7Everything was a blur.
Screams and shouts everywhere, sounds of running feet slapping against the ground. The smell of drying paint in the air was intoxicating. Then suddenly, as if somebody had just flipped the switch, silence.
The two teams had decided to regroup at the same time, by chance, and she was out on patrol for any lurkers. If she could take down at least one of them, they would be at an advantage. Only the big boys were left, with an exception of Santana, and they had half the brains to put them on separate teams.
At first she - predictably - scoffed at the idea, so she never expected to be so into it. Of course almost all the boys were excited about it, except Kurt who agreed with her that it was a stupid suggestion from Finn and Puck. She found herself surprised that he didn't think of it himself as he punched the air and wholeheartedly said yes. She raised her eyebrow at him but, luckily, no one noticed. At least she thought no one did. Kurt leaned over and whispered, "Maybe now's your chance to get him alone."
Her eyes widened at the thought. She knew she had plenty of chances with him, but none of them ever seemed right. She glanced back over at Kurt, trying to hide her blush, but she nodded anyway. "If you help me," she whispered back, "I'd be eternally grateful, Kurt Hummel." He just smirked and nodded back.
So this is where she finds herself now. Alone, gun held ready, crouched down low. If Kurt hadn't gotten himself shot yet, he should be here any minute. She anticipated the possible ways their conversation could lead to. Would he even be willing to talk? I mean, sure, they were friends again, what with her babysitting his siblings and helping him out with schoolwork whenever possible. There were late nights spent in peaceful silence with the both of them on their porch swing nursing cups of hot chocolate, or coffee if need be. But maybe to him that was all they were going to be. Friends. And she couldn't bear the thought of having him so close without being able to just hold his hand and hug him and kiss him at any given moment.
Her eyes shift to the right where she hears a rustling sound. She stalks toward the hiding spot, making sure she wasn't seen.
"Hands up, Fabray."
Okay, maybe she wasn't the stealthiest person in the world.
She turns back around, hands in the air, only to see him smirking and pointing his gun at her. "Drop the gun, Q."
"Good to see you too, Evans." She grins but does as she's told. If she's lucky, maybe he won't shoot her just yet. He wasn't afraid of shooting the girls, seeing as this was just a game, but she knew he avoided it at all costs, and preferred having Santana do all that instead.
He laughs as she kicks her weapon towards him. "Any last words?" he asks, still smiling. He hasn't had this much fun in so long. Only the times he'd shared with Quinn could come close, and even now here she was, the very reason he found himself waking up in the morning, excited about another day. Because she would be there. And it hurt to know that he could never have her again, seeing as he was the one who broke it off in the first place. He was just lucky enough that she was still giving him the time of day.
"I'm not one for last words, Evans. They all sound so staged and cheesy to me," she yells back, but she's walking closer to him, and with every step she takes his heartbeat quickens and his palms start to sweat. "Sam," she whispers, and the way she says his name like that is enough to make him lose his control. He drops his gun, waiting for her to say more, because with the look she's giving him, he's pretty sure it has something to do with things outside this playing field.
"I need to tell you something," she says shyly, her eyes glued to her feet. He nods again but catches himself, realising she didn't see that. "Yeah?"
"I - I know I screwed up before. I will always regret what I did. It's all I can think about whenever I see you with someone else. And it hurts me, knowing that I have no right, and that I've lost my say in that aspect of your life, and it's all my fault. But you've been so kind. And we've spent so much time together, as friends, and I just...I miss being with you."
She starts off stuttering, but her voice gets stronger and stronger with each word she says. He's speechless. If he had known she felt the same way then he would have probably attempted to make a move long ago. He's caught staring at her and she immediately blushes and ducks her head down, willing the ground to swallow her up. She rarely lets her guard down like that, and she never thought she would say all those things to a boy. But he was something else, Sam Evans. There was something about him that made her think he was it, for her. Maybe it was the fact that, despite everything, he was her first love. She only thought she loved Finn, and maybe forced herself to love Puck to give her some peace of mind about having a baby with him, and even though she cared about the two of them, and they would always have a special place in her heart, what she felt about them was no where near how she felt about Sam Evans.
The silence has gone on for too long. The nagging voice in her head laughs at her, saying 'I told you it was a bad idea'. She had put all that out of her system just to have enough courage to say all those things and now he's not going to say anything back? It was embarrassing, to say the least. But he's the first to break the quiet space they had fallen into.
"Q, I had absolutely no idea. I'm sorry. I'm always so clueless. I thought you had moved on and that you wanted the same for me. And I tried, God knows I tried! But how could anyone get over you, Quinn Fabray?" his voice is soft and it washes over her, enveloping her like the warm blanket they shared all those starry nights. He lifts her chin up and gazes into her eyes, like in all those sappy romances she always made him watch, the ones he secretly enjoyed, even though it may have been the fact that he had her curled into him, grasping onto his shirt at every heartbreaking scene.
"Quinn. Look at me. If you're willing to make it work, I'd be happy to be yours again." She lifts her head and stifles a sob. She'd go to hell and back swearing she isn't always a crying mess. She inadvertently knocks him backwards as she flings her arms around him, burying her head in the space between his neck and shoulder. It was all so familiar. Her smell and his touch, the way her arms cling to him and the way he strokes her back. It was home.
"Of course I'm willing to make it work, silly." She pulls back slightly to look at his face, and it's so open and honest, wide eyes, big grin and all. She giggles, they're both almost deliriously happy as she reaches up on her tiptoes to kiss him for the first time in so long. Their story might be a mess, and neither of them are close to perfect, but it's them. And everyone always thought they were meant to be, even at times when they couldn't believe it themselves.
She tangles her fingers in his hair as he grips her waist, too scared that if he lets go he would wake up back in his bed and this would all be just another dream. Come to think of it, having Quinn Fabray confess her love to him while playing paintball was pretty far-fetched. But he would gladly take it any day.
They're out of breath but don't pull apart, keeping close, close enough that if one spoke their lips would still brush against the other's. He bends his head down, dropping kisses all over her face and neck muttering "I've missed you," and listing down all the things he's missed about her. And as she listens, she's overwhelmed by all the feelings this one boy causes her to have, because, if she was asked, her list would be twice as long.
"Well! Looks like Ken and Barbie are back together. Knew you two couldn't keep your hands off of each other for too long." They glare at the sudden interruption, Santana, one hand on her gun, the other on her hip, grinning madly. "I'm happy for you two and all, but we're still in the middle of a game here and so I advice you both run along before I scream bloody murder. Your sweetness is driving me crazy and I'm trying not to throw up in my mouth right now." Her words may sound spiteful but they all know that she's genuinely glad to see them back together, little do the others know but she considers Queen Bee and Trouty to be good friends of hers. She waves her hand at them, and the two laugh, picking up their guns and running towards their respective bases.
If anyone, other than Kurt and Santana, asks, nothing happened, just another patrol. They were more than happy to keep their little secret for a while, maybe just over the weekend, a weekend they were about to spend getting to know each other all over again, in every sense of the phrase.
AN: Ah, that was just a little oneshot I found floating around my brain in the middle of the night. Trust me, it happens a lot, but this is the first time I actually decided to write it out. It's just a little cheesy, hopefully sweet, story. I've been meaning to finish a Fabrevans fic for a long time and I can't believe this is the first one! Oh well, hope it made you smile! Drop a review on your way out, maybe?