Quinn woke up at six am. She always woke up at six and despite only having slept two or three hours, her body followed the schedule. She opened her eyes. She hadn't forgotten that he was there, three inches away from her. How could she have forgotten? Her knees were resting against his thighs. One of his hands was almost draped over her hip. And she was sweating. Carefully, she untangled herself from him. He didn't even stir. He was a heavy sleeper, always had been. It was only one of the things that made them so different.

"Hi" she whispered.

Henry always got up at six too. She had inherited that habit from him.

"Good morning" he said.

She found Santana's (or Puck's) black sweater in the kitchen and pulled it over her thin t-shirt before going outside. She would take it off before anyone else woke up.

"I just spoke to you last night, Quinn" Henry reminded her. "Is something wrong?"

Had it been last night? The days here seemed so incredibly long. She was exhausted. And still a bit drunk. She sat on the edge of the deck and watched the lake. It was big. Had Puck and Santana really crossed it last night?

"No" she replied. "Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to talk to you."

She hadn't been lying last night. Henry wasn't the jealous type but she really just wanted to get this off her chest. They had an adult and responsible relationship. No more lying and hiding. She had done her share of that in High School.

"The apartment is empty without you" he said.

"I slept in the same bed as Puck tonight" she said quickly, almost tripping over the words. "Santana and Brittany were occupying mine and making out and I didn't have anywhere else to sleep."

She waited for the uncomfortable silence. She waited for Henry to clear his throat. She waited for the screaming. It didn't come. Instead he laughed quietly, almost bitterly.

"And why are you telling me this, Quinn?" he asked. "You know that I'm not threatened by some childhood crush of yours."

"You're not?"
"No. If you wanted to be with him, you wouldn't be with me. It's as simple as that" he said but sounded frustrated with her.
Quinn thought that it was never as simple as that. Feelings were always more complicated than that. The feeling of his skin against hers, even if it only was her knees. It wasn't rational or intentional, but it was… something.

"I just thought you wanted to know" she whispered. "Since, you know, you keep saying that he and I have this shared emotional trauma that we need to deal with."

"Did you deal with it?"

"No. We just slept."
She could hear him pouring coffee. She inhaled and exhaled slowly. Yes, she was still a bit drunk. She would probably crash in a few hours and screw up her sleep schedule. It was all Puck's fault. Or Santana's.

"Remember when that guy in your class asked you out every lecture for a year?" Henry asked.

"Yes" she replied, not knowing where he was going with this.

"He brought you flowers and chocolate and everything, right?"

"Right."

"And still, you didn't tell me until six months ago."

"It didn't matter" she said. "He was just some guy."

"Right" Henry said, using his professor voice. "Why do think you called me to tell about me sleeping next to this Puck guy at six in the morning?"

Quinn was used to this, used to Henry using her personal life as if it was the topic of lecture. She wondered if it was some kind of advanced therapy or if it was just Henry.

"He's not just some guy" she answered.

"Correct."

"Of course he's not just some guy" she went on. "We have history. It doesn't mean anything."

"Are you calling saying that because you think I'm worried or because you are worried?"

She groaned, just like freshman would in Psychology 101. Except she never had. She had looking dotingly on him. He had looked back. The rest was history.

"I wanted to tell you because I wanted to be honest."

"It's interesting, isn't it?" Henry said. "What we feel the need to be honest about?"

She was fed up with the lecture. She had just wanted to do the right thing, not being accused for something she didn't really understand what it even was.

"I'm sorry I called you" she said sarcastically. "I'll think hard before I call my partner again."
"This is not about that, Quinn" he said but she was sick of it.

"I just missed you, okay?"
"How about you don't call me anymore this week, Quinn" he said. "How about you contemplate your feelings for this Puck instead? I'll see you on Monday."

"You're telling me not to call you?"

"Well, I'd rather not spend my morning hearing about how my girlfriend slept with someone else" he said and cut across her when she tried to retort. "You will spend this week with him and sort out your remaining feelings. I'll see you on Monday."

She hung up on him. That was not how she had thought the call would go.

…

"Did you and Henry have a fight?" Rachel asked Quinn.

Puck hovered back on the stairs to overhear the answer. She had been gone when he woke up. He had no idea if she had even slept next to him at all. For all he knew, she could have left in the night.

"No" Quinn said. "Yes. Maybe. I don't know. Not really a fight. A disagreement, maybe."

"About Puck?" Rachel asked.

"I honestly don't know" Quinn replied. "A bit, I guess. I called to tell him that nothing had happened and told me to contemplate my feelings."

"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."

Puck hung back a few moments but they changed that subject, talking about some friend from New York that they both knew.

"Hello Puckerman" Santana said, from behind him. "You parked on the stairs?"

"Just waiting for you" he lied. "Wanted to ask you about how your night was."

"Ha! Like I'd tell you."

They made their way down the remaining steps. Quinn and Rachel were making breakfast, both nursing big mugs of coffee. Puck didn't feel that hung over but Quinn looked exhausted. He remembered Santana saying something about ten glasses of wine.

"Good morning" Santana chirped, spreading out her hands towards the open glass doors that faced the lake.

"Hope you had a good night" Quinn commented.

"I did, Quinn Fabray, thank you very much."
Puck could see Sam and Mike already out on the deck. He grabbed a sandwich and joined them. The sun had already risen. Today would be warmer day than yesterday.

"Did you guys get any sleep?" Mike asked.

"Slept like baby" Sam replied.

"Not you" Puck muttered, elbowing him in the side. "Yeah, I slept fine. She looks like shit though so she probably didn't."
"Everything is relevant, I guess" Sam said.

"What?"

"When you say that Quinn looks like shit, she kind of just looks just a little bit less hot."

"Hey!" Puck said before he could stop himself.

It was like a habit which was stuck. He had been used to stopping guys to commenting on Quinn's appearance for years. He had been his then. No one else had been allowed to talk about her butt or her eyes and her hair. That was over now, of course. It had been over for eight years. Being here triggered him to act like he had in High School. That couldn't be healthy. Luckily, before anyone could comment on his reaction, the girls came outside.

"I can't believe my plan worked" Rachel beamed. "You two are together again!"

Puck was just about to correct her, to say that just because you shared a bed it didn't meant that you were entwined for life. Then he realized that she was talking to Santana.

"We're not together" Santana replied.

"You're not?"

"I live in New York. She lives God know where, running that dance place. It's not like everything worked out just because we had sex again."

Rachel pouted. Quinn was still drinking coffee. He wished that he could have overhead her fight with Henry.

"Will we complete the game today, Rachel?" Tina asked. "We were so close to winning."

Puck groaned loudly but Quinn's moan was louder.

…

So they were back in the forest. Quinn stayed closer to them this time. She was walking ahead of him on the earthy path, wearing a pair of Santana's converse instead of her own high heeled shoes today which were better suited for the mud. She had lost the tight skirt too. It was like she had transformed back to the person that he actually recognized, that he actually liked.

"Can you not step on my heels?" she snapped.

Or almost liked.

"I'm not."

"Yes, if you think I walk too slowly, then pass me."

"I don't. Just chill out, okay?"
He couldn't see her face but her back stiffened. Naïvely, he had thought that she would have cooled off after being able to sleep next to him without strangling him. Apparently not.

"Come on" Mike called from the front of their little group. "We have to find this cave thing if we want to win."

"I don't want to win" Quinn muttered, only loudly enough for Puck to hear her.

"No one forced you to come" he retorted.

Tina stopped suddenly and Quinn almost walked into her. Puck, however, couldn't stop himself in time and bumped into Quinn's back. Maybe he had been walking to close to her.

"Sorry" he mumbled.

"You two are so frustrating" Tina said.

She looked almost angry. No, she looked like a pissed off mother. Puck recognized that look from his own mom's face. He would never get away from women who were utterly disappointed in him. This really was like High School.

"Sorry" he said again.

"Mike and I will find the cave on our own" she announced.

"Tina…" her husband protested.

"You two can… wait here for us."

"Seriously?" Puck asked. "You're dumping us?"

"You are acting like children" Tina snapped. "It's excruciating to listen to. We'll be back in twenty minutes to pick you up. Don't move."

And they left, hand in hand in their matching pair of rubber boots. Puck looked after them. Parents.

"Great. Now they're mad at us" Quinn said accusingly.

"You were the one who bitched about me walking to close to you."

"You were!"
"Wow, that must have been very traumatic for you."

She turned to face him. Her face was pink and her eyes bright. But she didn't look angry. She inspected him closely, as if he was lab rat in a cage or math problem she couldn't quite solve. He stared relentlessly back. She didn't get to be the angriest.

"You drive me mad" she said through gritted teeth.

"Likewise."
She opened her mouth and he expected her to scream again. She didn't. Instead she walked closer to him and kissed him. Her lips were soft and hard at the same time. She used too much force for it to be a romantic kiss, instead it was an angry kiss. Her teeth clashed against his as he opened his mouth just an inch. What was going on? He pulled back and stared at her. Her brow was furrowed but she didn't look humiliated or embarrassed. Not even regretful.

"What was that?" he asked, stepping away from her.

His lips burned. He touched them with his fingers carefully as if he expected them to sting.

"I had to do it" she said.

"Okay. Why?"

"I'm contemplating my feelings."
"What?"

"Henry told me to."

Puck actually laughed. But it was a forced laughter. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve even though she wasn't wearing any lipstick that could have stuck to them. He just wanted to stop them from burning.

"Your partner told you to kiss me?"

"Not in so many words" she said defensively.

"If he told you to jump off a cliff, would you do that too?"
He felt his rage return. She had no right to kiss him. Not with that much force and passion and feeling. She had no write to use him as some kind of experiment.

"I'm sorry" she said but didn't sound like she meant it.

"Leave me alone."

Which of course was easier said than done when they were alone in the forest, waiting for Changs to return.

…

Her cheeks were a little pinker but otherwise she looked the same. Not ashamed, not regretful, not disgusted with herself. He started to pace on the small path to stop himself from looking at her.

"If you have issues with your boyfriend, you discuss them with him. I'm not your fucking guinea pig that you can test your feelings on."

"I apologized" she responded.

"Yeah, well at least try to make it sound like you actually mean it next time."

"Calm down" she sighed.

He couldn't see her face but he was sure that she was rolling her eyes.

"Calm down? Fuck you."
"Hey" she said. "Don't swear at me."
"Don't fucking kiss me."
"Fine. I won't. Ever again. Happy?"
He didn't have the chance to answer since her phone started ringing. She hastened to answer it in her sweetest voice. He thought that he might throw up when she giggled in a forced way. It was probably her partner and she felt so bad about kissing someone else that she was overcompensating. He wondered what she would say if he wasn't here right now. He didn't need a review concerning his kissing experiences by her.

"No, I'll be back on Monday" she promised. "Bright and early, as always."
He stopped pacing and exhaled slowly. She was right. In just a few days, he would never have to see her again. She would go back to New York and he would go home and it might take another eight years until he saw her again. Or nine.

"Okay. Bye" she said and hung up.

"No I'll love you forever?" he asked.

"What?" she snapped.

"Bye isn't a very romantic way of saying goodbye to the love of your life."
She snorted.

"I was talking to my boss, Puck."
"Oh. That's why you were sucking up so much."
She shrugged.

"You do what you have to."

"Really? You go to school for like a hundred years and still have to suck up to some guy? Wow."

"Shut up. It's not going to be like this forever."
"Right. You're a real lawyer soon, right?"
"Yes" she said defiantly.

"And then you'll start saving the world?"
"It's not that easy."

"Really?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I have student loans."

"Right."

She frowned. He could tell that he had struck a nerve. One part of him wanted to press on, to make her explain herself and how she was walking away from some altruistic dream. He could do it as a form of revenge; make her squirm and question her life choices. But he felt no satisfaction in seeing her clamp her jaw together.

"You don't even know why I want to be a lawyer" she said.

Her tone was harsh and wounded and Puck almost felt bad. Not that he would ever admit it.

"No, I don't" he admitted.

"Not all lawyers are money greedy idiots."

"I never said that they were."

"Well, I'm not going to be like that. I went to law school with a bunch of those. Guys in nice shoes and dollar signs in their eyes."

"Alright" he said.

"I want to be a women's rights lawyer. I wanted it for a long time. I want to help women who are beaten and abused by their husbands. Or raped. Or divorcing a husband who wants to leave her with nothing."

Her mother. Judy. Puck remembered her messy divorce from Quinn's cheating father. Suddenly the lawyer thing actually made sense.

"But?" he asked. "But you have to even out your credit a little bit first?"

She glared at him.

"I didn't create this country's educational system."

She had crossed her arms across her chest. It was her standard pose to fall into when she felt exposed. Or it had been before at least. He knew her so well. He knew when she was mad or happy or sad. He hadn't really realized it until this week. It had always been second nature to him.
"Hey, Q" he said. "That sucks."
She frowned at him again, as if she wasn't sure if he was making fun of her or not.

"Yeah, it does" she agreed.

"You still shouldn't have kissed me."

She groaned.

"Fine. Sue me."

"Nah" he grinned. "I would never win against you in court."

…

"She kissed you?" Santana gawked. "On the mouth?"
"Yeah. And then blabbed something about Henry making her do it."
They were hiding out in his truck, drinking straight out of a wine bottle Santana had stolen from the kitchen where the others were making lunch.

"That's weird" she said.

"Yeah, tell me about it."
"What did she say?"

"More than that? Not really anything. I yelled at her for a while. Then… we started talking about something else" he said. "Damn, I should have been pissed at her longer."

"Too bad that you're terrible at staying mad."

"I'm not" he disagreed.

"Yeah, you are" she said. "You turn furious in a second but then it wears off. You never hold a grudge. Well, except this one of eight years with Quinn."
"Maybe I'm just a forgiving person" he grinned.

Santana took the bottle from him and put it to her lips. He had tried to talk to her about Brittany but she refused. Probably because in four days, they would go home to different parts of the country. Puck didn't force her to discuss her feelings.

"Have you decided what do with that show?" he asked. "Will you sign the contract?"

"Yes" she replied instantly.

"Despite what Quinn said?"

"Screw her."
"She's only trying to help, you know."

Santana gave him a look. It was long and hard almost made him blush a little bit. He might know Quinn well, but Santana knew him.

"Seems like you forgiven her, then?" she said.

"What? No."

She raised one of her well sculpted dark eyebrows at him.

"Do you really want to movie to LA?" he asked. "I thought you loved New York."

"I would really like to do some real acting" she responded.

"You do theatre now. Isn't that considered real acting?"
"Yeah, but it pays shit."

He leaned his back against the car seat. He had fixed up the interior of his car last winter. He was still pleased about how it smelled.

"What if I come with you?" he asked. "To New York. Would you stay then?"

"You won't move" she replied.

"I might."

"Why? Two days ago you said that it wasn't your thing."

"I don't know if Detroit is my thing either" he shrugged.

She gave him another of those looks. He looked away, onto the house. He could see Mercedes through one of the kitchen windows. She was talking to someone. He could see the back of a girl with blonde hair. She turned. It was Brittany. He wondered what Quinn was doing.

"And you have your life in New York too" he went on. "Would you really want to leave all that?"
"Like what?"

"Your friends" he suggested.

"Rachel might come to LA too in a few years. They love that musical shit in Hollywood now."

"What about Quinn then?"
Santana groaned.

"God, what's happened to you?" she asked.

"What?"

"Stop bringing her up all the time!"
"I'm not."
"Yes, you are. You've already spoken about her three times during the last five minutes."

"You're overreacting" he said.

He looked back towards the house. The kitchen window was empty now. Maybe lunch was ready. They should probably go inside.

"All she has to do is kiss you and you love her again?" Santana asked.

"No. Come on. You think I'm that spineless?"
Santana sighed again.

"No, I just think that you probably never fell out of love with her in the first place."

…

He didn't look at her. Not once during lunch. Not that she was looking at him. She just knew. Maybe he was still mad at her. He hadn't seemed angry when the Changs had found them in the woods. But now he wasn't looking at her. Not that she noticed. Or cared.

"Aren't you hungry, Quinn?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, sorry" she replied. "I'm just tired."

"Sorry for that Q" Santana drawled, grinning widely.

Quinn scowled at her before facing the sky. The sun was warm today and if she wasn't careful she would burn her pale skin. She hoped someone had had the wits to bring sunblock. She hadn't.

"We can switch the beds around a bit tonight" Rachel suggested, sounding rather reluctant. "Then you might sleep better."

"It's fine" Quinn replied. "I'll sleep on the couch or something."

She wished that she could call Henry. She wanted to ask him so many things. Not only as her partner, but mainly because he had more or less been her therapist for the last seven years. She wanted to ask him why her hands were still shaking after she had kissed Puck. She wanted to ask if it was normal to feel physical attraction for one person but love another. She wanted to ask how to get rid of it. But she couldn't because he had asked her not to call. And their relationship was built on respect. It was like a mantra they had repeated for years. Respect. It felt less powerful now that she was saying it on her own.

"Maybe a quick dip in the lake will wake you up" Sam suggested, putting his arm around her.

She could tell that Puck was looking at her now. She closed her eyes, pretending to enjoy the sun light on her face.

"Actually, it might" she said.

"You're kidding?" Sam said. "Has the time for Quinn to get undressed finally arrived?"
"Hey" she said. "Don't act like a perv."

"Sorry, ma'am" he replied.

"And I'll walk into the water by my own, thanks. There's no need to throw me in. Okay?"

Mercedes and Tina offered to wash the dishes and Quinn didn't object. The lake looked rather inviting from the bedroom window as she changed into a sports bra and pair of cotton underwear since she hadn't thought to bring a bikini. At least these pieces of underwear wouldn't become see-through when wet. That was the best she could do.

"Wow, it's cold" she mumbled as she stepped into the water.

Most of the others were already in the water, playing game of wrestling where the fighter sat on the shoulders of another. Brittany sat on Puck's shoulders. She wasn't wearing a bikini either, just a pair of tiny panties and a pink bra.

"Come on. Quinn" Sam yelled.

She took another step into the wetness. It was cold but manageable. And she needed to clear her head. Puck and Brittany had won the wrestling match against Mike and Santana and cheered loudly. Puck lifted her into the air and spun her around. They looked great together; he so dark and she so light, both with strong bodies. They looked like commercial for Nike or something.

"Hey" Sam said, approaching her and waving to catch her attention. "Here I am."

"Hello" she said.

"It's deep now" he said, pointing towards the surface. "You can swim."

And she did. The water engulfed her body and made her stop shaking. Finally. She felt in control again.

"Great, huh?" Sam said.

She nodded. She could see Puck and Brittany behind him. They were still doing their aerial victory pose, Puck's hands around Brittany's taught legs

…

He knew that she would never do anything with Sam. He knew it because she had never really been in to him, not even when they dated, and because she with Henry. Still, he didn't like seeing her with him. It brought back memories from High School and anger and passion and smashing Sam's jaw. If she hadn't kissed him, he wouldn't have had the need to look at her like this. He tried to concentrate on keeping Brittany on his shoulders and not slipping and falling. He tried, but it was hard when Sam stood that close to her. She laughed at something he said.

"Come on, Puck" Brittany called out. "We're losing."
He saw out of the corner of his eye how Sam lifted Quinn onto his shoulders. Her skin glistened in the sun light as she sat there. She laughed again. It had been a long time since she had laughed like that in his presence. Maybe it was just easier for her to be with Sam. Maybe because they didn't have a fucking history thicker than the bible. Or maybe, they just had some kind of common ground that Puck didn't understand.

"Puck!" Brittany yelled as she was knocked off his shoulders.

He stumbled too and fell face forward into the cold lake water. He swallowed some it by accident and coughed as he broke the surface.

"You lost your focus" Brittany said, rubbing water out of her eyes.

"Yeah" he admitted. "Sorry."
"She does look nice in a bra."

"Who?" he asked innocently.

"Quinn, of course" she said sweetly.

He coughed once more and dared a look at her. She was off Sam's shoulders again, thank god. She had crossed her arms across her chest and shivered slightly. He wanted to touch her, to rub her skin dry. Kiss her again, even. He forced himself to look away. He tried to conjure up an image of Cindy but it was impossible. Quinn had infiltrated his brain with that quick, rushed kiss. He couldn't think of anything else and all she was doing was laughing with Sam. It really wasn't fair.

"I know that face" Santana said, siding up to him in the water.

"Save it."
"She's not going to do anything with Sam."

"I don't care if she does."
His spoke as quietly as he could but Brittany and Mike were both within earshot.

"You should be worrying about her boring boyfriend, not little Sammy."
"I'm not worrying" he insisting.

To prove his point, he walked up to the happy pair and flung his arms around their shoulders. Sam grinned happily but Quinn froze as he touched her.

"Are you contemplating your feelings with Sam too?" he asked her.

"Just leave it" she replied.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Nothing" Quinn replied and turned to look at Puck. "Don't make such a big deal out of this, okay?"
Her face was so close to his now. He could lean and kiss her. It would be some kind of revenge. Or justice. He had the right to kiss her once, since she had kissed him. But not now. Not in front of Sam and everyone else.

"You two speak in code" Sam complained. "I feel left out."
"Don't" Quinn insisted. "Let's just forget it. Okay?"

"No, I mean, like always. Even in High School. I hated hanging out with the two of you because all you ever did was talk about things I didn't understand."
"That's not true" Quinn said.

"Yeah, it is" Sam insisted. "That's one of the reasons we broke up. I was so jealous. I thought that you two were having an affair behind my back."

"No, we weren't" Puck said. "I swear."

"I know" Sam said, grinning again now. "Quinn was having an affair with Finn. This is all very confusing."
Puck laughed. Quinn rolled her eyes but smiled too. It was ages ago. No hard feelings. Sam rushed away to join a new wrestling match and they were left alone. Puck dropped his arm from her shoulders but stayed close. He wanted to see how long she would stay next to him.

"I've done so much shit" she said. "I still can't believe it."
"You're talking to the guy who went to juvie" he reminded her.

She smiled.

"Yeah, that wasn't very smart either."
"Well, no one's ever called me clever."
"Don't sell yourself so short" she said. "You're not stupid."

He examined her face. She seemed to be earnest.

"Thanks" he said.

"Sorry about the kiss" she said. "That, if something, was stupid."

"Yeah" he said. "Stupid."

…