Chapter One:

Quinn and Sam sat curled up on the couch watching television two days before they were due to marry. Quinn was staring into space incredibly happy just lying there with the man she loves. The road the two of them had taken hadn't been an easy one. The odds were mounted up against them: she'd been pregnant in high school before they met; they'd dated when he'd transferred to McKinley high school but then broken up when she'd cheated on him with her ex, Finn, her first love but not the father of her baby.

That honour belonged to Noah Puckerman, one thing she'd regretted ever since it had happened. Quinn had only openly spoken about it to two people. She regretted losing her virginity to Puck at sixteen. She was head of the celibacy club and wanted to wait until she was married. Puck had other ideas and a few wine coolers later after Quinn was having a bad day, they'd had sex and she'd gotten pregnant. Putting their child up for adoption hadn't been easy but was one of the best decisions she'd ever made.

When she and Sam had broken up it had broken her heart because she knew it was all her own fault. Every guy she dated didn't make her feel the same way Sam did. After he'd left she'd spend nights longing for him and thinking about him. Quinn soon realised that at eighteen she was being naive in thinking Sam was the one for her. He sent her frequent emails about how he was getting on in Connecticut. His Dad had got a decent job up there and Sam would be starting to work with him in the fall when Quinn would be starting college. Once she started college and he began working they soon stopped talking frequently and emails became shorter and fewer. They'd simply grown apart.

During her second semester of college, Quinn had met a guy named Max who was studying Maths. Quinn was instantly attracted to him. He was tall, brown haired with a surfers tan. He was clever and caring. He made Quinn feel like a princess. Even more he could play guitar and sing. They would spend many hours locked away in her dorm room jamming and writing songs. Quinn couldn't remember ever loving singing this much since she first joined the McKinley high Glee club.

"Hey baby, what are you thinking about?" Quinn snapped back to reality as she heard Sam's voice.

"Oh nothing much, just how much I love you." She replied.

"I love you too, you know that right?"

"I should hope so, we're getting married on Sunday you good."

"I think I have a date on Sunday..." he replied winking at her.

"Yeah me too now you mention it." Sam glared at her.

"...with you! Ready for bed?" she asked.

"I'll be right up baby. Good night." Sam replied. He pulled her close and kissed her lightly. Quinn smiled as she headed upstairs. Perfect.

As she lay in bed that night wrapped tightly with Sam her thoughts drifted back to Max. She'd spent many evenings walking around campus hand in hand with him. They'd lain on tops of hills just stargazing and enjoying being in each others company. Despite being instantly attracted to him, Quinn had been reluctant to date him, not because of Sam, but because of what she'd went through with Puck, She hadn't slept with anyone since him... since she'd fallen pregnant and had to put her daughter up for adoption. The first time Max had tried something, she'd ran away. She did her best to avoid him but he caught up with her a few days later. "Quinn I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable or stepped across a line. I just felt we were ready to, you know, take our relationship to the next level."

"Max, we need to talk properly. I'm not comfortable having this discussion in the middle of the courtyard. Come over to my dorm room in half hour." She said and turned on her heel and walked away. It was time for Quinn to be honest with Max... about everything.

In the half hour Quinn rehearsed what she was going to say. It was the first time she'd ever been this honest with anyone about sex and more importantly about her daughter. She hadn't even been this honest with Sam in the beginning. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Hi."

"Hi." The tension was unbearable.

"Max, there's a reason I ran away the other night. Please don't interrupt me, I just need to get this off my chest and then if there is anything we can salvage from it, then we can work it out. When I was sixteen I lost my virginity to a guy in high school and fell pregnant. I was head cheerleader and president of the celibacy club. As you can imagine I lost it all: my popularity, my body, my virginity and most importantly, my daughter. I was too young, too scared and too irresponsible to care for a child. I could hardly look after myself let alone a child. I was thrown out of the family home by my parents and spent a lot of time living with different friends. The only thing I could do was put her up for adoption after she was born. It was the best thing and the only thing I could do for her.

I held her just once after she was born. They cleaned her up and handed her to me. I was so overcome with love and joy. She was adopted by a woman who had given her own daughter up for adoption, years earlier. I didn't even name her. Puck, the father, suggested "Beth" and the adoptive mother had stuck with it.

I've missed her everyday for the past three years. Not a day has passed that I don't think about her. How is she? Is she happy? Does she look like me? Is she tall? Is she a dancer like I was? These things haunt me everyday but I've never once regretted putting her up for adoption because it was the best thing I could ever do for her.

Since my first time I made a promise to myself I would wait until I was married until I next had sex and that I would be able to support and raise a child. It's something I'd always believed in, especially as head of the celibacy club. Being president of that club did make me feel a bit like a fraud, here I was preaching celibacy when I'd slept with Puck, who I wasn't even dating and had given birth to his baby." Quinn told him. As she told him she'd closed her eyes avoiding the tears and avoiding Max's eyes.

"I should have told you all this sooner but I've avoided telling anyone the full truth since I was sixteen." She concluded and opened her eyes. Max's eyes were read and a tear slowly rolled down his cheek. They sat in silence until he finally spoke. "Quinn, I'm so sorry you've had to go through all that. I'm honoured you feel safe enough to tell me all of this. I wish I could make it easier for you. I respect your beliefs and I will never push you. You have my word." He told her.
"Thank you" she simply replied.