Paradise

Quinn sat at the service desk, lazily tapping her fingers to the rhythm of the song that was softly repeating on the overhead speakers. She didn't know why the playlist only consisted of this one song, but she liked Coldplay well enough, so it wasn't as irritating as it should have been. Then again, since she'd arrived here she'd felt a strange calm she couldn't explain. All she knew was that she was to sit here at this desk and check in each visitor that had a reservation. It wasn't a bad gig, just... slow. No real action had happened yet on Quinn's shift; but then again, she wasn't certain how long she'd been here. There weren't any clocks around and she hadn't felt the urge to inquire about the time, or a break for that matter. The only measure she really had was to guess how many times she'd heard this song.. her mind was saying hundreds but she couldn't really be sure.

The guy, or at least she thinks it was a guy, who brought her here had given her simple instructions with a smile. He told her that everything should run smoothly, but should she have any trouble help would come swiftly, so she need not worry. "Trouble could arrive in the form of guests who didn't have reservations," he'd said, and would try to convince Quinn otherwise. It was no use, however, because Quinn couldn't even operate the gate if their names weren't provided and accepted into the database. She hadn't encountered any problems thus far however, mostly just kind elderly folks, a few middle aged adults, and one small girl. She remembers there might have been a family, but people didn't usually come in groups. She simply smiled as she requested their names, checked the database, and then the door would open, easy.

The song was starting over yet again, and Quinn found herself singing along with the lyrics. She hadn't had anyone come up in a while, so she allowed herself to indulge in the music a little bit. She wondered if she missed glee club. She remembered glee club.. she remembers everything before she got here. At least, she thinks she does. Yeah, its just something about why shes here she's unsure of. But she really has no mind to question-

"I've always thought you had a lovely voice; a little sharp at times, but you've really improved."

Quinn opened her eyes at the sound she could identify anywhere. She allowed herself a small smile at seeing the only person who'd ever perfected the art of insulting her and complimenting her at the same time- sincerely. "Rachel."

"Hello, Quinn. I'm not here to check in," Rachel said with her thousand mega-watt grin following.

Quinn raised her eyebrow at her friend. They were friends, Quinn remembered. They'd talked some and then- Quinn's features scrunched into frown. "What are you doing here then? Aren't you supposed to-"

"I can explain. I'm not staying and neither are you.. your shift is over. I'm here to relieve you. They'll be sending someone else and-"

"But what about.." Quinn paused. Rachel was talking about leaving? Why? "Rachel I can't just leave. My... supervisor... assigned me this task. I can't just leave the desk unattended."

Rachel smiled again at Quinn, leaning slightly towards her on the desk. "Quinn, do you know why you're here?" she asked.

Quinn though about the question, and realized she really didn't. She remembered arriving... "No. I guess I don't. But you're going to tell me, aren't you?"

"Yes," Rachel grinned triumphantly, ignoring Quinn's sigh, "you see that gate behind you?" she pointed out needlessly. Quinn's whole purpose thus far relied on that giant hundred foot gold plated gate that couldn't be missed by a blind man. Still, Quinn indulged Rachel's antics and glanced toward to gate. "That gate is the entrance to Heaven."

Quinn's eyes widened slightly. "Heaven?" she suddenly remembered being in a car crash and then.. and then- "Oh my Go- goodness!" she quickly glanced around to see if anyone noticed her near slip up. "I'm.. I'm guarding the pearly gates? They are made of solid gold though and- I must have died! I just got into Yale! There's no way I- wait a second.." Quinn's eyebrows scrunched up again in a way that amused Rachel "aren't you Jewish?"

Rachel's smile fell briefly at the random question but returned swiftly. "I am," she cleared her throat "but that's not.. you're not dead. Its not your time. Didn't you wonder why you've not been inside?"

Quinn stared blankly at Rachel. So Rachel pressed on.

"Quinn, I'm here to take you back. The Angel that brought you here said your time is up-"

"WAIT!" Quinn immediately panicked. Rachel sighed. "So if my time is up and I'm not allowed inside then where am I.. where.." her eyes widened comically this time and Rachel had to intervene because Quinn looked like she was about to simultaneously implode, cry, and bolt. To where? Who knows. There was a lot of fog surrounding them.

"No! Quinn! I know what you're thinking but no. I'm here to take you back to earth. You've not been inside because its not your time to die. You're in.. sort of a limbo, I guess. But now its time to go home."

Quinn visibly calmed at this, and studied Rachel for a moment. home? That meant shed still get to go to Yale. She'd get to make her Mom proud and prove to Russell that she wasn't a failure. Shed get to see Beth again. Why hadn't she wanted to leave before? Now she was more than ready to go home. But then, she remembered the car crash. She remembered being upset. She remembered Rachel... and Finn.

Quinn felt her heart constrict at the though of Rachel and Finn. She wasn't sure why she cared so much, it was Rachel's life, right? They were friends, and Quinn wanted the best for Rachel.. but there was this inexplicable pull in her heart that went above and beyond. And why was Rachel here? Why Rachel? When she returned her gaze to Rachel, she saw that Rachel must have been able to read her thoughts. She had a sad smile on her face as she reached for Quinn's hand and shrugged lightly. Quinn could hear the song starting over again as she waited for Rachel to speak.

"When we get back, I promise I'll be there for you." Rachel said gently.

"What about Finn.. your wedding? And how did you get here Rachel? You didn't get hurt too, did you?" Quinn responded shakily. Rachel reached up to wipe the tears that had fallen from Quinn's eyes. "I'm sorry Rachel, I just.. I couldn't just let you-"

"I know Quinn. I forgive you." Rachel walked around the counter, and pulled Quinn into her arms. Quinn inhaled deeply and tried to keep her tears at bay. She felt Rachel softly rubbing her back in a comforting manner, and pulled her even closer. This felt... amazing. She didn't need to go home if she could stay here with Rachel. Rachel must have heard those thoughts too, because she pulled back with a smile. "Come on, your mom and Santana are freaking out. They really want to see you. I promise, I'll be there too."

Quinn reluctantly released the hug, connecting her eyes with Rachel's large brown ones, seeking reassurance. She didn't know why, but she knew there had to be a reason Rachel was the one sent to bring her home. Everything happens for a reason, right? When Rachel trailed her hand down to lace her fingers with Quinn's, Quinn gave her a small nod and let her lead the way into the bright light. She idly wondered if Rachel was going the right way...

Quinn opened her eyes; the light was incredibly bright so she immediately closed them again. She thought of a different tactic and slowly opened one eye until it adjusted and she was able to take in her surroundings. She then realized that she didn't have her contacts in so the effort was wasted, and closed her eyes yet again. She sighed. She could make out that she was in a hospital room, as least, the constant beeping of the monitor beside her gave that away. She calmed herself and wondered if her mother was around somewhere, when her thoughts were interrupted by the soft, almost silent tune of a certain song she knew. Her ears honed in on the sound, and the soft breathing on someone to her left. She opened her left eye again and tried to make out the blurry figure, but her vision was too poor. She wanted to sit up and maybe lean closer for a better view, but she didn't have the energy.

The sound of a door being opened alerted Quinn to another person coming into the room. Quinn shifted slightly so that she could at least look in their direction. The commotion must have woken her roommate, because she groaned at sat up, immediately noticing Quinn had woken.

"Quinn!" Rachel exclaimed, removing her left ear-bud and tucking her Mp3 player away. "You're awake! Oh my Gosh Quinn! I was so worried.."

"Rachel?" Quinn whispered. Rachel smiled.

"Hey Quinn, how about you slip these on and we can chat" Dr. Lopez smiled as he handed Quinn her glasses.
"Hi Dr. Lopez, its good to see you." Quinn replied. now that she could actually see, she watched him checking her charts and looking over the monitors. She briefly wondered where her mom was again. "am I okay?"

"You'll be better once I can run some tests. But, I think since you're awake its safe to say you're on the right track." he said. "You were in an accident, and banged your head pretty bad, but I'm confident in a few weeks you'll be good as new. I'll be right back, and send I'll Judy back up. She and Santana stepped out to get coffee." he smiled again before shuffling back out the door.

"Quinn," Rachel said softly "I'm sorry. I-"

"None of this is your fault. I'm sorry for ruining your.. your day." Quinn sighed. She couldn't even say it. It hurt.

"You didn't Quinn, I-"

"Rachel, you shouldn't be here." Quinn choked out. someone should bring her some water.

"how could I not be? I promised I'd be there for you when you needed me. That's what friends are for."

Friends. They were friends. Quinn couldn't stop the pang of hurt that words sent through her, nor did she really understand why that word had such a visceral reaction. She breathed deeply and tried to calm her beating heart. She was still hooked up to the monitor, and clearly she was getting upset- and tired. She decided maybe sleeping a little longer would be okay. She felt Rachel lace their fingers together before she drifted off to the soft lyrics shed come to know so well.

Quinn was ready to go home. Today was her last day in the hospital and she couldn't wait to get back in her own room. Her mom, Rachel, and Santana had been by everyday for a few hours to check up on her and keep her entertained. Other members of Glee stopped by, but only after Quinn was able to wash up and look at least slightly presentable. The only person she hadn't seen by was Finn, but he'd sent a card and roses by Kurt. Quinn figured he was probably angry with her and rightly so, shed ruined his day too, after all.

Her mother rushed in with Rachel, Santana, and a nurse pushing a wheelchair, in tow. Quinn was free to go provided that she left the building in the wholly unnecessary set of wheels. She'd been feeling better for days now, and okay, maybe her plan to rejoin cheerios wouldn't be put into play just yet but she could at least walk out of the building. Rachel and her mom had been coddling her for too long, and Santana would just snicker at their antics offering Quinn no assistance. So, knowing there was no real way out of it, she allowed them to help her into the chair, but not before glaring at the smirk on Santana's face. She didn't notice Rachel's blush on her other side, though.- but Santana and Judy did.

A week before she was allowed to return to classes, she and Rachel were lying on her bed completing some assignments Rachel had brought from school. They'd already had dinner, Santana included, but their third wheel of Quinn's "get well" team had already headed home for the night. Rachel always stayed over a few hours longer, if she even went home at all. Quinn suddenly wondered what Finn was up to.

"Hey Rachel?" she whispered, breaking their productive silence.

"Hm?" Rachel murmured, not raising her eyes or slowing her pen strokes in the slightest.

"Where's Finn?"

The pen stopped, as did Rachel's breathing- but she recovered quickly. "I would assume he's at home. Probably killing something on his Xbox right now, why?"

"Its just, have you talked to him? You know, since.." Quinn faltered, leaving the sentence hanging.

Rachel laid her pen into the bind of her notebook and placed it at the edge of the bed along with her text books. she reached over and did the same for Quinn while Quinn watched her deliberate movements. Quinn figured this must be difficult for Rachel to talk about since she took the time to think about her response. She watched as Rachel positioned herself at the head of Quinn's bed, patting the spot beside her for Quinn to join. When shes settled, Rachel lets out a long exhale.

"We talked, and I told him that I couldn't marry him. It wasn't my time. I have.. I realized that marrying Finn wasn't what I wanted. It hurt him, and we may not recover our friendship.. but I'm going to try to earn his forgiveness." Rachel sighed, letting her head rest on Quinn's shoulder.

"I'm really sorry Rachel," Quinn said "I mean, I know I wasn't supportive of your.. decision but.. I didn't mean to.. to." Quinn wasn't really sure what she meant.

"Don't be. Maybe if id realized sooner how much you meant to me all of this could have been avoided" Rachel whispered.

Quinn was speechless. she didn't know where to begin with that revelation so she simply pulled Rachel closer. "No Rachel, don't think like that. everything happens for a reason. I'm just glad you're here now."

Rachel snuggled closer into Quinn's warmth, and Quinn wondered if Rachel would stay over tonight. She was tired, the pain killers were certainly doing their job. She'd been on a lower dosage since she'd returned to the outside world. She was pulled from her thoughts when Rachel repositioned them to lay properly under the covers. Quinn allowed herself to relax with her friend-, her Rachel in her arms and felt herself drifting slowly into dreamland. Right before she fell into a blissful dream, she heard Rachel's soft voice singing-

She dreamed of para- para- paradise, everytime she closed her eyes...

end.

A/N: Thank you for reading. This isn't the first fic I've ever written, but its the first I've ever posted. It was just in my head, inspired by certain things in my life such as the song "Paradise" by Coldplay, which has been stuck in my head lately, the book "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" and certain spoilers that have been circling the Web. Writing is my job, and reading is my hobby, but sometimes you've just got to let it out. :)