Quinn smiled at Mercedes' comment and softly chuckled. "I don't even know how you got to be the first victim, San and I just walked out of Coach Sylvester's office and we saw you and Kurt talking down the hall. Anyone could see that you liked him, and everyone but you could see that you weren't his type."
Mercedes scrunched her nose and gave a 'whatever' shrug.
"So we played matchmaker with you two, I guess hoping when the truth came out it would be too awkward for you be around each other and you would both quit. Whatever it was, just know I'm really really sorry about it, Mercedes."
"It's okay," Mercedes said. "You were a different person then."
Quinn smiled sadly. "Sometimes I'm not so sure," she muttered. "Anyway, Santana was having her own relationship problems. She was whining to me how she was going to break up with Puck because he was broke or something. I don't even know how those two could even consider themselves in a relationship; I mean neither of them was exclusive with each other (clearly). She acted like breaking up would be some big change; they would still be friends with benefits, which is basically all they ever had been even if San does go off on some weird jealousy kick sometimes."
Mercedes scoffed, "tell me about it."
"Yeah, but don't worry, you totally owned her during The Boy Is Mine."
Mercedes laughed. "Oh, I ain't worried, I know I did!"
"Although, San was keeping Puck distracted at school, just like I had said, he'd go back to his life and I'd go back to mine. Anyway, luckily Puck was respecting my wishes and giving me my space because I had bigger problems to deal with. We now had to raise eight thousand dollars to get Dakota to even show up! But we washed every car in Lima and locked him down. I knew he was going to be hard on us but I didn't quite expect the personal insults that he dished out. I mean cutting Artie right off the bat because he can't walk and you because…" Quinn trailed off, not wanting to offend.
"I got more curves than a Nissan ad," Mercedes finished cheekily.
"That sounds like something Puck would say."
"He did. It was one of his pick-up lines for me."
Quinn shook her head. "I honestly don't know how he manages to charm women. I really don't! I mean, look at me! I try so hard to be mad at him and keep my distance because I know what a player he is but I keep getting reeled in by him over and over again. I seriously feel like I'm on a yo-yo. And we're not boyfriend and girlfriend, I know lots of people at school think we are even though he dated you and still sleeps with half the town, I know he and I would never work as a couple unless he can learn to….you know. But I've seen a side of him no one else has, a sweet and almost noble side, and all he has to do is turn that on and I melt, no matter how mad I at him.
"And I find the oddest things about him attractive. His stupid Mohawk, I didn't realize how much till it was gone, the scar on the back of his head….his teeth! I am a stickler for teeth, I like them straight and white, one thing that really attracted me to Finn was his smile even if his teeth do seem a little small for his mouth but anyway we're not talking about him," Quinn rambled. "Puck, his teeth…have you ever seen his bottom teeth? His top teeth are fine but his bottom teeth are really crooked and you know what? I find that incredibly sexy! But only on him! I have never been turned on by crooked teeth before, only on him."
"I can kinda get behind that. I think braces on a guy is sexy," Mercedes admitted.
"Complete with headgear, freckles and coke-bottle glasses?"
"Umm, no"
"Just checking," Quinn winked. "So back to Dakota Stanley. I found myself really feeling bad about all the things he was saying. I should have been great because Finn said he quit then one by one you guys all started walking out, this was my plan working like clockwork, and I felt horrible. And as much as I hate to admit it, I cheered when Rachel rallied you guys back together and told that Oompa-loompa off, even if it did mean that Rachel was back in Finns good graces.
"Coach Sylvester was, predictably, less than pleased at the outcome. The Acafellas were over so glee had Mr. Schue's undivided attention again, and that time away had kind of inspired him and he brought that enthusiasm back to the club and rejuvenated everybody. She was not happy."
"Not to mention the 8 G's down the toilet," Mercedes reminded her.
"Yeah, that too. Precious Cheerios practice time wasted and nothing to show for it. That money could have at least gone to the Cheerios but it ended up not doing anyone but Dakota Stanley any good. Ah, well I reckon he could use it. I imagine that Big Gay Beard he had in the car with him that night doesn't come cheap."
The girls had fallen into an easy laughter when the chorus of Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself For Loving You" coming from Quinn's phone diverted their attention.
"That would be Puck," Quinn said reaching for her phone, registering his personal ringtone.
"Fitting," Mercedes observed.
Quinn read his text thoroughly, then read it aloud to Mercedes.
"Hope I didn't wake you. Just wanted to tell you goodnight and hope you're surviving Mercedes….Sarah misses you." She turned the face of the phone to Mercedes to show her.
"I don't think I've ever seen my name misspelled that bad." Mercedes said, peering at the screen. "So 'Sarah' misses you, huh?"
Quinn chuckled as she replied to the text. You didn't, we're just talking and everything's fine so far. Tell Sarah I miss her too. Goodnight. 3 ~Q
She volleyed back and forth the idea to tell him that she missed him too, but she know it would only lead to him asking her to come back.
"He wasn't crazy about the idea of me moving here," she admitted to Mercedes. "Nothing against you, just, despite us not being quote-unquote together, he still feels like it's his responsibility to house me."
"Yeah, I guess since it's his fault you got kicked outta your house in the first place."
"Well, takes two to tango," Quinn sighed.
"Yeah, but he was the one that uh, what did you say? Didn't 'got it'?"
"This is true…."
'I don't want you to leave.' Puck said from the doorway of his bedroom as he watched her pack.
'Look, Puck, I'm grateful for everything but I really think this is better for everyone.'
'I-if this is about my mom, I can talk to her. I know she can be crazy and stuff sometimes, but she's just got to accept that-'
'No, this is her house. She and I don't get along, there's all kinds of differences between us, especially religious differences, I can respect that, she doesn't approve of me, or us, or our situation,' Quinn said as she hastily shoved her belongings into her duffel bag. 'She shouldn't have to be miserable in her own home because of the mistakes of two stupid teenagers. And look at it this way, now you can have your bed back.'
"He gave me his bed and he slept on the couch, in case you were wondering. Sometimes if I was feeling cruddy he would make a pallet by the bed and sleep on the floor so he would be right there if I got sick or needed something in the middle of the night. He would get to sleep in his bed sometimes when my back would hurt and it would be more comfortable for me to sleep in the recliner. Or when Sarah and I would stay up late with girl talk and she would ask me to "sleep over". My big ole pregnant belly and her sharing a single size princess bed. That was a sight."
'You know I don't care about that. Do you need me to do more is, that it? Cuz I can, well when me and Finn pay off the tires I can-'
'You've done plenty,' she zipped the bag closed as she heard Mercedes pull into the drive. She walked over to Puck and placed a hand gently on his upper chest, pretending to smooth his collar. 'I just think this is a healthier change. I'm stressed out here, and it's not good for me to be stressed right now…please understand, Puck.'
Puck sighed, defeated as he heard his mother open the door for Mrs. Jones and Mercedes. Quinn stood on her tip-toes and kissed Puck low on the cheek, brushing her bottom lip against the corner of his mouth. He tilted his head to kiss her properly but she turned to grab her bag. He took the strap from her hands.
'Here, at least let me carry it out for you. You don't need to be lifting that much.'
"Anyway," Quinn yawned. "I need to be finding a stopping point here sometime soon, been a busy day. So, getting back on track, Sue chewed us out and revoked some privileges, and you know what? I was mad. Not that the plan failed but because we were getting punished for something that was out of our hands. It was her plan too, why were me and San getting all the blame? So I um, may or may not have talked back to her," Quinn confessed.
'Coach Sylvester, I wanna thank you.'
'For what?'
'For teaching me a valuable life lesson: When you truly believe in yourself, you don't have to bring other people down.'
"Of course I kept bringing other people down, but I think we've already established I don't have the best faith in myself. But right then I believed it and I said it and it felt good, I felt good! I, mostly, had Finn back, things seemed to be going my way and I felt good for the first time in a long time. Then a few weeks later, I skipped my period. I tried not to freak out. It wasn't the first time I'd skipped a period, it was just the first time I'd actually done something to make skipping warrant a freak-out. I tried to convince myself that it was just like the other times I had skipped. You know, female athletes skip occasionally, a lot of people don't think cheerleaders are athletes but they are.
"The next step was convincing myself I had a virus when I threw up one morning, and throughout the rest of the day…and the next day and the next. Tried and failed-commence freak-out, and conclude part one of the Life and Times of Quinn Fabray."