This is set after season two. Just to let you know. I wrote it at 3am and was too tired to look for mistakes. So I apogolize in advanced if it doesn't make sense or there's a lot of mistakes. Whoops :)

Quick one-shot!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, unfortunately :\

Enjoy! :)

Quinn Fabray lay stretched out on an inflatable raft floating in her family's pool. She adjusted her sunglasses and took a sip of her virgin strawberry daiquiri. She glanced down at her small, but fit body. She gently tugged up her bikini bottoms. She was used to pulling her pants up a little higher, even though it wasn't necessary anymore. It became a habit of trying to hide her stretch marks. Her stretch marks were finally gone, along with all memories she had of her pregnancy, including the father and the baby.

She must have fallen asleep, because suddenly she was startled awake by the sound of the gate to her backyard opening. The lower half of her body dipped slightly into the pool, sending shivers down her spine. Quinn slowly dropped herself into the water and turned around to see who was entering her backyard. She felt her feet slip from underneath her as she walked towards the ladder. She caught herself before she went completely underwater, staring blankly at the boy standing just feet away from the pool. She grabbed tightly onto the ladder and pulled herself up, steadying herself. Quinn reached for a towel on the ground and wrapped it around her waist, still not breaking eye contact with him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

Noah Puckerman's eyes scanned her body, stopping at her toned belly. The last time he saw her bare stomach, it was bulging with a baby in it, his baby. He licked his lips and couldn't help but think that she was more beautiful pregnant, if it was even possible for her to be more beautiful. Puck forced his eyes to look back into hers, noting her not exactly warm glare. He pushed away a grin because he loved to see her pissed for some reason. And damn did she look mad. "Hey," he finally breathed out.

Quinn's mind screamed out, but she outwardly remained cool. "Hey?" she folded her arms across her chest.

Puck could see the anger boiling up inside of her. He knew he shouldn't be here, but he couldn't help himself. He shrugged. "Hey."

"Look, I'm busy so-"

"Yeah, you look it, Quinn," he rolled his eyes at her.

"Seriously. What the hell are you doing here, Puck? I thought I told you to-"

"I know exactly what you told me, Quinn," he snapped back, interrupting her again.

She narrowed her eyes at him, knowing that he, too, was thinking of their conversation last summer. Puck had come to her house just days after she decided to give up their baby, Beth. She told him that she never wanted to speak of her again and especially never wanted to see or talk to him ever again. Quinn could never forget how hurt he looked and how much he tried to fight it.

Puck could never forget that day that she screamed at him after Beth was born. He was hurting after she gave up their daughter, and he knew she was, too. All he wanted to do was comfort her, but she was too upset to even talk to him normally. They hadn't been the same since and it killed him inside.

The silence between them grew uncomfortable. She broke it. "Look, just go. I still don't know why you would come here."

Puck threw his hands up in exasperation. "Maybe because we should talk, at least once, about what the fuck happened between us, Quinn?"

She broke eye contact, studying her house for a moment before responding. Quinn still didn't look at him. "Nothing happened between us."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his jaw drop in disbelief. He couldn't believe she could say something like that. "You're fucking kidding me, right?" he asked, eyes narrowing at her.

Quinn gazed back at him and instantly regretted it. She saw how angry he looked, fist clenched at his side. She whispered, "Nothing real, at least."

"Jesus fucking Christ, Quinn," Puck spit out, running his hand through his mohawk.

"Well I mean it's-" she began, only to be interrupted by him and his growing anger.

"Do you know why I came here today?" he asked, taking several steps towards her.

She shook her head silently, slightly scared, and took a few steps back. Puck grabbed her by the shoulders, tightly but not painfully and spoke forcefully, "I knew how upset you were by losing the fucking prom queen and losing fucking Finn and I wanted to make sure you were fucking alright. Okay? That's why I came here. "

Quinn's breathing became irregular as his voice echoed through her head and his hot breath cascaded onto her damp skin. She was scared of him. Quinn knew he would never hurt her, but she had never seen him this mad before. She opened her mouth to speak, but he continued on. "And maybe, just maybe. I still fucking care about you, Quinn Fabray."

Puck wanted to her speak, to say anything. But at the same time he wanted her to listen to all he had to say. He had never been so angry before, everything was raging up inside of him; he was done with her ignoring him and treating him like shit. Despite his anger, the hint of fear in her eyes broke Puck's heart. Maybe he was finally getting to her. "Do you remember what I said to you in the nursery in the hospital?" he asked, tone softening a bit.

Did she remember? Quinn could almost laugh at that question. Of course she remembered. She had just given birth to their daughter. They were admiring her, from afar of course, and she had asked him if he loved her. He had responded 'yes, especially now.' Those three words terrified her in two big ways. He could have been lying, as Puck so often did. Their whole 'relationship' could have been a lie, and that scared her. But, more than that, she was terrified if Puck was telling her the truth. Then someone could have truly loved Quinn, and for some reason, that scared her more than anything. Especially because she truly loved him back. And they would have been truly in love. And that scared the shit out of her.

"Well?" he questioned, shaking her shoulders lightly.

Quinn nodded hard. 'Y-yes, of course I remember."

His eyes softened at her stutter. Puck didn't mean to scare her; he just wanted to get his point across. "Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe I meant that?"

She shook her head from side to side. "I don't think you did," she said in a hushed tone.

Puck released her shoulders. "Whatever," he growled.

He began to walk away. When he was halfway to the gate, he fumbled around in his back pocket. Puck pulled out a plastic bag and tossed it next to her landing with a slight clink noise. He didn't look back at her as he opened the gate and walked out.

Quinn fought back tears and knelt down to pick up what he tossed at her. She stood back up and began to unwrap the item. A sob caught in her throat as she unveiled a small plastic tiara. The silver piece had tiny rhinestones all over it. Quinn let the bag fall into the grass, but noticed a post-it note in it. She bent down and could barely read Puck's scribble.

I know it's not much. But here's your crown. You're still a queen to me. Always will be.

She looked up quickly and heard the familiar rumble of his truck starting. Quinn dropped the tiara and note on the ground and ran towards her gate. She fumbled with the lock and could see him preparing to drive away. Quinn finally unlocked it and sprinted across her front lawn.

Puck put his noisy truck in drive and reached over to put his seatbelt on. Sure, he tried with Quinn, but maybe it just wasn't meant to be. He wasn't happy about it, but clearly she wanted nothing to do with him. Puck reached for the radio dial, not being able to drive without a good song blaring through his speakers. He looked over in surprise to see Quinn running at full speed towards his car. "What the hell?" he asked aloud to himself.

Quinn reached his truck and stopped suddenly. His eyes met hers, undoubtedly confused. She stepped slowly into the street and stood next to his door, waiting patiently.

Puck swallowed hard and put the truck in park. He unbuckled his seatbelt and removed the keys from the ignition. He slowly reached for the door handle and pushed it open. Puck stepped down and closed the door behind him.

Quinn knew he was waiting for her to move closer. It was all up to her now. He made an effort, many times, to close the gap between them. She denied him every time, terrified of taking that leap of faith with him. Their eyes locked, his begging her to step just a little bit closer.

She did. Puck breathed a sigh of relief as her hands gripped his chest tightly, pulling him into a hug. Quinn's arms draped over his shoulders and she buried her face in his chest. Puck wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his hands on her bare back. He nestled his face in her chlorine-smelling hair. Quinn pulled back, tears filling her eyes.

"Did you mean it? In the hospital?" she asked him.

He removed his hands from her back and placed them on her cheeks, cupping her face gently. "I did," Puck whispered.

"You did?" Quinn asked in a hushed tone.

"I do."

"You do?" she asked again.

"I do," he repeated softly.

Puck began to say something again, only to be interrupted. Quinn's lips crashed against his, warm and tasting vaguely of strawberry lip gloss. He responded happily, kissing her back and placing his hands back around her waist. Quinn pulled back and bit her lip. "I love you, Puck."

He rested his cheek against hers. Puck murmured into her cheek, "I love you."

And all of a sudden, Quinn wasn't so scared anymore.