“You couldn’t have let someone know?” Claire snapped. Yeah, she was angry, too.
“If I would have told you guys that I was leaving and I didn’t know where I was going or when I was coming back, do you really think you would have let me go without a fight?” Quinn asked.
No one replied, instead they all looked somewhat guilty, and that was all the answer Quinn needed. They would have argued with him and wouldn’t have let him go. He really needed to go, and he felt like a different person now - a better person.
“I’m really sorry for everything I put you all through,” Quinn said sincerely.
Quinn looked to Margot, who was now standing on her own, arms hugging herself. The hurt in her eyes as she looked at him turned his stomach. He never meant to hurt her; he was only trying to save himself from losing his mind. He needed to figure out how to go on with his life now that he no longer had to hide what happened to him from everyone. He also wanted to make certain that he was with Margot for the right reasons, and he was. He loved her with his whole heart and soul; she has done so much for him without even trying. Quinn never understood the love that his older brothers felt for their women, but now he got it...he absolutely got it, and this love he has for Margot has helped change him. The time away gave him some perspective with what happened to him, and time to come to terms with the new person that he was becoming.
After a few minutes of Quinn answering some questions, the crowd started to disperse. Everyone left but Margot. She stood a few feet away from him, her arms still wrapped around herself, but now she was shivering slightly. He wanted to pull her into his arms and never let go, but he didn’t know how she would react at the moment. He hoped that she wasn’t thinking about ending things with him because of this. Please, god, don’t let her be thinking about leaving him. That was one thing he hadn’t thought about.
“Margot? Sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” Quinn rasped, stepping toward her.
Margot brought her eyes up to look at him. What he saw in them made him freeze...agony and regret...Quinn’s heart stopped beating and he found that he couldn’t breathe. Please, no!
“I thought that something horrible happened to you,” she whispered. “Do you have any idea how scared and worried I have been? I have not slept in days because I could not stop thinking about all the terrible things that could have happened to you.”
“I’m so…” He started to apologize, but she cut him off.
“I do not want to hear that you are sorry!” Margot snapped angrily, cutting him off.
“Margot, please...”
“No, Quinn! You had your time to think, and now I will have mine. Please tell Sebastian and Raelynn that I am sorry, but I will not be coming to their wedding tomorrow,” Margot said tightly and started for her car.
Quinn started after her...no, no, no... “Baby, please don’t do this! Margot! Come on, can’t we just talk about it? I understand you’re upset...”
Margot whirled around, her hair sending water flying in an arch behind her. “Upset? I am more than upset! I thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere! Do you really expect me to just accept your apology and go on as if you never left me? Non! That is not how I operate,” she said, shaking her head furiously, her cheeks still streaked with black from her makeup.
“I don’t expect you to just go on like it never happened, but you don’t have to leave me.”
“I am not the one who is doing the leaving, you left me when you disappeared last week,” Margot said, poking him hard in the chest. “Do not call me, Quinn. If I want to talk to you, I will call,” she said sadly, turning to get into her car.
Quinn watched her drive off completely dumbfounded. Holy shit, Margot just dumped him! This couldn’t be happening! The pain was so sharp that it doubled Quinn over; he put one hand on his knee while the other rubbed at his aching chest. Jesus Christ, what was he going to do now? He couldn’t just let her go; he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her! Time - he would give her some time, let her calm down, and then he would talk to her and tell her how he felt. He could not lose her, not like this! Dammit, he was such an idiot! How could he have thought that he could go away without even leaving a note and come back with his life still waiting for him? He probably didn’t have a job either. So he got closure about his past, but lost his girlfriend and his job. Wow, what a loser.