It had been a month since Quinn had told Puck that she needed time to herself. She thought that the time would have passed slower than anything she had ever experienced, but she had been pleasantly surprised about how fast the time had actually gone by in. She also had a lot of time for herself now which was a welcome change. Worrying about boys had become a huge hassle. The Mike - Puck drama had gotten so out of control that by the end of it Quinn had questioned everything about her life. It was nice to have free time in which she could reflect on herself and the choices she had been making.

The first day back at school Mike had expected to see Quinn and Puck walk into school with their tongues down each other's throats. He hadn't expected to see them sitting on opposite ends of the room during the Glee Club meeting and he set to figure out what the reasoning behind it was. Only a day ago had Quinn told him that she was leaving him for Puck as she was in love with him again. Quinn knew that the question was going to come up. It was only natural for Mike to be curious about such a thing.

When the meeting had ended and the kids started piling out of the classroom Mike had tapped Quinn on the shoulder and as she turned her head around he asked, "Single?"

It wasn't much of a question, but Quinn guessed that he didn't want to seem to concerned. After all, she had broke the guy's heart and he probably didn't want anything to do with her at the moment. Quinn nodded back at him. "I've decided to try it out for a while." That was it. No more explanations but somehow Mike understood what Quinn was trying to get across to him.

Quinn walked out to her car and saw that Puck had parked right beside her. He was unlocking it with his key and Quinn walked over to him. "Hey," She told him.

Puck waved to her. He was being polite, but it was obvious that it was hurting him that Quinn wasn't with him. Quinn frowned at the way things were going. She had hoped to still be friends with Puck during her time as a single girl. However, she now knew she would have to make the bulk of the effort.

"How was your day?" It was a simple, non offensive question. Puck couldn't make it uncomfortable to answer.

He shrugged his shoulders. Apparently his skills at making things awkward were better than Quinn had imagined. "It was fine," He answered, "How was your day being single and free?"

Quinn bit her lip, knowing that Puck was trying to inflict guilt unto her. She sighed at the foolishness of it all and forced herself to smile. "It was easier than I expected it to be."

Puck nodded, and got into his car. He reversed out of his parking spot and drove away. The old Quinn would have stressed about the situation all night and worried that Puck would never love her ever again. Luckily the old Quinn was gone. The new Quinn refused to get upset over something so miniscule. Puck needed time to process the idea that a girl wasn't dying to be with him, and she needed to be on her own. She would worry about Puck wanting to be with her when the time came around. At the moment she was only concerned with going home to catch up on all of her homework, and to choreograph a Cheerio's routine that Coach Sylvester had asked her to refine.

Quinn had known that the first day of being back at school was bound to be awkward. Luckily for her things started to become easier. It turned out that though Mike was still upset over the whole situation, he was taking it better than was originally thought. He definitely didn't want to be spending any quality time with Quinn, but he wasn't making things uncomfortable in Glee Club. In fact, he didn't even throw a hissy fit when Mr. Schue paired them up in choreography for one of the group numbers. He was mature about the situation. Sure, he refused to say more than two words to Quinn, but he wasn't being mean or trying to recruit people to his side of the breakup.

Puck also started to warm up to her. It wasn't a fast track friendship, but after about a month of being single he started to accept that he could still be friends with Quinn without actually dating her.

The pivotal moment had happened during a basketball game. If the school won the game they would enter the playoffs, something that had never happened to them in all of their sports team history, not including cheerleading. The score was tied and there was only fifteen seconds on the clock. Quinn was cheering from the sidelines with the rest of the Cheerios'. She became her peppiest, cheering on the boys. Puck stole the ball and darted to the opposing side. With five seconds left on the clock his knees bent, his arms outstretched and the ball sunk its way into the basket.

Puck started jumping up and down as he screamed out his excitement. The rest of the team started jumping on top of each other as they huddled in a group circle. The Cheerio's were going crazy, this had never happened to the high school before. Playoffs were a huge deal. Once the circle of basketball players had spread out, Puck ran out and wrapped Quinn into a hug, lifting her up.

She smiled. She was pumped up with the excitement of the team winning, but also with how sudden and unexpected this interaction was. She wrapped her arms around Puck and yelled, "You were amazing!"

"Damn straight," He told her as he placed her back down on the ground, "Come with me and the guys to get pizza."

Quinn nodded her head. "For sure." She rounded up the other Cheerio's and the two groups made their way out to the parking lot where they assembled into groups to drive to the local pizza parlour. Quinn was very pleased with the prospect that Puck was going to be able to be friends with her now. She was driving Brittany and Santana and they were gossiping about Rachel Berry, which was always a favourite past time of the girls.

"Do you think they have sex? Her and Finn?" Santana asked after a particularly mean comment she had made about Rachel's physical appearance.

Brittany scrunched up her nose. "Ew, that's gross Santana."

Quinn snickered. "I bet she does it with those disgusting animal sweaters on."

The girls broke into giggles and Quinn knew she was being mean but who really cared? Normal teenage girls make fun of other girls and her whole philosophy on life was to be as normal as possible. If that meant gossiping then Quinn would simply have to do it.

"If they're not doing it then she isn't missing out on much," Santana said slyly, "Trust me."

Quinn's mouth dropped as she turned the corner. "You didn't!"

Santana proudly nodded. "Yeah he gave up the big V to me," She explained, trying to sound as bored and uninterested as possible, "Finn's a good guy, but so boring. It transfers into the bedroom."

Quinn didn't know how she felt about the new revelation. She was completely over Finn, but she was kind of upset that he had lost his virginity to Santana. Not that she was jealous or anything, it was more that she was mad at Santana for obviously pressuring him into something that he wasn't ready for. Though Quinn hated the girl more than she hated people bringing up her pregnancy, she knew that it would have been best for Finn to lose his virginity to Rachel. That's who he had wanted to lose it with, Quinn knew it and she was mad that Santana had screwed everything up for what was bound to be a stupid reason.

"Don't be mean,." Quinn warned, "Finn's off limits for bashing in this car."

"Is this just because you feel guilty about lying to him about him being the father of the baby?" Santana snottily asked.

"Wait - Finn wasn't the father?" Brittany voiced in her ditzy and airy voice.

Quinn rolled her eyes and ignored the last comment. "No, we just aren't going to make fun of Finn. End of story. Trash Rachel all you want if it's any consolation."

"Her nose is too big for her face." Santana noted.

Brittany nodded. "She looks like belongs in an orphanage."

Quinn relaxed back into her seat as she continued driving to Carl's Pizza. Once they arrived the trio of girls walked into the restaurant to see that half of the Cheerio's and basketball team were already there. They had already ordered massive amounts of pizza. Puck waved Quinn over to him. She hurried off to him.

"Hey superstar." She greeted and he basked in the glory of being the hero for the team. Quinn sat down to the seat that Puck had obviously saved for her.

"I can't take all of the credit. That cheerleading had to have helped some." Puck took a slice of pepperoni pizza and placed it on the plate in front of Quinn. She smiled and took a bite of the slice. Quinn turned to face Puck. "Think you have a shot at playoffs?"

Puck laughed. "Hell no. We're lucky to get this far. But it's still cool... we;'e never won more than one game before. Plus, it's nice being the hero. I've never been the hero."

"Too used to playing the villain?" Quinn teased.

"Something like that." Puck turned his attention to Finn who had tapped him on the shoulder. They reenacted a play that had been made in the game earlier. Quinn laughed along with the other teenagers and noticed that Mike was off in the corner laughing at a private joke with Vanessa, a Cheerio a grade below them. Quinn was happy for Mike that he was moving on with his life, but she had to admit that sparks of jealousy were starting to appear. She knew she didn't want to be with Mike. That had been well-established, but it was hard to see him move on with his life. Not terribly hard, but it did hurt. She really had cared for him. In the end though, Quinn knew all was for the best. Mike needed to be with a girl who deserved him. One that was as crazy for him as he was for her. And Quinn, she deserved to be happy. She was beginning to formulate how to be happy while single. It wasn't hard. It was actually pretty easy. Especially when Puck was being nice as he was at the moment and was actually talking to her.

Puck went back to eating his slice of pizza and asked Quinn, "How's life been going for you?"

Quinn smiled. "It's been good. Kurt and I have been making a whole bunch of trips to the mall, and Mercedes is happy that we're spending time together every weekend. I think she was really missing me sleeping over at her house."

Puck nodded at what Quinn said and replied, "So the single life is going good?"

"It is. I mean, I actually realized that I can be happy without having any arm candy. I can walk into this pizza parlour and not have to sit down with a guy and be fawned over. I did sit beside you though so I guess that wasn't the best example... except I could move and sit beside someone else and not have it be a problem at all. That's a new accomplishment."

Puck laughed at Quinn and said as nicely as possible, "You're pretty pathetic."

Quinn knew that Puck wasn't being mean. "I know... but this is all a good thing. How has life been with you? You probably have a whole bunch of interesting stories to tell."

Puck shook his head. "Not really. Just been playing basketball and being in glee club. Then the regular parties and everything. Nothing special."

"What," Quinn coyly asked, "No girls?"

Puck didn't say anything, instead he took his eyes off of Quinn and looked down at the plate in front of him on the table. Quinn knew what the silence meant. She wasn't surprised, she had known that Puck wasn't going to last months upon months of not getting action, but like seeing Mike with Vanessa, it did manage to hurt her a tad and have feelings of jealousy appear.

"It's okay," Quinn reassured, "You're allowed to hook up with girls. We're not together."

Puck nodded his head, glad she wasn't going to be angry with him. "I'm a sex shark. If I stop moving I die." It was a practiced line that he had used often. Puck wasn't sure if it even seemed genuine anymore.

Quinn gave him a smile at his comment and tried to removed the tension by changing the subject, "You were really great out there tonight. You turned me into a groupie with all the screaming and cheering I was doing."

Puck smirked. "I thought cheerleaders were groupies naturally."

"Please, we're groupies for you guys? It should be the other way around. I mean, we're the only team in the school capable of winning competitions."

"That's about to change." Puck pointed out.

The night had gone on in a similar fashion. Puck and Quinn had joked around and talked for a while longer before Puck was pulled into a conversation with a couple of the guys and Quinn went back to Santana and Brittany who were reenacting a cheer they had performed at the game. Quinn was only to happy to accompany them with it.

Since that night the tension had been broken with Puck and Quinn. They felt more comfortable texting each other, or starting up a conversation in Glee Club. They were at the place that Quinn wanted them to be in. Friends. That's all she needed them to be at the moment... or so she thought. Quinn was in for a rude awakening almost exactly two months of managing to be single.

It all started when Quinn had gone over to Kurt's house to watch some movies with him and Mercedes. They had planned to watch 'Fast times at Ridgemont High' which Kurt had described as quite possibly the best high school movie ever made. Before the movie began however, Mercedes felt the need to share a bit of gossip.

"Did you hear about the new couple alert?" She asked Kurt and Quinn with a smile as she filled a big bowl up with freshly made popcorn. Both of the teenagers shook their heads. Mercedes shot another smile, happy to be the first out of them to have heard the news. "Puck and Santana are dating... again."

Kurt put his hand of his mouth, surprised at the news while Quinn felt like someone had just stabbed her with a knife in the gut. Puck... and Santana? How could it be? They had gone through the song and dance routine so much that she would have thought that they were done with one another for good. Plus, this wasn't some random girl that he was hooking up with, Puck was dating a girl he had serious history with. Quinn started to panic as the wheels started turning in her head. What if he started to fall in love with Santana and didn't want to get back together with her when she was ready for a relationship? Her whole plan had been based around the fact that she was sure that although Puck was going to hook up with girls, he was never actually going to get serious with any. Her plans had obviously hit a fork in the road. Quinn no longer wanted to be at Kurt's house, about to watch some stupid movie. She wanted to call Puck as soon as possible and figure out the details of the situation.

The pain Quinn was feeling was painted clear as day on her face. Mercedes noticed and frowned. "I'm sorry Quinn. I wasn't trying to rub it in your face or anything... I thought you were over the douche."

"I am," Quinn asserted, "I'm single for a reason. But you guys know that I wanted to be with him once I had this whole single thing under control. Now he's dating Santana and I've missed my shot."

"I never got why you made that plan up," Kurt confessed while getting out mineral water (the only kind of water he allowed to touch his lips) for the trio to drink, "I mean, I get the whole staying single plan; female empowerment, whoo hoo! But, how was it fair that you had to be single and he got to hump anything with a pulse?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "Because he isn't the one with the problem, it's me. I needed to figure things out for myself and I couldn't have him pining for me hoping every single morning that it would be the day that i decide to stop being single. Now it doesn't seem as good of a plan as I originally thought it was."

Mercedes rolled her eyes and sat down on the stool in front of the counter top. "I get that he was your baby daddy and all Quinn but what do you really see in the guy besides a hot face and a set of abs?"

Quinn sighed. This conversation was something she had been tired of answering. No one understood what she saw in Puck and it didn't matter to Quinn. They could think she was an idiot for loving him, but in the end she still would. They were good for each other. "Mercedes, let's not get into some stupid argument. Puck and I get each other. We're not those mean shallow people we usually are when we're with each other. I just know I'm supposed to be with him. Isn't that enough?"

Before Mercedes could answer Kurt did so himself. "Yes," He said, "It's enough and Mercedes should know not to bother you with it anymore."

Mercedes put her hands up and said, "Okay, fine I'll drop it. I'm just trying to look out for you though. You know that, right Quinn?"

Quinn nodded. "You're a good friend. But you'd be an even better one if you could accept Puck for me."

Mercedes stood up and started to walk to the living room where the three were going to be watching the movie. "I will. But don't forget that he's not yours right now. He's someone else's."

Quinn knew that Mercedes was right and it made her upset throughout the whole movie. She laughed during parts, and tried to make it seem like she was happy, but she couldn't stop feeling worried that she had lost Puck forever to Santana out of all people. It stung.

After the movie was over Kurt demanded to try out some new face creams on Quinn and Mercedes as his skin was to delicate for him to use products on it without seeing results on other guinea pigs first. The girls complied as they knew the skin care routines were no doubt top of the line and expensive so it was really a win-win situation. As Kurt applied a dark green face mask onto Quinn's skin he asked her, "I don't know how you're doing it."

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "I mean it stinks a little bit, but not as much as that egg and honey hair treatment you made me try last time."

Kurt laughed. "Not about the face cream! I meant about staying single. I lasted sixteen years of being single but then again it wasn't by choice. Not that Sam and I are somewhat together I can't imagine going back to being single."

Quinn smiled. "I thought it was going to be really hard. I thought I was going to run to Puck and beg him to forgive me or run to Make and beg for him to take me back. I needed to do it though, and it's actually not so bad. It's really relaxing, and at least now I know I can do it. Before I thought I would melt or crumble into a thousand pieces if I didn't have a boyfriend."

Kurt nodded. "So if you know you can do it why don't you steal Puck away from Santana?"

Quinn shivered at the coldness of the face mask. She also tried not to breath through her nose as the smell was becoming increasingly unpleasant. "It's too soon," Quinn told him. "It hasn't even been three months yet. It's not that I need more time... I want more time right now. I'm not ready to jump back into things. I need to be single for a bit longer. Plus, I could steal Puck away from Santana any day."

Quinn wasn't certain what she had said was true, but she had to pretend that she thought it was. She couldn't let anyone know that she was even a teensy bit threatened by Santana. After some more gossip and talk amongst Quinn, Kurt, and Mercedes, Quinn told them that she needed to be home. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend any more time with her friends, but it was more that she had been carrying around the news that Puck and Santana were dating the whole night and needed some time to think it over alone. On the car ride home Quinn kept having images of the two together and she couldn't help but have her heart race and succumb to her feelings of jealousy. Santana didn't care about Puck. Puck didn't care about Santana. Still, they were always getting back together and they even seemed to be able to remain friends when they were apart. Obviously there were some feelings there, and that made Quinn even more jealous.

She wasn't envious or upset when she had heard stories of Puck and dozens of other girls. It was just this one girl in particular. Santana and Quinn were always fighting over everything. They had even been rivals in kindergarden when they fought over who was the better finger painter or who got to play with the pink toy pony. Quinn realized that she had finally gone insane when she found herself driving down Puck's street without even remembering how she had arrived there. Her jealousy was becoming an issue but she needed to see if Santana and him were together at that moment.

Unluckily for Quinn as soon as she passed Puck's house she saw that Santana's car was parked on the side of the street. Quinn rolled her eyes. It figured. However, she had to keep reminding herself, she couldn't be mad at Puck for anything. He wasn't doing anything wrong. Still, Quinn wanted to know more about the situation. She wanted to know how serious this "relationship" with Santana meant to Puck. So Quinn parked a few streets away from Puck's house (so he couldn't look outside and see her and assume Quinn was now stalking him), and took out her cellphone from her purse. Quinn texted Puck a quick message. 'What's going on?' Quinn sent the text and waited for Puck to respond. The theory behind the text message was if Puck texted back quickly then obviously Santana wasn't important enough to ignore other girls while they were spending time together. However, if he didn't then Quinn would realize the truth.

Quinn turned the radio on to pass the time. She wasn't going to wait forever. Just a minute more. Okay, one more minute. So it was only three minutes since Quinn sent the text when she received one from Puck. She quickly opened it up to see what it said. 'Nothing right now. Why? Want to hang out?'

Quinn smiled. She was still important. She still mattered. She didn't know why she was so happy considering that no matter what Santana had been there that night, but the text had made her happy. So happy in fact that Quinn replied in a way she probably shouldn't have. "Sure. Meet me at the school?" It wasn't a hot spot in town, but it had the large bleachers beside the fields that many people had been known to hang out on at times when the weather wasn't so bad and there wasn't anywhere else to go.

Quinn quickly received another text message confirming the plans and she drove off in the direction of the high school. She got out of her car, it was pretty dark out, but the stadium lights were on and no one was around anyways. Quinn walked to the back field and sat down on one of the top bleachers. She waited seven minutes and then saw Puck walking towards her. He waved and walked up to the top bleacher and sat beside her.

"Hey," He told her, as he rubbed his hands together for warmth. It was Ohio, and the middle of winter which meant that cold water was a no brainer. Quinn returned the greeting and asked, "What's been going on with you?"

Puck shrugged his shoulders. "Just the regular hanging out... being a badass. Nothing major."

Quinn smirked. "I heard you were doing a lot more than that."

Puck's eyes hit the ground and he hung his head down low. "I told her not to make it Facebook official... everything becomes shitty when you do that."

Quinn looked above Puck's head over to the cars passing in front of the school. For a second she thought she had seen her dad's car passing by but it had been a smaller model than the one her father had previously had. Quinn didn't even know if he had the car now. Their relationship hadn't grown anymore since the divorce like Ms. Fabray had feared. "Facebook didn't out you guys. Mercedes told me. Maybe she found out on Facebook though... it's fine. Don't worry about it. I just wish you would have told me."

Puck raised an eyebrow at Quinn and looked at her in the eyes. "You would have wanted me to tell you?"

Quinn sighed. "Well, maybe not. I don't really know what I think of the whole situation. When did it even happen?"

Puck counted down on his fingers. Quinn didn't know if he was counting days, weeks, or worse, months. She hoped that it might possibly be hours but knew that couldn't be true. "Three weeks ago," Puck replied, "That's when we started hooking up again. Then yesterday she started saying that she wouldn't keep doing it unless we were a couple. She mentioned that Beyonce song too... you know, the one where they say 'put a ring on it' or something? It was pretty gay... but she's DTF so it seemed alright."

"DTF," Quinn sneered, "Please don't be trying to be like any of those guys on the 'Jersey Shore'. Please don't make me become embarrassed for you."

Puck laughed and leaned back on the bleachers to the poles enclosing it in. "Hey Pauly D is cool. The Situation's a douche, but we can't punish the cool dude cause of him."

Quinn nodded and pretended that Puck was saying something highly intelligent. She then went on to ask him something she hadn't planned on doing. Still, it was now on her mind and she had to get it out. "Do you think it's weird my dad hasn't called or tried to talk to me once since he kicked me out?"

Puck was not prepared for the question. He wasn't one for deep conversations. He wasn't expected to be that guy. Girls wanted him for one thing, and it wasn't his mind. He had become used to it but it seemed that Quinn wanted him to be more than what he was accustomed to. She wanted to know his opinions, and she cared about what he was thinking. She treated him differently than all of the other girls he knew. It was refreshing, and made him feel important. So, even though he didn't know how to answer the question the proper way, he sure as hell was going to give it a shot. "He's an asshole," Puck told Quinn while trying to make his voice as warm and comforting as possible, "He doesn't deserve to talk to you. You should be thanking him right now for not giving a shit."

It wasn't the answer Quinn was looking for, but she was touched that Puck had at least tried to answer the question for her. She felt a tear drop from her left eye. Even though she was used to her father ignoring her, it still hurt that he could care so little for his own daughter. Quinn looked at Puck and knew that even though he was only the biological father, he loved Beth more purely and unconditionally than Quinn's own father ever would of her.

"I didn't mean to make you cry."

Quinn shook her head and wiped the few tears coming down away. "You didn't. Thinking about him just makes me frustrated. I never told anyone this but... well I thought that once I wasn't pregnant and the baby was gone that he would forgive me and we could all be a family again. Now my parents are divorced and he doesn't even call to check to see if I'm still alive. I didn't think this was how my life was going to be like."

"I know," Puck whispered as he confessed, "I thought that maybe once the baby was born that my mom would stop staring at me like I had screwed up. She still does though, and I feel like shit. I thought she would stop being mad at the fact that you're not Jewish, but she still hates that Beth is part Christian. She acts like I'm not man of the house anymore. Like she can't count on me. Forget it... it's fucking stupid."

Quinn let out a few more tears and sniffled. "No it's not. It's honest. I wish things would have gone back to normal after I had Beth. Things were going fine for a while. Mike was nice, and I was head cheerleader. But now I'm single and Santana's becoming more popular by the second. Even worse I feel like crap inside. I wish I could go back to that day and say no. You don't know how many times a day I repeat that in my head."

"If you had said no there wouldn't have been an us." Puck pointed out as he looked out onto the football field. He couldn't face looking at Quinn and seeing the shame in her eyes over being with him.

"My family would still be together. People would still fear me without remembering how much of a loser I had been months ago. I wouldn't feel so empty. It's nothing against you. It's just me wanting to be able to feel better about myself."

Puck nodded, starting to understand at least a little bit of what Quinn was telling him. "Do you always feel empty?"

Quinn looked up at the dark sky. At least twelve stars were visible, a rare feat in Lima. She smiled at the beauty and then looked back at Puck. "Not all of the time... only when shitty things happen. Like when my dad didn't call on Christmas, or when you start dating Santana again."

"You're being stupid." Puck whispered, almost as if he was afraid to being saying it. He braced himself for a slap across the face or a rant on how insensitive he was but it never came. Quinn simply looked at him, tiled her head, and asked Puck, "Why?" She was hurt by his comment, but she didn't want it to show just yet.

"Because you keep feeling sorry for yourself for no reason. You're fucking Quinn Fabray. The Quinn Fabray I know doesn't make herself feel like crap or make herself get fixed up into a big mess. This isn't you."

It dawned on her. This wasn't her at all. Puck was right. Quinn was always the one to power on and make the best out of terrible situations. She wasn't one to get herself in such a slump. She has been doing so well up to that point and she realized that it was all stemming from jealousy. Jealousy of Puck being with Santana was what had made her start focusing on all that was wrong in her life. Quinn wanted to scream or throw herself off the bleachers. Anything to get her mind off of how frustrating her life was.

Quinn stood up from her seat on the bleachers and started walking down to her car. Puck stood up as well and walked after her, yelling, "Quinn, where are you going? What's the matter with you?"

Quinn had reached her car and had her hand on the door handle. However, she turned around and she was at least six steps away form Puck. She yelled back, "I'm so mad, and so angry that I want to yell out so that everyone in freaking Ohio can hear me! I hate my dad, I hate Santana, and I hate... I hate needing you! I didn't before! Or I thought I didn't but then you start dating Santana and I want to give up everything os that you'll pick me over her! It's messed up and I hate it! I can't do this anymore! I need to go back to where I was. I was in a good place."

Puck had moved in closer to Quinn and looked at her more confused than ever. "Do you want me to break up with Santana or something?"

Quinn wiped away a couple of tears that had started pouring out of her eyes and shook her head. "No," She replied, "I don't. I think I just need more time. I thought that soon I was going to be better but it turns out I'm not. I just need more time alone. I need to know my own needs and know myself. Then I won't be such a jealous bitch."

Puck nodded. "We could still stay here and talk if you wanted. We wouldn't have to bring up Santana or anyone else. Just talk about life stuff... like real friends."

Quinn smiled. "That sounds nice, but I really need to go home and cry now. Rain check?"

Puck smirked and nodded at her. Quinn smiled back and got into her car. As she was driving home she started to calm down and realized where she had gone wrong. It was all about a competition. If it had been any other girl Quinn wouldn't have cared but the fact that it was Santana, the girl she had been frenimies with since kindergarden made everything so complicated. However, Quinn knew that she was right when she said that she needed more time to herself. After her meltdown it was clear she wasn't ready for a relationship. She couldn't even handle her own emotions at the moment. In any case, that night changed their relationship. They were no longer friends. At school they barely talked, and during Glee Club the awkwardness from that night was there. It didn't help matters that Santana seemed intent on wrapping herself around Puck at every possible second.

One day after Cheerio's practice she tried really hard to push Quinn's buttons. It was not a smart move. Santana sidled up beside Quinn as they were walking to the change rooms and smugly told her, "Guess not even having a baby with a guy can get you to first place of his best sex partners list."

Quinn stopped in her tracks as Santana walked on. When Santana noticed that Quinn was left behind she turned around and smirked. "You look confused. Don't play stupid. Only Brittany can rock that look."

Quinn took a deep breath to refrain from running over and starting an official smack down on the girl. She had to be classy and keep her cool. So Quinn didn't start a physical fight. Instead she simply stated, "Of course he's going to tell you that. The pathetic thing is that you asked. Grab a little confidence for yourself and maybe you make your way up from the bottom of the pyramid."

Santana put a hand on her hip and laughed. "Oh Quinn. Don't worry... we all know I like it on top."

Quinn rolled her eyes and tried to walk past Santana. As she did she breathed out, "I happen to know that Puck would jump ship to me the first chance he got. So don't start getting too cocky."

Quinn only was able to take two steps forward before she felt herself being thrown to the ground. Santana was on top of her, slapping her across the face. Quinn hated girl fights. They were so classless but she needed to defend herself. She tried pushing Santana off of her but the bitch kept running back and pushing Quinn back on to the floor.

"Get off of me you freak!" Quinn yelled as she pulled Santana's hair to get her to stop hitting her. At this point there was a small crowd of people looking onto the fight.

Santana yelled back, "I hate you! You're ruining my life!"

Mr. Schue had run over to the two girls and pulled Santana off of Quinn. He did not look amused at all. Quinn tightened up her ponytail and brushed off the dirt that had collected on her cheerleading uniform. She was embarrassed that people had seen her look so classless with Santana.

"You two have to start getting along," Mr. Schuester lectured, "We're a family. You two were best friends. You need to stop acting like children."

"The bitch is trying to sabotage my relationship." Santana declared with a hand on her hip.

Quinn had to roll her eyes at that comment. She even let out a little chuckle. "She's a liar! She's jealous of me being more popular and better than her! She's an insecure freak who needs to get off my back!"

Mr. Schue let the girls go after a few minutes of talking things over and teaching them to talk things out rather than initiate a cat fight. Quinn grinned and listened even though she had no idea why she was needed to hear the conversation. She was a million times more mature than Santana. That girl was the instigator of every problem. Quinn hated her.

Quinn had put Santana on permanent ignore after that fight. She wasn't even going to bother being frenemies with the bitch. Not only did Santana not deserve it, but it wasn't worth Quinn's time. Instead Quinn went on with her life. She was getting good grades, she managed to snag a solo in the Glee Club, the Cheerio's won three consecutive competitions, and she was becoming closer with her true friends, such as Mercedes and Kurt. It was a welcome change not to have to think of ways to sabotage the feisty Cheerio.

One day, in April, Quinn received great news. She was in the rehearsal room waiting for everyone else to arrive. Finn was also sitting in the room, one row in front of Quinn. He turned around, stared at Quinn as if he was contemplating whether to tell her something or not, and then turned back around.

Quinn smirked. "What is it Finn?" She asked with a sigh, figuring it had to do with Rachel who still managed to top Santana on her least favourite persons list.

Finn turned around and waved it off. "Nothing it's just... well Santana and Puck broke up. I just thought you'd want to know."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want to know?"

Finn smiled, not playing into Quinn's denial. "Come on Quinn. We all know you and Puck are endgame."

Quinn rolled her eyes at her ex. Once Finn turned around she did let a smile slip. She had managed to be apart from any boy drama since the whole midnight freakout on the bleachers, so she wasn't thrilled that Puck was single and she could jump up on him at any moment. No, she was simply excited that Santana was single and thus unhappy. The girl deserved it. Back to being single, Quinn was loving it. She had begun to realize how nice it was to be able to flirt with whoever she wanted without feeling guilty. Also, it was so nice to have so much time to herself or to spend with her friends. She had made out with three guys since she was single. At parties, and it was completely casual. Quinn loved it and she was definitely not ready to jump back into a relationship. She had finally managed to be okay being single and now she wasn't ready to go back to her old ways. She still cared about Puck a lot, and knew she would want to be with him in the future. However, that day wasn't today. She wanted a little more time, and really that was a good thing. It was healthy to want to be single, and Quinn was impressed with herself. And above all else she was happy that Santana didn't have anything to hold over her head anymore.

After Glee Practice Quinn was filled in on the details of the breakup from Kurt, who had heard about it through another one of the Cheerio's. Apparently Puck was the one who had broken up with Santana. She was too possessive and apparently he was had been mad at her over the cat fight. Though Quinn wasn't ready to be with him, she was happy that Puck had been upset over his girlfriend's crazy antics.

Since Puck was single, and Quinn had become comfortable not having a boyfriend, she thought it would be a good time to start up a friendship again with Puck. Quinn decided to ask him to be her partner for the Glee Club assignment. They were supposed to sing a ballad as the last time no one really ended up doing so. Quinn had been a little nervous to ask Puck since ballads has a romantic connotation attached to them, but she wanted to be friendly and this was the best way she knew how.

Quinn had walked up to Puck after Mr. Schue had announced the assignment and they were dismissed. "Hey," She greeted, "Did you want to be my partner for the ballad assignment?"

Puck gave Quinn a look, not knowing if she were completely serious or not. She couldn't blame him, after not speaking with him, or even looking in his general direction for the longest time. He ended up not pushing his luck and making a sarcastic comment, and instead nodded and told her, "That'd be cool."

Quinn smiled. "Good. So how about you come over to my house tomorrow at eight and we can practice?"

Puck confirmed the plans and Quinn was excited to start being friendly with her ex again. She had to admit to missing Puck. Sure he could be a skeeze at times, and he talked a lot more about video games than he probably should but in the end she cared a lot about him. Once Quinn returned home she went on her laptop to research possible ballads to sing. She didn't want to do anything too romantic, but she also wanted to suggest a song that showed that she still cared a lot about Puck. After a little while Quinn found a song she recognized and thought was perfect for the situation.

The next night Quinn waited patiently in her room for Puck to come over. She had the sheet music out for the song since she had told Puck to bring his guitar. It was times like these that Quinn wished she could play an instrument so she could contribute a bit more but she thought that at least she had picked out the song so it wasn't like she was totally useless.

The doorbell rang and Quinn's mom called from downstairs to make sure her daughter had heard it. Quinn walked down to answer the door. She smiled once she opened it. "Hey."

Puck smiled back. "Hey. I brought the guitar." Puck lifted up the case as if to prove it. Quinn smiled and stood back to invite him in. "Let's practice in my room." She didn't mean it in a suggestive way, but Puck was Puck so he felt obligated to raise his eyebrows at the comment.

They walked up the stairs and into Quinn's room. She had made sure to put the record player Puck had bought her for Christmas out. The one Mike had given to her was now in the basement, tucked away. She hadn't used it in a while since they were now not a couple and it felt awkward. It was more natural to use the one Puck had gifted to her. Quinn could have sworn that she saw Puck smile when he looked to his right and saw that his gift was proudly on display, and with a record in it, proving it had was being used.

"So," He asked, "What song are we going to sing? Please tell me you didn't pick anything super lame or sappy."

Quinn bit her lip. "It might be sappy to you... but I heard that Rachel's making Finn sing Islands in the Stream so don't even think about complaining about the one I picked. You probably know this one... it's from Toy Story I think."

Puck braced himself for finding out the title of the song. "Just tell me what it is."

Quinn giggled. "You've Got a Friend in Me." She made sure to give Puck a meaningful smile once she had told him the song so he would realize that she meant what she was saying. He seemed to get the message. He actually looked as if he were blushing. He looked down at his feet, back up at Quinn and replied, "Fine. I guess we could do that one."

Quinn rolled her eyes, as if he had an option. Still, it was nice that he was into the idea as much as she was. She handed Puck the sheet music. He looked it over, deemed it easy enough, and took his guitar out of its case.

Puck put the guitar strap over his shoulder and looked at Quinn. "Should we think of any lame choreography or just start singing?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. She hadn't thought about moving at all while singing. She wasn't really one for dancing when it was only her or another person up front and centre. It wasn't so bad when they were a group, or when she was performing cheers. SInging alone or with a partner while dancing was a little nerve wrecking. That made the answer to Puck's question a lot easier to figure out.

"Sing. Let's just sing please. We don't need to dance. We can just stand up there and look hot. You can play guitar. I'll sway to the beat. I think that's enough."

Puck shrugged his shoulders. It didn't matter much to him either which way. He was just glad to have Quinn talking to him again, and actually seeming to like him. He looked down at the sheet music, back up at Quinn, and asked, "Can I just start playing? Do you know when to start?"

Quinn smiled and nodded her head. She was excited, but nervous at the same time. Puck started to strum the strings of his guitar and Quinn waited for her cue to start singing. She took a deep breath first, in order to calm her nerves.

"You've got a friend in me," Quinn sang in her sugary sweet singing voice.

"You've got a friend in me," Puck sang in a deeper, stronger voice.

Quinn smiled and wanted to giggle out of sheer joy of singing with Puck. She had to focus however, as her solo part of the song was up. "When the road looks ahead, and you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed. You just remember what your old pal said. Boy, you've got a friend in me."

Puck looked half impressed and half gracious at Quinn as she sang the lines of the song and meant every single word. He followed her lead with the next line as they sang together, "Yeah, you've got a friend in me."

They sang that same two lines together twice before it was time for Puck's solo. He was still going steady with his guitar playing. He had always been able to pick up new songs fast luckily. "If you've got troubles, I got 'em too. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you. We stick together, we can see it through. Cause you've got a friend in me."

Quinn smiled as she sang, "Yeah you've got a friend in me."

Puck stopped playing guitar, the pair looked at each others deep in the eyes and let out one last time, "You've got a friend in me," in unison.

There had been more to the song, but it got a lot more personal, something Quinn wasn't sure if Puck would be comfortable singing in front of everyone. Plus, it was customary for those who were singing in the club to shorten the songs. Usually if they continued things became too repetitive or people lost interest. Quinn, who usually had a long attention span, wasn't able to withstand even thirty-seconds of Rachel Berry's shrill voice.

Puck put his guitar down and awkwardly put his hand on the back of his head. "So... that was pretty good."

Quinn nodded her head in agreement. "I meant it too... I do want to be your friend Puck. I always will be."

Puck chuckled. "I didn't know you were so cheesy."

She rolled her eyes. They could never have a perfectly nice moment. "Shut up and just let me talk to you. I want to be your friend Puck. Even if you date all the girls I can't stand or I'm acting like a crazy person and you just want to tell me to shut up. I still want to be friends."

Puck stood up and took a few steps closer to Quinn. "I want to be friends too... but you know I want to be more. It's hard being our friend when I want to be your boyfriend."

Quinn understood exactly what Puck was talking about. She had similar feelings. However, she still had to consult herself on what she needed to do with these feelings. She had spent months being single and she had enjoyed it, fully. Still, she did want to be with Puck again. She wanted to be his girlfriend, and have him be her boyfriend. She wanted to hold hands, go out for dinner, and be able to kiss him. The point of being single was learning how to be happy alone, and Quinn had successfully accomplished that. Would it be so wrong to now stop the cycle and enter into a relationship again?

Quinn took a deep breath. "I want to be with you too Puck..." Her voice lingered, and Puck noticed it. "But what?" He asked, knowing there had to be more to what Quinn was saying.

Quinn grinned. There was no getting past him. "But... it's just hard since I've spent so much time being single. I don't want to get hurt again. I can't go through what happened last year again. I'm not that strong. I like people to think that I'm the head bitch in charge and nothing can get to me but... I'm weak. I can't take getting hurt anymore, especially not by anyone I... anyone I love."

Puck's face brightened at that comment. "You still love me? After all that crap I've done?"

Quinn nodded coyly. Puck seemed to be one of the only people she could completely express her feelings to without being nervous. Puck took another step closer to Quinn. "Good," He whispered, "Because I still love you too."

Quinn felt her lips curving upwards. This felt good. It felt right. The moment was perfect. Puck leaned in closer to Quinn. His face was mere inches from her. Quinn knew what was happening. She wanted it to, but first she needed something clarified. "This time... it has to be different. It has to. This time is has to work. No more being stupid. We can't act immature. If we're going to do this... it has to be good this time. I mean it."

Puck nodded his head. He agreed with her. He wanted their relationship to work out every bit as much as Quinn did. "It will. I promise. I've lost you so many times before... I've learnt my lesson. This time I'm not going to lose you. This time... it's going to work Quinn. I love you."

"I love you too." The words had escaped her mouth before she had time to process them. It just seemed natural to say them to Puck. She knew that this is what she wanted. She wasn't scared. She was happy. She let Puck lean in the remainder of space between them and place his lips upon hers.

She had missed the feeling of kissing Puck. She had missed the feeling of him wrapping his arms around her, and moving his hands through her hair. She was so glad to have it all back. She could feel it in his kiss that this time was going to be different. The haste, passionate kisses were replaced with soft, and sweet ones. Quinn could even feel him smiling as he kissed her, with the way his lips had moved.

She had been through so much in the past year and a half. It had been more dram than Quinn had ever expected to have in high school. Still, she wouldn't give it up for the world. She wouldn't change anything about it. This was all due to the fact that now she was in her bedroom, kissing the boy she loved more than anything, and she knew that he loved her too. Without all of the drama, she would never be in the moment she was in now. This was perfection. Quinn knew that she would be looking forward to more perfect moments to come. She couldn't wait for them.

She wrapped her arms around Puck's back and let herself give into his kiss completely. They were together... again... finally.

Author's Note: Please Read :)

I am so completely and utterly sorry first of all. I want to apologize a bazillion times. This story is far too overdue. I never should have made any of my lovely readers wait so long for the last chapter. The truth of the matter was not that I gave up on this chapter. Far from it. I would say that I wrote at least 100 words a day, for the most part, but the simple fact is that life got in the way. School has become so overwhelming, my job takes up so much time, I have extracurriculars that take up even more time, and on top of all that it's always nice to continue a social life. I have had no time to write, but any moment I food myself with a few minutes, or on the rare occasion an hour, I was writing. I wish that this could have come out a month ago but that wasn't the case. I hope that you haven't lost interest in the story. I really hope not. I hope that all of my fantastic readers have found their way back to this story and are very satisfied with the ending.

Now, I hope this doesn't disappoint anyone but I probably won't be writing for a while. I'm a big fan of long chapter stories but I cannot imagine writing another one for quite some time. It would take forever, and the gaps between chapters would be far too long. However, I will be writing stories again. I just don't know when. Probably over Christmas break I'll have the time to do so. I wish there was one more hour in the day. This also means that I won't be able to write a story based on one of your suggestions from the reviews of the last chapter. I just do not have the time, and I am sorry.

Hopefully I can squeeze in time here and there to maybe write a few one-shots.

Anyways, I hope you have all enjoyed this chapter and this story. I loved writing it! I hope that the wait wasn't too bad on you all.

This story took forever and a half to write, so if you have the time I would love to hear your thoughts on it in the form of a review. It'd make my day :)

Thank you for all who have been reading, subscribing, or reviewing. You are so amazing!

Until next time,

Happy Reading :)