Return to Sender, Damaged in Transit

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He'll be out soon. Any time now.

Quinn waits by the school entrance and stares down the empty main hallway, looking for any signs of her boyfriend. Prom had officially ended at midnight and thirty minutes later he has still not made an appearance. She didn't see where Coach Sylvester had taken him – maybe she still has him in her office. Quinn had already waved goodbye to several couples when they left; she had even managed to give Kurt a polite if slightly forced smile as he walked out with Blaine, crown sitting firmly on his head.

She glances at her phone, he hasn't even replied to her texts. She isn't in the mood to drink and celebrate but if Finn takes any longer, they'll be late to the after parties. Not to mention the idea of being deserted at school at night gives her the chills. She looks out at the parking lot, barely a few cars remain. She prays that the only reason she can't see his truck is because it's too dark outside.

He wouldn't just leave her.

"Princess Grace, alone?" she hears a voice say from behind her. Quinn spins round in fear, only to come face to face with Jesse St. James.

After taking a few seconds to calm herself, she speaks in a cold and spiteful manner. "What are you doing here?"

He walks forward until he's standing next to her and lets out a long sigh. "I was waiting for Rachel, but she's just informed me that she left with Sam and Mercedes long ago," he says holding up the phone in his hand. She knows. Rachel had been fishing for another conversation too, but there was no way Quinn was going down that road again so soon. "How come you're still around? After the way everything's gone for you I would've thought you'd want to give your mouth breather boyfriend a piece of your mind."

"Have you seen Finn?" she asks, ignoring his former statement.

"Not since he decided to revert back to being a five year old. This – " he gingerly touches the swelling on his face "– is not going to be good for me." Quinn lets out a shaky breath and turns away as tears begin to blur her vision.

He left her.

She blinks a few times before composing herself for the second time that night; she is not going to cry in front of Jesse. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees him walk down the front steps; he pauses halfway down and turns around. "So are you coming or are you just going to stand there all night?"

"What?"

He rolls his eyes. "You have no ride, I have a car. Let's go," he says gesturing to the car park behind him.

"I am not going anywhere with you," she sneers. She knows her bitchiness is uncalled for since his night has been ruined just as much as hers, but at that moment Jesse is the only person within striking range and it feels good to lash out.

"Then how exactly do you expect to leave?" he asks, folding his arms.

She turns around and looks down the empty hallway again. "I'm sure someone's still here, I can wait."

"It's almost one and I doubt any of your sexually frustrated and alcohol deprived associates stuck around to help...clean up." A mildly amused grin graces his features.

"The teachers are here. I could always ask Mr. Schue."

He merely raises his eyebrows and gives her a look of pity – she can sense he's judging her and it only serves to make her angrier. "You're acting like a child Quinn."

"Just go okay, I don't need you to do me any favours," she says hatefully before turning her back on him. She doesn't really know why she's being so stubborn and callous. In all seriousness, he's the best option she has right now and she should be thankful he is even offering. Whatever. After a few seconds she looks over her shoulder, fully expecting him to still be standing there ready to continue convincing her. To her surprise, he's already walking away into the dark car park and her jaw drops in disbelief when he doesn't turn around.

Not even to make a smartass comment.

She tries glaring at the brown curls that bounce on the back of his head, willing him to stop. When she hears him start the engine, she begins to panic again. She sifts through her clutch, quickly considering all the remaining possibilities she has left. Last year when she was pregnant, she could've had Puck driving out to her in a heartbeat. This year? Not so much. Santana and Brittany are probably too drunk to even find their phones by now. Finn is still not answering her.

Sure the teachers are probably still at school and she's confident Mr. Schuester won't refuse, but asking him would be beyond pathetic and she won't be able to live down the embarrassment of having to be taken home by a teacher. She cringes as she realises that the only person she has left to call is in fact her mother. Frankly she prefers the teacher idea; she won't have to owe Mr. Schuester an explanation as to why she's failed at something yet again.

Her breathing quickens as she searches through the numbers on her phone and she can feel the tears sting her eyes again; she's trying to fight it but if she cries now, at least she won't break in front of her mother. She's about to press dial when she hears a car approach her. She looks up and sees a Range Rover with none other than Jesse in the driver's seat. He rolls down the passenger side window. "Get in the car Quinn," he says with an exasperated look.

She shuts her eyes and silently admits defeat before holding up her dress and making her way to his car. She yanks open the door and throws her clutch bag onto the seat in frustration. Quinn refuses to make eye contact with him as she ungracefully attempts to get into the seat of a car that is way too high off the ground and she can't help but scowl even more when she hears him laugh softly. It's only when he starts driving that he speaks again. "So where am I taking you?"

"Home I guess," she shrugs and stares into the distance.

"And I'm supposed to know where that is?"

"You've been to Rachel's house right? I live pretty close to there," she replies moodily. She hopes her mother is asleep, that way she'd be able to sneak in and head up to her room without having to tell her why she's suddenly decided not to 'sleep over at Santana's house.'

Quinn glances at Jesse as subtly as she can; he's right, the swelling under his eye is pretty bad and may even bruise. He turns his head towards her ever so slightly and she doesn't know why but she quickly looks away. "Why does that crown matter so much to you anyway?" he asks finally breaking the silence between them.

She wants to defend herself, to give him all the reasons as to why a piece of cheap plastic has been haunting her dreams for the past few months, but somehow she just...can't. She settles for saying, "You wouldn't understand."

"Maybe. Or...I'd understand perfectly. I don't think any of your glee clubbers know what it's like to fall so spectacularly short of your goals," he says offhandedly. She glares at him as he speaks; annoyed that she's effectively being compared to a college dropout. "In a way you're right; why you chose to feel so strongly about something like becoming prom queen is beyond me.

"Shut up – this is all your fault," she snaps. It's annoying that someone who, for all extensive purposes is a stranger, is making an attempt to empathise and she isn't about to let him continue.

"And yet I'm the one taking you home because your boyfriend realised he felt like playing with another toy." He continues staring at the road straight ahead but she notices his jaw tenses as he speaks. "Come on Quinn I hit on you, right in front of him, but he was too hung up on what happened to Rachel last year."

"You being here ruined everything," she fires back. "You being here made Finn think he was still in love with Rachel. Tonight Finn and I should've had our photo together wearing those crowns – instead I ended up taking my photo alone."

"In which case I did you a favour; you, of all people, don't need that giant dumbass taking up three quarters of the frame."

"We were fine before you showed up," she mumbles.

He barks out a laugh. "For your sake, I really hope you're not blonde enough to believe that."

She doesn't – nothing can rationalise what Finn's done. Quinn looks at the corsage on her wrist. When Finn told her that he had purposely picked a ribbon that matched her eyes, she had thought that for one night they could put everything that they were going through behind them and just be in love.

'You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.'

The words had echoed through her mind the entire time she was dancing with Finn, but her beauty couldn't stop him from eyefucking Rachel right in front of her.

Quinn picks at the knot around her wrist and when it won't come loose she tugs it angrily, causing the ribbon to snap. She lowers the window and flings it outside the car, watching as several white petals come loose. "You can get rid of this too while you're at it," he says suddenly, pulling out the flower that's pinned onto his tux and handing it to her. It's a pretty shade of pink and she wonders if he had specifically picked it out to match Rachel's dress. It seems like something Jesse would do. Something a boy would do if he really loved someone. She obliges and throws it outside as well before rolling up the window and leaning back into the seat.

They continue to drive in silence and to top off the disaster of a night she's having, it's starting to drizzle. "So what're you going to do now?" she asks, watching the rivulets of water run down the window.

He shrugs. "Rachel and I are meant to be stars, and I'm going to make sure that happens."

She grimaces as yet again, everything leads back to Berry. "I meant tonight actually, what are you going to do tonight?"

"Oh –head to my uncle's place and drink until I can't remember how many theatres are currently open on Broadway. Care to join me?" he asks, giving her a weary smile.

She shakes her head, although that kind of drinking sounds very appealing. If anything, her mother won't be able to make a case to stop her. "How are you going to help Rachel?" she asks, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Well I thought of it at that sad excuse for an Italian restaurant everyone here seems to love, and honestly I think it's a pretty good idea. I'm going to become a show choir consultant and The New Directions is my first client," he says with a self-satisfied look.

She's not really sure what to make of that, so she busies herself with taking out her earrings instead. When he reaches her neighbourhood, she gives him directions and soon he's parked outside her house. The lights inside are off, that's a good sign. She sighs and sinks deeper into his leather seat, thinking of what to say to her mother. "It seems like you don't really want to go Quinn," he says quietly, facing away from her.

And maybe he's right. As insane as it sounds she'd much rather spend the rest of the night driving with Jesse than face Judy but the rain is getting heavier and she's far too exhausted to suggest otherwise. She opens the door and is once more reminded of the ridiculous height of his car.

"Need some help?"

"No." Her feet ache, partly because of the heels and partly because of the fact that Finn had been so busy staring at Rachel he had managed to step on her toes multiple times. She'd even been nice enough not to snap at him for it.

Fuck this; she isn't going to risk a sprained ankle as well. She slips off her shoes and throws them onto the pavement before jumping out of the Range Rover. She picks up the stilettos and purse and walks around to the driver's side.

"Jesse I – was being unfair before," she admits as she looks into his tired eyes, hoping that that serves as enough of an apology.

"Yes you were."

So much for a 'that's okay, so was I.' She takes a breath so that she won't say something she doesn't mean because she just doesn't have it in her to get angry again. "Do you...wanna come inside and get some ice for that?" she asks, pointing to his cheek.

He nods and moves to get out of the car as well. She unceremoniously walks straight through her lawn barefoot, knowing that bits of wet grass and mud are going to stain her dress but at that moment she can't bring herself to care. Judy can nag her about it tomorrow. Jesse on the other hand, specifically avoids the lawn, choosing to make a big arc around until he finds the concrete path leading to her door.

As she looks for her house keys she can't help but smile a little.

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Author's Note: I swear these two are eating my brain. This will be a multi-chapter story, not sure how long, but we'll just go with the flow. Please leave reviews and I hope you liked it :)