Disclaimer: Glee doesn't belong to me.

A/N: Sorry for the long gap between updates. This hasn't been spellchecked, so if you notice any mistakes, please let me know!

III: Don't Lie

"We need you to settle something for us," Quinn begins. In the folding chair next to her. Finn nods. He looks like he wants to take her hand, even though all he's done since he found out is argue and make things difficult.

"Well, I can certainly try to help," Ms. Pillsbury says.

"I'm pregnant." Quinn hasn't said those words to anyone yet but Finn, and their stark abruptness pleases her, in a perverse way. She sees that Ms. Pillsbury looks completely unsurprised, and wonders for a second whether she already knows, whether Finn told Coach Tanaka about this -- obviously, he's been dying to tell someone, and the whole school knows Tanaka and the guidence counselor are an item -- but she decides to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. It's Ms. Pillsbury's job, after all, not to look shocked by any kind of teenage depravity. "I have to see a doctor," Quinn says. "I know I want the baby to be healthy, no matter what. And I feel like my boyfriend is blackmailing me because he won't go with me to the OB-GYN unless he can tell his mom.

"So, what you're saying, Quinn, is that Finn would like to share the news about the child you're expecting with his mother, and that makes you uncomfortable."

"Right. It's none of her business."

Ms. Pillsbury swivels in her seat. "Finn, would you like to tell us how you feel?"

"It's going to be her grandchild or whatever. So it kind of is her business." He doesn't look at Quinn as he contradicts her. Little does he know.

"We're giving it up for adoption. We decided that. So the two of us can handle this on our own."

"Me and my mom have always been close. So I guess I'm being kind of selfish -- I guess I just want someone I can trust to talk to." Now he turns to Quinn, appealing. "I don't have anyone to talk to but you, babe." He won't say he's scared, but he is. "It would be nice if there was somebody who could sort of help."

"Am I right that your parents don't know about this, Quinn?" Ms. Pillsbury asks.

"Yes."

"Don't you think that eventually, your condition will become obvious? I mean, the truth is going to come out, right?"

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"It sounds like you're not looking forward to that day." Ms. Pillsbury straightens her mint green plastic stapler, bringing it in line with the edge of her desk. "I've talked to a lot of girls going through what you are right now. Sometimes, they're wrong about the reactions they'll get from their parents. Many times, unfortunately, they're right. This is what I think. If you have a potential ally in Finn's mother -- an adult who's going to support you in the hard decisions you've made about this baby -- it's going to make every difficult step a little easier."

The ironic thing is, Quinn really likes Finn's mom. She's always been super nice. That's why they can't tell her -- it's bad enough she has to lie to Finn.

"Let's say you have a secret," Ms. Pillsbury says. "And it seems like something that's so hurtful, you're just doing everyone a favor by keeping it to yourself. But maybe it's your pride telling you that. You don't want to embarrass yourself, or him -- uh, the other person, I mean."

Are they still talking about what Quinn thinks they're talking about? She looks for a sign that Ms. Pillsbury knows more about this whole mess than she should, that she guesses what Finn hasn't, so far. But the guidence counselor barely seems to be paying them any attention. She is staring down at her child-sized left hand, at the bare ring finger.

"You might think if you tell, all you'll be doing is stirring up trouble, but it can set you free. The person you're keeping a secret from, they'd rather hear it from you than find out another way. Maybe when you tell him -- that person -- it'll work out better than you thought."

Quinn thinks of Puck, the dark pain in his eyes when he confronted her in the hallway and she told him she would never let the baby be his. She feels bad about that every time she throws up in the morning. Finn's a nice guy, the one she really loves. She doesn't want to hurt him too -- that's why she told the lie in the first place -- but she knows she's given him half a burden that isn't his to bear, and maybe that's worse.

Ms. Pillsbury, with her neat life, her stapler and her Purell, her cute little outfits and the cute little lunches with Coach Tanaka in the teachers' lounge almost every day now, has no idea what it's like. "It's not that simple," Quinn tells her.

"You'd be amazed," Ms. Pillsbury says, "by how understanding people can be when they truly care about you."

Finn blinks in the striped afternoon sunlight coming through the blinds. He's confused. "Wait. So now you're saying we should tell Mr. and Mrs. Fabray? What about my mom?"

"Uh, no. Not necessarily. I mean, only you can decide ..." Ms. Pillsbury trails off. She seems startled, out of it, like she's just woken up from a dream. She turns her back to them suddenly. She is fumbling for a pamphlet from the stand behind her desk.

Quinn looks at her boyfriend, the man she has chosen -- tried to choose -- to be the father of her child, and she knows what she has to do. She can't lie anymore, no matter what.

She stands up, smooths down her Cheerios skirt and reaches for his hand. "Come on. Let's go back to study hall."