Epilogue

After last year, Kurt wasn't sure this was such a good idea.

But he had promised Carole and his dad, and the twins were desperate to see Colbie again. They hadn't seen her since the summer, when Kurt had taken her back for a flying visit while Blaine was busy filming. They'd lapped up the week spent with her, roping her into their childish tricks and giving her a new obsession with puppies - an obsession Quinn gave into, buying her a puppy she named Spot for her birthday.

It's alright for her, Kurt thought bitterly as he struggled to guide the eager puppy through the gate and up the garden path while his partner held Colbie up to ring the doorbell herself, She hasn't go to live with it.

They hadn't told Colbie the truth. After a long, intense discussion, the three of them decided that she was too young; in a few years time, when she started asking question, then they would tell her. But, until then, they settled on letting Colbie think whatever she wanted. After all, everything had happened because of her; because they wanted her to be happy - so who were they to stop doing that now, to pull her away from what made her beautiful face light up?

'Auntie Q!' the three-year old gushed as soon as the front door was peeled open.

'Bee-Bee!' Quinn's voice echoed back.

Kurt watched as she reached out and gathered the girl up in her arms, enveloping her in a tight hug. It had been a few months since they'd seen each other; the plan had been for Quinn to visit them at Halloween and spend some time with Colbie in New York, but childcare and studying had gotten in the way.

'Hey, Quinn," Blaine greeted, stepping around them, out of the bitter cold and into the hall. 'How are you?'

She nodded as she let go of the toddler, who rushed away to find her cousins. 'Yeah, just a little snowed under. Again. How are you two?'

Kurt shrugged as he managed to get Spot inside, quickly closing the door behind him. 'We're here, aren't we? Dog and all.'

Blaine smirked at Quinn, informing her, 'He's still not too happy about coming back.'

'Well, I'm glad you did. It'll make the whole thing less awkward.'

Kurt looked up from unleashing Spot. 'So you're going to go to the meal, then?'

Quinn shrugged, fiddling with a pen in her hands. 'I don't see why not. Everyone knows Finn and I kind of… broke up, I guess - so it's not like we're going to have to explain.'

'I suppose,' he agreed, unable not to ask, 'How are you two now?'

'We're okay,' she said, shrugging again as she led them into her kitchen, where her study notes were covering the table messily. 'We've moved past being civil to actually being friends. It's… It's a relief, actually. I can actually call him up and rant about stupid law essays instead of pretending that, yeah, going back to college was the best idea of my life.'

Blaine snorted. 'To be honest, I doubt he believed you.'

'Oh, he didn't,' Quinn agreed, sorting away her notes so they could sit down. 'He told me that the other day, when we were getting coffee.'

'You're getting coffee now?' echoed Kurt, smirking. 'Wow. Soon he'll be moving back in.'

Quinn didn't reply. Instead, she picked up the notes and began walking away, her back to them as she moved the folders, lifting them over her head as she went to prevent a collision with one of the twins' heads as they ran past her, a little Colbie in hot pursuit.

'…Quinn?' Kurt asked demandingly, knowing what her silence meant.

'Okay, okay, we've discussed it,' she admitted, crossing her arms once she'd deposited the books on a work surface. 'But it's still early days, okay? I'm only beginning to regain Finn's trust - until he's absolutely sure, he's not coming back. And, I guess, that's how it's got to be for a while, okay?'

Kurt noticed the defensive tone she'd used, and how similar it was to the one she'd used to rectify her marriage to Finn to their friends. The pitch stirred up dim memories of the reunion last year, and all the things that were dug up; good and bad, happy and sad.

'And are you happy?' he found himself asking tenderly, remembering what Rachel had asked her and how she'd dodged the question.

Quinn blinked, surprised, but a softly smile blossomed on her face as she answered, 'Yes.'