no way November will see our goodbye
when it comes to December it's obvious why
no one wants to be alone at Christmas time
and come January we're frozen inside
making new resolutions a hundred times
February, won't you be my valentine?

Quinn knew that she shouldn't date Puck. He was bad news. She knew that. The hint of stretch marks on her stomach and the fact that she occasionally still felt waves of guilt when she thought of the small baby who smiled so brightly at her were enough to prove that. So when he asked her out on a date in the middle of their senior year, she was reluctant to say yes. But say yes she did. Quinn reasoned that a few dates wouldn't be so bad, it would be like hanging out again, as friends. Almost.

She knew that she didn't want to end this…whatever it was in its early stages, so she wouldn't break up with him this month. Maybe next month. She continued going on dates with him and slipped back into that familiar ease that was Noah Puckerman, slipped back into walking with him to classes and talking to him on the phone until it was ridiculously late, slipped back into smiling warmly whenever his name was mentioned.

December rolled around, and Quinn still hadn't mustered up the courage to break up with him. It was almost easier this way. He was happy, and she was too, and it was Christmas time. She didn't really want to be alone around Christmas, and she was sure Puck didn't want to be alone around Hanukkah, so really, it would just be simpler if they stayed together. So she continued to go on dates with him, and bought him a gift for Hanukkah, and he bought her one for Christmas, and they kissed under the mistletoe and he took her ice skating and bought her hot chocolate and told her she was beautiful, and Quinn couldn't help but think he was the sweetest and most handsome boy ever.

January rolled around and by this time, Quinn had already fallen into a pattern with Puck. They were basically exclusive, even though neither of them would say it out loud, and breaking up with him didn't even flit into her mind. She continued to go over to his house and brought him soup when he was sick, and learned how to charm his mother into liking her, and she fell more and more in love with him, even if she wouldn't say it out loud.

Then came February, and he surprised her with a huge serenading outside during lunch, and he told her he loved her, and she almost – almost – cried but she didn't, and she told him she loved him too, and wrapped her arms around him and kissed him and felt happier than ever. She couldn't believe that she would have ever considered leaving him, because she loved him, with all of her heart, and she wouldn't mind spending the rest of her life with him if she was going to be honest with herself, and she loved him. Quinn Fabray loved Noah Puckerman, and he loved her back.

But then her father found out in March. Her father, who was angry and drunk most of the time, who swore too loudly and intimidated her mother, found out about her relationship with the boy who had knocked her up, and he got upset. Red in the face, huffing and puffing, shouting and shaking the windows upset. And he got too close to Quinn and he was shouting and upset and she cried and promised that she would break up with Puck the next day. And she walked into school and tried not to cry, but it was so much harder than she thought it would be and she felt awful, absolutely awful. And instead of getting angry, he just held her until she stopped crying, and kissed her forehead, and promised, in his quiet, soft, gentle voice, that he would wait for her, and wait for the day when they could be together again. And Quinn wasn't sure what was worse – seeing him get angry, or having him comforting her but either way she felt guilty and sick to her stomach and like there was this hole in her chest that only he could fill.

and we'll both be safe 'til St. Patrick's Day