The last two days had been a blur. By the time the fog in his head cleared, Puck found himself cursing his decision to leave home in the first place. What had seemed like a solid idea at the time was completely insane now that he was here, standing outside her window, in the middle of the night, in the rain. The place looked like a freaking castle, there was nowhere that could be farther from Lima and the world he was used to. Which, he thought, was kind of the point.

He sighed, ran a hand through his wet hair, and gave himself to the count of five to man up and make a decision. When he got to seven, he gave up and pulled out his phone before he could change his mind. He stared at the screen, took a deep breath, and dialed her number.

He stood there as the phone rang, shivering in the rain, until she finally picked up on the fifth ring.

"Puck?" Half confused, half distracted.

He focused on keeping his teeth from chattering. "Hey, Quinn. You busy?"

A long pause. "Why, what's going on?"

"Look outside."

A third floor window to his left gained a silhouette, and a hand shifted the curtain.

"What are you-"

"Can I come in? It's freaking cold out here." He rubbed his free arm against his chest for emphasis.

She slumped against the window frame and he heard a soft sigh. "There's a door to your left. I'll be down in a minute."

They walked down the hallway in silence. Quinn moved quickly, back straight and eyes forward, with Puck at her heels, shaking water from his jacket. They passed several girls on the hall who eyed them curiously as they went by. Quinn ignored them.

As Quinn closed her door behind them, Puck stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, taking in his surroundings. The room was very neat, and very Quinn: everything was decorated in pale yellows, greens, and purples. Her lacy bedspread was rumpled where she must have been seated moments before next to a small stack of notebooks. A small stereo on her desk played Motown with the volume down low.

He glanced across the room. The other side looked kind of bare. "Is your roommate gonna freak out if she finds a guy in your room?"

Quinn leaned against the desk and crossed her arms. "Ella's spending the semester abroad; she's been in Peru since January. What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, not meeting her eyes. "I was in the neighborhood, thought I'd drop by."

She raised an eyebrow. "You were just hanging around New Haven? Tell me you didn't drive ten and a half hours to 'drop by'."

He laughed in spite of himself. "I wish. Spent the night in Akron before I started my epic road trip, then I got lost in Pennsylvania for a while, so it took way longer than that." He motioned toward the stereo on her desk before she could question him further.

"Still like all that sixties stuff, huh?"

"Puck."

"What's with the CD's? Didn't you used to get a new iPod for Christmas every year?" He reached past her and grabbed the stack of cases. "These Yale kids turning you into a Hipster?"

"They-" She paused, swallowed, and tried again. "They were a gift." She tried to sound nonchalant, but Puck heard the catch in her voice. He put the cases back and turned to face her; he hadn't realized how close they were.

"Who gave them to you?"

Her hands were clenched at her sides. "That's none of your business."

He stuck out his chin and stared her down. "It's just a question."

She gave him a look that could have frozen the rain outside. "What are you doing here, Puck?"

"Why weren't you there?"

He hadn't meant to say it like that. Her eyes flashed with pain, anger, uncertainty, but he couldn't hold back anymore, keep pretending they were just catching up.

"Everyone was there but you. Mercedes flew in from California! I had to listen to Rachel and Hummel sob through a bunch of sappy ballads, Santana flipped out, the whole town's in shock, and you didn't even show! Not a phone call, not even a crappy card in the mail to his family. We're falling apart and you're out here going to class like nothing's happened, living it up in your perfect new life."

His nails dug into his palms. How long had his hands been balled into fists? When had he started shaking?

"He loved you. He stuck by you when everything went to hell sophomore year. Does that mean anything to you? After everything, you're just going to go on like it never happened?"

He stood there, gasping for breath, half expecting her to reach out and slap him. She just stood there, staring at him. After several achingly slow seconds of silence, she said, "Is that what you think? What everyone thinks? That I don't care, that I'm just an ice queen who couldn't be bothered?"

Puck nearly took a step back at the fierceness of her words, but held his ground.

"Well, what am I supposed to think? No one's heard from you in weeks!"

She stood there quietly for a moment, running a finger gently over the CD cases Puck had tossed back onto her desk. "He wanted to get me a big Motown collection for my birthday freshman year," she said softly, her eyes on the stereo. "He couldn't afford more than a few songs on iTunes, so he went to every thrift store he could find and dug up a huge stack of CDs for the same price. The look on his face when I unwrapped them, he was so happy just to see me smile…"

She turned and looked at him then, her cold mask falling away so he could finally see the sadness underneath.

"I can't, okay? I just can't. If I go home…" She swiped furiously at the tears that sprang suddenly from her eyes. "As long as I'm here, things are still normal. I can eat, sleep, go to class, and picture him doing the same things. Taking classes in Lima, singing with Rachel, helping out with the Glee Club…If I went home, if I hugged his mother and sang a sad ballad and cried by his grave…" she gestured uselessly, and his heart ached at the raw pain in her eyes.

"…then he'd really be gone." Quinn's knees buckled; Puck caught her before she fell. He steered them toward the bed and perched on the edge, carefully pulling Quinn down next to him. He put his hands on her shoulders and said clearly, "Quinn, look at me."

When he caught her eye, Puck gave her shoulders a gentle shake and said firmly, "Finn's gone, Quinn. But you shouldn't be up here suffering by yourself. That's why we went back, so we could miss him together."

With a strangled sob, she nodded and turned to weep into his shoulder. Overwhelmed, all Puck could think to say was, "I know. I know."

A gentle rain continued to fall outside. "Baby Love" floated gently through the room, and Puck held Quinn close until she'd cried herself to sleep.

This is an idea I've had for a while now, and after the 100th episode, I can practically call this canon. This is my answer to why Quinn wasn't in The Quarterback, and it actually fits nicely with how the plot progressed. I neeeever write angst, but this seemed like such an important moment that was missing, I had to give it a try. As far as I can tell, this will be my only story that acknowledges Finn's death; in my next story, which will be much lighter, he'll still be around. On a side note: I couldn't believe it when they had Quinn and Puck sing Just Give Me a Reason, I was so excited! Ryan Murphy must have finally tapped into my brain waves. For my story where another awesome Glee couple epicly sings that song, go check out Perchance to Dream. I have all sorts of random Glee fics you may enjoy. As always, thanks for checking out my story; every single view brings me joy : )

Happy Reading!

MA