The Ballerina and the Rocker

Quinn

Streams of luminous Christmas lights and decorations, which brought cheer during the day and just absolutely took your breath away at night, covered the streets of Manhattan . It was an amazing time to be in the city and even though Quinn enjoyed being there she was beyond happy to be heading back to California for winter break.

She had successfully finished her first semester and was finally going to see Zacky again.

“Have a good Christmas!” her bubbly red-haired opera singing roommate, Jessie, wished her as Quinn wheeled her suitcase through their dorm’s doorway.

“Thanks, Jessie,” she said, offering her roommate a one-armed hugged. “You too! See you in January.”

Backpack on and wheelie suitcase in tow, Quinn stepped out on to the bustling snowy street and waited for the bus to bring her to LaGuardia.

Zacky

Thanks for the tip, asshole, Zacky thought as he cleaned a table where a customer had left his empty plate and coffee mug but hadn’t bothered to leave a measly buck-fifty.

The recording of their album wasn’t cheap, so Zacky had gotten a job at the local coffee shop to help out and to start saving up so the band could have some cash when they finally got out on the road. It wasn’t the most ideal situation, but it helped kill some time.

“Baker, you can take your fifteen,” his co-worker Colleen told him. He looked up at the blue-haired 21-year-old girl from the table he was bussing and gave her a thumbs up. He tossed the rag aside and headed outside through the employee’s entrance back door where he promptly lit a cigarette and leaned against the brick building’s exterior.

When his break had ended and Zacky had successfully gone through his smoke, he headed back inside reluctantly. Colleen told him to man the register while she took her break and followed suit by heading outside to smoke.

Zacky took his position behind the register and waited for someone to come in and order some fancy-schmancy coffee. The sound of a bell signaled the opening of the front door and in walked Jo, Quinn’s mother.

“Hello, Zacky,” she greeted him with a smile when she walked up to the register.

“Oh, hi,” he said back. In the few short instances he spoke with Jo he never knew what to call her - Jo? Joann? Mrs. Hartford? Quinn’s mom? He played it safe and just never called her anything. “How’s it going?”

“Good. I’ll just have a large black coffee, please.”

He nodded and punched her order in the register. “That’ll be three-fifty.”

She handed him a five.

“You can keep the change.”

“Thanks.”

He placed the dollar-fifty change into the tip jar beside him before grabbing her a coffee. He handed her the cardboard cup with a smile.

“So, I was hoping I’d run into you,” she continued after she took the drink from Zacky. “I’m sure you know that Quinn’s flight gets in today.”

Oh, he knew.

“I’ve got some errands to run today, so I was wondering if you’d be able to drive to the airport and pick her up for me?” There was a spark in her eyes that told Zacky she had absolutely no errands to run but wanted Zacky to pick Quinn up anyway. He had no problem with this.

“Uh yeah, I can do that,” he said, trying his best to sound nonchalant.

“Great! Her flight gets in at 6:05 tonight. I really appreciate it.” She gave Zacky a smile before walking back out the front door.

He looked up at the clock on the wall. 1:17. It was going to be a long shift.

Quinn

”Please put your trays and chairs in the upright position as we begin our descent into John Wayne International Airport,” the stewardess announced over the intercom. Quinn followed instructions and looked out the window where she saw the familiar California landscape coming more and more into focus. She closed her eyes and waited for the plane to land; she didn’t mind flying, but when it came to landings she just couldn’t watch.

”Thank you for flying with us today,” the stewardess spoke over the intercom once more, ”and please enjoy your stay in Orange County.”

After putting on her backpack and grabbing her other small suitcase from the overhead compartment, Quinn followed the mass of people off the plane and into the airport. She briskly walked through the gray carpeted corridor where she expected to see her mother waiting on the other side. Only it wasn’t her mother she saw.

“Oh my god,” she whispered when she exited the corridor and saw Zacky standing there waiting for her with a smile on his face.

Immediately, she hurried over to him and promptly let go of her suitcase and wiggled her backpack off before throwing her arms around him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and felt his arms hug her waist tightly and pin her close to him.

Even though she had been gone for four months, it felt like she never left.

Zacky

“I still can’t believe you work at a coffee shop,” Quinn said as Zacky handed her a mug of coffee, hopped up on cream and sugar. He sat next to her and smiled.

“Trust me, neither do I,” he said. “But it won’t be for much longer I don’t think.”

“You guys have any leads on bass player?”

After they had finished recording, Wendt informed the band that he was officially done. He had stayed around longer than he planned, delaying his college arrival by a semester so that A7X could get on its feet, and for that the guys were eternally grateful. But it also left them screwed.

“Matt and I have been putting up flyers and stuff,” he explained, “asking around, asking our friends. We can’t seem to find a good fit.”

“What about that Johnny kid? He’s always hanging around you guys and with your brother.” Zacky laughed. “What?”

“The kid can’t even drive yet.”

“But he plays, right?”

“Yeah.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Good?”

“It’s really sweet.”

“So, good?”

“Good.”

“Well at least I know that if the band doesn’t work out I can make a kick-ass cup of coffee.”

Quinn

It was hard to believe that at this time last year Quinn was working her butt off in The Nutcracker and working towards her Juilliard application. It all seemed like a lifetime ago.

“What’s on your mind?” Zacky asked. The two were laying on the sofa in Quinn’s living room watching the Simpson’s Christmas episode, and he had noticed her prolonged silence.

“Just thinking,” she said, leaning further into his side.

“About?”

“So much has happened this last year, it’s crazy.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

“Hey, what are you doing for New Year’s?”

Zacky shrugged his shoulders. “Probably nothing, why?”

“Because my parents were going to go spend time with Mason and Stephanie’s family but I asked if I could stay here since it’s my only time away from school. So maybe we could get a group together?”

She looked up at Zacky and felt her heart melt as he smiled down at her.

“You’d rather spend time with me than with your family?”

“I said we could get a group together, not just you.” She knew Zacky knew how much he meant to her, but it was still fun to tease him occasionally.

“Oh ok, sure,” he teased back. “You love me, just admit it.”

She felt Zacky’s body tense up under her own just as her eyes opened up wide and froze. With her head near enough to his chest she could feel the quick pitter-pattering of his heart, which matched the beating of her own.

What the hell was she supposed to say? Should she respond or just ignore it?

“I’m home!” she heard her mother call from the foyer. As if thinking the same thing, both Quinn and Zacky shot up off the couch and headed into the other room.

She had never been so glad to have her mom come home.

“Will you be joining us for dinner, Zacky?” Jo asked as she handed Quinn a brown paper bag of groceries to bring into the kitchen.

“Uh, no, I’ve got to get back home, thanks though,” he said, quickly. He looked at Quinn who stared back, her eyes still wide. He kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you later.” Before she could say anything back, Zacky was out the door.

“Audrey and your father should be here soon,” Jo continued as she walked into the kitchen with the other groceries, “so if you can go get the table set that would be great.”

Quinn continued standing in the foyer with the grocery bag, staring at the front door.

Zacky

Why did he always have to make things awkward…

Quinn

“I’ll take the shot if you take the shot,” a drunk Brian said to Quinn as held out two shot glasses filled with tequila. She laughed and took the glass that was extended to her. “One,” he said, holding up two fingers, “two… three!”

As Brian tilted his head back and downed the tequila, Quinn tossed the contents of her glass over her shoulder and made a note to wipe it up later.

Brian sloppily high-fived her. “Woo!”

“So drunk!” she played along. Brian stumbled away towards Jimmy and, laughing, Quinn walked over to Val and Michelle who were sitting on the couch each with a beer.

“Hey, girl,” Michelle said when Quinn sat on the coffee table opposite them.

“Have you guys seen Zacky?” she asked. Michelle shook her head.

“Is everything okay?” Val asked.

“I don’t know. He picked up some extra shifts the last few days so I haven’t really seen him.”

“You could ask Matt. I think he just went into the kitchen to grab another drink.”

“Ok, thanks.”

She stood up and followed Val’s advice and went to the kitchen. When she got there Matt was no where to be found, so she looked out the window and saw him standing in the backyard talking to Zacky. She opened the sliding back doors carefully, as if she were involved in a secret mission, and approached the boys.

“Hey guys,” she said. The two stopped talking to each other and turned to face her. “Matt, do you mind if I talk to Zack for a second?”

“Yeah, no prob,” he said with a smile. He gave Zacky a pat on the back before heading back inside the house.

Zacky smiled at her when she took Matt’s spot next to him. “Hey.”

“Hi,” she said, returning the smile. “I didn’t see you come in.”

“I just went from my yard to yours,” he explained.

“Ah, gotcha.”

“Listen, Quinn,” he began. “I just wanted to say, about the other day-”

“-oh, don’t worry about it-”

“- I mean, it wasn’t serious-”

“- you just caught me off guard-”

“- I don’t want things to be weird between us-”

“- yeah, totally. We’re fine.”

Zacky leaned over and kissed her lips. She moved her hands up his arms to his neck and pulled herself closer to him as his hands held her hips steadily.

”We survived Y2K round two!” they heard Jimmy shout from inside the house. Damn, they missed the countdown.

As if he could read her mind, Zacky pulled his lips away from hers and said, “Happy New Year.” She smiled up at him and put their lips together once more.

Zacky

Four weeks flew by in the blink of an eye and already Quinn was heading back to New York for her second semester at Juilliard.

“Easter break?” he asked, trying to figure out when they would see each other again.

“We’re visiting my other grandparents in Virginia,” Quinn explained half-heartedly, throwing clothes into her suitcase.

“You get a spring break, right?”

“Yeah, but it lines up with Easter.”

“Fuck.”

“I’m done with classes late May, then I’ll be back for the whole summer.”

Waiting another four months to see her again wouldn’t be any less agonizing the second time around.

“Stop pouting,” she said. She stopped packing and took a seat on her bed next to him. “You’ll be keeping busy, I’ll be keeping busy - time will fly by.” He smiled and kissed her cheek before she continued packing.

She was right. It wasn’t like he was just going to be cooped up in his room staring at the ceiling - he had shit to do! Their album was apparently almost ready to be released, and they had been working hard on finding venues and bands to play with. While Quinn was off pursuing her dreams, Zacky was going to continue working towards his.

Quinn

Quinn had her mother make a pit stop at Matt’s house before continuing on to the airport. She got out of the car and went to the garage where the guys were jamming. She said her goodbyes to them all, including Val and Michelle who were hanging out with them for the day, and beckoned Zacky to meet her outside.

“Bye,” she said as she hugged him tightly.

“Bye,” he said back.

She pulled out of the hug and grabbed his hands in hers, entwining their fingers. “Hey, uh, Zacky?”

“What?”

She felt her heart drop into her stomach.

“I, um… I… I’ll call you when I get there.”

Definitely not what she had planned on saying.

His smile was sad. “Ok.”

With one last kiss and tight hug in the books, Quinn got back into the car and headed to the airport where she would spend the five hour flight thinking about Zacky and what would have happened if she had told him, “I love you.”