When Quinn was nine years old, she had asked her father why the sky was a different color blue in the fall than it was during the rest of the year. He'd told her that it was always the same shade of blue and she was just looking at it differently. But she'd known she was right and she'd tried her hardest to convince him to walk away from his desk for just a second and look at the color of the sky. He'd told her to go show her mother or her sister and she'd just sighed and made her way back to her bedroom to look out her window and ponder her question while she brushed her doll's hair.

Every year when the end of September rolled around, Quinn found herself still wondering the answer as she looked at the bright cobalt sky. It was different than the summer sky or the spring sky or even the winter sky on those rare, cloudless days where the sky was blue again and not a dreary gray. But the autumn sky seemed to be both brighter and darker and even though Quinn still didn't know why that happened, it always made her smile when she walked outside and saw the deep blue that only fall could bring.

She took comfort in the color of the sky as she walked across the NYU campus. It was one of the few things she knew she could always rely on. Fall would come every year and bring with it cooler temperatures that forced her to wear sweaters over her dresses, light breezes that would eventually turn cold when the sun went down and a brilliant blue sky that would make her smile and for a few moments, Quinn let herself bask in it and not think about anything else.

Her phone vibrated in her purse, bringing Quinn out of her thoughts as she scrambled to grab it. She'd had classes all morning and then she'd been in the library studying and she'd forgotten to turn the ringer back on, so she allowed herself to hope that this might be the message she'd been waiting for. She pulled the phone out, familiar anticipation coursing through her as she ran her finger across the screen to see who had messaged her.

When she saw Rachel's name, Quinn visibly deflated as she mentally admonished herself for getting excited over nothing. She read the message, saw that her roommate was going to be staying late for an extra session with her vocal coach and Quinn replied, telling Rachel that she'd see her when she came home. Quinn slipped the phone back into her purse and veered off course, turning and walking toward the park instead of heading back to her apartment like she'd originally planned.

Quinn knew it was a bad idea as she passed under the arch, but she didn't care. She was angry with herself for getting her hopes up and she knew she was just going to go home and mope so she might as well sit in the park and do it. She paid little attention to the people around her as she made her way down the familiar trail and sat down on the bench that she'd long ago started thinking of as "their" bench in her head. She couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she remembered Jesse sitting beside her, singing Don'tStopBelieving.

The smile faded from her face as she focused on the ache in her chest instead. Quinn didn't understand what happened. It had been six weeks since the night Rachel had dragged her and Puck to see Jesse's play on Broadway; six weeks since he'd taken her to the bar for the cast party and made her think that maybe, just maybe, she wasn't imagining things and he was interested in her. He'd put his number in her phone and she'd kissed him on the cheek and she'd gushed to Rachel the next morning, admitting what they'd both known ever since the spring day she'd come home from the park and told Rachel she'd run into Jesse. Quinn had started out intrigued by him and she'd tumbled into a full-blown crush by the time she'd said goodnight to him at the subway station.

He left for Europe a few days later and he'd started texting her almost immediately. He'd sent her various pictures of himself in front of famous landmarks. He'd wished her luck on her first day of school. He'd called her on the phone after her first week and they'd talked for nearly four hours until she'd barely been able to keep her eyes open. The next morning, she'd woken up to a picture of the sunrise waiting for her on her phone. Quinn was pretty sure her heart had actually fluttered. He'd sent her a few more messages after that and told her that he'd be back in New York on the fifteenth. She had barely refrained from drawing hearts over the date on her calendar.

But the fifteenth had come and gone and she hadn't heard a word from Jesse. At first, Quinn had assumed he was just busy getting reacquainted with his life in New York. She knew he'd missed the first few weeks of school and she assumed he probably had things to catch up on or maybe he had auditions to rehearse for. Rachel came up with a color-coded list of possible explanations to make her feel better. Puck added one at the bottom when she wasn't looking and Quinn and Puck had both laughed pretty hard when Rachel started to read that Jesse had been eaten by a dragon.

Quinn had allowed herself to be pacified by some of the more likely items on the list and she'd concentrated on school and work and did her best not to think about Jesse every second of the day. But a week after Jesse was supposed to have been back in the city, Quinn had been running an errand for her boss and she'd seen Jesse with three other people coming out of a café a few blocks away from her apartment. Like a coward, Quinn had ducked back into the store she'd just left, hiding just inside the doorway until she was sure Jesse and his friends were gone.

That had been three days ago. She'd told Rachel about it as soon as she'd gotten home that day and as hard as she tried, Rachel hadn't been able to come up with a single scenario except for the truth that Quinn laid out for her: Jesse wasn't interested enough to call her now that he was back in the city.

She was hurt and she was angry; not at Jesse but at herself. She knew better than to let her emotions drive her actions. Quinn took a deep breath, focusing on the color of the sky as she told herself that she was not going to cry over a boy who had never been hers in the first place.

Quinn's last class of the day was canceled on Friday and she had the afternoon to herself. The morning's sapphire sky had been replaced by thick, gray clouds and Quinn shivered in her cotton dress as she pulled her denim jacket tighter around herself. The early sunshine had been deceptive and she could already feel the rain in the air even though it hadn't started to fall yet. The wind whipped her hair around her face and she decided to detour to the corner café to grab a cup of coffee before she made her way home.

She decided to indulge herself and ordered a large hot chocolate with whipped cream instead. Quinn paid for her drink and used the Styrofoam cup to warm her hands as she took a seat at one of the tables near the window. Quinn pulled a magazine from her bag and flipped through it as she sipped her drink and let her mind drifted to the upcoming weekend. She had to work most of the day on Sunday so she was going to have to spend a good portion of Saturday studying.

A knock on the window beside her made Quinn jump and she barely managed to hold onto her drink as she turned her head to see Jesse standing on the other side of the glass. She hated the fact that her heart fluttered for a brief second when she saw the smile on his face. He lifted his hand to wave at her, not giving her a chance to react before he walked away. She knew he was heading for the door and she actually contemplated how long it would take her to pick up her stuff and run away.

It became a moot point when she felt his hand on her shoulder a few seconds later. Quinn forced herself to get a grip, not wanting to embarrass herself anymore than she already had. Quinn steeled her expression as she raised her eyes to meet his. "Jesse," she greeted him coolly, doing her best to act like her heart wasn't still bouncing around in her chest trying to decide if it was excited or aching.

"Quinn," Jesse replied, seemingly unaffected by her cold tone. He smiled at her, his hand still on her shoulder. "How are you?" he asked.

"Fine," Quinn replied. She tried to channel the stuck up bitch she'd been in high school before she'd gotten pregnant and still thought being popular was the most important thing in the world. She didn't want Jesse to know how much it had hurt that he hadn't called her. "What are you doing in the village?" she asked, trying not to sound too curious.

"I was looking for you," Jesse replied. He squeezed her shoulder and pointed to the line. "I'm going to get some tea. It's better for my vocal cords than coffee," he explained before making his way across the café.

Quinn's mouth fell open as she watched him. How could he just act like everything was normal? She'd shared incredibly personal things with him, stuff she hadn't even told Rachel and then he'd just stopped talking to her only to show up randomly at a café and tell her that he was looking for her. That part didn't even make sense; it wasn't like he'd known that she would be at this café. She hadn't even known she was going to be there until she'd walked through the door.

She slipped her magazine back into her bag and resisted the urge to pull out her phone and text Rachel for advice. Quinn reached for her hot chocolate instead and took another long sip as she watched Jesse out of the corner of her eye. He was chatting animatedly with the barista who was making his tea. She ignored the irrational stab of jealousy in her chest. Jesse wasn't her boyfriend; she wasn't even sure she could call him a friend anymore. Friends didn't just drop off the face of the earth.

He was making his way back to her table and Quinn sat up straighter in her chair, arching an eyebrow at him as he slid into the seat across from her. He was still smiling at her and she fought the urge to smile back. She refused to be happy to see him. "Why were you looking for me?" she asked, trying to sound casual, bored even.

Quinn saw a flash of something in Jesse's eyes that she couldn't read, but for a brief second, she thought it was hurt. She immediately assumed she had to be imagining it because why would he be hurt? He was the one who hadn't bothered to let her know that he was back in the country. She took another sip of her drink, attempting to swallow her bitterness along with the chocolate and cream flavors.

"I've been looking for you since I got back," Jesse explained. He set his drink down on the table as he leaned forward, his eyes locking with hers as he spoke. "You never told me where you lived or the exact name of the café where you work. I know you attend NYU, but it's a large campus and I wasn't sure where to start so I've been searching the cafés in the village," he explained.

Her heart was racing again even as Quinn ordered herself to stay calm. She recalled seeing him and his friends coming out of that café and she wanted to ask if he'd been looking for her then, but she didn't know how to ask the question without admitting that she'd purposely hidden from him. She bit the corner of her lip and decided to go with a small lie. "I thought I saw you a few days ago near 5th," she said.

Jesse nodded as he reached for his tea. "I have a few friends who live in the area and one of them told me there was a waitress who fit your description. It wasn't you." He took a sip of his tea, his eyes never leaving hers. "I'm sure you're wondering why I didn't just call you which would have been much simpler. I lost my phone," he explained.

Quinn recalled that being one of Rachel's top bullet points. She'd gone off on a tangent about how many people lost their phones on a regular basis and all their contacts with it because no one had a backup system. Rachel had three backup systems and she was always encouraging Quinn and Puck to do the same. She pushed the thought out of her mind as she studied Jesse. He looked completely serious and she supposed he didn't have any reason to lie. If he'd wanted to avoid her, he would have just kept walking and not stopped to knock on the window and get her attention.

But she couldn't bring herself to just accept what he was saying, not yet. She raised her eyebrow again as she met his gaze across the table. "You strike me as the type who would have multiple backup systems in a situation like that," she pointed out.

Jesse nodded. "I normally do but I was so busy before I left town that I didn't have a chance to update my backup file on my laptop. Quinn, I wouldn't just stop trying to contact you," he told her bluntly.

She saw the flash in his eyes again and this time Quinn knew it was hurt. She bit the corner of her lip as she hesitantly reached across the table and placed her hand over his. "I'm sorry I doubted you. I think I'm just used to expecting the worst from people. I know that's not an excuse," she said.

"Why don't we start again?" Jesse suggested. "It's nice to see you, Quinn. How have you been?" he asked.

Quinn smiled, relieved that he was letting her off the hook so easily after the way she had behaved. "It's nice to see you too, Jesse."

When they left the café three hours later, Jesse had her number, Rachel's number, their address and the name of the café she worked at in his phone, written in his day planner and scribbled on the inside cover of the book he'd had in his bag. Quinn had rolled her eyes at his excessiveness even as her heart had fluttered once more.

It was just over a week later when he showed up at her apartment to take her out for their first official date. The school day had dragged on forever as Quinn tried not to be nervous. She walked out of her last class and noticed the sky was a darker shade of blue than usual and she hoped it wasn't a bad sign that it looked like it was going to storm any minute. She reminded herself that she wasn't the type of person who believed in signs or omens and she was clearly spending too much time with Rachel. She hurried home, grateful that she made it there before the rain started.

She spent way more time than was necessary picking out her outfit. Jesse had told her to dress casual, so she'd settled on jeans and a light pink v-neck sweater. Her hair had been another issue and Quinn had finally decided to just leave it down. Jesse arrived exactly five minutes before he'd told her he would pick her up and Rachel stood in the living room with a large grin on her face. Quinn had begged her not to make a big deal out of this and despite the fact that she was practically bouncing as she chatted with Jesse about her vocal coach, Rachel was actually pretty tame for Rachel.

Still smiling, Rachel closed the door behind them a few minutes later, telling them to have a nice night and Quinn knew she was probably already dialing Puck's number to let out the squeal she'd been holding in. Quinn nearly smirked at the thought, but then Jesse took her hand in his and she looked up, meeting his gaze.

"You look beautiful, Quinn. I'm happy we're finally doing this," he told her.

Right on cue, her heart did a somersault as her cheeks heated. "Me too and thank you," Quinn added as she let him guide her toward the elevator. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been this excited. She immediately rephrased that. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been this excited that didn't involve Jesse. If someone would have told her two years ago that she'd be going on a date with Jesse St. James, she would have laughed in that person's face. But here she was, holding his hand as butterflies danced in her stomach like some kind of horrible cliché.

The elevator doors opened and Jesse was telling her about an audition he had gone on the night before as they crossed the lobby. Quinn pushed open the main door and was about to ask him which way they were headed when the sky opened open, drenching them both in a matter of seconds. Quinn gaped at Jesse as she pushed her dripping hair out of her face. He was doing the same as large droplets of water continued to assault them. Their eyes met and they both started to laugh.

"I hope the restaurant you picked out caters to the drowned rat look," Quinn teased as she moved closer to the building, standing under the awning and uselessly trying to shield herself from the downpour. Water rolled off her jacket as she moved and she felt her hair plastering itself to the sides of her head. She could only imagine what she looked like at the moment.

Jesse shook his head, sending raindrops flying as he huddled beside her. "We might need to rethink our plans for the evening." He reached out, brushing a stray piece of hair from her face and Quinn swallowed hard as she leaned into his touch. She stepped closer to him without realizing what she was doing. His hand was still on her cheek and his eyes dropped to her lips before his gaze returned to hers. He leaned in, lowering his head until his lips brushed lightly against hers.

His lips were soft as they moved against hers. Quinn moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck as his other hand gripped her hip. His tongue teased the seam of her lips and she opened her mouth for him, letting him deepen the kiss. Her head was spinning but she couldn't seem to focus on anything except how good it felt that he was finally kissing her and it was even better than she'd imagined.

The kiss broke when air started to become an issue and Jesse pulled back just enough to meet her eyes. "I've been waiting to do that since that first day I saw you sitting in the park," he admitted.

Quinn felt herself blushing even as she raised an eyebrow at him. "Was it the tears or my crazy rambling that attracted you to me?" she asked.

Jesse ignored her disbelieving tone as he brushed his thumb over her cheek. "It was you, Quinn," he replied simply.

She was pretty sure the heart flutter was permanent.