OH! DARLING | joey tribbiani

twenty one

"Colin... We need to talk," Quinn said upon entering her apartment, shrugging off her long brown coat and hanging it on the coat rack.

Ever since Colin came back from spending his holidays in Oregon, the couple hadn't been the same. Something was off and they both knew why, they just didn't want to face the end yet.

But now three weeks into the month of January, Quinn was done hurting him and herself. She had a light day at work and got to talk with some of her closest coworkers about what was going on with her couple. By the time she walked out of the office, she and her friends had succeeded in building the strength she needed to finally rip off the bandaid.

Colin, who was going over finance papers for his dad's bookstore at the kitchen table, looked up from his workload, taking off his reading glasses and examining the emotion on Quinn's face. Sighing, he rose up from his chair. "Yeah, I think we do," he agreed with her.

Quinn tried to come up with the right words to start the discussion but nothing sounded right to her. "I don't know how to begin this," she groaned, placing her right hand on her forehead in despair while her left one rested on her hip.

Colin slowly approached her, hands buried in the pockets of his jeans. "Then let me," he said, bringing out his hands to gently cradle Quinn's cheeks once he was in front of her, making her look up at him with unshed tears in her eyes. "I love you Quinn, I love you so damn much," he started, his voice wobbling with emotions but smiling all the same. "I love you so much and that's why we can no longer be together. I can't ask you to force yourself to be ready for something you are not just for my sake. And I can no longer wait for something that you might not even want. We're hurting each other by staying together and hurting you is the last thing I ever want to do."

"I'm sorry," Quinn choked out, fully crying now. "I'm so sorry Colin."

She moved her hands around his neck, fingers threading through his short brown hair at his nape. Their foreheads rested against one another, both had closed their eyes to absorb the gravity of the moment.

"Don't be sorry," Colin murmured softly. "You have nothing to be sorry for, that's just the way life goes."

Quinn let out a silent sob as she brought Colin in a hug, his arms snaking around her waist tightly and holding her as close to his body as possible. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, smelling her coconut hair cream that she uses to maintain her curls and which he would miss oh so dearly.

The redhead felt his tears landing on her skin, the touch spurring something within her and she knew she needed one more night with him before it was all over.

Quinn detached from the hug and reached for his face with her hands, bringing him down in an urgent and desperate kiss, conveying all the emotions she held for him in it. Colin didn't hesitate to kiss her back with the same hunger and sadness and love.

The pair kissed for a long time, the taste of each other's lips bringing them down memory lane, reliving the sweet moments they shared, the times they spent in each other's arms, the laughs they had and stolen kisses in crowds. The energy between them grew heated and it didn't take long for their clothes to start coming off as they made their way to the bedroom.

They spent the entire night in bed, demonstrating the love they have for each other one last time. They both didn't want to go to sleep, knowing that when the morning would arise their couple would be broken, but they both weren't strong enough to fight off the exhaustion brought on by the crying and love making and eventually fell asleep in each other's arms for one last time.

When they woke up in the morning, both felt like zombies walking amongst humans. Quinn got ready for work while Colin started packing his stuff away. Thankfully for him it only consisted of clothes and small items like books or work papers.