Disclaimer: No, I do not own Glee, the song Crying, Waiting, Hoping, or any of the flashbacks (Glee The Beginning) or else you'd be watching this instead of reading it …
A/N: Last night I found myself going through the entire first season and only watching Quick scenes and it made me feel a little better. That is, until I remembered that she's with Sam. Plus, I just read a disgusting amount of Puckleberry fans saying that Quick was just a random hook-up which irritated me because in the Glee original novel The Beginning, it's clear that Quinn and Puck are more than just a random hook-up. They have REAL chemistry, unlike Rachel and Puck. Anyway, I apologize for my rant. I hope you enjoy :)
Quinn Fabray was standing alone in an alcove under the bleachers after an exhausting Cheerio's practice. Her ponytail swayed back and forth as a refreshingly cool breeze swept across the stadium. She closed her eyes and drifted into a distant memory, one from the beginning of her sophomore year.
'What the hell do you think you're doing?" Quinn remembered how confused she was when Noah Puckerman had pulled her into this alcove. She remembered dropping her bag in complete confusion as the bad boy stared deep into her eyes.
'What I've been thinking of doing all through practice. This," she reminisced on the way his lips met hers, needy and eager as he pushed her against the metal beam. It was their first kiss and the most passionate one Quinn had ever experienced in her young life. Puck knew exactly where she needed to be held and she could almost … almost … feel his touch on her skin at that moment. Quinn opened her eyes to realize that tears had formed in them and goose bumps developed up and down her arms.
On that day she would have never predicted what she and Puck went through last year. She lost her virginity to him. Granted, she had told him it was because she felt fat that day and was drunk on wine coolers. They both knew that was a fallacy. Together, they had a precious little girl, Beth. It broke her heart to give Beth up; especially knowing how much Puck loved Beth. But it was the right thing to do; at least, that's what Quinn tells herself to get through each day.
"Quinn?" A familiar voice echoed the alcove, jarring Quinn from her memories. "Are you okay?" Noah Puckerman made his way over to the petite blonde. He then noticed that she was crying and a surge of worry followed by anger flooded through him. "Did Sam do something to upset you?" he didn't even try to hide the anger from Quinn; it would have been pointless anyway. She saw through him like nobody else could.
"Sam didn't do anything. I was just … thinking," she said informatively as she turned to face him, realizing that this is the first time that he's made any mention of her boyfriend. Well technically her ex-boyfriend now. She didn't think that detail was important enough to share with Puck just yet.
"Oh. Well if you want me to go, I can," he motioned towards the way he just came from. There was a slight awkwardness between the pair seeing as how they hadn't had a decent conversation since Beth's birth. There have just been snippy remarks, usually from Quinn's end.
"You don't have to, I was just leaving," she leaned over to pick up her Cheerio's bag off the ground before turning towards the entrance to the field.
"Q, you do realize that we're going to have to talk about us one of these days. You can't keep dodging it," Puck stated as a matter-of-factly.
"There is no us Puck. We had a baby. She's gone, just like whatever it was we had is," she didn't mean to sound like an ice-cold bitch. She was just so used to fighting the feelings that she had for Puck that the snippy remarks were like a first language to her.
"You know that's a lie," Puck replied as Quinn turned around and faced him.
She sighed. He was right. "You would know. You did write the book on how to lie after all," he looked into her fiery eyes and instead of finding the anger he was expecting, he found hurt and regret.
"You told me you wanted to be with me," Quinn held up Puck's cell phone that held the sexts from Santana on it. She had never felt so humiliated before. She had honestly believed him when he said that to her but it was nothing but a mere string of words that formulated a lie.
"You're right Quinn. I wrote the book on how to lie, cheat, and steal. But I've grown up and I will be the first to admit my mistakes. I'm not the one who keeps hiding behind something they're not. That's exactly what you're doing," his voice got defensive.
"You think this is what I want?" she said, questioning his previous statement.
"Yeah, I do. Look at you. You're head cheerleader again, dating a quarterback, and back to being the bitch you were before Beth. It's like you never even gave birth to her. You've done a complete 180 from the girl you were last year. You were actually kind. And to be honest, I don't know why you're the one being awful to me. As I recall you're the one who broke my heart in that janitors closet…"
"How's this for a no," Quinn zipped up her white hooded sweater in the hot janitors closet, to signify that Puck wasn't going to be getting his way with her. "Whatever this was between us, it's over. For real"
"… not the other way around. You dated my best friend knowing I had feelings for you," he took a deep breath; he couldn't believe how emotional he was getting. That's right; Noah Puckerman was getting emotional over a girl.
Quinn burst into tears. "You're wrong Puck. I don't want this. You don't know the pain I go through every morning knowing that I handed my little girl off to another woman to raise her. I carried Beth around for NINE months. She's the one constant I had last year between the whole Finn and Rachel ordeal and you. One second you were with me, the next you weren't," she wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her Under Armour. "Every day I have to lie to Sam. I don't care about him any more than he cares about me. Everyone knows that we are just together because we're supposed to be. I'm supposed to like him; I'm supposed to date him. The truth is I lo-"she started sobbing, not able to complete her sentence.
Puck inched closer to her and wrapped his arms instinctively around her. "Don't cry Quinn. Please?" he said which only made Quinn cry harder. She wrapped her arms completely around his waist; the way their bodies molded together into one was like a completed puzzle.
"I can only be so strong Noah. Everything about the past year eats away at me with every passing second. There are so many things I'd go back and do different. I would have told Finn and you right away. I would have let you be in Beth's life. Most importantly, I would have kept her. I would have tried to let us be a family. I know giving up Beth was for the best but part of me can't help but think that we should have been selfish," Quinn pulled away from Puck, her tears slowly coming to a stop.
"It killed me to give her up Quinn, but we have to go forward with our lives. We put up with feelings that we can't get rid of all the time. For example, every time I see you and Lady Lips together, I seriously want to knock his teeth out. I refrain only because I can't afford to go back to Juvie. They don't have any kosher meal plans. Plus, I like my waffles. Quinn, I love you enough to let you go be with Sam. I love you enough to wait for you," Quinn's jaw dropped at Puck's blatant honesty,"When you asked me if I loved you and I said yes, I meant it with every fiber in my body."
Quinn flattened her Cheerio's uniform across her now flat stomach; a habit she had when she was nervous. "But you didn't love me enough to fight for me? Noah, I love you but with everything that happened, I don't see it working out between us," Quinn sighed, feeling relieved to get those words out in the open air.
"I did want to fight for you! I just wasn't sure if you wanted me to," Puck adjusted the bag that was slung over his shoulder. "Quinn, if you'd give me the chance, I could prove to you that I've changed. I'm not the same person I was last year and neither are you. Quite frankly, I think it's for the better."
Quinn pondered in that moment, her mind balancing his offer back and forth, outweighing the pros and cons of the situation. "Alright."
Pucks heart starting pounding at light speed; Quinn's did the same.
"Do you want to go to dinner at Breadsticks tomorrow?" Puck asked sincerely.
"Wow, I'm shocked. Noah Puckerman is asking me out on a legit date. I'm impressed," Quinn joked, feeling the awkwardness fade away. It was soon replaced by a spark of hope; hope that this would work out and that they would both be happy again.
"You're not the only shocked one around here Miss Fabray," Puck smiled at her. "But you should break it off with Sam. I don't want it to look like I took his girl," Puck said before putting his arm around Quinn's shoulder.
"Two things; First, Sam and I broke up which is why I came here. Secondly, I can't be Sam's girl if I was yours from the start. But this time, I have to be the only girl Puck. No cheating, no sexting, no Santana, and we take this slow," Quinn laid down the ground rules.
"If it means I get to keep you for the rest of my life, then I can deal. No cheating, no sexting, and DEFINITELY no Santana. I promise," they started walking to the parking lot. Noah Puckerman's smile was huge; he felt like he was on top of the world and for the first time in months, Quinn Fabray felt like she was doing the right thing.
A/N: If you get the chance, you should review and tell me what you thought! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Long live Team Quick :P