Quinn Fabray wished she could say the news was surprising, but she knew it was coming. With her eyes on the empty seat in front of her, the one that was filled all last year with a blonde mop top with pouty lips, she knew everyone understood it was coming.
"Sam Evans moved back to Tennessee."
Quinn tried not to swallow hard, but she couldn't stop herself. He was gone. He was actually gone. Everyone else seemed to act nonchalant about it, which surprised even her seeing as he had affected all of their lives, but that was the mindset of a student at McKinley. In one day, out the other without so much as a goodbye. She had been lucky to get a goodbye.
With Mr. Shuester moving on and introducing two new students, a kid with dreads and a redheaded girl, Quinn tried to feign some type of interest when she heard the vibrating in her bag. With Rachel talking loudly about notes or Broadway or her own dictatorship of Glee Club, Quinn had stopped listening months ago, no one would notice the faintest of smiles appearing on her lips as she pulled out her phone and read the message appearing in front of her before quickly typing a response and keeping her eyes straight ahead, resisting the urge to break out into a broad grin.
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From all outside appearances, Quinn Fabray was an active participant in New Directions. She sang the notes she was supposed to, did the best to not roll her eyes every time Berry spoke, hit all the dance moves perfectly, and for the first time in high school, stayed in the background. With all the drama surrounding her teammates, from who stole whose boyfriend to which person was coming out of the closet now, Quinn said nothing and stayed away. If her teammates had taken two seconds out of their own lives to look around, they would have seen a girl addicted to her phone.
If she wasn't singing, she was texting. If she wasn't dancing, she was texting. If she wasn't eating, she was looking for service. If she wasn't in study hall, she was sneaking phone calls in the janitor's closet before coming out and acting like everything was normal. Only one person ever noticed this affliction of Quinn's when Tina Cohen-Chang approached her one day asking if she was playing Angry Birds before being whisked away by an embarrassed Mike Chang.
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Quinn was almost found out by Kurt Hummel on Valentine's Day. With the biggest smile on her face, she sat quietly in the back, phone in hand as Mr. Shue began speaking again, this time about a Valentine's Day performance that Quinn could already feel would be a disaster. Her eyes were focused on her screen, resisting the urge to giggle when the smell of exfoliating cream and designer boots overtook her sense and the phone was snatched out of her hands. "I love you too," Kurt read from the phone, one perfectly arched eyebrow raised. "Now who is this for, Ms. Fabray?" he teased, crossing his legs in the designer outfit that was probably worth more than it should. "No one," Quinn had mumbled, retrieving the phone back before Kurt had been able to read the sender. Quinn's phone never left her hand after that.
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It was only a few weeks later when Quinn watched her locker door being slammed away from her before her very eyes. Without even seeing who it was, Quinn answered, "Anything I can help you with, Rachel?" Turning to face the petite brunette, she typed a quick apology message before forcing a smile on her face, waiting the words to come out.
"Hello Quinn," the brunette began, her focus directly on Quinn with side glances to her phone. "As you very well know, Nationals are only 2 months away. After the disaster that was last year's run, I've decided to make it my personal effort that everyone is at the top of their game."
Quinn had already emotionally checked out of the conversation before the girl's mouth had even opened, but she knew when it was appropriate to nod and smile, so she did.
"Seeing as you are not trying to steal my boyfriend anymore or causing any type of riff-raff that can destroy our club's chances at succeeding, I'd say you are doing a pretty sufficient job."
Quinn nodded again, this time reaching for the phone once more now that a new message had popped up on her screen.
"Except for that."
Quinn's head popped up and met with the brown eyed gaze of Rachel Berry, who seemed more than irritated by the phone in her presence.
"You probably don't think I notice, but I have perfect 20/20 vision. When I'm in the middle of my solo, I see you on that phone, typing away when you should be admiring my talents and how far they are going to get us into Nationals." With a bit of a huff as Quinn remained silent, Rachel finally asked, "What's so important on that phone anyway?"
The Quinn Fabray from two years ago would have made a crack about Rachel's hands or moustache hair before arranging to have her slushied by 2 hockey players before the end of the day for speaking to her like that. But this wasn't old Quinn Fabray. Instead Quinn slung her bag over her shoulder and shut her locker calmly, leaning down to whisper in Rachel's ear, "Maybe you should be less worried what's on my phone and watch the way your precious boyfriend talks to Brittany," before walking away from the girl, not even turning back to see the effect of her words, her eyes back on her cellphone screen.
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The moment New Directions won Nationals, Mercedes Jones and Lauren Zizes had spent their time immediately after their win with the rest of their team on stage, cheering to the sounds of the audience clapping around them. They had barely noticed Quinn slipping out to the backstage, but they still noticed. With more drama being caused between Puck, Rachel, and Finn that they didn't want to be involved in, they followed the blonde sneakily, not wanting to scare her off. Hiding behind a wall that lead to the dressing room, they heard Quinn's voice giggling, a few mumbled words before clear conversation.
"We won! Baby, we won! …I know, you should have been here. No, I didn't hit Rachel. On purpose or on accident. No, they didn't kiss. They were forbidden. Trust me, it was so perfect.. I can't even describe it. We're winners! You're a winner too, no matter what happened. …I miss you too. Soon, babe. Soon. …I love you too."
Mercedes tugged on Lauren's sleeve when they heard a rushed goodbye from Quinn and her footprints approaching again, not wanting to be caught overhearing what was probably a private conversation. Quinn had no worries as she walked back onto stage, Rachel being handed a princess crown by one of her fathers as Mr. Shue tried to carry the giant trophy off stage. Quinn stood against the wall and smiled to herself. She shared the moment with the one person she wanted to share it with.
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Quinn wasn't ready for graduation. Sure, her grades were perfect and she was supposed to graduate as per Ohio law and physically she was more than ready to get out of McKinley, but emotionally, she wanted to stay a child for as long as she possibly could. The time her nerves finally went away was as she crossed the stage in her all white gown and hat, her hair and makeup immaculate as she shook Principal Figgen's hand and posed for her picture with him holder her diploma before walking as quickly as she could to the other side and back to her seat. Only when her body slumped into the chair did the feeling actually hit her. She was done. She was free. Everything was going according to plan.
Quinn giggled as she threw her cap up in the air, made her best effort not to get hit by one as they all came flying back down and laughed lightly when she succeeded, even though she caught a glance of Finn Hudson rubbing the top of his head. It was Finn who had caught her attention to meet the rest of the graduating New Directions members in what would probably be their last time together. The conversation quickly became college talk, a talk Quinn had been quick to avoid every time it had been broached. With a few of her classmates speaking of Ohio State University, Rachel speaking of trying her luck on the Great White Way and Puck talking of the military, all eyes focused finally on Quinn.
"Where are you going?"
Quinn remained silent as she cleared her throat, the word almost getting stuck there.
"Vanderbilt."
There was silence for a few moments as confused face appeared before her, not sure what she meant.
"Where's Vanderbilt?" Finn finally asked, a goofy smile on his face.
Before she could control it, the smile on Quinn's face widened until she was sure it was from ear to ear.
"Tennessee."
She watched as the look of realization appeared on their faces slowly, a few giving her knowing nods and with Kurt walking right up to her and hugging her tightly to his chest. It had been Kurt mumbling about how he had known ever since he talked to him about using the right kind of conditioner that she almost didn't feel her pocket vibrating.
She was just about to type a message when her eyes focused on the one in front of her already.
Turn Around.
Closing her eyes, Quinn didn't want to get her hopes up, didn't want something she had dreamed about to be just that, a dream. Opening her eyes, Quinn almost started bawling in the sight in front of her. His blonde hair was gone, he was a little bit leaner than she would have liked and instead of a Justin Beiber hoodie, he was dressed in a suit and tie, but he was there and he was real. Dropping her diploma, Quinn ran to the figure in front of her and jumped into his arms, spending more time pressing kisses to his face and giggling rather than speaking. It had been 10 months since he had left, 9 months since they had begun talking, and 4 months since they had said I love you for the first time, but that didn't matter to Quinn because Sam Evans was there.
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Judy Fabray clung tighter to her daughter than Quinn realized she would. Her flight was about to leave in 25 minutes and she needed to board now or risk missing her flight completely. With Sam waiting for Judy to let go, Quinn gave one last kiss, promised at least ten times to call once a day, and that she would read her bible every day before Judy would let her go. After the quick check in and boarding, Quinn relaxed into her airplane seat, Sam reading the comic book he had packed as he kept one hand interlocked with hers. Before Quinn was forced to shut off her phone, she looked at it once more, rereading the message that she had saved almost one year before.
From: Sam Evans
Date: 9.07.11 01:43:08
Kìyevame. I will see you soon.
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AN: Thank you for taking the time to read this! This is just some head canon for Fabrevans that I thought would be perfect to see in Season 3. Reviews are great! I have another one-shot stuck in my head and reviews will help me decide whether or not to let it out! Again, thank you for reading!