Title: Enchantment Passing Through
A/N: Yes, I'm back with another Zoey 101 fic. The title comes from Aida, so I don't own it. This could possibly be extended to a full-on story if enough people say they want it to be, so please review and let me know what you think. No flames, please.
Quinn shivered. It was weird that she would do that, because it was early June and already the temperature was in the mid-90s. She briefly wondered why she could feel so cold, but she realized she already knew the answer to that.
Mark had broken up with her.
It was strange, really. Everyone in her group had been pressuring her to break up with him, saying that they were too different to work out. Zoey in particular had taken her aside and told her that she thought Quinn could do much better than Mark. But Quinn shrugged it all off. She genuinely cared about Mark, and he felt the same way.
Or, at least she thought he did.
Quinn kept walking aimlessly around campus, letting herself think over what had gone wrong in the relationship. She thought she heard someone call her name, but she didn't check. Besides, she didn't really want to talk to anyone.
She supposed there had been signs. There had been less talking and more silence when they spent time together recently. When they did talk, their conversations usually weren't very meaningful. Plus, Quinn's jealousy only added to the tension. Mark had pointed it out when he explained why he couldn't be her boyfriend.
Earlier that day, she had walked over to eat lunch with him, expecting another normal lunch. They had gotten their lunches and went over to sit. Mark had pulled out her chair for her ("always the gentleman, Mark") and they had sat down. Quinn thought everything was going well, until she saw the look on Mark's face.
"Whatsa matter, baby?" she asked, leaning over to hold his hand. Mark, however, pulled his hand away and sighed.
"Quinn, I really need to tell you something," he began in that monotone voice that Quinn loved so dearly. "I feel like the relationship is falling apart."
Quinn was taken aback. She had never heard this kind of outburst from him before. "What do you mean, Mark? Was it something I did?"
"Kind of, yeah. Your jealousy put a strain on things. I don't understand how you can be close with Chase and Logan and Michael and yet I can't be friends with any girls," Mark continued in his monotone drawl.
"Um, Logan and I aren't close," Quinn replied, puzzled.
"Yes, you are. I've seen how you act together, Quinn. Besides, it wasn't just that. Our relationship has fizzled out gradually until nothing was left. I only stayed with you because I didn't want to make you feel bad."
Tears filled in Quinn's eyes. She cared so much about Mark. How could he do this to her?
"Quinn, please don't cry."
"Don't talk to me!" Quinn exclaimed, trying to hold back her tears. She rose quickly from the table and ran away.
She couldn't believe everything was really over. Three hours had passed, and she still couldn't wrap her mind around it. How much of their relationship had been a lie? When did Mark stop caring about her? The questions replayed themselves over and over in her mind. Quinn was all-out sobbing now. She wasn't really looking where she was going, and consequently she bumped into someone.
It was Logan.
At any other time, Quinn would have walked away from him. He was not the kind of person you wanted around when you were sad. But Quinn was just relieved that she had found someone she knew. She started crying again.
"Quinn...are you okay? You don't look so good," Logan inquired, clearly confused.
"Mark and I...I...he...it's over!" Quinn managed to get out between sobs. Then, Quinn leaned into Logan's shoulder and cried into his shirt.
"Um..." Logan said awkwardly.
This was clearly an uncomfortable situation for him. He was not expecting to have to play the comforter. Why did he have to get stuck with it? He was trying to go to the lounge to talk to some new girl before the other guys did. All he did was walk around campus, and now his dorky friend was hanging on to him for dear life. This was so not Logan's strength. Logan considered his options. He could tell her he had to leave; he could get someone else to talk to her; he could just leave and let her cry on her own...
Something stopped him from doing any of those things. Just seeing the way Quinn was acting made him realize he couldn't. Quinn needed someone to help her out, and for whatever reason, she had chosen him. Even though he would rather be somewhere else, for once in his life he had to do the right thing. So despite his feelings of awkwardness, he tried as hard as he could to be a comforting kind of person.
Quinn was still crying when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. She had momentarily forgotten who she was with, and was honestly a little surprised at the gesture. She never would have expected this kind of behavior from Logan Reese. However, she wasn't as shocked as she would have been on a day when she wasn't sobbing her brains out. Logan held her close and ran his fingers through her hair, trying to calm her down. Her shampoo's scent still lingered in her hair, and he could smell a combination of banana and apple. Her two favorite fruits.
"Quinn, what happened?" he asked again, this time more softly.
By this time, Quinn's crying had ceased to the deep breathing that people do after they have finished sobbing and they want to get themselves under control.
"At lunch today. I was at lunch with Mark and he broke up with me," Quinn sighed. Logan took her hand and led her over to a bench.
"Do you know why?" he asked.
"Yeah. He said we 'fizzled out' and that my jealousy was just too much," Quinn explained. She left out the fact that Mark thought she was too close to her guy friends, Logan included.
"And he just told you it was over?"
"Yeah."
"That's kind of a bitchy thing to do."
"Um."
"Sorry. Guess you're not ready to bash him yet."
"No, I'm not. And I don't think I ever will be."
"Quinn, listen to me. For one second." Quinn turned to him, and he looked her right in the eyes as he continued. Well, Quinn thought, this is out of character. "I know we haven't really talked that much this year, but I don't think this was your fault. It seems to me like he wanted to break up but didn't really know how to go about it, so he blamed things on you." In the back of his mind, Logan wondered where that came from. He actually sounded sympathetic.
"Are you sure?" Quinn sniffled.
"Take it from someone with experience – guys suck at breaking up." Quinn smiled at that. Logan did do a lot of breaking up. "Let's be honest here: what did Mark do that really showed he cared about you?"
Quinn thought about it, and realized Logan had a point. Besides the portrait of himself, he hadn't given her anything or done anything for her that made her feel wholly secure in their relationship. "It's just that I spent so much time with him. I can't really let go right away."
"Yeah, well that's to be expected. Not everyone can bounce back from a break-up as quickly as Logan Reese," he replied, smirking a little.
"Ha, ha," Quinn said sarcastically. Then, Logan once again did something unexpected. He reached out slightly and rested his hands on Quinn's upper arms. Something about the gesture made Quinn suddenly very aware of how close they were.
"I promise you that everything'll work out okay," he said, for once sincere.
In that moment, Quinn knew that she had been wrong about Logan Reese. What had happened in the past was in the past. She knew that this might only be a momentary thing; that tomorrow, Logan could very well pretend this never happened, and they could resume their old relationship as friends who got on each other's nerves. But frankly, Quinn really didn't care. Because no matter what, this moment actually happened. Once again, Quinn shivered, this time for a completely different reason.
A/N: I tried really hard, but I don't think they stayed in character as much as I wanted them to. Sorry for the OC-ness of them.