Every Night Has Its Dawn

by vmars15

Reupload of Every Rose Has Its Thorn: It's the new school year and Quinn is back to being Queen Bee and Puck is back to being a jerk. She's with Mike Chang and he's with basically every girl. Will they ever be together? This is a massive chapter story!

2. It's Starting to Get to Me

Quinn and Puck were driving to her house from their date one Friday night. School was starting back up in two weeks. They had gone out to the Olive Garden and were now going to hang out at Quinn's house for the rest of the night. Mrs. Fabray seemed to have no problems with Puck staying over. He was the only one that could make Quinn stop crying after she had given up her daughter, and after putting Quinn on the pill she seemed to decide that the best thing for her daughter was to let her be happy. If being happy meant that she needed her boyfriend (or whatever he happened to be) to sleep over some nights when things got too rough, then Mrs. Fabray was okay with the situation. She also knew it was a perfect way to get back at her husband, which was always a plus.

Quinn hadn't originally planned on having sex again so soon after having a child and giving her up for adoption. She hadn't even planned on being with Puck. She thought that she would be alone this summer, simply working out so that when school returned she could try and become popular again. Things had changed though when the first night she returned home from the hospital she couldn't stop crying. She knew that she had to go to sleep but all she could do was bawl her eyes out. She started rethinking things and wondering if giving her baby up was the right thing. She was so scared that she called Puck and begged him to come to her house immediately. He complied and they spent the night with her crying on her bed and him holding her, stroking her hair, and telling her that they did what was best for Beth and things were going to turn out okay. Quinn could've sworn that he had even teared up that night, but she didn't want to embarrass him so she never brought it up.

After that night it was routine for Quinn to call Puck if she couldn't stop crying before bed. That was the time the tears came. Throughout the day she tried to keep herself as busy as possible so she wouldn't have to think about everything but at night there wasn't anything to do but think about giving Beth up to Shelby. She missed her so much. She felt so empty. Every night for the first week Puck had come over after getting a call from Quinn and he would hold her throughout the night. They didn't have a title. They weren't even doing anything. She needed him though and he needed her.

After coming over for the fifth time to comfort Quinn, she had something to ask Puck. "Did you mean what you said… about loving me?"

She was laying on her side in her bed and he was laying behind her as he had his arms around her. She felt his arms tighten around her, not too tight that it hurt, but tighter as he wanted to be closer. "Yes."

Quinn smiled and brought a hand up to her face to wipe the tears away. "Thank you for coming here."

Puck leaned his head in and kissed her lightly on the ear. "Do you ever think we could be together, for real this time?"

Quinn's instant reaction was to shake her head. She felt Puck's grasp loosen as she said it though so she quickly explained herself. "We're no good together. We'd get angry at each other all the time. We'd get jealous too much. Everything would be ruined. I care about you… so much, but we're not meant to be boyfriend and girlfriend."

Puck leaned in again and whispered in her ear, "Is it just because you're scared?"

She gulped. It wasn't the only reason that she didn't think they would work out, but it was one major reason. She was terrified of him hurting her. She didn't want to say she loved him until she was absolutely sure, she had already made that mistake with Finn, but she definitely had serious feelings for him, and she didn't want to open herself up completely to Puck and end up having him cheat on her or break her heart. It would be too much to bear. Being here and holding her, that's all she expected out of him. He couldn't hurt her this way. She desperately wanted more, but she wanted to protect her heart more. You see, if they broke up then she not only would be crying at night about Beth, but also about him, and that time there would be no one to come over to hug her.

She shook her head. "We really just aren't meant to be Puck. I think the universe has been trying to tell us that for a while now."

He rolled her over so that she was now facing him. Her heart raced as he pulled her in closer to him and kept his mouth ever so close to his for what seemed like hours (but what was probably only seconds), and then kissing her. Their lips seemed to melt together. He was still holding her as he kissed her, protecting her from all that had hurt her. She had her hands crossed and clutched against her body, but once she began to respond to ht ekes after the shock had worn off, she straightened her arms out and then clutched them around Puck's back. He took one arm form around her to stroke her hair as he traced circles on her back with his other arm. After around five minutes he broke from the kiss.

He smirked. "You can't tell me that wasn't nice."

She bit her lip. "You'd break my heart Puck." She whispered it, almost hoping he wouldn't hear. She had always had trouble opening up to people, and she had never been this honest with a boy. She had always put a wall up to make herself seem like she was immune to being hurt. It felt different being with Puck though, as if she could be honest and he wouldn't judge her for it.

He took one of her hands and enveloped it into his. "You're different Quinn. This is different than anything I've ever been in. I'd be good to you."

She shook her head. "After what happened Puck… I'm just not ready to have a boyfriend. I can't let myself get hurt. You have to understand."

He kissed her lightly on the lips. "But you like that?"

She nodded. "But it doesn't change anything."

He stroked her hair. "And you like me coming over every night?"

She nodded once again.

"And you like talking with me?"

She nodded again for the third time, but then smirked. "Except when you go off on your rants about video games."

He made a face at her and then squeezed the hand of hers that he was holding. "We don't have to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Titles are lame anyways. We could just be two people who spend a lot of time not hooking up with other people."

Quinn honestly wanted to be with Puck so badly. He had been so sweet lately and been there for here throughout this hard time. He had told her he loved her, and still did. She wanted him more than anything. She just didn't know if she should jump into anything so soon. However, his new proposition was interesting. Doing what they wanted with each other, and having all the basic qualities of a relationship without actually having a relationship seemed like something she could get behind. It ad to save her from some of the pain. In any case, it didn't seem like he was going to go anywhere soon. He even had made it a point to say that there weren't going to be any others. She needed clarification on that.

"No sexting?" She asked.

He shook his head. "It'll be me and you."

She smiled. It seemed so wonderful, there had to be a downfall somewhere. However, after what she had been through, Quinn wanted to ignore all of the future consequences and just focus on what she wanted in the present.

"I'd like that." She then waited for him to lean in and kiss her, which they spent the majority of their night doing before she drifted off to sleep and he continued to hold her, as sometimes she would dream about giving Beth up and she would shiver, whimper, and shake in her sleep.

After that night things changed between Puck and Quinn. They became more reclusive and they spent the majority of their time together, Quinn still made time for Kurt and Mercedes and Puck hung out with his friends often, but for the most part they were with each other. They never put a title on their relationship but just let things go they way they were going.

Quinn's mom quickly put Quinn on the pill when she found out that puck had been sneaking over. Though Quinn swore to her mother that they weren't having sex, Mrs. Fabray said that she wasn't going to be a grandmother for the second time so soon no matter what.

This advice seemed to be good as one night after spending the night at the nearby State Park for a fireworks show the pair ended up tangled in each other on Quinn's bed. Quickly clothes started coming off and Quinn's heart was racing faster than ever. She had sat up to stop things from going so fast, but after a brief conversation with Puck where he promised that she was the only girl he was focusing on and that he loved her she decided that she should give in to what she wanted, as she was on the pill and he promised to also wear a condom. Things were safe this time, they were together (at least as together as was possible for her) and she couldn't help but want to have sex. Her hormones were running wild and she accepted that sex was not something to be ashamed of. It was a natural thing; the only thing Quinn worried about was being a skank. However this was the same guy she had lost her virginity to. He loved her. It was hardly a slutty thing to do to have sex with him. That's why she came to the conclusion to add sex to the relationship. She kissed him to start things up and once all of their clothes had come off and Quinn realized that it was going to happen soon she decided to say something she had been holding in for a long time.

"I love you Puck." She whispered.

She noticed that he gave a genuine smile. it wasn't one of his smug smirks or a cheesy grin. It was the real deal. He kissed her lips and replied, "I love you too."

After that night they became even more serious with each other. Quinn still wasn't ready to put any labels such as boyfriend/girlfriend on them though. She was dead set on protecting her heart, and even though she loved the boy and knew that he was honest when he told her that he loved him, she also knew his history and wasn't ready to do anything too risky just yet.

Their relationship was peaceful though, and happy. They made each other laugh and they were always smiling around the other. He was starting to change into more of a gentleman - even though he would say crude comments and she could never get him to stop checking out girls in public, but he was being sweet to her and that's what counted. Quinn was opening up more, something she didn't do ever. She talked to Puck about her parents' divorce, her desire to become head Cheerio again, her fears that she still would be ignored when they went back to school, and of course Beth. Beth was a topic that came up with them occasionally as they didn't want to be constantly reminded of the pain, but they both knew that the other was thinking of her all the time. There were still nights that Quinn had to call Puck over to hold her as she wept. It soon became a pattern of him sleeping over either because they were being intimate or because she needed comfort. He was there either way.

"I've never been like this with a girl." He told her one Thursday night as they laid on their backs on her bed, wrapped up in one another after having sex.

"I know." She wanted to tell him that she was proud of him and that he had surprised her so much. She had been expecting to hear he was sexting another girl or flirting with Santana. She had expected such things so she wouldn't get her hopes up. it didn't take her long though to realize that he was only wanting to be with her. Quinn wanted to explain that all to him, but she refrained as she didn't want to be seen as a sap.

Puck kissed her forehead. "Not even with a girlfriend. I've always cheated, or at least almost cheated. I used to not be able to resist a pair of boobs but it's different now. I can't even think about cheating on you. Well, when we weren't having sex I may have thought about it once, but only once I swear. Now, this just seems too good to mess up."

Quinn rolled her eyes. She understood what Puck was saying but he didn't have the best filter. She playfully swatted him. "So this is all about the sex then?"

He didn't play into her games. He continued to look up at the ceiling. "You know it isn't." He whispered, almost as if he was afraid that someone else would hear him being so sensitive.

Quinn squirmed under the covers not knowing if she should bring up her next question. It had been on her mind a lot though so she thought it was necessary. "When school starts back up… are we going to tell people about us?"

Puck played with a strand of her hair. "What about us? I thought you didn't want to be an us?"

Just as Puck didn't play into Quinn's games, she didn't play into his. They were straight with each other and neither wanted to put up with unnecessary crap. "Be serious. Are we together when it comes back or not?"

He kissed her forehead once again, but this time left a trail of kisses down to her neck. "I'm not going anywhere."

She smiled. This was honestly not what she had thought things were going to be like at all. She never thought about actually having a serious relationship with Puck. She thought it was impossible. She never thought that after what had happened that she could be so happy. It didn't seem right to have things be so was between her and Puck, but alas it felt natural and it made her happy.

The bliss couldn't last forever however. Neither of them knew that their relationship was in trouble. The drama crept up on them and before they knew it they were through without a clue of what had happened.

It all started that night when Puck was driving Quinn home from dinner at The Olive Garden. They were talking about mindless chatter until Quinn brought up something that she had been thinking about for the past week.

"Do you think if we're together when school starts that people will still consider me the disappointing unwed pregnant teen? Do you think it would be like a daily visual reminder?"

Quinn had finally gotten back to the weight she once was pre-pregnancy. She had gone to the Cheerio's tryout and impressed Coach Sylvester enough to let her back on the squad. She had even told Quinn that she would be head Cheerio again if she could keep the weight off and swear up and done that she would never ever become pregnant again while being a Cheerio. It seemed to her like popularity wasn't such a laughable goal anymore, but she knew that if people couldn't forget about the pregnancy that it would be harder to come by.

Puck shrugged his shoulders. "What do you care what those assholes think?"

Quinn frowned. "You like being popular too Puck. This isn't me being unreasonable. I'm just worried that us being together is going to make us social zeros."

Puck drove to the side of the road and parked. It was a dark night and not many people were out on the road. He turned to face Quinn and she could see that his face held many emotions. It was part disappointment, part confusion, and part anger.

"So what, you want to break up or something?"

She quickly shook her head. He didn't understand where she was coming from. God bless Puck but he wasn't the brightest tool in the shed. "Puck no! I love you and I want to continue… whatever this is but do we have to tell people? Why do they really have to know? It's none of their business and them knowing could only do us harm."

Puck shook his head and she saw him clench one of his hands into a fist, something he did when he was frustrated, "So we have to pretend like we're not together? I have to watch other guys flirt with you? I have to hear you yelling at me when I flirt with girls even if it's just keeping up a cover… for the most part. It doesn't make any sense. You're being a moron Quinn."

She swatted him, "Don't call me that! I've worked hard to try and become popular again Puck! I don't want it to all go away just because they're reminded of our little indiscretion last year."

"Bull. Shit," Puck spat out, "We spend all this time together and now we have to go in the freaking witness protection program because you think it's going to hurt your rep?"

Quinn knew that this situation was getting out of control. Puck was yelling at her and he never raised his voice to her. She raised her hands and said that it was best not to discuss it anymore and to forget she even said anything. She still wasn't sure whether they should tell people or not, but she knew that she wanted to be with him in any situation and that might not even happen if she continued badgering with the subject. Puck started to drive again but she knew that he was going over the conversation in his head, and she knew it wasn't insane to be confused over the situation. She had brought it up sort of randomly.

They were close to her house (and still not talking) when Puck asked, "What are we going to tell Shelby?"

Quinn was stunned that he had brought it up. She thought she had made it clear her feelings on the matter and the fact that bringing such matters up only resulted in her feeling like crap and crying for hours. You see, the matter was that the adoption agreements had not been finalized. Shelby had given Puck and Quinn the option of having either a closed adoption or an open adoption. She knew how hard it was to give up a child so she wanted to be as understanding as possible. She had even told the pair that she would be willing to be very open in the open adoption. The could see her once a month if they wanted and attend holidays. Or they could see her once or twice a year. Or they could simply receive pictures. Or they could never hear from her again. Shelby had been adamant that they make the decision. Her only request was that they decide before summer was over and that they come to a conclusion together so that there wouldn't be any lingering drama. It was a sore subject for Quinn who only had to have Beth's name brought up to start crying. She had known from the start though that Puck wanted to see their daughter as much as possible.

"I've told you before," She replied while trying to keep her composure, "We'll ask her to e-mail us pictures. That's it."

Puck shook his head and slammed his hand on the horn, honking out his frustrations. He cursed. "Why are you the only one that gets to make decisions about it? She's my daughter too!"

Quinn was startled at how angry Puck was becoming. She shifted in her seat. "Puck… it'll be too hard to see her. I only have to think about giving her up to have my mascara run in five seconds flat. If we saw her every month, with the woman we gave her up to… we'd be messed up."

"No," He yelled, "No that's just your fucked up way of saying that it's too hard for you and you don't even want to try! She's our daughter and if we can see her every month then I want to see her every month! Dammit, don't you love her Quinn?"

That's what made Quinn start bawling. She loved Beth with every fibre of her being. She had been through so much in her pregnancy. She gave up her perfect life for a baby that she could have gotten rid of early on. She hadn't though because she loved her so much. She had known soon on that she would give her up for adoption because she loved her more than she loved herself. She wanted her daughter to have the best life possible. It felt like a slap in the face to have her love doubted for her after all she had been through. The tears ran down her cheeks.

"Of course I love her you asshole!

"Then why don't you want to see her?" She was surprised that he could still focus on the road with all of the yelling Puck was doing.

Quinn trying to keep her tears in check as she screamed, "Because it'll hurt! Can you please just listen to me? Our lives are getting back to normal! Why would you want to be depressed all of the time? She's not ours!"

"I love her." He whispered. Quinn thought that he was crying or at least had tears welling up in his eyes but she didn't dare ask him. Instead she whispered, "Me too. A lot. Maybe we could visit her on her birthday but I don't think we should see her anymore than once or twice a year. It''ll kill us."

Puck shook his head. "You're being a bitch."

Quinn was shocked. He had never called her that name before. She wanted to slap him, but she knew that it would be a stupid idea as he was driving so she refrained. she simply cried harder and asked how he could say something like that.

"You started this all Quinn, don't make me the freaking bad guy! You said that we should pretend that we're not together like you're ashamed of me! How was I supposed to feel after that? Flattered? Then you act like a bitch saying we can't see our own daughter even though you know how much I want to! I've gone with every thing you've said but you could at least agree to this one thing for me! You're a selfish, heartless bitch!"

"Tell me how you really feel." Quinn muttered sarcastically as the tears poured down faster and harder. She could see the end coming. It was a matter of minutes at this point. There was no coming back from this.

Puck pulled into the Fabray driveway and parked the car. He turned to face Quinn and tried not to let the tears running down her face distract him. "Make your fucking decision," He told her, "Either you let me see my daughter or you can walk out of that car and never come back. I'll never want to speak to you again!"

Quinn didn't know what to say. She had thought she had known all along what the right thing to do was, but now she wasn't sure if it was till the right thing to do for the sake of her relationship which was the only thing making her happy at the moment. She took a deep breath and knew what she had to say. "It's for the best. I'm not being selfish Puck. This is what's best for both of us. Seeing her would hurt too much and just be a distraction."

"That's a crap answer! You spend all of this time with me this summer and did you know from the start that you were just going to try and make me agree to keep us a secret when school starts? Did you know that you weren't even going to discuss this with me like I wasn't the father of the kid? This is such bull shit Quinn! You're being an asshole!"

Quinn couldn't take the abuse anymore. She couldn't stand that Puck wouldn't even listen to the reasoning behind her decision. She really did not want to see Beth because she knew how much it would hurt her and Puck. Every time they had to leave her would just be worse. She could stand once a year but she knew that Puck wanted more and he wasn't satisfied with anything. All he was doing was now making her cry as he yelled at her and called her horrible names. She couldn't take it. She wasn't strong enough to have the person she loved hurting her like this.

"We're through." She said as she walked out of the car and slammed the door shut.

"You're fucking right we're through!" He yelled as he slammed his hand on the car's horn again and sped off into the night.

Quinn ran up to her room, bypassing Mrs. fabray and collapsed on her bed. She sobbed and felt a huge hole in her body. He was gone. He had broke her heart. They weren't together and it killed her. She hadn't seen it coming but there she was, lying face-first in her bed as she cried her eyes out. it felt as bad as the times she cried when she remembered the pain of giving Beth up. Only this time she didn't have anyone to call over to hold her. She was alone. He had left her alone.

At school on Monday morning it didn't take long for Mercedes to find her. Kurt was with her. Quinn smiled at the two and said hello. Kurt smiled but Mercedes didn't react at all.

"What's wrong?" Quinn asked.

Mercedes looked at Kurt, waiting for him to say something it appeared. When it was evident he wasn't going to she sighed and said, "We've been hearing what's been going on between you and Rachel. She told me what you said to her at the party. Why are you acting like this Quinn? This isn't you?"

Quinn tried to laugh the situation off. "Guys, come on. We all know how irritating Rachel can get. I mean, it's Rachel Berry. She signs her name with gold stars and wears sweaters with animals on them."

Kurt pinched his forehead. "Believe us, we both know just how annoying Rachel's personality and complete lack of anything that could be mistaken for fashion sense is but we just think that likening her appearance to a tranny is a bit… harsh."

Mercedes nodded. "Yeah, and yelling at her when she's trying to smooth things over is immature Quinn. I thought you changed. Last year you became so sweet and compassionate. Where is that girl?"

Kurt eyed Quinn up and down. "She's under a polyester uniform but she's still there. I can see it."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "You guys are insane. I'm the same as I've always been. I've never liked Rachel. Even when I was pregnant I was still mean to her. If this is something else, like you guys are afraid that since I'm basically the Queen Bee again that I'll ditch you... well you're just going to have to get over it because it's not true."

Mercedes looked at Kurt like a child had just told them that unicorns were hiding under her bed. "Quinn, cut the crap. It's not just Rachel. You've yelled at freshman to get out of your way, you make snide comments to other girls in our class, and you're spending more and more time with your new boyfriend rather than hanging out with your real friends."

Quinn didn't want to hear anymore. It was obvious that Mercedes didn't understand what the situation was. Kurt at least seemed a bit more understanding. Mercedes was loud and liked to give her opinion even if it wasn't asked though so Quinn expected it. She didn't want to get into a cat fight in the hall even though she wanted to tell Mercedes how ridiculous she was so she just said that she would take their advice and try to tone her attitude down and walked away, thankful that they didn't follow her.

The rest of the day Quinn went on as if nothing happened. She chalked everything up to the fact that Mercedes was jealous that her friend was rising up the ranks of popularity again as she stayed at the bottom. She still made backhanded compliments to girls in the washroom (I.E Those blackheads make such a cute pattern sweetheart! Or I'm so jealous of you. I could never be so confident to walk out of the house with pores as big as yours!) and gave people she didn't care for dirty looks. She didn't see Rachel so she couldn't get her fix in there. She gossiped with the Cheerio's and sat with Mike, Matt, and two of her fellow Cheerleaders, Amy and Gina. At the end of lunch she met up with Kurt and Mercedes to have a quick chat with them about how thankful she was for their talk earlier and suggested hanging out on the weekend and possibly going to the mall. They were both in and oblivious to the face that their friend had not taken their advice.

Tuesday and Wednesday were the same schedule. Quinn went to her classes, split her time at lunch split between Mike, the jocks and Cheerio's, and Kurt and Mercedes, and made sure that her homework and Cheerio choreography were up to date. Quinn knew that the Glee Club assignment was also on her plate but she honestly thought that it was a menial task that she could put together Thursday night. A few of the girls on the Cheerio's even asked Quinn's permission to have a huge slumber party for the whole squad. Finally the days were back when Quinn was the decision maker and had enough power to intimidate even the most popular girls. Quinn of course said that they could have it, but they had to say that it was her idea. She had to be the ringleader since she was head cheerleader and all.

Wednesday after school, as Quinn was waiting for Mike at her locker (football practice had been cancelled because Coach Tanaka claimed to have his first date in months and he had to prepare for it) so she could drive him to her house and they could hang out. She was applying lip gloss as she looked at her reflection in the mirror when Santana stormed up to her and slammed her locker shut. She crossed her arms, raised her eyebrows, and met Quinn with a smug smile.

"What is wrong with you Santana? I thought you were PMSing last week."

"Oh shut up you little blonde phoney," Santana sneered, "Last year I was top dog and then after summer you think a little weight loss is going to make things go back to the way it once was? Learn your place. You screwed up and have to accept that you'll always be second best from now on."

Quinn immediately knew that she had to go on the defensive. She stood with one leg in front of her body and one hand on her hip. "I know you may not like it sweetie but you'll have to get used to it. I'm Head Bitch In Charge again. If you want to become my lapdog again… well we can talk."

"Oh shut up and stop embarrassing yourself with that pathetic smack talk. You went too soft by being pregnant… with the guy that was totally mine so you're so lucky I was nice enough not to beat your flabby ass down. And also stay clear of me and Matt. Mind your own business and don't get involved."

Quinn laughed in Santana's face. She couldn't believe how clueless the girl was that her little crush was not into her in the slightest. Quinn wanted nothing more to lunge at the girl for all of her catty comments but she knew foam years of experience that verbal abuse was the most painful dish any girl could serve up. She couldn't stop smiling as she told Santana, "Matt is the one begging me and Mike to save him from you. Get a clue Santana, you're the only one who's been looking pathetic here!"

Santana was red in the face but quickly walked off by simply muttering a "Whatever". Quinn smirked. It was painfully obvious that she had won that battle, but one thing was clear. She had some competition to be top dog now. Santana wasn't going to go down without a fight. That would make things very interesting and very complicated. However Quinn believed that by being Cheerleading Captain she already had an edge on her former best friend forever.

Quinn drove Mike to her house and they went up to her bedroom as soon as they entered the house. Mrs. Fabray was out running errands of some sort. She had called Quinn as she was driving home from school telling her that she should be home in an hour.

Quinn's mom had made it clear to Quinn that she wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea of her daughter having a new boyfriend so soon after having a daughter of her own, but she was willing to give Mike a chance. She thought that he seemed nice enough and cute enough, and he did seem to make Quinn happy so Mrs. Fabray wasn't going to push her opinion too far. Quinn assured her mother that she wasn't going to get hurt by Mike and all he was doing was making her happy and helping her to become more popular.

Mike hopped on to Quinn's laptop and went onto Youtube to show Quinn a few songs he was considering singing for Glee Club. He wanted her top help him make his decision.

"Mike I'm no good with this. I haven't even picked out my own song yet! I wouldn't be a help at all."

Mike laughed off her comment. "I don't need you to tell me which song suits my voice better or anything. It's not that kind of assignment. I'm not even going to do something about my life like mr. Schue wants us to do. I just want to dance so tell me which song you like best."

Quinn plopped down on the pillows on her bed and laid down so she was looking at the ceiling. "I thought you were just going to do a song where you could show off a lot of your dance moves?"

"I was, I am. Quinn, stop being difficult and just help me pick a song!"

Quinn laughed and relented. "Fine, but after that I don't want to hear another word about Glee Club!"

Mike played Quinn thirty-second clips of three songs. Each had fast beats and Quinn could totally see Mike singing a bit of each song before busting out into a jam-packed dance routine. She actually thought about which song she liked the best and gave him her honest opinion that the second song he played was the one she preferred. Mike smiled and told her to expect to hear it on Friday.

He then went over to her bed and laid on the right side as Quinn laid on the left. He was laying on his side while she laid on her back. He looked at her, brushed a hair out of her face and asked, "Do you want to make out?"

Quinn shook her head and then turned her head to look at him. "Can we talk for a minute? I didn't have the best day."

Mike nodded. "What happened?"

Quinn closed her eyes. She didn't want Mike to see all of her insecurities. Those were things she tried to hide away from everyone. She was supposed to be seen as a confident bombshell. Popular cheerleaders didn't have parts of themselves that they were unsure of. That's what Quinn had been telling herself. She was forcing herself to feel guilty for not being self-confident in every aspect of her personality and it was killing herself. She couldn't put that type of pressure on herself, but then again she couldn't show people a softer, vulnerable side. Those types of people got walked right over. She couldn't be one of those girls.

"Santana told me today that she's still going to be the most popular girl in school and anything I try to do won't change anything. She's such a bitch Mike! That girl was all frizzy hair and oily skin when we became friends in grade six. She'd be a complete geek right now if it weren't for me but all she wants to do is make sure I stay some loser like I was last year."

Mike rolled his eyes like he was listening to nonsense. "Quinn don't be stupid. You are popular. The bitch is just jealous and trying to scare you."

Quinn opened her eyes and turned to her side to face Mike. Her eyes brightened up and she smiled as she considered the possibility. "Do you really think so?"

Mike nodded. "All I ever hear about is girls making catty comments about you or saying how much they want to be like you. Both must mean you're popular. And all of the guys keep going on about how hot you are and how they want to tap that. I got to say, it's a hard job to beat every single one of them to a bloody pulp."

Quinn laughed. "You're sweet."

She prayed that Mike was right and Santana was just jealous and felt threatened by her rise to popularity so quickly. It was plausible and not completely far-fetched. This was Santana after all — she was the girl who still got jealous over girls that a guy she hadn't even dated was seeing. She was possessive quickly and maybe she became attached to the feeling of being top dog and wasn't willing to let it go, without a fight at least. Quinn didn't care. She would get in a full-fledged cat fight with Santana if it ensured her place at the top.

Mike smiled at Quinn. "So now can we make out?"

Quinn bit her lip acting as if she was seriously weight his proposal. She then giggled, nodded and leaned in to kiss her boyfriend. Things remained light, Mike seemed to know by now that Quinn didn't like to get too hot and heavy on weekdays. He had started taking things slower, which for some reason had just made Quinn want him more. She had to say that he posed a great distraction for herself. Before Mike had come along she had spent her time trying to forget about Puck which seemed like an impossible feat. However, Mike was helping her to forget about Puck and remind her that there were people out there that could care about her. Mike made her happy. It wasn't the crazy love story she had with Puck, but Mike was a nice guy who helped her gain popularity, and it also didn't hurt that he was a good kisser. He was all that she wanted - and could probably handle at the moment.

They parted and Quinn turned back to lay on her back. "How long are you staying here today?" She asked.

Mike shrugged. "I don't have the car… my dad will probably pick me up on his way home from work so probably like five-ish."

Quinn nodded. "So can I ask you something?"

Quinn had wanted to ask Mike something serious for a few days. She didn't know if it was way too soon to ask him this question, but she honestly was too curious not to know. She didn't think he would mind too much. However, they had only been dating for 6 days. Not even a week. It scared Quinn when she wondered if she was jumping into things too fast with Mike, but she assured herself that she was taking things in a good pace and that nothing felt weird when they were together. In any case she wanted to make sure that they had time to talk about what she wanted to ask. It was a serious question and could launch into more serious things. She didn't want to start something only to have Mike needing to leave ten minutes later.

Mike turned so he too was laying on his back and told Quinn, "Shoot."

Quinn bit her lip and closed her eyes. "How many girls have you slept with?"

Quinn needed to know because she knew that Mike wasn't a virgin but she needed to know exactly how many girls he had been with. She wasn't a fan of man whores. They caused too much pain and she knew from firsthand experience that they were too hard to trust.

Mike sighed. "Uhmm… well only Brittany and Mai… and that April chick Mr. Schue recruited to be in Glee Club for a bit last year."

Quinn nodded her head and evaluated his response in her head. Brittany, considering her reputation, was a given. Mai and Mike had dated on and off for around a year so it didn't surprise her too much. April Rhodes had repulsed her though. She was a crazy old drunk of a woman and Quinn had known that Puck had also slept with her.

"Are you mad at me now?" He asked, turning to face her and try to read her facial expression. There wasn't much to read however. Quinn had an excellent poker face.

She shook her head. "I expected Brittany and Mai. It's just that April girl that disgusts me. I hated her. I remember she was always hanging off of Finn, like she was trying to seduce him or something. It was like having a second Rachel."

Mike shrugged. "She was hot though, and had a smoking body. She said she wanted us football guys to feel more relaxed to have her in the Glee club. It didn't mean anything though, it was just fun."

Quinn turned on her side and put her arm around Mike's waist. "You don't have to explain yourself. I was just wondering."

He turned around to face Quinn and kissed her on the forehead. He then looked at her, almost as if he wanted to say something. "What is it?" She asked.

"Nothing," Mike laughed off, "Well… I mean… Puck, was-"

"He was the only one." Quinn finished for him. She had known it was inevitable after asking him about his sexual past that he would ask her about her own. It wasn't like everyone didn't already know, being pregnant had that effect. The problem was that talking about it reminded Quinn of the summer, which was something she was constantly fighting to forget, or at the very least not think about.

After that Mike and Quinn retreated downstairs to watch a rerun of So You Think You Can Dance. Mike would even stop to imitate some of the moves. Quinn was amazed what a good dancer he was, even though he seemed embarrassed by such compliments. He ended up leaving at 5:10, around 20 minutes after Mrs. Fabray returned home. When he left Quinn's mother called her in for dinner.

Meals were mostly silent at the Fabray household now. At first both mother and daughter made idle chit chat, but the truth was that both didn't know what to say to the other. After asking how each other's day was there wasn't much else to talk about. They were different people than they were before and it seemed awkward to talk about the other's personal life. Quinn wanted to ask about her parent's divorce but she thought it would be too uncomfortable. Similarly, Mrs. Fabray wanted to ask Quinn about Beth and Puck but she knew that her daughter would just start bawling and run up to her room without saying a word. It was easier to not talk. However, on that night Quinn decided that maybe she could ask her mother a personal question. She wouldn't make it as serious as asking how divorce proceedings were going though, she would just test out the waters.

"Do you think you'll get a job anytime soon mom?"

Mrs. Fabray took a bite of her chicken and then tilted her head up, almost as if she was just considering the possibility of employment. "I'm not sure. I'll probably be getting a lot of money from the divorce but I technically should still get a job. I don't know where I would work though."

Quinn was at first surprised how open her mother was being and how she wasn't telling her not to worry about it. She was discussing the subject with Quinn like they were equals, not like she was a five year old kid. "You used to be a great dance teacher. you're the one that taught me ballet. Couldn't you do that again?"

Mrs. Fabray took a sip of whine and smiled at Quinn. "Honey I wish it was that easy but that kind of job isn't easy to come by. I'd be surprised if even one dance studio was looking for a teacher at the moment - especially a forty-five year old one."

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "Then just open up your own studio. It's not like you won't have the money, after you're done with dad and everything. You're a really good teacher mom, and a good dancer. Wouldn't it make you happy?"

Mrs. Fabray nodded. "I'll think about it Quinnie," Her expression then turned serious, "Mike… he's making you happy right Quinn?"

The teenager nodded. "He is."

Dinner ended soon after and Quinn went to her room to finish the simple worksheet she had for homework. As she was finishing up, her cell phone started ringing. Quinn looked at the Caller I.D. and saw that it was Mercedes. She smiled and answered it.

"Mercedes! Hey, what's going on?"

"Not so much. Kurt and I were just texting and we were wondering if we're still going to hit up the mall on Saturday?"

Quinn was reminded of the plans she had made with her two friends recently. She had to admit that although she was perfectly happy with Mike and always had a great time with him, she was missing Kurt and Mercedes a bunch. They weren't invite to parties so she didn't get to see them. she was spending more time at lunch with Mike and the jocks and cheerleaders than them, so other than Glee Club she had to specifically make plans in order to see them. Well, she saw Kurt at Cheerio's practices as well but as Head Cheerio she didn't have much time for socializing during practices. She wished that Mercedes could just join the Cheerio's again so they could hang out the three of them all the time without any of the other Cheerio's judging them. She knew that Mercedes didn't like the pressure it put on her though and the other girls who were in it.

"Of course we're still on! It's going to be really fun! I was thinking that we could all meet up at the entrance at like three o' clock?"

"Sounds good to me," Mercedes replied, "And I also wanted you to know that I'm fine with you and Mike dating. Not that you needed my permission, but I just wanted to tell you. He's nice and what you need. If only I could find someone… not many boys are exactly knocking on my door for dates."

Quinn sighed. Mercedes was always so confident which made it difficult for Quinn to know how to handle the situation when she wasn't. She tried her best though. "Mercedes, soon you're going to find a guy who likes you so much. Don't make yourself feel bad because you're single. Enjoy it, and when you find the right guy everything will fall into place."

There was silence on the other line until Quinn heard Mercedes laughing. "What is it?" She asked her friend.

Mercedes let out another chuckle. "I think it's time we go back to me being the one to give you advice. The other way around is just too weird for me."

The girls laughed and got off of the phone after discussing how neither had put any thought into their Glee performance yet. Things would be easy for Mercedes since her voice was so powerful and amazing that it could overshadow a mediocre song. Quinn's voice wasn't as strong though. She needed to choose the perfect song. After getting off of the phone she finally decided to start thinking up songs. She ran through the list of songs on her iPod but none of them reflected her at all. It seemed hard especially because Quinn didn't even know who she was anymore. She was spending so much time blocking parts of herself off that she wasn't sure about the identity of the true Quinn Fabray.

Quinn had also made sure to invite Kurt and Mercedes to sleep over after they finished shopping at the mall. They hadn't hung out in so long that Quinn felt a good ol fashioned slumber party was what they needed in order to reconnect. They could gossip about the other members of the Glee Club, swap fashion, hair, or skincare advice, and maybe even talk about boys. Quinn wasn't certain, but she thought that Kurt was acting very flirty whenever he talked to one of the football players named Sam. Quinn had no idea what was going on with Mercedes's love life though. She definitely would need to figure that out.

Thursday at school was the same deal as always. Quinn tired to cultivate her popularity this day however by humiliating Rachel in front of a group of Cheerio's. She sought her out when she was separated from Finn. Quinn, Santana, Britney, Gina, and Amy found Rachel in the parking lot coincidentally as they were coming from eating lunch out. Rachel was holding a hot tea, most likely another thing to protect her ever important voice. Quinn couldn't believe how seriously the girl took herself. As the girls piled out of the Quinn's car Quinn smirked at Rachel.

"Oh Rachel you look so great! Have you lost weight?"

Quinn knew that backhanded compliments were the worst insults to be given out. She had perfected them throughout her many years of being a mean girl, and though she didn't like using them on Rachel (she preferred being straight-up rude to the freak), she knew that it was probably better to do so in case she ran off and told Finn. Quinn didn't want Finn any more mad at her then he already was, even though she suspected he wasn't as mad as he once had been. In any case, to protect Finn from getting hurt by her again, she simply gave his girlfriend insults disguised as compliments.

Rachel looked confused at Quinn's comment. "Are you calling me fat… because just so you know my doctor actually wants me to gain five pounds. I understand that it would be best for health issues but he doesn't understand the pressures put on young stars such as myself."

Quinn rolled her eyes. How did the girl make everything about her talent or her rise to stardom? It seemed impossible to be able to accomplish but Rachel was living testament to making the impossible possible. For example, she was annoying, shrill, and at the bottom of the social heap, but she had somehow managed to snag one of the most popular girls in school who was actually being faithful to her.

"No, it's a compliment Rachel. You totally look like Tom Hanks at the end of Castaway!"

The Cheerio's behind Quinn snickered and they could see tears welling up in Rachel's eyes. She quickly walked away from the girls, trying not to walk too fast because she didn't want to give them the satisfaction of making her run away. Quinn got a round of high fives after she had made her way into the school. Quinn smiled. She was now back to terrorizing girls. She wasn't completely okay with it, but she knew it was in her own best interest if she wanted to become popular, and it wasn't like she was doing it to innocent girls. This was Rachel. The girl who had tried to steal Finn when they were dating and planning a family together. The girl who was bossy, stuck-up and arrogant. She deserved to be brought back down to earth once in a while.

After school Quinn waited at her locker for Mike. She had Cheerio's practice but Mike usually walked her out to practices. It got the couple recognition and people thought it was sweet. Quinn knew Mike was doing it for the sole purpose of being a good boyfriend though which she thought was cute. She really wished that she could be madly in love with him. He was a sweet guy, cute, funny, and so easy to be with. He didn't cause any drama. Quinn couldn't control her heart. Though she wanted to be in love with Mike, she knew she could never be that serious with him. She was attracted to him, and she did have feelings for him, but they were nothing like the feelings she used to have for a certain mohawked fellow. Quinn tried to tell herself that she had to give the relationship time. It was only a week and maybe one day she would wake up and find herself crazy about Mike. In any case she would stay with him. He was an asset to her reputation and she did like him. She did.

Quinn waited a full eight minutes at her locker until she started to get fiercely annoyed. Where was Mike? She checked her cell phone but there were no text messages from him explaining his absence. She started to get very frustrated. She had just complimented him in her mind about what a good boyfriend he was and now he was letting her down big time. She decided to go to his locker to see if anything was holding him up. She walked all the way to the other side of the school not to finned him there. Quinn wanted to scream out in frustration. She then saw Matt walking her way with Finn. He had to know where his best friend was.

"Matt do you know where the hell Mike is?" Quinn asked him as she walked up to the pair.

Matt shook his head. "I thought he would be with you."

Quinn sighed. She didn't mind that he wasn't waling her to practice. She wasn't so clingy that she needed Mike everywhere with her. However, she would appreciate if he informed her when he was not going to walk her so she wouldn't have to stand around alone pathetically or trail all over the school looking for him as she appeared like an idiot. She was about to walk away but Finn stopped her by saying something that caught her interest.

"He's in my class last period. He skipped today."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Why would he do that?"

Finn shrugged his shoulders. "He said he was bored. Uh Quinn… do you think i could talk to you for a minute alone?"

Quinn nodded and walked off to an empty classroom with Finn. She didn't know exactly why he needed to talk with her, but she would bet money that Rachel had been telling him that Quinn had been torturing her, or some other exaggeration. "What's up Finn?" She asked.

He shifted around looking uncomfortable to be having the conversation. "Listen I know you and Rachel aren't friends or anything… you've always been mean to her and she was jealous when we were dating and then you got mad cause she was basically all over me when we were dating but… do you think you could ease up on her? She's been trying to be more laid-back this year but all you keep doing is insulting her."

Quinn wanted to lay into Finn and tell him it was no business of his and he should get his girlfriend to defend herself but she knew that she couldn't. She had history with Finn… history that made it impossible for her to ever be mean or rude to him. She simply nodded and told him that she would try her best. She was about to walk away and forget about the whole conversation but then she remembered something she had been wondering about for a while.

"I'm not trying to be rude for the record but… what do you see in her Finn? She's more annoying than any of the small dogs the Cheerio's have, and she thinks she's so much better than everyone."

Finn shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "I see it more as she knows what she wants. We have a lot in common. We get each other. She… she puts up a wall so no one can hurt her but she brings it down for me. We're real together."

"Okay I have to leave before I vomit from the grossness of this conversation." Quinn quickly walked off in the direction of the gymnasium. She knew she was going to be late for Cheerio practice but she had been swept up with the Where's Waldo situation. She quickly texted Mike saying: You have to text before you skip class and leave me looking like a loner loser… unless this relationship isn't important to you. She then turned off her phone so she wouldn't be able to be distracted if he texted back suddenly. She had to let Mike sweat this one out but she knew she'd be too tempted to look at the text and reply if she knew he sent a text message. So she turned her phone off and put it into her gym locker.

Cheerio's practice was the worst. Coach Sylvester yelled at Quinn in front of the whole squad for being fifteen minutes late. Quinn was humiliated that she had been yelled at in front of all the girls she was supposed to be impressing and threatening. It would take major damage control to make them see her as the badass she knew she was. The worst part was that Santana - who had high fived her for making fun of Rachel earlier - had snickered when Quinn was being reprimanded.

Quinn walked down the halls after Cheerio's practice realizing that her day had been absolutely awful. Finn had not only grossed her out, but made her promise not to be as mean to Rachel, Mike proved to her that he wasn't the perfect boyfriend that he once appeared to be, and Sue had embarrassed her in front of all the girls who she desperately needed to fear her in order for her popularity to rise. Quinn felt like crap and just wanted to go home, put on sweats, and watch TV in bed. She was supposed to be popular now, but she felt exactly like the loser she had been when she was with child last year.

To top it all off Quinn still needed to think of a song for her Glee assignment. She personally didn't want to go in front of the whole club and sing about her life. She was a much more private person than some of the other members and she didn't feel like expressing her true feelings in front of people. If she had to pick a song to describe her it would have to tell about her confusion about herself because she didn't know herself who she was. She was a nice person but she did mean things for selfish reasons. She went to Church each Sunday, but she had sinned multiple times over. Quinn couldn't think of a song to display her walking contradiction of a persona. She figured that she would ultimately just pick some fluffy song about how much her life rocked so that the other members of Glee Club would think she was perfectly happy with her life and everything in it.

Quinn had to pass the auditorium in order to get to the front doors that led tot he parking lot. As she did she saw that the door was open and heard a noise coming from within. It sounded like a guitar being strummed, and Quinn being the curious person she was needed to know what was happening. She slowly and carefully tip-toed in so that whoever was inside would not notice her. She sat herself down i the back row and looked at the stage. She saw one boy on stage, looking sad as he strummed his guitar. She noticed instantly (and not just form the mohawk) that it was Puck. Quinn contemplated leaving, she assumed that he was practicing for his Glee assignment and if she was being honest with herself, Quinn didn't know if she necessarily wanted to know what Puck was feeling in his life at the moment. She figured it would be a song about being a badass and being able to hook up with whatever girl he saw fit. Still, Quinn was intrigued and decided to stay. Thanks to the good acoustics in the room she was able to hear perfectly from her high above seating. She carefully paid attention to the lyrics when he started singing.

We both lie silently still in the dead of the night

Though we both lie close together

We feel miles apart inside

Quinn recognized the song but she couldn't remember which song it was. She assumed she had heard it from the radio once upon a time. She waited for the self-gloating part of the song to come out.

Was it something I said or something I did

Did my words not come out right

Though I tried not to hurt you

Though I tried

But I guess that's why they say

Quinn now knew the song and she knew that Puck had to be thinking of her. She thought that he had moved on. Everything he had done up to this point had suggested that he was completely done with her. She listened on.

Every rose has it's thorn

Just like every night has it's dawn

Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song

Every rose has it's thorn

Yeah it does

Quinn's mind was now a ball of confusion. Did this mean he wanted her back? Was he simply singing a song and she was reading way too far into it? She studied his face and thought that he looked sad, or disappointed.

I listen to our favourite song

Playing on the radio

Hear the DJ say love's a game of easy come and

Easy go

But I wonder does he know

Has he ever felt like this

And I know that you'd be here right now

If I could have let you know somehow

As Puck sang the chorus again Quinn caught herself by surprise when she let a tear fall down her face. Why was she crying? She was with Mike. Her mind instantly started calculating things. Mike was the guy who had stood her up today without even texting her. Puck was the guy who was singing his heart out right now without knowing she was listening on. Quinn told herself to snap out of it. Mike had made a mistake but he would apologize and things would be better. She couldn't let herself think about Puck again. It would cause her heartbreak as it always did between the two of them. Still, she couldn't bring herself to tear away from the performance and walk away. She was set on listening to the whole song.

Though it's been a while now

I can still feel so much pain

Like a knife that cuts you the wound heals

But the scar, that scar remains

"Stop crying," Quinn whispered to herself even though only a few tears were falling down her face. She was known as being an Ice Queen. Ice Queens didn't cry. It was physically impossible. She slid down a couple of rows so she could be closer to the stage without having Puck see her. It was lucky she did because at this part of the song the guitar and his voice became quieter.

I know I could have saved a love that night

If I'd known what to say

Instead of makin' love

We both made our separate ways

And now I hear you found somebody knew

And that I never meant that much to you

To hear that tears me up inside

And to see you cuts me like a knife

Puck ended the song without finishing the last chorus and Quinn knew that she must have looked like a mess. As much as she had tried to fight it she couldn't help letting tears fall. Puck had meant so much to her. She had tried to save her heart by now putting a label on them in the summer but it didn't matter. Label or not they had been boyfriend and girlfriend in the summer and ending things hurt more than she could have ever expected. She missed Puck so much. She realized that being with him wouldn't allow her to be popular. Seeing the two together would remind everyone that she had been pregnant with his baby last year and a social leper. Still, Quinn wasn't sure if it would be too bad. she would still have Kurt and Mercedes and most importantly he would have Puck. But it wouldn't work she had to remind herself. He was a heartbreaker. He didn't know how to be in a relationship. He was too much of a risk. She needed security at this point in her life. Still, he deserved to have forgiveness and Quinn was focused on giving him just that.

Quinn walked down the aisles of the seats and cleared her throat to get Puck's attention. He had still been sitting on a stool in the middle of the stage, collecting his thoughts. He turned his head to see Quinn and then immediately became nervous. He looked down to his feet.

"Don't go places you're not invited." He muttered to her before standing up and starting to walk away. His back strategically to her so she couldn't see the pain on his face.

"Don't kidnap girls into dark bedrooms at parties." She retorted back.

It worked. Puck stopped walking away and stood still. After a moment he turned around to face Quinn, and tried to make his face as nonchalant as possible. "What do you want from me?"

She ignored his question in order to first make small talk. "The song was really good. Is it for the Glee Club assignment? I assumed it was. You sound really good on it Puck."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't do sappy power ballads. I'm a badass, we don't sing cheesy songs."

She wanted to remind him that he had done just that inly moments ago but stopped herself. She didn't want to cause a fight or an argument. So she simply asked, "Did you mean anything that you were singing?"

He stared at her in her eyes. He looked confused. "You're with Mike."

Quinn nodded. Protect your heart she kept repeating in her head. "But I want you to know that I forgive you."

He furrowed his brows at her. "What are you talking about?"

Quinn didn't want to discuss the break up. She didn't know why he was being so difficult. "Don't be like that. I just mean that there are no more hard feelings for they way things ended. I forgive you for it."

It looked like Puck was smirking at her declaration. She didn't understand but as soon as she knew it he was walking away with his guitar. Quinn didn't say anything more or press the subject. Instead she simply walked off in the other direction to drive home.

When Quinn entered her house she turned on her cell phone for the first time since she had turned it off. She had one missed call. She checked and it was from Mike. She felt glad that he had at least made some sort of effort to fix the problem, but it was still only one phone call. Back in the day Quinn could have had Finn calling her twelve times before she answered when he had messed up. Maybe she had lost her touch? Or maybe Mike simply wasn't the kind of guy she thought he was. Her mind told her to stop second guessing herself and phone Mike to see where his head was at. She had to be rational. So Quinn ran up to her room and quickly dialled his number and pressed the call button. It rang once… twice… three times, he picked up.

"Hey Quinn." He sounded like he had been expecting her call.

"Mike… why did you skip without texting me?" She tried to be calm at first. Yelling at first wasn't the best way to solve problems.

"I didn't think I needed your permission."

When had he become so assertive? Quinn laid on the floor, leaning against her bed and put one of her hands on her head. "You don't, but you always wait for me to walk me to practice. I thought you'd let me know before I had to wait around that you had already left."

"Quinn," Mike sighed, "We've been dating for a week."

"I'm aware Michael." She made sure to use his full name, which he hated. It was only fair as she hated to be patronized.

"So I've only walked you to practice a couple of times. I didn't know it was some tradition. And I also thought you'd get the message after about a couple of minutes. I didn't think you'd wait around forever."

Mike was acting like a complete asshole. Quinn didn't know what had come over him. In any case, she could be play that game as well. "All it would have taken was one text message MIke. You don't think I'm worth a stupid text?"

Quinn heard a deep sigh on the other line. "I didn't even think about you waiting Quinn! I didn't do any of this on purpose."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "So you didn't even think of me. How sweet. You know, i was just thinking how great of a boyfriend you were and then this happened!"

"What happened Quinn? You're making a huge deal out of nothing, and it's bullshit. I don't know what's going on with you right now but this isn't anything to get mad at."

Quinn took a deep breath and thought things over. Okay so maybe she was being a tad ridiculous but what was she supposed to do now? Apologize? That wasn't her style, but she knew that it was the right thing to do. She knew she was on edge after hearing Puck sing about her and how he wished he hadn't screwed up but it wasn't like she could inform Mike of that matter. She instead tried to make things die down.

"Okay… maybe I'm overreacting a tad but… can you just promise that you'll send me a text message next time you skip when we usually hang out? I don't think it's too much to ask."

Mike laughed. "I can do that. So, are we cool now?"

Quinn nodded but then realized she was on the phone so he wasn't able to see her. She chuckled at her stupidity. "Yeah, we're cool. Anyways, where did you even skip to?"

"Me and Sam went to see a movie. It was a horror film, but it wasn't even that scary. I won't skip again if you're going to get pissed off."

Quinn rolled her eyes. She wanted her embarrassing overreaction to be dropped. "Shut up. You can skip if you want, just text me if you do."

"So… this was our first fight."

"Yeah," Quinn replied, "And after only a week of dating. Aren't we still supposed to be in our honeymoon period?"

Mike laughed. "Hey well I don't predict too many more fights along the way. I'm a really easygoing guy so we just have to make sure you don't spaz out too often." It was clear from his voice that Mike was teasing.

Quinn smiled. "I still need to think of a song for Glee Club."

"You know we're performing them tomorrow… right?"

Quinn told him she was aware and they ended their phone call so Quinn could actual pick a song and practice. Mike suggested going through all of the songs on her iPod. She had already checked some of the songs before to no ail but she was willing to give it another shot. After putting it on shuffle, and getting to song number 234, Quinn found the perfect song for her to sing. It wasn't too personal, yet it described her well, and it still managed to be just enough of a badass song for her.

Friday after school arrived fast. All the kids in Glee Club were early for rehearsal per request by Mr. Schuester. Mike had shown up to Quinn's locker with puppy dog eyes saying that he would never dare dream of making her wait at her locker if he wasn't planning on showing. They walked to Glee Club hand in hand and sat down in the chairs beside Kurt and Mercedes.

"Are you excited that everyone actually gets to sing today," Mercedes asked, "I actually get to sing more than one big wail!"

Quinn chuckled at her friend's comment. She hen complimented Kurt's fierce red leather jacket and said, "What song did you guys pick?"

Mercedes put one finger to her mouth. "Sorry girl but it's a secret. Don't worry you'll love it when you hear it."

Kurt smiled at Quinn like he was trying to hold it in, but then he giggled. "Well we all know I'm not the best at keeping secrets so I'll give you a clue. Two words. Lady Gaga."

"Very cool." Quinn approved. Mike made a face as he wasn't the biggest fan of Lady Gaga, but he was open to it back when the girls and Kurt had performed Bad Romance last year. He was much better about the situation compared to Finn, Puck, and even Artie, who openly mocked the idea of singing songs by a girl who couldn't even remember to put on pants half of the time.

At that moment Rachel came bursting in the door with Finn trailing behind her. She had one of her huge grins plastered on her face.

"Fellow Glee Clubbers," She announced, "I cannot wait to hear your renditions of the songs you have chosen but I am sure you have all just been dig to hear what I have prepared. I'll give everyone a clue. It's from one of my favourite musicals of all time!"

There was no response. The Glee Club members simply looked at Rachel as if she were an alien.

Rachel smiled and continued to look around at the other members of the club. She was clearly waiting for someone to take a guess. When it was clear no one was going to say anything she cried, "Oh alright I'll tell you! It's from Rent! But I haven't performed this song in front of anyone! I didn't even practice in front of Finn! I'm sure it will be just as good as any one of my other performances."

Mr. Schuester then walked in and told Rachel to take a seat almost as it were first instinct. He stood up in front of everyone and sighed. "Auditions didn't go as well as I had expected." He admitted.

Santana rolled her eyes. "I told you Mr. Schue. You can't argue with science."

Britney looked at her friend. "I thought we were in Glee Club?" She said slowly.

Santana told her to shush and then crossed her arms. "So how many people actually showed up? One?"

Mr. Schuester smiled. "It was a better showing than that. On Monday we are going to be welcoming three new members to the Glee club!"

Rachel interjected, "I hope you're not just letting anyone in Mr. Schuester as we really need to win Regionals this year. Are there voices up to par?"

"They all have excellent voices. However, we're now going to have an odd number of boys and girls. two boys auditioned but only one girl."

Artie sighed. "So am I just going to be pushed in the corner so you don't need to worry about uneven choreography?"

Tina shook her head. "That wouldn't be fair at all. Right sir?"

Mr. Schuester nodded. "We'll figure something out Artie but don't worry, we're not pushing anybody out."

Kurt's eyes seemed to brighten up. "Who actually tried out Mr. Schuester? Simply out of curiosity I'm asking."

"The girl is an exchange student from the Philippines. Her name is Leizel and she has an amazing voice."

Rachel instantly became worried. "Better than mine?" She interrupted.

Mr. Schue ignored her question. "One of the boys is named Dwayne and the other is named Sam. Most of you should know him, he's on the football team."

Quinn looked at Kurt and saw that he was smiling from ear to ear when it was announced that Sam had joined. She knew she had to be right. Kurt had to be crushing hard on the football player. It would definitely be a topic brought up at the sleepover.

Things moved along into the performances of the songs. When asked for a volunteer to sing first, Rachel immediately jumped out of her seat and walked to where mr. Schue was sitting. She dedicated the song to her new relationship and started singing 'I Should Tell You' from the Rent Soundtrack. Quinn tried not to listen but had to admit that Rachel was making her voice very soft and pretty for the song. The song was a simple love song so Quinn assumed that Finn was taking up a lot of time in Rachel's life.

Next up was Mercedes. She sang 'Listen' from Dreamgirls and brought the house down. Her strong voice fit the song originally sang by Beyonce perfectly. Quinn knew that Mercedes was standing up for herself and saying that she didn't want to put up with being left around to only sing big notes in songs when her voice deserved solos. She even seemed to be threatening Mr. Schuester when she san©, "I don't know where I belong. But I'll be moving on. If you don't, if you won't Listen" After she was done she assured the group that she wasn't leaving, but she didn't want to be taken advantage of anymore.

Artie (who sang Use Somebody by Kings of Leon as he played guitar), Tina (she brought out her inner rockstar on No Doubt's I'm Just a Girl), Kurt (who ended up singing Paparazzi by Lady Gaga), and Finn (I want to Know What Love Is by Foreigner - ugh it grossed Quinn out completely) sang next.

The last six made up of Quinn, Mike, Matt, Santana, Britney, and Puck were left to sing but none were ready to stand up and volunteer. Mr. Schuester had to take the situation into his own hands and pick their order. Mike was up first and sang Cooler than Me by Mike Posner. It was all an excuse to show off his dancing which he did well as he defied the laws of gravity. Mike seemed to take a page from Mike's book and sang Billionaire by Travis McCoy. Santana sang Simply the Best by Tina Turner as yet another way to proclaim how awesome she was. Britney sang Umbrella by Rihanna and dedicated it to Santana. At the end there was only Quinn and Puck left to perform. Quinn hid her head hoping that Mr. Schue would save her and pick Puck. Her prayers worked and Puck got out his guitar to perform.

The cranks in Quinn's brain started turning. She knew what song he was singing and it was obvious who he was singing about. Everyone in glee club would know as soon as he started singing. It was going to be more awkward that listening to Finn and Rachel having a lovey dovey conversation. The worst thing was that Mike was right beside her! What if he got mad at the whole situation? What if he thought that he had competition with Puck and that Quinn was going to run into his arms? Her heart was racing and she didn't know what to do.

Puck started playing guitar but instead of the soft, acoustic melody she had heard in the auditorium, he was playing an electric familiar melody that didn't sound anything like Poison's Every Rose Has Its Thorn. Quinn was confused. This wasn't the song that he had performed. She recognized it, but didn't know what it was. She listened to him singing with the rest of the Glee Club who were pumped up for the rock performance.

Out here in the fields

I fight for my meals

I get my back into my living

Quinn frowned. What the hell was Puck doing? He was supposed to be serenading her and apologizing for all of his wrongs. Not that she wanted him to or anything, it would be totally embarrassing, but she had forgiven him previously under the impression that he would be singing the song in front of everyone.

I don't need to fight

To prove I'm right

Quinn noticed that Puck turned his head to stare directly at her as he sang the next part. He raised his eyebrows at her, stared into her eyes and sang:

I don't need to be

Forgiven

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Quinn wanted to cry. Puck was the ultimate jerk! He knew what he was doing and how terrible he was being. Quinn wanted to walk up to him and slap him across the face. He was an asshole. She couldn't give in though. That's what he wanted her to do. Thus, Quinn sat in her seat and watched Noah Puckerman finish his version of The Who's Baba O'Riley. She might have had watery eyes, but she was not crying. She was not going to let him be the reason for her tears. He didn't deserve the satisfaction. When he was done the rest of the class erupted into applause calling him a badass rockstar. Quinn frowned and simply stood up to get ready for her song. She was hurt, but she was determined not to let anyone on to that fact.

She signalled for the band to start, they already had the sheet music as every student had to print off copies and hand them to each band member in the morning. She took a deep breath and realized that she would have much rather performed in the middle of the pack so people would have forgotten about her once all of the performances were over. She sighed, there was nothing she could do about it now. All she could do was try not to think about Puck's song change and focus on singing her song to the best of her ability.

I hate the world today

You're so good to me

I know but I can't change

Tried to tell you but you look at me

like maybe I'm an angel underneath

Innocent and sweet

Yesterday I cried

You must have been relieved to see the softer side

I can understand how'd you be so confused

I'm a little bit of everything

All rolled into one

Quinn smiled and winked at Mike as the guitar quickened its pace.

I'm a bitch, I'm a lover

I'm a child, I'm a mother

I'm a sinner, I'm a saint

I do not feel ashamed

I'm your health, I'm your dream

I'm nothing in between

You know you wouldn't want it any other way

Quinn hadn't been sure of singing the song at first since it had lyrics in the chorus that definitely would remind people that she had been pregnant and a social loser. However, these were the glee club members. They were the only ones that had stood by her and cared for her while she was with child. They had gone to the hospital with her when her water had broke (except Rachel, but Quinn hadn't minded so much - someone had to stay behind in case they weren't back in time), and they were the ones who still talked to her like she was a normal person. Ultimately she decided that it wasn't too risky to sing the song.

So take me as I am

This may mean you'll have to be a stronger man

Rest assured that when I start to make you nervous

And I'm going to extremes

Tomorrow I will change

And today won't mean a thing

Quinn continued on singing the chorus and looked at Mike. She had been a little nervous that he wouldn't have taken to the song too well. He was enjoying it though, smiling as he watched her sing in front of everyone. His eyes were all on her and Quinn realized that she really lucked out. Mike wouldn't have chickened out of singing a song to her. He wasn't going to break her heart. Quinn took a quick glance at Puck and saw that he was watching her, but she could't read his expression. Was he mad? Intrigued? He was studying her and she wanted to tell him to look away but she focused on the song.

Just when you think

You've got me

Figured out

The season's already changing

I think it's cool

You do what you do

And don't try to save me

I'm a bitch, I'm a tease

I'm a goddess on my knees

When you hurt, when you suffer

I'm your angel undercover

i've been numbed, I'm revived

Can't say I'm not alive

You know I wouldn't want it any other way

Quinn smiled as the music stopped playing. She thought she had done a pretty good job with the song. She knew that she hadn't been anywhere near sharp so Rachel wouldn't be able to make any comments about that this time. The club applauded her and Quinn sat down in her seat beside Mike unable to erase the grin from her face. "Good job," He whispered to her, "You kind of scared me… but it kind of turned me on. Is that wrong?"

Quinn playfully swatted him and looked at Mr. Schuester standing up where she had previously walked away form in the middle of the floor. He frowned at her and said, "Quinn, maybe next time you could choose a more language appropriate song."

She. by instant reaction, rolled her eyes. Quinn then put one hand on her hip and huffed, "Let me get this straight, Rachel is allowed to dance around the room while telling one of our fellow members that she wants to give him hell just by seeing her face, but I can't simply say that at times I can be a bitch?"

Mercedes smiled at her rebuttal and gave her a thumbs up. Mr. Schue looked at her as if he wanted to retort back, but then smiled and shrugged. "Well in that case… good job Quinn. Good job everyone. I'm really proud of all of you! You all are ready to start actual numbers I can see. We'll start next rehearsal, after we make the new members feel welcome of course. They're really excited and I'm sure you're all going to love them."

The Glee Club started to get their things in order so they could leave. Mercedes and Kurt complimented Quinn on her performance and Mike on his crazy dance moves. They gave the best friends similar compliments. After he had finished telling Kurt that his costume was really cool he kissed Quinn on the cheek and told her he had to run since his grandmother was over and his mom wanted him home as soon as possible. Quinn gave him a kiss on the lips and said goodbye. Once he had left she told Kurt and Mercedes she would meet them at the mall tomorrow and then afterwards they would crash at her house.

Quinn then walked out of the rehearsal room. She saw that Puck was leaning against the outside of the door, she tried not to think about if he was waiting for her or not. She ignored him and walked past the door. It did her no good though as he just started walking behind her.

"You know I don't know if I could've picked a better song for you. Well, at least a better song title." He snarked.

Quinn stopped and turned around, stopping Puck in his tracks and forced him to stand still. She pointed a finger out an doped him the chest. "It's better to be a bitch than an asshole at least."

Puck smiled his stupid smug grin that Quinn always waited to smack off his face. "I guess you're mad about my song. I told you, I'm a badass, not a corny wedding singer."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "You care more about your stupid reputation than you ever did about me."

Puck put his arm on Quinn's shoulder, looked at her with his smouldering eyes and told her, "I doubt that."

Quinn shrugged his arm off of her. "Stop it! You're an asshole you just wanted to be a jerk to me by singing that after i forgave you! You knew that wasn't easy for me! This is all just about your stupid reputation. If it wasn't you would have sang the first song."

Puck rolled his eyes. "I'm the one that cares about what people think of me? Weren't you the one that asked me if we could pretend that we weren't together for exactly that fucking reason?"

Quinn wasn't expecting all of this. She didn't want to fight. She didn't want to argue with Puck. That's why she ran away, similar to how she had once Puck had confronted her about being pregnant, to her car and broke into tears. Why did he have to be so mean? Why did he constantly want to mess with her? He had a chance with her but it had been clear that things would never work out. They were both stubborn, and selfish. They were different people with differing opinions. They wouldn't work. Mike was someone who she could actually have a future with however, and it seemed like Puck was trying to mess it all up. He confused her so much. One minute it seemed like he was sorry for everything, and the next second he was making it clear that he didn't need to be forgiven of anything in his mind. Quinn tried to stop crying. He wasn't worth it she kept telling herself but the tears kept falling.

"Fuck," She screamed, "I hate him, I hate him, I hate him!"

She wiped away her tears and calmed herself down before driving back home. When she got home she ran up to her room and went to her room. She laid down on her bed and took out her cell phone. She texted Mike. I adore you. He quickly replied back with: You're cute, and the same goes for me babe. She smiled. This was how things were supposed to be. She belonged with Mike. Quinn promised to herself that form this point onwards she would forget all about Puck and focus solely on her relationship with Mike. He deserved it and so did she. Quinn promised that she would focus on Cheerio's, school, Glee, and her popularity. That was what she needed and she was done with unnecessary distractions.

Saturday came quickly and Quinn got into her car at 2:00 to drive down to the nearby mall to meet Kurt and Mercedes. Once she parked her car she got a text message from Mercedes to meet them in the food court. Quinn found them in front of a Dairy Queen and hugged them both.

'I'm so glad we're doing this," Quinn said, "I am in desperate need of some new clothes and I need people that are going to be honest if I ask if a dress makes me look fat."

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "You say you need new clothes but all you wear to school is that Cheerio's uniform."

Quinn looked at Kurt to help her out. It was clear to both of them that Mercedes held some resentment to the Cheerio's after quitting. She was fine with her friends begin on it, but she always had a snarky comment about cheerleading when the subject was brought up. Luckily Kurt got the message. He awkwardly laughed and replied, "She has a life outside of school Mercedes. Quinn's not like Britney or Santana who probably bathe in the uniform."

Quinn laughed and nodded. She motioned to what she was wearing at the moment, that being a simple blue tank dress with a white cardigan over top. "As you can see, I definitely wear other things."

Mercedes sighed but then smiled. "Fine, I guess you're right. Let's find you something cute then. Maybe I can even get you into a fierce hat."

Quinn giggled. "I don't know if I'd go that far. I'm not a hat person."

After four hours of shopping and trying on clothes the trio decided to head to Quinn's house. Quinn drove home in her car and Mercedes and Kurt drove in Kurt's. When they got to her house they piled all of the overnight things Kurt and Mercedes had brought into Quinn's room.

"This room screams Christian." Kurt remarked as he looked at the crucifix on the back of Quinn's door, the Bible perched on her dresser, and the picture of jesus hanging above her bed.

Quinn raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that a problem?"

Kurt put his overnight bag down and shook his head. "No… I just didn't think you were all crazy about the whole Jesus thing anymore."

Mercedes swatted Kurt and looked at Quinn. "Do you need me to take him to the curb?"

Quinn laughed. "No it's fine. I got pregnant, it's not like I joined a satanic motorcycle gang or anything. I'd like to think God and I are still cool."

Kurt nodded. "I'd like to think he's cool with me as well, even though I gravitate to Steve rather than Eve."

Quinn giggled. "The God I believe in accepts you. He accepts me and everyone who is a good person at heart. He doesn't punish people for making mistakes or loving who they love."

Mercedes gave Quinn a warm smile and wrapped her into a hug. Kurt joined in on the love fest as well. "See this is the girl I know," Mercedes told her, "Why do you have to be the mean ice queen with other people?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "You wouldn't understand Mercedes. I've been trained to act like it since I was young. It's the only way I know how to be popular."

Mercedes rolled her eyes but Kurt broke the tension fast. "At least you found some way to be popular! I've been following advice form magazines, TV shows, movies, you name it for years and nothing has worked for me! I get through it through it though by reminding myself that the popular crowd are neanderthals and I am significantly better than them in every way."

The rest of the night was filled with laughter, pizza, makeovers, fashion shows, and gossip. Quinn never felt better and realized that she was so lucky to have Kurt and Mercedes as friends. They were the only people she felt completely comfortable with. She could act like a total freak with them and know that there was no judging and they weren't going to gossip about her behind her back. They were true friends. Quinn also appreciated the fact that they had become friends when she was pregnant. They had seen her at her lowest and still wanted to be her friend.

At night when the three were in green facial masks to make their skin irresistibly smooth, Quinn decided that she was ready to dig a little into Kurt's love life.

"So Kurt… what's up with you and Sam?"

Kurt immediately stopped flipping through the pages of Vogue and slowly looked up at Quinn. Mercedes was like a ping pong ball, moving her gaze from Kurt and Quinn.

Quinn pretended to back out of the question. She raised her hands in mock defence and said, "Oh nothing! Nevermind, it just seemed like you two were close. You seemed to be real flirty with him but I guess it was nothing."

Mercedes looked at Kurt with a frown. "You have a crush on one of those football players and you never even told me?"

Kurt blushed and looked sheepishly at Mercedes. "I wanted to tell you but… I've never had a crush on a guy before, well there was Finn but he was unattainable seeing as he decided to slum it with girls, so this is the first guy I've crushed on who actually may be able to reciprocate."

Quinn was shocked. She sat up on her bed after previously laying on it to paint her toenails and slid in closer to Kurt. "Sam's gay - like officially?"

Kurt shrugged his shoulders. "He hasn't said it outright yet but… I am a gay guy myself and we have some form of previously installed gayer to help us out. I don't think he knows it yet though."

Quinn gave Kurt a reassuring smile. "Well I'm happy that you've moved on from Finn at least. Just keep hanging out with Sam, and do what you're doing because form my angle he doesn't seem to be minding it at all."

Kurt giggled like a little school girl at that comment and smiled. Quinn was proud of herself for helping out a friend like she was. She was a good person, she just happened to be mean at times.

"What about you Mercedes," Quinn asked, "Anyone you're crushing on?"

Kurt nudged his best friend. "I'm trying to get her to like Dwayne, the new guy who's joining Glee. I think it would be adorable if me and Sam were together and Mercedes and Dwayne. She's not into the idea though."

Mercedes nodded. "I don't want to go looking for some man just so that we can double date. If I have a boyfriend I want it to be someone I like, not someone who is convenient."

Quinn knew that this was the time to back up her friend. She nodded her head and replied, "Besides if any more couples form in Glee then people are going to start making jokes about inbreeding."

The trio of friends laughed and went back to their facials, pedicures, magazine flipping, and hair grooming. They spent the rest of the night gossiping and asking Quinn about her relationship with Mike. She would giggle and tell them that he was sweet and funny and unbelievable cute. The conversation quickly turned into how good of a kisser he was, and for that question Quinn only had positive things to say.

Life was good. Life was simply. Quinn was happy.

A.N.:

I hope you all enjoyed that chapter! This took forever to finish and I really wanted to finish it sooner but things kept coming up! I hope the wait was well worth it! I tried to not only add Puck/Quinn moments but also Mike/Quinn moments as they grow as a couple so that fans of both pairings would be happy :)

On Friday I'll be going to a resort for a week that doesn't have any internet connection! I'm thinking that I'll post a small chapter before Friday and then when I get back I can write like a madwoman to get out one long chapter.

Thank you for everyone who reviewed this story or the original title it was under 'Ever Rose Has Its Thorn'. Also thank you for anyone who put the story on their alert or favourite list or put me as an author on either list! I appreciate it so much!

This chapter was really fun to write and I hope that you all liked it! I tried to leave the title and band/singer of each song that was used somewhere in the story but if I forgot one and you want to know what the song was or who sang it don't hesitate to ask. :) If I do a short chapter next time (which 99.9% it will be) it'll focus on some Mike/Quinn drama that might be surrounding Puck/Quinn. That should be really fun to write about! And i say short but seeing how these are the regular chapter amounts short may even mean 7000 words. I'm not sure. It depends on how much time I have. :)

Now writers work very hard on their stories so I would really appreciate for anyone who has the time to leave a review! It can be a word, a sentence, or even a long paragraph! I appreciate every review I receive!

Thank you all!