Well, that turned out horrendously.

It took Quinn exactly six minutes and thirty-eight seconds to get up off the stage and start looking for Artie again, but her heart was barely in it. She was too consumed by her thoughts to really pay attention to where she was going and why she was going there, which is how she ended up on the bleachers bordering the William McKinley football field even though the Cheerios were practicing and weren't exactly welcoming to Quinn.

She watched them. There were some things she missed about being a Cheerio. Constantly feeling like she was in charge of the world, or at least high school. Getting to wear that uniform every day. Not being slushied by the football team every time she transitioned from one class to the next. But what she certainly did not miss was Sue Sylvester, the coach. She was easily the most cruel and bitter person on the planet. She never gave the Cheerios any sort of encouragement; she'd just pick out the slightest error in their routines and bash them for it beyond the point of harassment. But she never seemed to get in trouble for it. Apparently she had some sort of blackmail thing going on against Principal Figgins. That's a pretty typical thing for her to do.

Puck came out from under the bleachers along with Kurt. Quinn noticed them before they noticed her, and a look of curiosity and confusion came across her face.

"Oh, Quinn," Kurt acknowledged her.

Quinn's expression didn't change in the slightest. "What were you…" she didn't complete her sentence.

Kurt waited for her to continue, but Puck quickly jumped in. "No, no, it's not what you think," he defended. "We were looking for Artie, and I came from one way, and Kurt came from the other way, and we decided to meet up under the bleachers, and-"

Quinn held her palm up to Puck. "TMI," she said. "I don't wanna know."

Kurt, now realizing what they were talking about, began to laugh. "Don't worry, you're definitely not my type… and you still wouldn't be if you played on my team." he explained.

"So anyway," Puck wanted to move on. "Any news?" he directed at Quinn.

"Yeah," she answered. Then she thought about it. "Well, actually, no."

Puck gave her an odd kind of look. "Okay…well, what are you sitting here for?" he looked out at the Cheerios practicing. One of them did a cartwheel as two others hand-sprung on either side of her. Sue insulted them through a megaphone in the distance even though she was about four feet away from them.

"Do you miss being a Cheerio?" Kurt asked.

Quinn shrugged. "No, I guess not," she replied. "Not having to worry about my reputation, or fighting the feeling of breaking down after hearing Coach Sylvester yell at me after practice- it's been great," she said. She looked to the ground and kicked her feet together. It was true, after all; she didn't mind being an ex-Cheerio too much. She just felt bad about Santana and Brittany quitting Cheerios as well. They made it seem like they didn't want to stay, but they were great actresses. Especially Brittany, because she barely knew what she was doing. But Santana had confided in Quinn soon after that she wished she never left the Cheerios.

Puck sat next to Quinn and put his arm around her shoulder. "But you feel guilty," he inferred.

Quinn was shocked- partially by his arm being around her shoulder, and partially because of his dead-on accuracy. Maybe he was smarter than he looked.

"Yeah."

"It's not your fault." Puck reasoned. He noticed Quinn's discomfort with his arm being around her and he drew it back. "You didn't make anyone do anything."

Oh, the irony of that statement. Quinn shot Puck a dirty look that reminded him of the night Quinn got pregnant. How he had manipulated her into thinking it was the right idea to have sex. How it was his fault.

He slouched away from Quinn, now starting to feel guilty himself. Kurt tapped his foot impatiently as he crossed his arms. "Okay, I get that you two are having a moment right now, but we still need to find Artie so that we can figure out what our trio songs are."

Quinn didn't even look at him when she responded. "Your group's doing a song from Next to Normal."

Kurt squealed and clapped his hands. "Wonderful! Finally, a fresh musical! Which song is it?"

"Superboy and the Invisible Girl." Puck was the one to answer him this time. Kurt gave him a questioning look, but Quinn confirmed it with a nod.

Kurt wasn't as euphoric as before, but he seemed happy enough with the song choice. "Great!" he exclaimed. "I should go find Rachel and- oh, shoot…" his voice died down. "If she thinks she's getting more center-stage showtime out of this than me, oh, is she in for a surprise! I'm sure not going to let…" his voice got quieter and quieter as he walked away towards the school, mumbling to himself.

Puck saw this moment as an opportunity. The Cheerios were huddled around Sue and not facing the bleachers that he and Quinn were sitting on, and it was quiet enough to be almost romantic… you know, for a football field after school. He leaned in to Quinn and kissed her before she could protest.

At first, Quinn jerked back, surprised and confused. "Wh- what are you doing?" she spoke quietly. Puck didn't respond. He instead just kissed her again, and this time, Quinn let him without trying to ease out of it. She started to kiss him back, thinking of Santana.

Wait. Santana.

She flung herself backwards and whacked her arm against the seat above her. "Ow!" she cried.

"Are you okay?" Puck leaned towards her, about to check her arm.

Quinn shifted backwards again. "Puck, no- no-just-this-I can't-I-I don't-"

A look of shame came upon Puck's face. "I get it," he said. "Sorry about your arm." he got up and walked towards the Cheerios. "Hey, babes!" he called out to them.

Quinn replayed the last thirty seconds of her life over and over again in her mind. Kurt mumbling. Cheerios go into huddle. Kiss. Kiss Puck? Fall back, ask what's going on, kiss him again, Santana. Santana, Santana, Santana.

Beth.