Henry's hands were up her skirt when they heard steps in the corridor. It was too late in the evening to be another professor and too early to be the janitor. They both froze. Heals on the wooden floor, coming closer. Tap, tap, tap.

"Hide" he hissed.

She grabbed her blouse from the floor and straightened her skirt and opened the door to the study of Henry's colleague Professor Gardner. He almost pushed her through it and closed that door behind her. She leaned against thin wood and heard someone step into Henry's study. A female voice spoke in a frantic way. Quinn could only hear every third word or so, but she caught the jiff. His wife. Angry. Suspicious.

"Sally has the flu, Henry, and you told me you had to work but here you are, in the dark, doing nothing!"

"I was just leaving."

"Pull your fly up then."

Quinn closed her eyes. She needed to get out and never come back.

"Where are you hiding her?"

The door suddenly flung open and Quinn crashed onto the floor. Undignified, she stared up onto the face of Henry's wife. She looked younger and prettier than she had expected.

"She's just a girl."

"She's my grad student, Mary. Just helping out with paper work."

"Don't lie to me."

Quinn scrambled to her feet. She wanted to check if she had lipstick all over her face, but it wasn't really the time to make herself pretty. She still held her blouse in her hand.

"Get out" Mary shouted.

And Quinn didn't need telling twice. She grabbed her purse and ran for it. On the stairs, she fumbled with her phone and called Puck.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Can you pick me up at school?"

"I thought Professor Lover was driving you home."

"Change of plans. Can you make it?"

"Sure. Will be there in ten."

"Thanks."

She was just about to hang up when he spoke again.

"You okay, Q?"

"Yeah, sure"

"He didn't do anything, did he? He didn't hurt you?"

"No, nothing but my pride. I'm fine. I just really need to get out of here before his wife changes her mind and kills me."

Puck laughed.

"Gotcha. Hang tight, I'll be there soon."
She hung up. The sound of angry voices followed through the entire psych building.

…

The Chinese food made her thirsty so she pulled on a hooded sweater and went outside to find a vending machine. The evening was still warm and the wind was soft against her face. Quinn had no idea where she was, could never point out this town on a map, but for once it didn't scare her. In a day they would be out of here.

"You looking for this?" someone called.

Puck stood a few feet away, getting ice from the ice machine on the corner.

"No" she said. "Vending machine."

"I saw it, it's other there" he said, pointing at a small light across the parking lot.

She nodded and headed towards it. He followed. She wondered if he had amnesia; she had him told not two hours ago that she wanted to be alone.

"Aw, Snickers" he sighed happily at the sight of the candy through the glass window. "And Dorito's"

She ignored him and inserted a bill and was rewarded with a diet coke. He patted his pockets, looking for change. She mutely handed him her wallet.

"Thanks" he said softly.

It took ten minutes for him to decide what to buy. She stood two feet behind him and waited silently as he went on and on about the pros and cons about eating salty snacks.

"Done" he said brightly and handed her the wallet back.

"Good."

"Are you still mad at me?"

"No."

"You are" he said. "I can tell. You always clench your jaw together when you're pissed at me."

She turned away from him and headed back to her room.

"Is it about Karen, Quinn?" he called too loudly. "Is it some kind of jealousy?"

"No."

"I mean, you were the one who broke up with me…"

She squeezed the tin can so tight that her fingers dented the soft metallic surface. Any harder, and soda would start dripping down her wrist.

"You were with me, for three years, no, more than that. And we break up and you don't care at all?"

"Of course I cared" he insisted.

"What did it take? Three months? Three months and you were with someone else."

"C'mon, Q. Be fair."

"I am being fair. Date whoever you want, but you shouldn't have showed her that film. That wasn't fair, Puck."

She looked past him, into the darkness, away from the light. She couldn't stand seeing him. His face or his eyes or the way he was looking at her now. She could feel his gaze on her. It itched like a mosquito bite.

"I just thought we, you and me, meant more, to you" she said so slowly that almost a whole minute past from the first word to the last.

"You were the one who left me" he said simply and she couldn't deny it.

Instead she wanted to say that she was sorry and she regretted it all, but it was too late. A year had gone by. She couldn't just take it all back.

"Can you at least look at me?" he asked seriously.

She did. She wondered when he had grown into a man. An intelligent and kind man with the softest eyes and the sharpest features.

"I'm sorry" she said because he said it earlier today and she hadn't.

She never said that she was sorry enough.

"Alright."

He stepped closer to her, bent down and kissed her forehead. The touch of his lips against her skin made her shiver. She took hold of the sleeve of his shirt, tracing the inside of his wrist with the tips of her fingers.

"I miss you" she whispered so quietly that she almost didn't say it all.

"I miss you too."

Quinn turned her face up and kissed his lips. He remained impassive, just kept breathing heavily.

"This isn't fair, we shouldn't do this. It's not fair" he told her. "To you or to me."

"Or to Karen" she added out of spite.

"Yeah; or to Karen."

She stepped away, hating herself for letting herself get close again. Every time she had to take a step back, it hurt like a knife between the ribs.

"Good night."

She left him with his chocolate at the vending machine and headed back to her room.

…

"I think you need a beer" Puck said, opening the fridge and handing her a cold bottle.

"I don't drink beer."
"Trust me; nothing like a beer to get over getting caught in the act."

"You have experience?"

He shrugged, getting a bottle for himself too. Quinn sat down on the couch and leaned back against the cushions. Shame still burned hot inside her but it was fine really. It actually was kind of relief. A easy way out of something that would never evolve.

"We both have issues with cheating" he commented, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll drink to that."

She took a sip of the golden liquid in the green bottle and was again reminded why she only drank wine. There's was no escaping the fact that beer tasted like pee. Despite that, she took a second gulp.

"So, Miss Fabray, you a free woman now?"

"When have I not been?" she sighed. "Haven't had a boyfriend since Finn."

"Good for you."
"And what about you? Where do you take your ladies when you don't have your own place?"

Puck sighed dramatically.

"Where would I meet any chicks? I work at a school where other the teachers are like fifty and the only people I meet are your friends, who were cardigans and sensible shoes. Not my type."

"Hey, I don't wear sensible shoes."

"Well, you're the exception then."

"Yeah" she exhaled. "The only exception."

He sat down next to her on the couch. She curled up her feet to make room for him. It was a wonder that he could sleep on this tiny thing. He never complained even though it would have given anyone else back problems.

"Thanks for coming to pick me up" she said.

"Anytime."

"I mean it. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come to get me."

"I mean it too. Anytime. Seriously."

She smiled and mouthed thanks.

"Anyway, I never liked that Henry dude."

"You've never even met him" she sighed, punching his arm playfully.

"I know, but you kept missing Whale Wars when you were with him. You missed Peter's breakdown last week."

"Peter broke down?"
"Yeah, the Japanese killed a whale and Peter just, cried, like a baby. I almost did too."
"Did you TiVo it?" she asked.

"Yeah."
"Can we watch it?"
"I already saw it."
"Can't you watch it again, with me? It's no fun watching alone."
"That's what I said."

"Fine. I'll be home every night from now on. No boyfriends."

"I like the sound of that" he smiled.

…

"Wait" Puck called and she waited.

He caught up with her on the stone path outside her motel room.

"For what?" she asked quietly.

"You miss me?"
"Yes."

"I miss you too."

"Yeah, you said."

Her tone was harsher than she had intended but he made no comment. Instead he kissed her, on the lips, softly and slowly. She draped her arms around his neck. His hands ran down her sides. She wondered if he could tell that she had lost weight. She hadn't had much hunger the last year. It was only thanks to diner fries that she wasn't all skin and bones.

"Do you love her like you loved me?" she asked against his lips.

"You can't ask that."

"Why not?"

"Because I can't tell you."

"Okay."

He let go of her and she felt empty, emptier than she had in a long time. Then he took her hand. She hid her fingers within his.

"Come on" he said. "Let's go to bed. It's late."

She nodded and followed him to his room. She pretended it was the olden days, the days when there would only be one room because they would share it. Like they shared everything. Quinn pulled her sweater over her head and clambered into the bed. He hadn't removed the bed spread. He had never taking germs as seriously as she did. Puck turned the TV off. He had been watching the same channel as she had. She wondered what he thought of that African tribe with matriarch, but didn't ask. Suddenly she was just too tired.

"Good night" she said for the second time as he lay down too.

"Good night."

He moved in closer, resting a hand on her hip, just like he always had. She pressed her cold feet against his shins, like she always had. He kissed the back of her neck. She closed her eyes. And felt safe again.

…

"You're okay with this?" Quinn asked Rachel for the third time.

"Of course. I have no issues whatsoever talking about my so-called adoption. It lies in my past and I have moved on."
"Great."

"Do you have other girls participating yet?"
It was summer and the holidays and Quinn had taken the train to New York for a few days. She would have to go home, to Ohio, eventually. Her mother talked about nothing else and Puck had already gone. With the school closing for break, he had no job for the summer and went back to Lima to clean pools again. Quinn had no job at all. None except working on this film that was burning in head, screaming to be made.

"Not yet. I'm working on it."

Rachel nodded excitedly. Quinn wondered how much of this was about her friend wanting to be on camera, at any price. She didn't question it, though, because having one person onboard was better than none.

"When will we start filming?" Rachel asked.

"In the fall. I have to borrow equipment from school."

"I see."

Quinn looked around the spacious but almost empty Bushwick apartment that Rachel, Kurt and Santana shared. They all seemed to like it, but Quinn could never live there. There were no real walls, no privacy. She thought lovingly of her small, cozy apartment with door that could close.

"Will Puck be partaking in this documentary also?"

"What? Oh. No. I don't think so. I don't really want it to be about me."

"And because you are a couple you think that would be unavoidable?"

"We're not a couple, Rachel."

"Hasn't he lived with you for six months?"

"Yeah."

"And you spend most of your time together?"

"I suppose."
"Then, what's the difference from being a proper couple?"

Quinn stared into Rachel's big eyes. She tilted her head annoyingly to one side, like she had made a point, which she hadn't."

"We're not in love for starters" Quinn said.

"You're not in love with him and still put up with him? I mean, I love Noah, but when he lived here, I wanted to kill myself every time he showered and covered the entire floor with an inch of water."

"I guess I just don't care about those things" Quinn shrugged.

Rachel giggled.

"That's a joke, right? Basically the only thing you and I have in common is how anal we both are about our surroundings. And still, you don't care that he puts empty milk cartons into the fridge and leaves half-empty coffee mugs everywhere?"

"No, not really."
Rachel tilted her head again. Quinn rolled her eyes. This was not Rachel making a point. There was no point to be made.

"Why would be a bad thing if you two got together?" Rachel asked seriously. "You keep brushing it off but seriously, why not?"

"We went down that road and it ended up with a baby and a miserable life."

"Well, then use a condom" Rachel suggested bluntly.

Quinn almost blushed. Almost. She wasn't a little girl anymore.

"It's just not going to happen, Rach."

"Right" she responded slowly, tilting her head a third time.

Quinn walked away.

…

She was woken by the sun that shone through the thin blinds of the motel room. She rolled over and pressed her face into a pillow, craving darkness. When her eyes had adjusted, she opened them an inch. He was not there. She was alone in the bed. The bathroom door was ajar and the room was empty. He had left.

"Puck?" she tried hopelessly.

She wasn't stupid. She knew that it had been idiotic to follow the impulse to sleep together (even if it was just sleep). She knew that he would feel bad and leave and she would feel even worse. Sometimes Quinn hated to be right. She got up and put her clothes back on. It was almost noon. She had slept about fourteen hours.

"No. I know. Yes. I get that. I know."

She flinched at the sound of his voice. But he wasn't inside. She saw his silhouette through the closed blinds as he paced outside the room. His voice was muffled but evidently the walls were thin enough to let most words through. He was on the phone, he always paced when he was on the phone. Karen. Great.

"I'm sorry. Yeah… No. I'm being honest, Karen. Why would I lie? Okay. Okay. Yeah."

Quinn sat down on the unmade bed and watched the outline of him. She should have flown to Lima. Or skipped it all together. Beth wouldn't care. She might have been sad if Puck missed the annual party, but not Quinn. Not the quiet girl who said the wrong things. She didn't need another mom.

"How about you come down? Yeah. I can stay. Sure. No, it's fine. Lima. Yeah, fly to Columbus and I'll pick you up."

Quinn went into the bathroom. She washed her face three times. The water wasn't really cold and didn't wake her up entirely. A person wasn't meant to sleep fourteen hours in a row. She took a deep breathe of crappy motel air and then stepped out into the sun light.

"Yeah. You too. Bye."
He hung up and covered his face with his hands. He had not slept enough, she could tell.

"Morning" she said.

"Yeah. Whatever."

"What did you tell her?"
"The truth."
"Really?"

"Yeah" he said, dropping his hands and looking at her. "I don't lie."

"Right."

He was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, the shirt he had covered his face with to shield it from the sun. It was dirty and crumbled and despire that she wished for nothing more than to press her face into it.

"I told her it was stupid, but not a big deal. I mean… It was stupid but it was nature or whatever. No need trying to analyze it."

"Right" she said again.

"She got upset though. Who wouldn't?"

"Yeah" Quinn exhaled. "Who wouldn't?"

"Yeah" he agreed.

She nodded as she stepped into her shoes.

"Call me when the car is ready."

"Okay."

She started to walk away from him. She hated how much she craved even a little smile from him. Something. A sign. Instead, she got nothing.

"Hey, Quinn."

She turned.

"Yeah?"
"You think you can take the bus back on Sunday? I'm not going back east yet."

"Karen's coming here?"

She didn't even try to cover up that she had been listening in. What was the point?

"Yeah."

"Sure. I'll take the bus."

…

Quinn hated summer, she decided. She hated Ohio and Lima and how everyone asked her about Yale but didn't care about the answer. She hated that her father had come to stay and how he acted like they were one happy family. She hated eating breakfast with her mother, not that she hated her mother, but she had lived alone for two years and it was kind of hard to break habits. But mostly she hated that Puck was busy cleaning pools and sleeping with high school seniors and spending time his mother. She missed him.

That was why she agreed to go to Kitty's barbeque on the fourth of July. It would probably be sad, showing up to a High School party when you were about to start your junior year of College, but Quinn pushed the feeling away. She would go, to talk to Puck and then leave. No one would even remember that she had been there.

She spotted him, with a red cup in his hand and a girl on his lap. And she wanted to leave. Why was she acting like this? They were friends. She could just call him. But she didn't want to. Because he hadn't called her. Instead, here she was. She wore a new dress (a gift from Paris and her father) and had curled her hair and wore proper makeup. Quinn knew that she looked nice, however seeing the girl giggling on Puck's knee made her feel worthless. But before she could, Mike found her.

"Thank god you're here" he sighed. "I feel like the oldest person here."

"Why did you come?"

"Keeping an eye on my little sister" he said and pointed at a small dark haired girl who was giggling in a halter top. "How about you?"

"I actually have no idea."

He found her a drink and they sat down on Kitty's parents' lawn. Mike was nice. Mike was safe. He had gotten out too, left this town to chase his dreams.

"Are you here for the summer?" she asked and hoped.

"Nope; just the weekend. You?"

"Yeah. The summer. Going crazy, though. I actually can't wait for the fall; how lame is that?"
Mike laughed.

"I know the feeling. This isn't our life anymore."

"Yeah" she breathed.

She could hear Puck laugh. He hadn't even noticed her.

"How's Yale?"

"Great. I love it. I mean, some people are… No, whatever. I love it. I feel safe."

It was a much longer and more honest answer than she had given before. She just had a feeling that Mike would listen. She needed someone to listen.

"That's great" he said softly.

"I want to make movies. Documentaries" she said bravely. "Like a career."

"Wow. That sounds cool."
"You don't think it sounds unrealistic?"

"Who am I to judge? I'm basically going to school to be a dancer."

She laughed. The sky exploded with fireworks and people cheered. Quinn took a sip of punch. It tasted like youth and broken hearts.

"You're nice" she told Mike and put her head on his strong shoulder.

"You're nice too."
"No" she sighed. "No, not really."

…

The car was fixed at three and they were on the road by 3:10. Puck drove too fast and listened to Led Zeppelin and she let him. She had no right to meddle in his life anymore. She drank coffee and watched the road and thought about absolutely nothing. Or everything, except about him. She thought of work on Monday and how this trip had been a total waste of time. She would get to spend about a total of eight hours in Lima before getting on the Greyhound back to New York. She thought of Rachel, who had a big audition on Friday and how Quinn should call her and ask how the preparing was going. She thought of the new Woody Allen-movie and how much she loved spicy food and everything. Everything except about Puck.

"I'm sorry" he said after three hours.

"For what?"
"I shouldn't have done that. I should have kept the distance."

She said nothing. He wasn't supposed to be talking about it. She was pretending that it hadn't happened. That she hadn't fallen asleep with him and dreamt no nightmares and how she still smelled like his skin.

"It's not me you should be apologizing to" she said simply, like she didn't care.

"I already told Karen."

Quinn wanted to never hear the name again. No, she demanded it. Never again did she want to talk about Puck's girlfriend.

"I'm sorry about making you take the bus on Sunday. I know it takes forever."

"It's fine" she said even though it really wasn't.

"Stop clenching your jaw then."

"What?"
"I told you, you always clench your jaw when you're pissed at me."
She looked away. He wasn't allowed to know anything about her anymore.

"I'm just… making it up to her" he explained. "She's never been here, never met mom or anyone. Taking this step kind of makes up for almost screwing it up."

Quinn said nothing. She willed him to shut up. Her teeth was pressed together. Maybe he was right about the jaw thing.

"If I stay a few weeks Shelby might let me see Beth some more."

Quinn stayed quiet. She counted the trees they passed until they added up to too many and she started to count birds instead.

"You should stay too" he suggested.

"I have a job."

"Ask for time off."

"I would get fired."

Led Zeppelin sang and sang and Quinn counted bushes and red cars and green cars and then birds again. She always gave up after a while. That was her thing, she guessed, giving up.

"Look, Quinn, I care about you…" he began.

"Don't" she snapped and he didn't.

…

Puck was drunk when he found them.

"Happy fourth of July" he said, slurring.

Kitty had her hand in his back pocket. Quinn had always despised girls (and boys) who stuck their hands down someone else's jean pocket. It looked stupid and weird and made no sense.

"Hi Puck" Mike said.

Quinn just smiled. It was late and she was on her way home.

"Where have you two been hiding all night?" Puck asked.

"Here" Quinn said. "On the lawn. Not a very good hiding place."

"I haven't seen you."

"Well, you've been busy."

He raised his eyebrows. She didn't like the look on his face. Mike flicked his car keys in his hands.

"We were just leaving" he said. "Quinn, you want a ride?"
"Yeah" she said. "Thanks."
"Wait" Puck said, grabbing her wrist. "You should stay. Both of you."

"My sister has a curfew" Mike explained. "I have to have her home by one o'clock."
"Fine" Puck scowled. "You leave. Quinn, stay."

"I'm cold and tired."
"I'll drive you home."
"You're wasted."

Puck glared at her. Kitty tried to get his attention by making weird moaning noises. He ignored her.

"Quinn, we have to go now" Mike said.

"Right."

She turned, but Puck didn't let go.

"Don't leave with him" he almost begged.

"It's just a ride, Puck" Mike explained slowly. "Just a ride."

"Why didn't you come up and say hi?" Puck asked Quinn.

"You were busy. With her."

"So instead you go and cuddle with Mike?"

"Quinn, we're leaving" Mike said finally.

She sighed.

"Fine. I'll walk home. Thanks anyway."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
Mike and his sister left. She stared longingly after them. She was left with a drunk Puck and Kitty, who was pressing herself closer to him. Quinn wished she had stayed home.

"Puck, let's go inside" Kitty purred. "My parents have a water bed."

Quinn rolled her eyes. Puck looked down on Kitty, like he had forgotten that she was even there.

"Nah" he said simply.

"Please" she whimpered.

"No."

She scowled and then scampered off. Quinn watched as she joined some of her friends and started to cry. Oh the drama.

"Did you come to see him?" Puck enquired.

"Who? Mike. No. Just ran into him here."
"He's in love with you. I could see it on his face."
Quinn shivered. She was cold. Her new dress was nice but not warm. Her arms were covered with goose bumps.

"You're drunk" she sighed exasperatedly.

"Why did you come then? You hate everyone in this fucking town."

His face was red and blotchy and his eyes were dim. He needed to sleep it off.

"I came to see you, you idiot" she scolded.

"And then you ignore me all night?"
"As I said, you were busy."

He stuck his hands down his pockets and pouted and looked onto his shoes. A sad little boy. She reached out and took his hand.

"You should go home too" she said more softly.

"Why don't you call?" he asked instead.

"Well, why don't you?"
He stared at her and she stared at him.

"I didn't think you wanted me to" he admitted.

"Of course I want you to."
She decided to get them home. They would walk; it would clear his head. She led him from the party and onto the street. In almost every garden there was another party, everyone was celebrating tonight. Puck walked very slowly and very unsteadily. She held his hand tight to keep him upright.

"I thought you were sick of me" he slurred.

"I'm not" she assured him.

"Can we sit for a bit?" he asked.

"Okay."

They sat on the damp pavement. The moon was bright though the air was still cloudy with smoke from the fireworks. Quinn checked the time, almost two o'clock. Puck closed his eyes. She wondered if he was going to fall asleep siting up. She hoped not. Maybe she could call his mom for help. She was a nurse after all.

"I hate it when we're not together" he mumbled.

"I know. Habits and all that" she agreed.

His hand was still in hers. His heat was radiating into her shivering body. It made her relax.

"No, not just that" he argued. "I hate it when we're not together because I'm in love with you."

She stared at him. His eyes were still closed. He swayed as he sat. So drunk. Wasted.

"Don't be silly" she tried.

"Believe me, I'm trying" he mumbled.