Goodbyes On A Park Bench

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or Fox or anything else. They are the properties of their respective owners.

She always visited that park. It was the only worthwhile place to actually go to in that small town of Lima, Ohio. She used to go with her daddy, walking on the paved walkways, watching the ducks swim in the pond, buying ice cream from the kind man who sold them. Even during her high school days, when she was in quite a fix, she ran to this very park, still in her Cheerios uniform, and just watched the birds fly above. She went to this park more often when she was dealing with her pregnancy. Mondays, Tuesdays, until Fridays, and sometimes even Saturdays, when there wasn't much schoolwork to be done.

Now, however, Quinn Fabray sat down on her favorite park bench with Noah Puckerman. And instead of escaping the world, she was aware of the fact that whatever the purpose of their serious talk there involved the world catching up on her and giving her an overwhelming blow.

The had just graduated high school, and like every kid in McKinley High, they wanted to leave Lima and live a life that's actually worth living. They wanted to be successful people - to have high-earning jobs and maybe actually take the wheel and man the ship. They had big dreams. And Noah Puckerman was one step closer to living his own big dream - something he never thought he would be doing before everyone else that mattered and were more likely to fulfill their ambitions.

"You're leaving," Quinn said, wanting to put all the emotion in her voice but couldn't. It just came off sounding like she was repeating what Puck said so she could comprehend it.

"I'm proving you wrong," Puck joked. "See? I'm not some dumbass Lima Loser."

"Puck, you're leaving me. And our daughter. We could hardly live off on the pool boy money you've been making, and I'm lucky enough my parents got me back."

"I'll come back, Quinn. I promise. I'll come back when I'm rich and famous and a potential target for assassination," Puck said, trying to reassure her.

"I wonder when that will happen."

"Look, Quinn." Puck took her hands. "I'm never going to leave you forever. I'm just going to try and find something big outside this town, then I'll come running back then we could buy all those nice stuff I've been promising you - a house, some furniture, a killer gaming rig or two, everything."

"Our baby's just starting to learn, Puck. She still can't say a lot of words, she still insists on drinking baby formulas, she still crawls. She needs her father."

"Her father will never be gone forever."

"I love you, Puck," Quinn told him, tears welling up in her eyes, trying to comprehend the whole situation. It seemed simple, really - Puck will leave Lima and travel to different parts of the state. He decided to drop college altogether, claiming that he could do all sorts of jobs studs like him could do - TV commercials and modeling for ads. Quinn knew his intentions were for the better. He was trying to earn money to get nice things for Quinn and their baby. Pool cleaning doesn't really give much.

Quinn never thought she'd find it hard to deal with Puck's departure. She was going to college, and she was going to board in the dormitories. She can't bring along her child, and she knew that. She'd have to resort leaving the baby with Judy and Russell. But she could still visit their kid during the weekends, and she could still spend time with her like all good mothers would. She would bring her to this very same park, sit down on this very same bench, under the very same tree, and watch leaves fall down. She knew Puck would decide to leave someday. She just couldn't take in the reality of the situation easily.

Puck leaned in to give her a sweet kiss on the lips. Being with Quinn, he had controlled his urges to turn every kiss into a hot make-out session, and learned to give kisses that actually mean something and not just to satisfy his personal needs.

"I was wrong about you, Puck. You're not a Lima Loser. You've got big dreams, and you want me and our child to live knowing that you've done a lot for us. Good luck out there."

"I'll make you guys proud.


A/n: My very first attempt at a Puck/Quinn fic. I think they're pretty cute together (then again, I think a lot of the cast members look cute with each other), though I'm not sure if they're my favorite canon couple (you just can't deny the sweetness that is Artie and Tina). Anyway, obviously, it's kinda short, and I could do longer stuff, but it sort of just had to be like this. Kind of short and sweet. Anyways, read and review guys! :)