinn hugged her back, trying desperately to hold back the tears that threatened to fall down her porcelain cheeks.

"I know mom, but hopefully, going to New York will at least help me forget," she responded, pulling away from her warm embrace now. "You'll come and visit me over the holidays, right? You and dad?"

Her parents had gotten back together not six months ago, one of the best things to have happened to her this year.

"Absolutely," her mother promised her as her father nodded in agreement from where he stood. "Have a safe trip sweetie. Call us when you arrive."

"I will," Quinn promised them, glancing over her shoulder at her parents one last time before finally heading through the departure gates.

Goodbye mom.

Goodbye dad.

Goodbye Finn.

Unfortunately, her mother had been right. She did everything she could to leave him behind. Dating Sam in high school had been a nice distraction for awhile. Unsurprisingly though, he had been the one to break things off with her. It was after their graduation. He simply realized that she would never truly be his. Her heart would always belong to Finn.

"Did I do something wrong?" she questioned, starting to panic a little.

Sam had cited that they needed to talk and she knew that no good news ever followed those words.

"Sam, are you breaking up with me?" she concluded and her lips quivered at the very idea.

She felt her heart drop when he nodded.

"It was the way you were looking at him at the ceremony," Sam simply explained, wanting to be direct with her. "Quinn, admit it. You never stopped loving Finn."

What the hell was he talking about? She loved him! How could he not see that?

"Sam, stop," she warned him, not wanting to encourage his ridiculous assumption. "You're being nonsensical right now. We've been going out for what? Two years now? I love you. You must know that."

"I do and I love you too Quinn," he promised her, although there was a sad smile on his lips.

She ignored the somber expression on his face and laced her fingers through his with no intention of letting go until he understood exactly how much she needed him.

"Exactly, so please stop overreacting over nothing, alright?" she asked of him, but much to her dismay, he shook his head.

When he attempted to pull his hand away from hers again, she let him go despite her earlier vow to hold onto him.

"I wasn't done," he informed her, standing up from her bed now and walking away. "I don't doubt that you love me Quinn, but you'll always be in love with Finn. There's a difference. I can possess you mind, body, and soul, but I'll never have your heart. You and I both know that."

He gave her one last lingering look before he finally strode out of her room. She remained frozen on the bed after he had left. It was only when she heard him head downstairs that reality really began to set in around her. Sam was dead serious about leaving her.

Damn it! Why did they always leave?

"Sam, please!" Quinn shouted after him, hurrying down the stairs. "Listen to how unreasonable you're being! You're breaking up with me because of some stupid look I didn't even know I gave Finn at the graduation ceremony. Are you even listening to yourself? This is absolutely insane! You don't want to break up with me Sam, not really."

He let out a heavy sigh at her words and whirled around to face her, one foot already out the front door. He needed to make her understand.

"Quinn, I know you think I've taken one too many footballs to the head to break up with you right now, but believe me when I say that I'm doing this for you. I'm doing this because I love you Quinn. I swear," he confessed, looking just about as broken as she was about this now. "You'll realize you and Finn were always meant to be together someday and when you do, you'll thank me for doing this. I promise you. You'll thank me."

She shook her head, unable to process his words, the tears streaming steadily down her face now. Unable to stand seeing her so upset, he pulled her in for a long hug, giving her a small kiss on her forehead in an attempt to offer her what little comfort he could.

Breakups were always hard, no matter the reason, no matter the motive.

"Goodbye Quinn," he whispered ultimately, stepping away from her, and then, he was gone.

She stood there in the hallway for a few moments longer, her feet unmoving, before she finally ran up to her room, slamming the door with a loud 'bang' behind her. She and Sam were supposed to have gone off to California together. What the hell was she supposed to do now? How could he do this to her?

She took the picture of the two of them from her side table and threw it against the wall, watching the glass from the picture frame shatter to pieces just like he had shattered her heart. She hadn't really processed all that Sam had been saying, but she knew one thing was for certain. Sam was wrong.

She was not still in love with Finn. He had moved on to Rachel in a heartbeat after they had broken up and she had moved on as well. She did not still love Finn Hudson, she kept repeating to herself as she dried her tears until she realized moments later that fuck. Yeah, she did.

The next morning, she had immediately talked to her dad about her breakup with Sam (and only that). She knew he had connections at NYU. Just as she had expected, he had been more than happy to place the call. He had never been thrilled in the least bit by the idea of his daughter going off to California with that Sam boy anyway.

NYU had been nice enough. She got good grades, made a lot of friends, but still, she couldn't forget him. She had even gone through a dreadful phase of going out with any guy that had asked her. Her hope had been that one of them would help her forget Finn, but one after another, they disappointed her. She'd always end up comparing each and every one of them to Finn and none of them ever measured up. None of them were ever enough.

Hell! Most of them never even managed to get a goodnight kiss from her at the end of their first date, let alone a second one. To be fair though, there was this one lucky guy in her sophomore year who made it all the way to their fourth date before she dumped him like a hot potato.

When dating other people had failed to make her forget him, she buried herself in her school work. She supposed something good had come out of that. She was one of the top lawyers at her firm in New York now. In fact, she'd heard a rumor around the office that she might make partner by the end of the year. She'd be the youngest lawyer to ever make partner in the history of the firm, but what good was having a successful career when she didn't have someone to share it with, when she didn't have the one person she wanted to share it with?

And that's how she had ended up here tonight. Her first date with Finn had been at Breadsticks. She had been excited, although she had hid her emotions well and he had been, well, nervous, extremely nervous. So nervous in fact that he had thrown up all over the table halfway through their dinner date. He had been mortified of course and she had been (fortunately for him) forgiving. Then again, who could possibly stay mad at such an adorable boy?

What was she planning to achieve by coming here and revisiting her past? She was hoping for closure she supposed, but she knew that deep down inside, what she wanted was a miracle, one where Finn would come back to her, one where he would return to her side. She knew that would never happen though. She had never hated anyone more in her entire life than she had Rachel Berry. Sometimes when Quinn was really upset, she'd curse the day the Broadway star was born.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down then. Somehow she had managed to get out of her car and was now standing at the entrance of the restaurant. Slowly, cautiously, she strolled in, the memories hitting her like a tidal wave.

"You look really pretty tonight Quinn," Finn complimented her as the woman handed them their menus. "I mean, not that you don't look pretty like all the time, but tonight you uh, yeah, I'll shut up now."

He hid his face behind his menu in embarrassment after that and Quinn giggled, happy to know that she wasn't the only one who was nervous about their first date.

She had no idea what came over her next, but she slipped out of her side of the booth and went over to sit beside him.

Placing a small kiss on his cheek, she said, "Thank you Finn."

And he blushed, looking very much like a tomato with hair.

"Table for one please," she informed the waitress who had approached her, snapping out of her reverie. "And could I have that booth in the back there?"

The waitress followed her gaze and turned to look at the booth in question. She shook her head, causing Quinn to purse her lips in disappointment.

"Sorry dear," the older woman apologized, although she didn't look very sorry at all. "That table's reserved. Always is this day of the year…as far as I know anyway. I've been here five years now and counting."

Quinn blanched for a moment upon hearing her explanation. For one, she was never denied anything in New York. She was Quinn Fabray, top lawyer at Latham & Watkins. Some of her clients were freaking celebrities, and secondly…

"Why?" she wondered out loud and the waitress merely shrugged in response.

"Beats me," she revealed, tapping her finger against her chin in thought. "He's not from around here I don't think. All I know is that he comes in here every year on this day. He books that specific booth at least a month in advance. I really couldn't tell you why though. He's not much of a talker, so only God knows why I guess."

Quinn supposed there were weirder people in this world.

"Well, could you maybe see if you can talk to him about giving the table up to me this year?" Quinn pressed her luck, giving the woman her best smile. "The last time I was here was on the day of my high school graduation and after tonight, I don't think I'll be coming back anytime soon or ever. It would really mean a lot to me."

"Sorry," she responded again, except this time, there was a genuine apologetic smile on her face. "I'd honestly love to help, but my boss would kill me if I messed with the reservations. I'm in enough trouble with him as it is. You understand."

Quinn sighed in exasperation, but nodded. What else could she do? The last thing she wanted was to get the woman into any kind of trouble.

"Absolutely," she assured her, patting her lightly on the arm. "Don't worry about it. I'll sit somewhere else."

The waitress thanked her, preparing to lead her to another booth when she paused suddenly, menus in hand.

"Hey, why don't you see if he'll share the table with you actually?" she suggested, cocking her head towards the door. "He just arrived. Pretty girl like you shouldn't be eating alone anyway. Who knows? You might even fall in love him. I think he's single you know."

Quinn smiled politely at the woman and turned around, fully intending to take her advice. She was ready to do whatever it took to sit in that booth tonight, the last night she had allowed for herself to live in the past.

Dear God.

Forget falling in love with him. Been there, done that.

Still do.

"Finn?"

A shocked pair of eyes met hers.

"Quinn?"