Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the characters unfortunately.

So this is the FINAL chapter and I can only apologise profusely for once again leaving such a long distance between updates. I know my quality of writing had dwindled in various chapters as it probably has done through the completion of this one. I can only hope you enjoy it as it is the final installment and that the ending is satisfying enough!

A massive thank-you to you all for staying in touch with the story for so long and thank-you for all the feedback, reviews and favourites that you have given me over this period of time!

Enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen

Quinn surveyed her apartment for the final time before nodding her head, getting a tight grip on her case and hauling it towards the door of her apartment. She knew what she was about to do would be tough but so long as everything was kept as quiet as possible everything would blow over in a few weeks and no one would even remember what had happened.

The cab driver was waiting a little way down the street and when he saw Quinn struggling in the wing mirror of the taxi he jumped out to give his assistance. The blonde thanked the man and walked the short distance to the cab before climbing in the back of it and waiting to tell the driver her destination.

Santana's cafe.

Quinn clambered out of the taxi on arrival and quickly explained to the driver that she didn't know how long she'd be so not to bother to wait.

The café was extremely busy and Quinn briefly wondered if Santana would even have a minute to spare to talk to her. She approached the counter after waiting in line for nearly ten minutes.

"Is Santana about?" she asked breathlessly, the anticipation of the entire situation starting to get the better of her.

"Miss Lopez?" the man behind the counter repeated in a Spanish accent, "Yes, she's out the back. Shall I call her?"

Quinn pondered for a minute, she didn't have much time and judging by the busyness of the shop, neither did Santana.

"Is it alright if I just go straight though?" Quinn tried, pointing to the door leading out to the back of the café.

The man looked apprehensive but after giving her a once over, deeming her unlikely to be a thief or criminal, reluctantly nodded, "Straight through there," he pointed.

"Thanks so much," Quinn beamed almost tempting to kiss the man but thinking better of it.

It didn't take long for Quinn to find Santana. Although she didn't quite know where she was going, the raised voice of the Latina gave quite a good indication of where she was. Quinn found her sitting on a leather chair which looked completely out of place in comparison to the rest of the room. In the corner sat a table with a coffee machine on surrounded by small wooden chairs. To the left of the table was the door Quinn had walked through and on the opposite wall was a chest of drawers rammed with paperwork.

"Well I won't be buying products from you anymore! You couldn't order a piss up in a brewery. Good day to you!" Santana yelled before slamming the phone down.

Quinn stared at the girl in front of her. "Toned down the angry I see not," she mused trying to contain her smile.

Santana jumped obviously oblivious to Quinn's sudden appearance in the room. "Don't creep up on me like that."

"Sorry, the guy said I could some straight through," Quinn tried to justify.

"Yeah I'm sure he did, now why are you here? I've got a list as long as my arm to get through today and it's already 2pm."

Quinn nodded scared to speak again but knowing that she'd have to. She opened her mouth but Santana cut across once more. She'd spotted the case. A frown appeared.

"Where do you plan on going with a case the size of Mexico," she half asked and half stated pushing herself up from her chair and moving towards Quinn.

Quinn gulped.

"When you said you'd made the right decision I assumed that you were going to stay and make gay-berry-babies with Berry, not piss off to Timbuktu again!" Santana yelled not leaving even breathing space for Quinn to try and explain.

"This time Q, this time I really thought you were going to sort your shit out but I was wrong. And not for the last time I imagine."

Quinn stood her ground silently seething. Through gritted teeth she spoke, "I have done the right thing. I'm not going anywhere. The case has one change of clothes and the rest is paper work. And you are not wrong so sit down and shut up. Got it?"

Santana looked slightly taken aback. Her eyes popped out of her head like tennis balls. She obliged none the less and took a seat back in her leather chair.

"I'm not going anywhere I promise," Quinn said in a matter of fact tone.

Santana snorted and buried her face in her hands smiling to herself before making eye contact with Quinn and speaking. "That would be ten times more convincing if you weren't dragging a case along that contains more clothes than Kurt's wardrobe."

Quinn rolled her eyes, "For the last time it's all paperwork okay, obviously I am going somewhere but not for all that long and then I'll be back."

Santana listened knowing there was more.

"But I need your help."

There it was.

"I'm not doing it," Santana said immediately without even hearing Quinn's proposition.

"You don't know what it is yet."

"I know I'm not going to like it though," Santana corrected.

Quinn sighed, "Just one thing for me please. It's not hard or I wouldn't be asking. All I need you to do is lie to Rachel for a few days just in case she asks where I am."

Before Quinn had even finished her sentence Santana began shaking her head violently. "No, no and let's think, definitely not! You can't make me."

"No you're right but I'm asking really nicely, so please?"

"No."

"What if I told you where I was going?"

Santana was silent.

"I'm going to California for a week to sort out my contract with the company that offered me the job," Quinn explained expecting an outburst from Santana at any minute. When it didn't come however, she continued.

"I'm negotiating with my new boss to be placed somewhere different. Not in California but over here in New York. The job is as a columnist of cultural awareness for the younger generation. Part of the job involves travel anyway so I don't see why I can't be situated in New York when I'll have to be flying here, there and everywhere anyway. I've accepted the job and my boss is aware of the situation but there are a few loose ends to sort before it's finalized."

Santana understood but she was still sceptical about lying to Rachel. Something about it just didn't feel right and knowing her luck something was bound to go wrong.

"So please?" Quinn pleaded, "Please help me."

Santana pondered for a moment and then spoke, "I don't understand why you won't just tell Rachel the truth. You are coming back so what does it matter?"

Quinn could see Santana's point. It would make plenty of sense to be open and honest but she wanted to surprise Rachel.

"I want to prove that I'm doing everything properly. I want it to be a surprise. I want her to know that I will come back. But more than anything I want her to trust me."

Santana was still sceptical, "I still don't see why you don't just tell her but fine, I won't tell her where you are but if she asks me then I'm not lying. Deal?" she asked standing up and holding out her hand for Quinn to take.

Quinn smiled, "Deal," she said as she took Santana's hand in her own and shook firmly.

They caught each other's eye for a fraction of a second. Santana saw something in Quinn that her gaze had been void of for so long. Happiness. When she met up with her for the first time just a few weeks previously all she could see was sadness and loss. That sight was now long gone and had been replaced with something much more positive. Santana couldn't be happier for her.

Quinn coughed and turned her gaze to the door. "My plane leaves at 5 so I better be heading off," she said before reaching down for the handle on her case and dragging it behind her as she left through the door. Santana followed her right to the entrance of the café.

"I hope this doesn't backfire on you Fabray," Santana said honestly. She couldn't bear to see more tension and heartbreak in anybody's eyes, least of all Quinn and even Rachel.

Quinn's lips curled, "I don't want her to think that I'm going to take the first opportunity to run a mile again. I need her to trust me. I want to prove myself. I have to prove myself."

And with that she left the café dragging her case behind her before coming to a standstill at the curb where she began attempting to hail down a taxi.

The airport was heaving with people both leaving and entering it. Quinn pushed her way past rowdy families, angry teenagers and several parting couples who were crying into each other's shoulders. It reminded Quinn of her own situation. Don't get her wrong, she did feel bad about not telling Rachel, she just felt it would be better this way. She didn't want to give her any reason to panic about her potentially not returning.

If she didn't know she'd gone, she didn't have to worry about her not coming back.

They had already agreed to meet up in a week's time for a meal. After their last time spent together they decided that it would be better to definitely still keep their distance as it was early days, hence weeks at a time would pass and the occasional text would be the only form of communication between the pair.

Quinn looked at her phone. No missed calls. No unread texts. No voicemails. Things were going swimmingly.

Rachel closed the door a little too harshly causing Puck to jump. As Rachel rounded the corner to dump her bags on the couch she noticed that Puck wasn't alone on the couch. He had company. Both Puck and his unnamed lady friend sat up slightly embarrassed, magenta streaks slapped on their cheeks. Hurriedly they both straightened their clothes and made half arsed attempts at flattening their hair. Rachel chuckled.

"Noah, you aren't a child and neither am I. I'm just sorry I interrupted," Rachel smiled busying herself in the kitchen after having had to put her bags on the kitchen table instead. "Drink?" she asked without turning around.

"Water," Puck called, "And orange for the lady."

The sound of a slap broke the air. That 'lady' had just hit Puck for referring to her as if she were someone of no importance.

"You deserved that," Rachel laughed as she began carrying the drinks to the couch watching Puck rub his arm as she did so.

Putting the drinks down on the coffee table Rachel extended her hand; "Rachel Berry and you are?" she smiled warmly.

"Elise Walton," she replied taking Rachel's hand and shaking it, "I've heard a lot about you," she added.

Rachel beamed, "All good I hope."

Puck chortled, "You wish."

Rachel frowned, "Can't say I've heard all that much about you, "she said loudly more aiming it at Puck than Elise.

"That's because Noah and I only met yesterday, well in person anyway," Elise explained leaning back into Puck and trying to relax in the somewhat awkward situation.

"Oh," Rachel replied not quite knowing what to say, "I didn't know Noah did online dating."

Elise scowled. "He's not. Are you?" she asked Puck.

Puck jumped in to explain very quickly. "No! You know I'm not Elise. Rach, we met through work. She's a volunteer at the nursery I've been working at. Hoping to get a job their next school year. We've spoken through email but today was the first time we met. I'm training her."

A smile formed on Rachel's face. The whole scenario was actually very cute. "Okay, well I'll get out of the way, let you two catch up. I'm off to Quinn's Puck, surprise her. I'll be back later. Don't make me dinner; we'll grab a bite to eat."

"No problem Jew-babe," he shouted as she walked through the apartment to grab her jacket she'd lost somewhere along the way when dumping her bag down.

Elise nudged Puck. Alarm bells rang. "Oh holy mother of shit," he mumbled to himself.

"I'll go," Elise whispered before kissing his cheek, "We'll catch up for coffee tomorrow. You need to help Quinn now."

"I knew this would happen, I just knew it was too good to be true." He held his head in his hands.

"Quinn confided in you because she knew you'd understand. I believe you'll do what's right Noah," she kissed his cheek again, "Good luck."

Rachel appeared from her bedroom jacket in hand and a confused look on her face as she walked through the apartment. "Where's Elise?" she asked, "She didn't leave because of me did she because I'm going now. Call her back."

Puck shuffled from the couch to the door and casually stood in front of it trying not to make it too obvious that he didn't want her to leave.

Rachel's face formed a frown. Something was going on, and she started to feel uneasy. What was Puck hiding?

"What's going on?" Rachel deadpanned not wanting any nonsense.

Puck chuckled sheepishly, "Nothing, she has things to do and we haven't seen much of each other lately so it's the perfect excuse to spend time with you."

For a moment Puck almost had Rachel convinced especially as her scowl turned to a smile at his words. However, when she continued her ministrations of pulling on a jacket Puck buckled.

"Okay you can't see Quinn."

And there it was, of course it would be to do with Quinn. When wasn't it to do with Quinn?

"And why not?" Rachel asked, as she paused in her actions.

"Because," Puck stumbled over his words, "Because you promised to see her next weekend and make it special, it won't be special if you go and see her now will it?"

Rachel pondered for a moment, "Yeah nice try Puckerman, what is really going on?" she asked standing with her hands on her hips.

"I can't say," he mumbled feeling about two feet tall.

"If you don't tell me, I'll force it out of you," Rachel threatened, anger lacing her voice.

"She's just not around today, that's all, it'll be a waste of time you going over there, being disappointed and coming back. Look come sit back down and I'll help you plan the dinner you want to cook okay?" Puck replied with a falsely cheerful voice that wasn't fooling anybody.

Rachel counted to ten in her head but wanted to keep her cool, she didn't want anybody to know she was secretly petrified about where Quinn had gone. She knew at some point she would have to trust the girl again, but under the circumstances when her roommate wouldn't let her leave the house and is acting incredibly suspicious, Rachel was bound to jump to conclusions without properly thinking the whole situation through. It was just too much of a coincidence.

Rachel took a deep breath, "I'm going to ask you once and once only. This is really important to me and I know that you know that," she paused, she had to stand strong, "keeping that in mind if you lie to me, or I find out that you've lied to me, we are done and you can move out; understood?" she finished calmly.

Puck sighed, he knew she was right and it wasn't fair to lie to Rachel, especially seeing that he had told Quinn if Rachel asked him straight out he wouldn't be able to lie to her.

"Okay, I got it," he replied.

"Good," Rachel responded, the atmosphere much calmer than the previous few minutes, "Where is Quinn?"

"Where are you going!" Puck yelled as he sprinted down the street after a furious Rachel.

Rachel didn't slow her pace, she continued her steady jog determined to block out the man running behind her. How could he have done this to her, she thought to herself. How could he keep something so important from her, something that she's been worried about her entire life?

"We are done Puck, Quinn is leaving and you knew!" Rachel finally came to a standstill. She turned and yelled these words in Puck's face, tears forming and then streaming down her cheeks.

Puck reached out to hold the girl by the shoulders but she flinched and took a step backwards.

"Don't touch me," she said through gritted teeth, "Don't you dare."

Puck made a noise of frustration, "You don't get it!" He yelled back, "She is not leaving; well she is, but only for a week, two at max."

Rachel laughed sardonically, "Yeah yeah, like last time, I get it. One week becomes two and two becomes four and next thing you know she's standing on your doorstep after three years thinking everything will be just the same as when she left. It doesn't work like that Puck."

Puck gave up, "Fine," he said, "If that's what you really think then I can't understand why you are going to the airport. What are you going to do yell at her to stay? Yell at her for going? You were the one who didn't give her a chance to explain. She's got a job, that's all, she's changing her whole outlook on life through this trip, it's not a whim," he explained, "It's for you, because she cares and because she wants you."

Rachel listened intently but still refused to accept it. She honestly had no idea what she was going to achieve by going to the airport, she only hoped she would run into Quinn and have the whole scenario explained to her through the lips of the girl in which she didn't ever want to lose. Not again. Not ever.

"If that was true she would have been honest," Rachel deadpanned.

Puck sighed, "Fuck Rachel listen to yourself! If she had told you she was planning this then you would have offered to go with her, you would have wanted to be by her side every step of the way and that would have only stopped Quinn from doing what she needed to do. She needs to do this alone because she wants to do things right, she wants to do this properly and with you by her side every step of the way she'll feel under scrutiny. She won't be honest."

"Great, so you think I hold Quinn back?" Rachel asked exasperated.

"No," Puck replied, "No but you need to give her space, just like she's given you space."

Rachel stared at Puck. "Seeing there's a chance she's never coming back I may as well invade her space now," Rachel spat and with that she hailed down a taxi and jumped in the back.

Quinn looked up at the various screens letting her know which terminal her plane would depart from. She had roughly thirty minutes before she would need to check in and then an hour and a half until her plane officially took flight.

A coffee bar to the right caught her eye and seeing that she still had time she made her way over and ordered herself a drink. The warm liquid livened her senses and she was suddenly very aware of what she was about to do. A multitude of thoughts both good and bad filled her head. She couldn't help but think of Rachel, completely oblivious to the whole situation sitting at home and planning their upcoming date. The guilt started to set in and Quinn began to doubt herself. How on earth was she going to explain the whole situation to Rachel when she got back? How was she going to explain without Rachel getting mad?

"Maybe I should have just been honest," Quinn mumbled to herself before draining the dregs of her coffee and then placing the mug back onto the table. She reached under the table, picked up the handle of her case and then began dragging it across the airport to the appropriate terminal.

However, Quinn hadn't got more than a few steps before a familiar voice brought her to a standstill. It couldn't be, Quinn thought to herself. Rachel? No, it couldn't be.

"Quinn!" Rachel yelled no sign of embarrassment at the strange looks she was receiving, "Quinn!" she yelled again.

Quinn turned, it was Rachel. Well this can't end well. She looked down at her watch. Ten minutes and the terminal desk would close. This had to be short and sweet.

"I want an explanation and I want it now," Rachel demanded coming to a standstill in front of Quinn leaving no more than a two foot gap between them.

Quinn was speechless by how abrupt the girl standing before her was but she didn't have any time to waste. "I," she stuttered and stumbled over her words, "I'm doing the right thing," Quinn told both Rachel and herself.

Rachel laughed sarcastically, "I'm not sure who you are doing the right thing for but it isn't me and it certainly isn't us."

Quinn looked at her feet and then back up at Rachel. "I'm trying to sort out this mess Rachel, I'm going away to sort out my job contract so that I can be permanently situated in New York, with you."

Rachel didn't know what to say. Part of her wanted to believe Quinn, but a small part of her doubted every single word that fell from Quinn's mouth. She'd been through this before. She'd felt like this before. She didn't like it at all. Something about the whole situation just didn't feel right.

"If that's true then why didn't you tell me," Rachel asked.

"Because there would have been questions and doubts on your part and that would have stopped me from going and I would have lost my job and the career that I love. I wanted to be able to go away and come back and tell you about the amazing thing I did and the whole time I would have been away you wouldn't have even thought about me possibly not coming home because you wouldn't have known. I was thinking of you the whole time Rachel, only you."

Rachel scoffed, "If you were thinking of me you would have been honest."

Quinn began to get frustrated, "Damn it Rachel you know that isn't true, you are just trying to pick a fight because you hate knowing that I'm right…"

Quinn was cut off by Rachel interrupting at a much louder volume than her, "No, what I hate is you telling Puck over me about this whole stupid idea and having him lie to me!"

"I didn't even intend for him to find out either!" Quinn yelled back.

"Oh so that's okay then is it?" Rachel replied.

Quinn fell silent, her voice became much quieter, "No, of course not but if you honestly believe that I was doing this all to spite you then perhaps coming back isn't going to be a good idea," Quinn explained honestly.

Rachel laughed again, "And there it is, the confession of a serial abandoner."

"You are being ridiculous," Quinn mumbled shaking her head but Rachel ignored her and continued.

"You know what Quinn, don't come back. I don't want you back, Puck doesn't want you back and even Santana was sceptical about you sticking around. I guess we were all right."

This time it was Quinn's turn for her eyes to fill with tears. She stayed silent and looked at her watch. Four minutes. She turned and dragged her case behind her as she headed for the terminal gate.

Rachel waited for Quinn to turn back around. She knew she would. She always used to. Perhaps used to were the operative words.

"Wait!" Rachel yelled, "I'm sorry," she yelled again, "I didn't mean it, I'm just angry you lied that's all."

Quinn stopped, "Oh really, you think?" she spat back no longer willing to make time for Rachel.

Rachel hung her head and Quinn spoke.

"Your favourite colour is blue and you hate the colour pink yet it is the colour I love seeing you in the most. You don't wear t-shirts that are too tight fitting because it might restrict your breathing techniques when you sing. You eat smarties and various coloured sweets in the order of the colours of the rainbow but before you do that you tip the whole packet out and order them into colour groups. You hate rainy days but you love having an excuse to not go out and watch Funny Girl over and over again. Your pretend your favourite flower is a Daisy but actually it is the Gardenia because it reminds you of me and reminds you of the prom you could never take me to."

Rachel opened her mouth to speak, tears pooling in her eyes but Quinn hadn't finished.

"And my favourite flower is the Daisy because it reminds me of how much you pretend to have not loved me the entire way through high school and how my feelings have always reciprocated that," Quinn took a deep breath.

"Quinn," Rachel breathed.

"I know you're scared Rachel and I know I didn't do this quite the right way around. I'm doing the wrong thing with the right intentions and you've just got to trust that," Quinn looked at her watch.

Two minutes.

She panicked.

"We will still have our date next weekend, that's if you want it. I am coming back Rachel because…"

Quinn couldn't finish her sentence because Rachel finished it for her, "Because when you deserve me, you will come and find me."

Quinn smiled and nodded. She took a step forward and closed the gap between herself and Rachel leant forward and kissed her gently on the lips.

"One last thing I've got to ask you," Quinn questioned.

"Don't," Rachel replied with a smile, "Of course you deserve me."

The End

And there we have it, the final chapter! I know as this story has gone on the quality of my writing has significantly dropped and for that I can only apologise, however, I am incredibly grateful that so many of you have come on this journey with me and I really hope you have enjoyed it.

Any reviews about this chapter or the story as a whole would be much welcomed, along with any ideas of what you think I should write next. My life is no longer full of exams so any project I decide to take upon next will have much more frequent updates.

I have recently decided to continue "A Date with Paddington Bear", and the story is currently half way to completion so that will be uploaded soon. In the mean time I should imagine many one-shots will be posted!

I'm always happy to recieve ideas of what to write so if you wish to make a request do not hesitate, either reply to this story with your idea in the form of a review of message me directly.

Once again, thank-you so much and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!