CHAPTER THREE
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CHERRY FELT HER WHOLE BODY TENSE UP. She didn't call Jack, no, she called Quinn. Cherry had royally fucked up worse than she ever had. She couldn't formulate a single word, let alone a sentence. Then, something in her snapped in a way she couldn't describe.
"Can we meet up tomorrow?" She said. Cherry didn't know what came over her. I mean, who did she think she was? Why on God's green Earth would she meet up with the person she's been avoiding since 2018?
"Uh, sure?" His voice got deeper. That's what Cherry immediately noticed about him. That led her to wonder if his favorite color was still blue. She wondered if he still hated asparagus. She wondered if he still loves her.
"Great, um, your house? 2?" The brunette asked. Cherry was positive her ex-boyfriend had millions of questions. But she was sure he still knew that when she made up her mind about something, she did it. "Oh shit. Your address, I-"
"I'll send it to you." Was all the defenseman said before hanging up. Cherry thought the call failed, but when she pulled it away from her ear and saw call ended instead of call failed, she knew it was no mistake.
Cherry's plan is that she will talk to Quinn tomorrow. Then they will come to some sort of agreement about how she can at least tolerate being around him for the sake of Jack. It almost feels like a divorce and Jack is the child in a way.
Cherry thought about how this will work. How she will be able to get used to being around Quinn for the sake of Jack. It'll take a lot of compromising and communication. She thought about how stressed or agitated she might feel seeing him again. But one feeling jumped out at her. It absolutely terrified her.
What if Cherry saw him again and fell for him again?
Maybe asking Quinn to meet up wasn't as good as an idea when Cherry originally thought of it. But then again, she definitely didn't want to disappoint Jack again. He didn't deserve that. Cherry decided she needed to push her feelings aside to get this settled. And that's what she did.
The next morning, Cherry woke up prepared for the emotional toll today will take on her. Since she knew she was meeting him at two, she put his location in her maps to see how far away he lived. She was surprised when he lived only 10 minutes away. She's been living this close to Quinn this whole time and didn't even notice it.
So Cherry relaxed until 1:45. She finished reading a book, and even had time to do a face mask. She was heading out the door at 1:45, completely calm. Cherry felt shocked at how calm she was, to be honest. As she neared closer and closer to the unfamiliar house, Cherry didn't feel her nerves rising within her.
She didn't feel nervous when she turned off her car, got out of it, and walked up the pathway. She didn't feel nervous when she hit the doorbell. She didn't feel nervous when she heard footsteps approaching the white door. She didn't feel nervous until the most unfamiliar familiar face opened the door.
Her breath was caught in her throat as she took in the 'stranger' in front of her. His dark brown hair laid messily on his head in the most put together way. He had a bit of facial hair, too. Nothing too much, but Cherry noticed. His green eyes looked darker although it was daylight. Maybe it was because of the black sweatshirt that he wore. Cherry knew that anytime he wore darker colors, his eyes would appear darker.
Suddenly, Cherry forget how to speak. She felt as if she was a newborn baby being talked to but all she could say wore random noises. She felt as if she were Ariel and Ursula took away her voice. Cherry felt as thought it's been two hours since he opened the door when in reality, it's only been two seconds.
"Hi." Quinn spoke. His voice was clearer than on the phone. Cherry wanted to turn around and leave. She wanted to get rid of every emotion she was feeling but she didn't.
"Hi." She responded. As he stepped aside and let her in the door. She got hit with the all too familiar sent of Quinn Hughes. It made her lightheaded. Not because he put on too much cologne, no, it's because she felt encapsulated by him.
"So..." Cherry said as she took in the space around her. His house looks exactly like he described it that night in the hotel room. From the color of the couch to the pictures on the wall. As her eyes wandered over the pictures, her eyes stopped on one in particular.
It's an 8x8 picture of the entire Hughes family. But what caught Cherry's eye was the fact she was in the picture. They were all on a boat during the sunset and Quinn's hand was firmly around her waist. Cherry could hear and smell the moment the picture was taken.
"Cherry, smile!" Quinn said to his girlfriend. She's always been weird about smiling in pictures up until that day. Quinn had tickled her side, shaken her a little, he had done everything to see that smile from his girlfriend that he adores.
"Why did the ketchup laugh?" Quinn said into his girlfriend's ear. Cherry looked up at her lover with a confused expression. "She saw the salad dressing."
Cherry laughed which also caused her to smile. The joke wasn't funny, but it was so stupid and that made it funny. Quinn smiled proudly at how he made his girlfriend laugh and in that moment, that's when the picture was snapped.
But also, in that moment, they both felt infinite. Laughing and smiling without a care in the world in Michigan with each other, their families, and their friends.
Cherry wished she could turn back time to those days. Was it worth it to be happy for happy for a little while even thought the whole relationship went to shit? Or, would it have been better if the whole thing never happened and she never felt infinite to begin with?
Quinn showed her how to love herself and how to be loved. He was the sun on her darkest days. He was the stars in her sky. He was her shelter during a storm. He was everything to her. And somehow, after the broke up, she had to act as if he was nothing to her at all. She had to act as if he wasn't the first and only person she ever loved.
Cherry had realized she never stopped loving him. She thought she had stopped because she knew in her gut she hated him. What Cherry had failed to understand was that it is possible to love and hate the same human being.
"I didn't realize I still had that up." He stated. They had broken up before he moved. "I.. I still thought back then that we could've worked it out."
"Oh." Cherry spoke quietly. She had never stopped to wonder how Quinn felt after all these years. Once again, another selfish act of hers.
"So, um, do you want something to drink? Like a water or something?" He stammered. Cherry hadn't realized he was a few feet behind her at the moment. Cherry getting lost within her thoughts was a dangerous place.
"No thanks." The brunette said stepping away from Quinn so his scent wasn't as present in her mind. She took in his features. His chiseled jaw line, his muscular frame - she wondered if his muscles were even more present without the hoodie.
"Cherry..." He sighs in a way that signals he wants her to get to the point. Not in an impatient way, but this is an awkward situation for both of them. "I know you're not here because you wanted to look at pictures on my wall."
"I have to hate you." Cherry says with her arms crossed not bothering to look at Quinn. She can feel his confusion through the air.
"Don't you hate me already?" Quinn says moving to the back of his couch, leaning against it as he watches Cherry.
"Um," Cherry didn't know what to say but yet she showed up in his doorway anyway so she must figure out some answers. "It's a long story. But long story short, I have to at least tolerate you in order for me to not upset Jack again."
"Upset Jack? Again?" Quinn asked. He hasn't seen the love of his life in years and she shows up because of his brother? Specifically, something she did to upset my brother - somehow it also has to do with me. "What does this have to do with my brother?"
"You ask too many questions, Hughes." She sighs shaking her head. When she does, her brunette hair, that Quinn is yearning to touch, shakes with her movements. She turns around to face the boy she once - she does love.
"Okay, answer this one then." The defensemen stated with a challenging tone. To be honest, the boy didn't know why she was here. She's been giving him conflicting information. Which isn't helping his thoughts, either. But there's one question he's been dying to have the answer to. He's held off because the answer might hurt him. "Do you hate me?"
"I wish I did." Cherry starts looking at the shiny wood floors beneath her. She didn't want to meet her ex-lover's eyes, she couldn't handle it. "I... I thought I did all these years. But I didn't. I pushed down all the hurt a- and love with hate." She crossed her leg over her other as she stood and spoke. A million thoughts ran through Quinn's mind. "And I... I didn't realize I can hate and love someone at the same time. Up until you opened the door, I hated you. When I saw you again.. I don't know... I guess something changed."
"Cherry-" Quinn said. This brought back familiar times of all those years ago. She was spilling her heart out about how he wasn't doing enough, and all he could say was her name. Not this time he thought. He had a millions things he wanted to say, but Cherry cut him off.
"I need to hate you so I don't hurt about you." She said. This should've made Quinn shut up, but it didn't. It only caused him to have more thoughts about all of this. He needed to let them out before they all tumbled over in incoherent rage like an avalanche.
"Cherry-" He tried once more. He wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to explain why he acted so cold towards her all those years ago. He wanted to explain how stupid it was. He wanted to tell her how manipulated he was that he couldn't see the truth. But no, she cut him off once again.
"No, that's not why I came here." The brunette shook her head, mentally cursing herself for getting off track. "I came here to tell you we need to be civil for the sake of Jack."
"Then let's be civil." Quinn said pushing himself off the couch, but remaining right up against it. If this was a baby step to having Cherry back in his life, one step closer to telling her the truth, then so be it.
author's note:
LEMME HEAR YALL SAY UH OH
i would like to point out that good riddance, the album by the queen gracie abrams is literally quinn's album in this book. the lyrics in the songs are so like him in this story and i've actually put a couple in here so if you find them in the upcoming chapters you get a gold star 🤭🤭
don't forget to eat water and drink food 🫶🫶🫶