A/N: First off, I'm soooo sorry about the wait. I said that I'd get it up within a week and that obviously didn't happen. I have no excuse other than this chapter was much harder to write than I thought it would be. Secondly, a big thanks to all those who reviewed. I didn't get a chance to reply to many, but I want you to know that I do take each and every one to heart.

This chapter's title and lyrics come from a song by Brandon Flowers.

Chapter 10: Crossfire

And we're caught within the crossfire
Of heaven and hell
And we're searching for shelter
Lay your body down...
Next to mine

The next two months are pretty much a blur for Quinn. Knowing that her parents would stop paying for school once they found out she was pregnant, Quinn decided to take advantage of the time she had left and take summer courses. That, combined with work and catering jobs she did on the side managed to keep her especially busy. And being busy was just about Quinn's only saving grace; it kept her from having to think about her two biggest issues - Puck and the pregnancy.

The first couple weeks of knowing she was pregnant had been mostly spent in denial. Except for the morning sickness (which she didn't have as often as she thought she would, thank God), it was easy to forget that there was a little life growing inside her. But after awhile, things started to sink in. The pre-natal vitamins were a constant reminder of her current state, not to mention the sonogram picture she kept securely in her wallet. Then there were the sore breasts, the growing appetite, and the mood swings. Discovering this morning that her formally flat stomach was no longer so was the final straw. The bump had come out of nowhere and it was certainly the jolt she needed to let reality finally set in.

And the reality is that she's almost four months pregnant and the only person who knows besides herself is Rachel. She realizes now that that has to change. She has to tell people. And she has to tell Puck.

She releases a heavy sigh as she falls onto her bed. She doesn't like to think about Puck these days because thoughts of him only lead to her feeling guilty. A few times she almost ended up calling him, but in the end, her cowardice won out. He hasn't called her at all. He continues to give her the space she told him she needed. She wonders if he'll get tired of waiting and move on. The thought of that happening makes her heart drop.

"Quinn? Are you here? Quinn?"

She sits up at the sound of Rachel's voice. Somehow Rachel had managed to steal Quinn's spare key right from under her nose. Quinn hadn't even bothered to take it from her. It's kind of nice not to have to answer the door sometimes.

Rachel pokes her head inside. "Ah, there you are." Her dark eyes narrow in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Quinn says with a shrug. She stands up and tries to busy herself by digging through her closet. She is supposed to be getting ready for class, but she doesn't feel much like going to school today.

"You don't look fine."

Quinn decides she might as well be honest. She turns to the side and lifts her tank top, allowing Rachel to get a good look at the bump. Not to Quinn's surprise, Rachel's lips twist into a big smile.

"Aww! That's adorable."

Quinn covers herself up again and sits back on the bed. "You would think that."

"Still not coming to terms with this whole thing, I see," Rachel notes as she takes a seat next to Quinn.

"I am now," Quinn sullenly replies.

"Well, good. Maybe now you can tell Puck. And I can tell Finn. I really hate keeping something this huge from my husband, Quinn."

"I know. It's not fair of me to ask you to." She looks at Rachel with a resigned smile. "You can tell him."

Rachel's eyes widen. "Really?"

"Might as well. I'm not going to be able to keep this hidden for much longer. I think I'm going to tell my boss this week."

"And Puck?"

"Puck..." She closes her eyes, feeling nauseated at the prospect of telling him. "I'll tell him soon," she says, unable to commit herself to anything more than that.

This answer does not please Rachel. "That's what you said the last time I asked and that was three weeks ago. You need to tell him now, Quinn. You can't keep putting it off."

"I can't tell him now, Rachel. He lives in Philadelphia. And I'm not going to tell him over the phone."

"I don't mean this second," Rachel says in an exasperated tone. "Look, Finn wants to go see Puck this weekend, and I figured I'd go along with him. I think you should come too."

"Rachel, I can't-"

"Don't get started on me, Quinn. You can give me all the excuses in the world but none of them will be good enough for me to understand why you feel the need to keep Puck in the dark about the fact that he's going to be a father. He deserves to know. He has every right to know. And you keeping this from him? It's not fair. Not at all."

"Do you think I like keeping this from him? Because I don't. I feel horrible about it, actually. It's just that I'm..." She holds back a groan, finding the idea of voicing her innermost thoughts aloud extremely frustrating.

Luckily for her, Rachel has her all figured out. "You're scared."

She nods. "Yeah."

"That's understandable. But you do realize that that fear is only going to get worse as the pregnancy goes on, right?"

"I know that," Quinn replies. "Doesn't make me feel much better though."

"Please come with us, Quinn. I know it's scary, but think of the relief you'll feel when it's over."

The idea of having the weight she's been lugging around for months lifted off is extremely appealing, but it's also terrifying. Still, she isn't sure she can refuse Rachel now.

"Alright. I'll go."

Rachel pulls her into a tight hug. "You're not going to regret this, Quinn."

She hopes Rachel's right, because right now she isn't so sure.

888

"Hi, Noah."

Puck cracks a smile as he feels her warm breath against the back of his neck. He lets himself enjoy the sensation before twisting around in the barstool and putting on a stern face. "What do you want, Anna?"

She looks at him seriously. "You."

His lips twist into a smirk. "Might want to set your sights a little lower, because you'll only end up disappointed."

Anna grins lightly as she orders herself a drink and takes a seat in the empty stool next to him. "You think very highly of yourself, do you know what?"

"Well, I am an amazing guy. Or so I've been told."

"Who told you that?"

Certainly not Quinn. Or anyone else for that matter. But Anna doesn't need to know that. "Pretty much anyone who's ever known me."

Anna just laughs. "I'm sure."

He takes a sip of his beer and shrugs. "It's true. People just love me."

"So you're here drinking all by your lonesome, looking a tad bit on the depressed side I might add, because people just love you so damn much?"

"I'm not alone. One of my friends from out of town is gonna be here soon."

"Ooh. Is he hot?"

Puck rolls his eyes. "Don't even try. He's married."

"That sucks."

"Let me ask you something, Anna." He swirls his drink around and looks at her thoughtfully. "Do you ever think of anything besides sex?"

She grins. "What else is there to think about?"

He chuckles softly, shaking his head. He isn't even going to bother with a response to that one.

In many ways, Anna reminds him of a female version of himself. It's probably why he doesn't mind hanging out with her. It's also why after initially hooking up and getting to know her, he has absolutely no desire to ever do it again. It would be too weird. Of course she obviously doesn't feel the same way.

"So what are you and your friend planning on doing?"

He shrugs. "Don't know for sure. We'll figure it out once he gets here."

"Well, I'll just stick around until he does."

"You've really got no one else to hang out with?" Puck asks.

"I do, but I'm choosing to stay here with you." She smiles flirtatiously. "Because that's how much I like you."

Puck lets out a low chuckle as he shakes his head. She's never going to give up on him, is she?

"Fine, but when Finn gets here, you're out, okay?"

If she wants to protest, she doesn't show it. Instead she gives a noncommittal shrug and a mischievous smile. And for some reason Puck can't shake the feeling that somehow she's going to end up screwing things up for him tonight.

888

The sun is just beginning its decent by the time they reach Philadelphia. Quinn sits in the back of Finn's Mini Cooper feeling both incredibly cramped and incredibly nervous. The three hour ride hadn't lasted nearly long enough. In less than a half hour, they'd be meeting Puck. The thought makes her want to puke.

"You okay?" Finn asks from the driver's seat.

The whole ride he's been throwing her sidelong anxious glances. Quinn knows he understands how hard this is for her, and she appreciates that, but she isn't sure she needs the coddling; Rachel's overprotective behavior was already enough.

Finn took the news of her pregnancy remarkably well. Obviously he was shocked as well as a little disappointed, but he told her that he would be there for her, just as Rachel would, and that he loved her just as he always did. And that was that. Quinn wishes that everyone in her life will react as Finn and Rachel, but she knows that's about as likely to happen as pigs falling from the sky.

"I'm fine, Finn," she replies. He and Rachel share an annoying look that tells Quinn they don't believe her. "When are we gonna be there?" she asks before they can keep pestering her.

Rachel takes a look at the GPS. "About fifteen minutes."

"Are we meeting him at his house?"

"No," Finn replies, "at this bar he likes to go to."

Quinn fights the urge to roll her eyes. "Of course he'd want to meet in a bar."

"If he knew you were coming, or even if he knew Rachel was, I'm sure he'd have chosen somewhere else."

"He doesn't know Rachel's coming?" Quinn asks in surprise.

Rachel nods. "I decided to come last minute, remember? I'm not really here to see him, anyway; I'm here for you."

Quinn stays silent, not really in the mood to talk any further. She leans her head against the window and tries to forget about what's about to go down. She takes a deep breath as she moves her left hand to her stomach, running it across her belly for just a moment before letting it fall back into her lap. She's nervous. Really nervous. Ten times more nervous than she was a few months ago when she went to Puck's concert. But she had to do this. Putting it off any longer is only going to make things worse.

It isn't much longer before Finn is parking next to a tall brick building. Puck's bar of choice looks small and dark from her position in the car. It does nothing to make her feel welcome.

Finn turns back to look at her. "So what's the plan?"

Quinn shrugs. "I don't really have one."

"Just go in there and tell him," Rachel says simply. "Finn and I should go check in to our hotel anyway. And if all goes well, I guess we can meet up with the two of you later and grab some dinner."

"I'm not sure either of them are going to be up to going out, babe," Finn says, and Quinn agrees wholeheartedly. "Puck's probably gonna need some time to think, and I'm sure Quinn will feel the same."

"Then we'll leave you two to yourselves tonight," Rachel suggests, "and we'll figure the rest out tomorrow."

"Sounds fine to me," Quinn says.

Silence takes over and she realizes it's her cue to leave. Rachel pulls back the seat for Quinn to get out and just as Quinn slips from the tiny car, Rachel's arms are folding around her.

"Good luck," Rachel says.

Quinn just nods. Then she turns towards the building and prepares herself for perhaps one of the biggest moments of her life. She just hopes it doesn't end up as badly as her pessimistic mind is prepared for it to.

The bar is dark and cramped with people, making it hard to make out any sign of Puck. She stands at the entrance for a moment, tempted to make a run for it, before her eyes fall on him. He's sitting at the far end of the bar, drinking a beer. Her eyes narrow as she realizes he isn't drinking alone. A tall redhead is sitting next to him, her pale hands grazing Puck's shoulder as she leans to whisper something in his ear. Quinn's jaw clenches as he leans in closer to respond to the girl, leaving only a few inches left between them.

She would have left in that moment if it weren't for the sudden, irrational anger that has quickly overtaken her body. She shouldn't be feeling this way - this cold, hard jealousy that she can't even deny. Puck isn't hers, he never has been, and she has given him no reason to think otherwise. He's probably gotten tired of her avoiding him. He's probably moving on, just as she secretly feared he would.

Still, the anger doesn't disappear. In fact it only seems to increase as she stalks through the crowd of people and makes her way over to him. This is her own fault. It's obvious to her now. And it pisses her off.

Planting herself right behind Puck, she crosses her arms and clears her throat. If she's going to do this, she's got to be strong. Or at least pretend to be. She can't let him think he's getting to her.

The girl notices her first. She stares at Quinn like she's got three heads. Quinn simply ignores her. Puck, noticing the girl's reaction, swivels his chair around to see what he's missing, and then he's looking right at her. He blinks a few times, like he's not sure what he's really seeing, before a big smile comes to his face.

"Quinn!"

She forces herself to remain calm, even though the sight of his crooked smile is enough to make her melt. "Sorry to interrupt," she says coolly.

"Interrupt?" Puck looks around as if to find the source of her supposed interruption. When his eyes land on the redhead, his face contorts into something that could only be described as annoyance. "Oh, this is Anna. We work together."

Quinn has always prided herself with being a polite person. Growing up the way she did - going to country clubs with her parents, being forced to attend her mother's friends stifling parties every other weekend, and, of course, being captain of the Cheerio squad since her sophomore year - she was pretty much forced to learn how to put on a charming smile and a positive attitude, even at the worst of times. But now, for the first time in her life, Quinn finds that she can't bring that familiar tight smile to her face; she can't even muster a simple hello. The most she can do is offer a short nod of acknowledgment before settling her steely gaze back on Puck.

To his credit, Puck doesn't look at all fazed by her attitude. There's no guilt and no shame, as if he doesn't find this Anna girl to be worth any thought at all. His smile is still firmly in place as he grabs her elbow and start leading her away from Anna. They end up in the hall, right next to the guys' bathroom. It's dark and a bit smelly, but it's private. Still, she thinks that it isn't exactly the ideal spot to tell a guy you're pregnant with his child.

"What are you doing here?" The excitement in his voice is as clear as day, and it's relieving. Would he be so happy if he'd moved on?

"I came with Finn and Rachel," she says with a shrug. She isn't going to allow herself to show the same excitement he's so obviously feeling.

"To see me?"

"You act like that's completely unbelievable."

He smirks as he leans suavely against the wall. "Well, you've been avoiding me for a long time, Quinn. I was starting to think you were never gonna want to see me again."

She doesn't know what to say to that, so instead she focuses on his work buddy. "You and that girl looked pretty close."

He chuckles lightly. "Nah. We're mostly just work friends, but she likes to bug me by hanging out at my favorite bar."

"She likes you?"

"Of course. Doesn't mean I like her, though."

"It looked like it from where I was standing."

Grinning wildly, Puck shakes his head and stares down at her with blazing eyes. "Babe, trust me, you've got nothing to worry about."

She ignores the fact that he called her babe, because it's pretty clear he's had a few beers and can't be entirely blamed for his actions, and crosses her arms self consciously. The shirt she's wearing is loose and flowey, doing a flawless job of hiding her bump, but for some reason, she feels like it's incredibly obvious - like any second now, he'll look down and realize the real reason she came here.

"We need to talk, Puck," she says firmly.

Puck sobers up a bit at that. "Fine with me. I've only wanted to talk for four months now."

"Not here, though."

"Yeah, it kind of smells like piss back here, doesn't it?" He gives her a soft smile as he nods towards the entrance. "Let's get out of here."

888

It feels like he's dreaming. The honest to God last person on earth he expected to see tonight was Quinn. Even knowing that Finn was coming to see him, the possibility of Quinn tagging along never once crossed his mind. And for good reason. Since seeing her in New York a couple months ago, there had been absolutely no contact between them and he'd been steadily losing hope that they would ever be able to mend their broken relationship. He'd considered a few times going back to see her, but he felt like at this point the ball was in her court.

And it seems now that she is finally ready to take a shot on him.

They step outside and Puck looks at her questioningly. "You eat anything?"

She hasn't, but she's nervous right now that the idea of eating makes her want to vomit. So she lies. "On the way here. You?"

"Yeah, while I was waiting for Finn."

An awkward silence takes over. She looks at the ground, her fingers toying with the hem of her shirt in a nervous manner. There's something off about her. He isn't sure what it is, but he knows her well enough to know that this situation is more than just uncomfortable for her.

"What do you wanna do?" he asks.

"Maybe we could just walk?"

"Sounds fine to me."

So they do. Side by side, they walk slowly down the deserted sidewalk. They're on the outskirts of Philly, closer to the suburbs where he lives, so there's not exactly a lot to see. He waits for her to say something, but after nearly two minutes of silence, he decides to break it.

"So what's going on, Quinn? Why did you decide to finally talk to me again?"

She shrugs. "I got over everything."

"Took you long enough."

"I got over it months ago, actually."

"Oh," he says, smirking. "So you've been over it all this time, but you were just too damn stubborn to do anything about it. Yup. That sounds just like you."

She silences him with a glare. "You don't know the half of it, Puck."

"I'm sure I don't, but that's not my fault, is it?"

She stops walking, planting herself firmly on the sidewalk. He turns around to see what the holdup is, but she's just staring at him, eyes sparkling with rage. "Did you sleep with her?" she demands.

Talk about changing the subject. "What?"

"That girl at the bar. Did you sleep with her?"

"I really have absolutely no idea how that relates to anything."

She takes a step towards him, her gaze cold as she points an accusing finger. "Just answer the question."

"Why the hell does it matter?"

"You did, didn't you? You're not denying it." Her voice quivers slightly and she looks away from him, and is he seeing things or are her eyes suspiciously watery? He is practically speechless; this is so far from how he expected their talk to go.

"It was one time. Just one time and it didn't mean anything."

Quinn seems to be recovering from her slip up. She stares at him with tired, but clear eyes, and shakes her head. "It doesn't matter."

He tries to hide his confusion. "It mattered a second ago."

She begins walking again. Feeling like he's missing something huge, he simply follows her. Once again, he feels like it's her move to make.

A few minutes later, they're sitting on a bench in the park he used to go to as a kid. It's getting dark now and there's only a few people scattered throughout the rather large area. He can tell she has something to say, so he gives her time to collect her thoughts. Something weird is going on, and it's making him anxious.

"I'm pregnant."

Her words come out so quickly - and so out of left field - that for a moment, he isn't even sure if she really said anything at all. But she's looking at him with a pained expression, clearly waiting for a response, and he realizes that he was hearing just fine; she really did just say what he thought she did.

"I..." He stops, because he doesn't know what to say past that. The shock of her announcement is too much. He runs a hand along his shaved head, a nervous habit of his, and takes a deep breath, trying to figure out what the hell he's supposed to do next.

Luckily for him, Quinn doesn't take his silence as anything negative. She gives him a sympathetic smile. "Obviously you weren't expecting that."

A weak laugh escapes him. "No. Not at all. I'd ask if you were serious, but you'd be the last person on earth to joke about something like this."

They're both quiet again as Quinn lets him digest the news. He looks over at her, trying to see if there's any sign that he was missing, but he doesn't really notice anything different about her physical appearance. Except maybe her boobs. Yeah, those were definitely bigger. Then he realizes something.

"You knew when I was in New York, didn't you?"

She looks away from him guiltily. "Yes. I found out the day before you came."

Her behavior from his visit now makes all the sense in the world, and yet he can't help the anger he feels knowing she kept something this huge from him. "You should have told me, Quinn. I would have been there for you. I could have helped you."

"I wasn't ready, Puck," she says defensively. "It took me awhile to accept it for myself, let alone to gain the courage to tell you."

He jumps from the bench, feeling suddenly restless. He paces in front of her, his mind a puddle of random thoughts. He has a million things to say, and at the same time he doesn't have a clue where to begin. "It doesn't make any sense, Quinn. We were safe!"

"I know," she says. "It was just crappy luck."

"Are you gonna...you know...keep it?" She looks somewhat offended at his words and he decides to clarify, "I mean obviously you're not going the abortion route. I was talking about adoption. You're not thinking of giving it up, are you?" For some reason, the idea of putting their kid up for adoption is incredibly hard to even consider.

"No," she answers simply. "I'm keeping it."

He's surprised at the relief he feels. "Good."

"Good?" She's looking at him with raised eyebrows.

His body starts to get a grip of itself and he feels himself relaxing. Taking a deep breath, he sits down next to her and stares her right in the eye. "Yeah. Good."

"You...want to do this? You want to have a baby?"

"Well, I've always liked kids. I knew I'd be a dad someday. Maybe not this young, but I knew it would happen..."

His hand finds its way to hers and he squeezes it lightly. Now that he's had a few moments to collect himself, he feels a little better about it all. He's still shocked as hell, but at least he's got a hold of himself now.

Quinn, on the other hand, despite the fact that she's had months to think this through, looks considerably anxious. "I'm sorry again for not telling you. It was just...it was so much to handle and I..."

"It's okay, Quinn. I understand."

He feels like she needs more than words for reassurance so, feeling suddenly brave, he wraps an arm around her shoulder and pulls her towards him. She tenses at his touch, but he doesn't release her, only holds on tighter. He wants her to understand that he's going to be there for her and he has a strong feeling it's going to take a little bit of forcefulness on his part.

"I'm gonna be there for you," he says. "I'll move back to New York and I'll get the best job I can find and I'll take care of you both. I promise you that."

She does exactly as he expected - she fights. "I don't want you to have to give up your life here."

"Are you kidding me? I don't have a life here, Quinn. I work, I go home, I sleep. That's about it. I love my mom and sister, but I don't belong here with them. Even they know that."

"I just don't want you to feel like you have to do this, Puck. That's my point. I can do just fine on my own."

Those words ignite a spark of anger that he doesn't even try to control. He releases his hold on her, standing up, and glaring hard down at her. "No, Quinn. This isn't gonna happen. You pushed me away after we first slept together, you refused to give me a chance even though I was all for it. And then you did it again when I came back to New York. But I'm not letting you push me away again. Not this time.

"I'm not pushing you away. I just don't want to be an obligation to you."

He throws his hands up in frustration. "God, Quinn, you're not an obligation! This baby isn't either. I want to go back and I want to take care of you. Why the hell is that so hard for you to understand?"

This silences her and for that he's grateful. He can argue with her all night on this if he has to, but he feels like there's a lot more they could be doing instead. She's staring up at him with conflicted eyes. He sits down again and puts a hand on her back.

"Will you please just let me do this?" he softly asks.

She closes her eyes, blowing out a long breath. "Yeah."

His lips twist into a broad smile and, instinctively, he inches closer to her, his hand moving to cup her cheek. He wants so badly to kiss her right now, so he decides to just go for it. But just as his lips are about to graze hers, she turns away. He can't hide his disappointment.

"I'm sorry, but we can't," she says firmly, and she doesn't look the least bit sorry. "I can't even think about a relationship right now. There's just way too much else going on."

He gives a wry smile. "Going back to the no dating rule, huh?"

"It didn't exactly work out well for me the last time I broke it," she counters.

"Doesn't mean it's gonna be the same this time around."

"Maybe, maybe not. It's not that I'm not open to giving you another chance, Puck, it's just that I literally can't deal with a relationship right now. I have school and work, and the pregnancy in general. And I'm gonna have to tell my parents soon." A wave of anguish crosses her face at that.

"I get it, Quinn. No relationship right now. Right now being the key words, right?" He gives her a hopeful look.

For seemingly the first time that night, she smiles. "Yeah."

"Okay. Well, that's good enough for me. And hey, if you want me to be there when you tell your parents, I will be. I know it's gonna be hard."

She looks almost shy as she slowly nods. "I'd like that."

He's grins, happy that for once she's actually going to let him be there for her. He stands up, holding out his hand. "We should get going. This place gets kind of iffy at night."

She takes his hand, allowing him to help her up, but she doesn't release it as they start to walk back towards the bar. He thinks it's her way of saying thank you.

Their walk back is spent in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. His mind is still reeling with her news. Even though he feels like he's got a grip on the situation right now, he knows it's going to take a lot of time to really accept this whole thing. She's having his baby. He's gonna be a dad. It's a huge deal.

Right now, though, he's just happy that they're both on the same page. After months of separation, it feels remarkably good to be in her presence again. And if took a surprise pregnancy to bring them back together, then he's got to say, he's incredibly thankful for this blessing in disguise.

A/N: So he finally knows. From this point on the story is going to get a bit fluffier (at least compared to the last few chapters). It's got about five chapter left, so we're getting close to the finish line now.

Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think in a review!