Nothing Gold Can Stay Epilogue Challenge

Nothing Gold Can Stay

She wrapped the Chanel leather jacket around herself, attempting (and failing) to protect herself from the biting wind in London as she walked the busy sidewalks.

She halted suddenly, sitting down on the curbside of one of the less busier streets to collect her thoughts as she waited.

She seemed to be lost in thought as she stared at the black screen of her gold iPhone 5s, which she held gingerly in her mitten-covered hands. This single object that she held in her hand contained every last tie that she had to D.C. Well, not that she had many ties remaining since she left for London.

She hadn't told anyone besides Carter and Maddox where she was going, not even Livia. Not that Livia would've cared or noticed that Quinn was gone in between her second and third bottle of vodka.

Her father had been surprised when she arrived at his doorstep, but lovingly took her in. He promised to send someone to retrieve all of her belongings back home, including her beloved Louboutin collection.

She had wondered what her classmates would think. Would they think she was driven out of the country by the war she had with Dupont and his entourage? Would they think that her house had been foreclosed, forcing her to relocate?

She could have saved that house with all the money she had inherited on her birthday, but there was no point in saving a huge house that only Livia would be living in. Livia was currently living with Quinn's grandparents, looking for a new rich man rather than a job.

She laughed after she wondered about what her classmates would think because who cares what those people thought? They could think and wonder and make up all the theories that they wanted to about Dupont Prep's fallen angel.

The only people that had been quite hard to cut all ties from were Baby Dupont and Karim.

Baby Dupont had been blowing up Quinn's phone with nonstop calls, texts, and voicemails. She was naive, asking when Quinn was coming back and where she had gone. Quinn refused to respond, although she was tempted to a few times. Eventually, the calls and texts and voicemails slowed down until: nothing.

Karim had called and texted numerous times as well, but he was easier to shake. He understood that Quinn had reasons for running to London, just as he had reasons when he ran to Qatar all those years ago.

"Hullo Queen Quinn," a raspy voice murmured in her ear, wrapping their arms around her waist. Goosebumps arose on her skin, and this time it was not from the London cold.

"Elliot, how many times have I told you to not call me that?" Quinn asked, turning slightly in the boy's arms so she could face him. He hummed in response as she kissed him.

Elliot was a uni boy, making him only a year older than Quinn. They had met when she bought a new iPhone at the mall, where he happened to work.

Quinn hadn't wanted a new phone, telling her father that no one would be trying to contact her anytime soon. But, her father had insisted that she go replace her gold iPhone from D.C. with a new phone that would operate in London. And boy, was she glad she had went that day to buy a new phone.

She had remembered having a conversation with Tripp the night Constance went missing about not knowing any boys that weren't so flashy. Elliot was not flashy, which Quinn was perfectly fine with. In fact, she loved that his idea of flashy was writing a song for Quinn on his old guitar that looked as if it had seen better days. She adored that he didn't know the difference between Gucci and Versace.

Elliot didn't know the full story of Quinn's queen days in D.C. He had only recently found out that she hated being called nicknames when he was trying to be cute by calling her, "princess".

Quinn had cringed when he called her that, but he had only laughed.

"What, do you prefer being called Queen instead?" He had taunted her.

She had texted Elliot earlier to meet her at the curbside after school so they could walk to the local coffee shop together. She had decided that she was finally ready to tell Elliot about her past.

As they held hands while walking, they came to a grocery store next to the coffee shop that was collecting gently used phones for the army. Quinn stopped abruptly, tugging on Elliot's hand to stop him. Elliot turned expectantly, watching Quinn as she took out her gold iPhone from her pocket.

"You're going to donate it? Did you transfer all your friends numbers from D.C. on your new phone?" Elliot asked.

"No, I won't be needing those. I just need to do one thing first," she said, breaking her hand away gently from Elliot's.

She slid the phone open, preparing a new text message to someone who could hopefully end the monarchy at Dupont Prep.

To: Constance

Gold went out of season long ago. Nothing gold can stay.

She hoped Baby Dupont would understand the meaning behind her text: that as soon as Carter graduated, the monarchy and the "lists" stopped.

With that, she powered off her phone and slid it into the donation box. Elliot smiled warmly at her as she clasped his hand in hers again.

"Come on, I've got to tell you something over coffee. And then I need new Louboutin's," Quinn smiled up at Elliot lovingly.

"What? But you just got a new pair," Elliot said as his eyes furrowed in confusion.

Quinn laughed as she lay her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, well gold just isn't my color."