"Fuck! Where are my shoes?!"
"Honey, slow down, you barely got home."
"And we're late! Graduation starts in, like, twenty, and just the drive to the place takes, well, twenty minutes!"
Leroy breathes out, bouncing Beth in his arms and shoots a look to Hiram. He straightens his polka-dot bowtie and approaches Rachel carefully. "Baby girl, you literally arrived from New York not even five minutes ago. Will you slow down, and let all of us stay calm?"
Blaine, who's up to this point been fairly quiet, produces shoes out of nowhere. They aren't exactly what Rachel had in mind, but they will work anyway. "You have always been a terrible packer," he jokes, letting her hug the air out of his lungs.
When she releases him, she slips on her combat boots and looks around to make sure they're not forgetting anything. She grabs the bouquet of purple flowers she bought Quinn on the way from the airport as they exit out the door.
It just so happened that her play wouldn't let her get away from rehearsals until that morning so both she and Quinn were bummed they wouldn't see each other until after graduation: Quinn had to be on site two hours earlier and Rachel would be arriving in Lima half an hour before graduation started. It sucks, but that's what they were dealt.
Quinn was super excited that weekend because she thought Rachel would be there to wake her up on graduation day (even though she knew she was barely going to get any sleep regardless). But then Rachel had to break it to her that her producers weren't letting her go home any days early.
It wasn't their best conversation to date. They had gone to bed on Sunday night upset at each other because of this little strain and hadn't really talked it out since. Which sucked for Rachel because she wanted Quinn to know that, this Tuesday, the day was hers and she was so sorry for Sunday, and that she wished she could've made it.
And now she was late. Knowing Quinn, she would feel the moment Rachel walked in and would know she was late. The thought made Rachel laugh, as she snuggled closer to Blaine in the back seat, with Beth dreaming away on the carseat to her left.
"I'm soooooo proud of you, baby!" She texted Quinn.
Quinn replied, "I'm so glad you made it! I'm sorry about how I was a jerk Sunday night."
"Don't apologize, it was me. But I can't wait to see you walk that stage."
":) San has all your tickets. She should be waiting with Britt and my mom by Gate A."
Rachel smiles at her text and lets her eyes close shut to imagine how adorable Quinn must look in the blue gown. "Blaine's here. Have enough?"
"Of course, I knew he was coming. But I gotta go! We're starting and I have to turn off my phone. Wave me off when you get here - I'm toward the middle center."
"Isn't middle center redundant?" Rachel asks back but Quinn stops replying which means they're probably starting.
When they first arrive, Santana is looking worried at the bottom of the front steps. She's pacing with Brit behind her trying to calm her down. As soon as she sees Rachel walking up with Bee, she relaxes. A smile takes over her frown and she relaxes her shoulders. "Finally, Berry! This way - follow me."
There is no time for introductions of any kind, but Blaine's heard enough about Santana to know not to be offended. Britt does approach him as they practically jog behind Santana and Rachel to their seats. "I'm Britt. Santana's girlfriend and Quinn's best friend."
"Very nice to meet you, I'm Blaine." They shake hands - awkwardly because of the whole jogging thing - and he adds, "has it started yet?"
"No, they're late, but this is a Lima event so it's bound to happen."
