So I was planning to post a fic a week this semester. Obviously, I haven't been doing that. This fic has been sitting on my laptop for a couple months now, so... Here you go. The fic can take place somewhere between I Kissed A Girl and On My Way, but I wrote it after the former. Doesn't really matter, though.
As always, reviews are love, even if it's something short. Or a smiley face. Smiley face reviews are good too.
Disclaimer: Glee doesn't belong to me.
Take Me Back
One-shot
"I wish I'd done it differently."
When Quinn's alarm went off, she frowned into a pillow that didn't feel right. Curled further into blankets that were only vaguely familiar and a mattress that wasn't hers anymore. Opened her eyes to a room that wasn't the one she'd lived in since she moved back in with her mother and into the condo on the other side of Lima.
"What on earth..."
She turned her head as her phone buzzed on the nightstand she knew she sold. Her old phone with the custom Titans skin, the scuff mark on the right corner, and her and Finn's homecoming picture as the background image.
Her hand shook as she reached for it, eyes going unbelievably wide as she saw Wed, Sept 24, 2009 glowing brightly on the screen. Among the cluster of texts from Finn saying he needed to talk to her and that they'd figure it out, there was a text sitting in her inbox without a number. No sender. Just eight words.
This is your second chance. Don't waste it.
Her eyes searched for the date on the message and she gasped when she saw Tues, Dec 6, 2011 attached to the text. The time stamp was only minutes after she had gone to bed.
"How..."
She jumped, phone clattering to the floor, when someone knocked on her door.
"Quinnie!" her mom called through the wood. "You don't want to be late! And don't forget to talk to Finn about the Chastity Ball! You're a shoo-in for queen again."
"O-okay, Mom!" she stammered, stomach churning as she remembered those same words two years before.
Her entire body trembled when she slid from her bed, hands splayed over her belly.
"This isn't possible," she whispered, sure that the nausea she felt was just from this dream she was trapped in. It wasn't—couldn't—be the morning sickness that had plagued her for the first months of her pregnancy.
But as too-long hair fell over her shoulders and she looked around the room, she doubted it. Pulled off her pajama top and saw clean skin without the slightest hint of the stretch marks that had been there when she went to bed. Stared, gob smacked, into her mirror and saw a face that was only the slightest bit rounder, the slightest bit younger, than it had been the night before.
As she dashed for the toilet in her en suite, she wrapped an arm around her stomach.
Her mother knocked again only seconds after she walked back into her room, teeth brushed, hair pulled back into a ponytail, and Cheerios uniform snug against her body.
"Quinnie, would you like me to cut you your grapefruit?"
"No thanks, Mom," she said, forcing her voice to remain steady. "I'm not hungry."
Her mother said something about less calorie intake that Quinn didn't listen to as she stilled her hands enough that she could apply her eyeliner and mascara.
"Wake up, Quinn," she murmured as she tightened her pony and reached for her bag. "Wake up."
School was as she remembered it had been the day after she told Finn she was pregnant. Karofsky was giving Kurt a hard time by the water fountain and Tina was dressed in the clothes she'd all but abandoned since senior year started. Matt sat next to her in their history class as silent as ever and she glanced at the boy she hadn't heard mentioned since he first moved. Arizona, right? Maybe Alabama? She was sure it started with an 'A'. She'd have to ask Mike when she woke up. Matt had been a nice guy. Maybe she'd email him.
Finn kissed her cheek when he met her at her locker before lunch, hand barely brushing against her stomach as his hand fell. "Hi."
"Hi."
She barely paid attention to what he said, just nodded and mumbled agreements when she thought she was supposed to. Searched the lunchroom for Puck and saw him sitting with the rest of the football team, barely paying any attention to Santana even though she was sitting on his lap.
They must have been on again today. She had never been able to keep track of when 'Pucktana' was on and when Santana was not-so-secretly with Brittany. Sometimes they blended.
Something in her stomach twisted as the Latina kissed her way up Puck's neck, fingers playing with the Mohawk that she knew Puck had let grow out. It was short now, though.
She followed after him when he pushed Santana off and headed out into the hall. Shot an excuse to Finn and tried to not make it too obvious as she exited. Grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him to the side.
"Puck-"
"What? You want to call me a Lima Loser again?" he asked, almost snappish and maybe a tinged hurt. She flinched at the memory of what she'd said to him and shook her head.
"No. I... I'm sorry. I never should have called you a Lima Loser. You're not," she said, knowing even as she did it that she was echoing words she'd said to him two years ago, "You're special and romantic."
His face softened and he leaned against the wall. "Then what do you want? I haven't said anything to Finn."
"I know you haven't. I just..."
She didn't even know what to say. She knew she hadn't followed him in the past, but she was still lost, waiting for this dream to end and for her to wake up in her bed, empty and alone.
"What? Quinn, I told you I'd take care of you. Of both of you," he said, softer as he leaned in towards her.
"I know you would," she said as the memories of Puck holding Beth flashed across her vision. Tears burned at her eyes, but she blinked them back. "I know you would. You... Puck, you would be an amazing father."
"Then give me a chance!"
He stared at her, eyes pleading, and her hand brushed against her still-flat belly. Thought back to the text still sitting in her inbox. It said this was her second chance. She still didn't believe that this wasn't a dream, but if it wasn't... If this was her chance to make things right...
"I need to figure some stuff out," she told him, as close to the truth as she could be. "Just give me a little time, okay?"
He sighed heavily and nodded, hands shoved deep in his pockets as he stared at her with the eyes she knew Beth had. God, it was like his pleading-puppy-dog eyes were hereditary. She remembered Beth giving them that same look the one time they got to babysit and she wanted her teddy.
"Let me know?"
"Promise."
Puck smiled at her when he came into Glee after school.
It disappeared when Finn came in and kissed her hello.
She did notice, though, that Santana was on the other side of the room.
They must have been off again.
She paced her bedroom, dressed in a loose red top and skinny jeans. Her hair fell over her shoulders and into her face until she pulled part of it back into a plastic barrette.
She was still waiting to wake up, but as hours ticked by, she started to doubt she would.
When she woke up the next morning in the same bed, long hair messy, and feeling queasy, she figured that maybe this wasn't a dream. She almost expected to see another text, but there weren't any new messages from the mysterious sender with no number. Just more messages from Finn and a single one from Puck saying that saltines were good for morning sickness and that his mom used to keep them next to her bed when she was pregnant with his sister.
She texted back a thanks with a smiley face and made a mental note to hit the store after cheer practice.
She didn't text Finn back.
Finn was distracted when she saw him and she knew that he spent most of lunch staring off towards Rachel. The last time this happened, it upset her. Not because she was in love with him. No. She'd grown up enough and looked back with enough thought that she knew she hadn't been in love with him. She had been in love with the status symbol he gave her.
Now, as she watched him watch Rachel, she felt sad for him. He was a good guy and this... She knew she was trapping him. Trapping him with a baby that wasn't his and a life he wouldn't be happy in.
She caught Puck's eyes across the room and her phone buzzed a minute after he looked away from her.
Sup, MILF?
She laughed softly, shaking her head both at the text and at Finn's questioning look as she typed out a reply.
I'm going to tell him after cheer practice.
Wnt me 2 come with u?
It might be better for your face if you don't. I'll call you after.
Bttr idea. Come ovr. I'll tell my mom b4 u do.
Okay.
How big do u thnk ur tits will get?
She didn't bother to reply, but she did send him a look from across the room that made him laugh and shrug. Matt looked at him, confused. Puck punched his arm.
"I'm doing the right thing," she said to herself as she followed Finn's car back to his house. Her hands shook, nonetheless, and she tightened her grip on the wheel as her phone buzzed with another text from Puck.
Good luck.
She held her phone to her chest as she pulled into the driveway, wondering for a brief second if Puck actually spelling the words out completely was an effect of the seriousness of the situation.
You too. I'll see you soon.
"You said you wanted to talk?" Finn asked, confused, as they sat in his living room.
Quinn paced for a second before she lowered herself into the chair across from him and took a deep breath. "Yeah. It... It's about the baby."
"What? Is it okay?"
"Yeah. Sh—It is fine. I just..." She bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Finn."
"For what?"
"I panicked. When you asked if..." She was stalling and she knew it. Took another deep breath and met his eyes. "I lied to you."
The End
