Finn walked into the common room, to chill out on his free period. He was just deciding on how to entertain himself, when he spotted a familiar blonde on the other side of the room. She wasn't looking at him, instead she had her nose buried in a boring looking book, and she was curled up in an armchair. He hesitated for a moment, before heading over her, and sat in the chair on the opposite side of the fireplace.

"Long time, no see."

Quinn looked up from her book - she'd honestly been planning to apologize to him when they ran into each other, but the tone of his voice got her back up. She raised a sculptured eyebrow. "You're looking well, Finn. For a guy who threw himself off a roof, anyway."

Finn wondered how she knew about that. Nobody knew about that... Except...

He didn't bother returning the backhanded nicety. "You've seen Puck then." It wasn't a question. "He yell? I hope he yelled," He said the last the last part under his breath.

Putting her book down - she clearly wasn't going to get to read any more of it right now - she gave him her best warning look. "Yes. I saw him. No, he didn't. We had a nice civilized conversation." She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to ward off a headache.

"If you have something to say, Finn, which you obviously do, could you do me a favor and just say it? I'm already a week behind on my work, and I'm really enjoying this book."

"Just... Where do you get off waltzing in and out of this place without saying a word about it? Do you know how worried everyone was? What it did to Puck? I mean you must. You know what he did to me... That was you. You hurt him so bad, that he totally lost control." Finn tried his best, not to raise his voice. "Have you ever seen Puck cry? I hadn't... It feels like the world's ending." It had terrified Finn to the point that he'd felt the need to stay in the basement with his best friend, every night for weeks, making sure that he didn't hurt himself, or something.

"Why? Why did you do it?" He asked, not really sure whether he even cared. "What was so important, so urgent, that you had to bail with absolutely no warning?"

Oh, he was not actually going to go there with her. She got slowly to her feet, fire in her eyes. "I know that was me, you ass. I know he wouldn't have done that to you if it wasn't for me. I was even going to apologize to you, if you hadn't copped such an attitude with me!" She poked him in the chest. "And yes, I've seen him cry. I know what that feels like. It's not like I enjoyed doing that to him."

She was furious, and as it often did her fury was making her cold and incisive with her words. "Where do I get off? Who the hell do you think you are? You have no clue - not a single, solitary clue. Which, hey, is true of you anyway, but especially in this case. I had my reasons. I notice you didn't even ask, hey Quinn, are you doing okay? What happened to you? No, instead you come down here and throw it in my face. I get that you like Puck, I get that he's your friend - but I always thought maybe we were kind of friends too. Obviously I was wrong. Obviously he comes first." She turned and picked up her book, putting out the fire crackling in the fireplace with a spray of ice from her free hand.

"If you ever want to have a grown-up conversation instead of hurling insults and accusations, Finn, then you know where to find me."

Finn dropped his head to his hands, trying to clear his mind. She always was good at tying his brain up in confusing ribbons of frustration, so he had no idea what it was that he was even trying to say. He stood up so abruptly that it surprised even him, and phased the density in his hand, right up. He made a fist and smashed it into the stone of the fireplace, sending a chunk of it flying into the lump of ice, that used to be a fire, with a loud thud.

He stood there for a moment, breathing hard as he glared daggers at the wall. Finally, he calmed down enough, to speak. "Quinn, wait... Please." He requested, still not venturing a glace in her direction.

Quinn flinched at the noise as he punched the fireplace, taken by surprise since she'd already turned away. She was just beginning to walk away when he spoke, and she stopped in her tracks. She couldn't have explained why, even to herself, except that maybe if she waited then it would make up for not apologizing.

"Was there something else?" she asked softly, not turning around just yet.

"I'm sorry, ok?" He slumped back into the chair and scrubbed his hand over his face. "Of course I care how you're doing... It's just that I already know how he handled you leaving. I guess... Oh, I don't know. Like you said, I'm dumb. I can't figure it out." He frowned at the floor.

Quinn turned back with a sigh, taking her seat again as well. "Sorry. That was harsh of me. You're not dumb, Finn. I know I left you in a tough spot. And I should thank you - for taking care of him. But I couldn't tell anybody I was leaving. Only Doctor Schue knew."

Finn shook his head, dismissively, still staring at the floor. "No, I am," he insisted. "You're probably not supposed to want to say that to your friend, but that doesn't mean it's not true. I deserved it, anyway."

He turned his confused expression on the girl herself. "I wish I could say I understand, but I really, really don't." He gave her an apologetic half smile.

"You're not," she shook her head. "And you didn't deserve it, I was just lashing out. It's just hard - being back, you know? That doesn't give me the right to be a bitch to you."

"I know," she nodded sadly. "I know you don't. And I wish I could make you understand, but I just...I'm not ready yet. I can't...it's too much. It hurts too much. I'm sorry I left - and that you had to take care of Puck for me. I'm sorry you got hurt because of me," she finally managed the apology she'd meant to give him before.

"I'm a total moron." His smile got wider. "You get called something enough times, you learn to just accept it. It doesn't hurt me or anything." Finn shrugged.

"You don't need to apologize to me for that," he shook his head again. "I was mad for Puck, not me. It wasn't a big deal, just a few broken bones and stuff. Nothing life threatening."

"Finn," she frowned. "Just because someone calls you something doesn't make it true. If it did, I'd be the biggest bitch on planet earth. And I'm probably close, but not quite."

"I do, though - you got lucky. If you'd landed wrong you'd be dead now, and even Puck couldn't fix that. It's sweet that you're mad for him, but you can be mad for you too. That's allowed."

She had a point. Everyone said that Quinn was a bitch, but he knew that she wasn't. She just wasn't very good at being vulnerable. "I guess so," he conceded.

He nodded. "Okay then." Finn said uncertainly, as he tried to process that concept. He found it difficult, because that meant he was supposed to be mad at Puck too. That was so hard, when he really understood why he had done it. He didn't have that luxury with Quinn, but he decided there was no point in being mad at either of them, when he knew they were truly sorry. "I forgive you."

"You're smarter than you think, Finn. Smarter than most people think." He really was - he just seemed to process differently than most people she knew.

The three simple words caught her by surprise, and she had to blink back a tear before she could reply. "Thanks, Finn. That's nice to hear." She grabbed a lighter from the mantle and re-lit the fireplace. "So, how are you doing? How was your first week?"

"That doesn't really say much," he joked, wishing that she'd just drop the subject. He knew he was stupid, and he knew that she thought he was too. Everybody did, and he was used to it. But it was uncomfortable, sitting there, listening to her claiming that he wasn't.

Finn shrugged. "It's no biggie. No use being angry, when all it's gonna do is make you feel bad. I don't want that. You didn't mean for anything bad to happen to anyone. I know that now." He reached across the small space between the chairs and gave Quinn's hand a gentle squeeze. "I only wanted to make sure you realized how badly you hurt Puck, by not saying goodbye."

It'd made the boy's abandonment issues so much worse, that it was a miracle he bothered interacting with anyone, anymore. He just refused to trust people. Finn really was going to have to track down his best friend soon. It seemed that they were avoiding one another. Finn, because he was afraid that not all of Puck would be there, anymore, after leaving him alone all summer - You'll have to forgive him for not taking the word of some tiny girl he'd talked to, for all of five minutes, as gospel. And Puck was avoiding Finn, because... Oh, who knew why Puck did anything these days?

"And obviously you do. So that's that. As for how he behaved, and what happened to me? There was no way you could have seen that coming. Not part of your ability, is it?" He asked as though it was a serious question, before smirking. "No, thought not. So don't be sorry. It's ok."

He let go of her hand, giving it a little pat, before settling back into his chair, as comfortably as his large frame would allow. "How am I?" He thought about that for a moment. "I'm pretty good. It's nice to be back, although I miss my mom more, right after I leave home, which is weird, ya know? You'd think it'd get more difficult the longer I'm away, but it doesn't. It's like I get used to it, I guess... So, there's that, and I forgot how confusing school can be, and I hadn't seen anyone, up 'til now. So I guess it's been kinda lonely," he rambled, without realizing it, as usual. "Although, I have a new roommate, so I think I owe Puck $20... Unless he has a roommate too." He told her, not remembering whether she even knew about the bet that they made three years previous. "But Kurt - that's my roommate - doesn't really like the things I like... I think it's because he's gay... not that I have a problem with it, but he's all into clothes, and musicals and his moisturizing routine, or whatever... also guys. So yeah, not really much to talk about with him."

Finn finally realized how much he'd been talking, and he blushed so hard that the tips of his ears turned red. "Sorry." He gave her a sheepish grin. "So, how're you doin'? You said it was hard getting back into the swing of things, but are you okay?"

She wanted to press, because he really wasn't, but she sensed she wasn't getting anywhere. So she just gave him a polite laugh and moved on.

She squeezed his hand back. "Thank you, Finn - you're really sweet. You know that, right? And yes, I get that now. And I promise, one day I'm going to explain it to him. To make it easier for both of you. I wish I could say I don't feel at least a little bad about what happened to you, because I still do, but I suppose you're right, I'm not telepathic."

His ramble was fairly epic, and it took some processing, but she tried to respond in order to all of it. "I know - well, I sort of know what you mean about missing home. And I think it's always worse at the beginning. When you've been home, and had a chance to see her, and then you've just left again. It's not easy. But it'll definitely get better." She wasn't sure what he meant about the twenty dollars, so she left that one alone. "Well, you never know what you might have in common with him, Finn. Don't be afraid to watch a musical or something with him. Some of the new ones, like Rent and stuff, are pretty good. You might like them."

"No worries," she assured him. "I like that you can talk to me that much." She thought for a moment about how to reply. "I'm okay, I guess," she finally answered noncommittally. "Everything seems...kind of harder now, but I guess I'll learn to get used to it. I'm glad to be back, though, it's nice to feel like I can get back into a routine."

Finn ducked his head in embarrassment, when she'd called him sweet. He just didn't want her to be sad, like Puck had been. That would be awful. "I'm glad. I think he needs you to, so he can feel better, you know? He doesn't understand why you left, any more than I do, and he hates that. He thinks he did something bad, to make you wanna go away, but he can't figure out what." He briefly wondered whether he should have kept that last part to himself, considering he only knew, because Puck had taken to mumbling in his sleep, with increased frequency. Usually things like I'm sorry. Whatever I did, I didn't mean to make you leave. Please come back. He hadn't mentioned Quinn's name, and he supposed Puck could have been dreaming about his parents or something. But given the timing, it was pretty conclusive stuff. "I don't know if he did do something, but either way, he needs to know."

He shook his head yet again. "Like I said, it was just a few broken bones. No internal bleeding or anything. Puck had me feeling good as new, within like, a half hour. Can't say the same for him though. He was in the infirmary, for a week. Don't listen to any of his it was two days crap. It was a week." He almost laughed at his friend's bravado before it hit him that she'd probably feel unnecessarily guilty for that too. "I mean it normally wouldn't have hit him that hard." He explained, trying to make things better again. "He'd probably have been fine in twelve hours, twenty-four, tops. But he wasn't well, anyway. He'd just been training too hard, and hadn't been eating or sleeping much. That sort of thing. So it shouldn't have been a big deal."

He had no idea how much worse he'd just made things.

"Yeah," he smiled faintly, thinking of him mom. He did miss her - he always did - but it wouldn't be that long, until winter break.

"I tried," he told her. "But musicals are really confusing. I mean people don't just start singing, ya know? And then, when I said that we should watch one of my movies, because it was only fair, and Batman Begins makes, like actual sense, he got all huffy and called me an uncultured Neanderthal," he frowned. "I don't even know what that means!"

He smiled. "Well, we're friends... I'm sorry I made you think I didn't want to be your friend anymore, earlier." Finn's expression turned a little sad, and apologetic, but it was still a smile. "I didn't mean to, I promise. I just figured, if you can't tell the people you care about, what you're feeling, without them hating you, then who can you tell?"

"You'll be fine, once you get used to it again," he encouraged. "It's good to have you back. This place hasn't been the same without you."

"I know," she acknowledged with a sigh. "I know we need to talk about it. I'm just not sure I'm ready for that yet. It's going to be a really long conversation, you know?"

She sat back in her chair, pinching the bridge of her nose between two fingers. "He - a week? Jesus, Noah," she felt her control slipping and her hand getting colder, so she took a deep breath to steady herself. "That, we're going to have to talk about."

"Well," she gave him the best smile she could manage, "those are just big words that mean he thinks you don't appreciate his tastes. I'll tell you what, Finn, why don't you try thinking of it like this? Batman's not real either, right? In real life, people don't dress up in costumes and fight crime. So it's no less realistic than people bursting into song." She thought for a second. "Actually, I've got two musicals you could try. I think you'd really like them. One's called Repo: A Genetic Opera - don't be fooled, there's no actual opera in it - and the other's called Tommy. The music in both of them is very modern, very rock-and-roll. You can watch them and then you could have something to talk about with Kurt. What do you think?"

"See?" her smile was a bit hesitant, knowing that she hadn't really told him anything, but glad to hear that he still considered her his friend. "I told you that you're smart."

She laughed softly. "Well, I'm sure there's a few people around who'd say they wish I'd stayed away. But thank you - it's nice to be back. Closest thing I've got to home, after all."

Finn nodded. "Yeah. Things'll be better for both of you, when you can talk about it though. I mean I don't know what this whole thing's about, of course, but I do know that secrets can really get a person down."

He figured that he may as well tell her everything, now that he'd gone and opened his big mouth. It might make any resulting conversation with Puck, at little shorter, and that had to make things a little easier for him, at least. "Dr. Schue almost sent him to the hospital," he confessed. "I really thought he was gonna die," he said sadly. "He shouldn't have healed me. I shouldn't have let him. I'd have been fine, and I should have known something was wrong when I realized it was taking so long to do it." He had been in excruciating pain at the time, but he couldn't help but feel guilty for not seeing how much of a toll, healing him, had taken on Puck. He hadn't suspected a thing until his friend had passed out, right after he was done.

He nodded. "Thanks Quinn." Finn gave her a bright smile. "I'll give those a try." He just ignored her remark about his supposed intelligence. They were never going to agree on that subject - that was even her true opinion - so there was no use talking about it, anymore.

Quinn bit her lip. "I don't know if it'll be better," she said slowly, "but it'll be out in the open, at least."

She put her hand to her mouth as Finn talked, trying to stifle her tears. She'd had no idea - and of course Puck would never have let on. She'd almost killed him, then. It was her fault. As if she hadn't felt guilty and conflicted enough already. "I don't - I'm not sure what to say to that, Finn. Except to say how sorry I am. If I'd known - well, I don't know what I could have done, but I'm still sorry."

"I have them in my room if you want," she offered. "I bought them a while ago." She hoped they'd help bridge the gap between Finn and his new roommate - that kind of divide could make living together awkward, after all.

"It'll help," Finn said with complete certainty and nod of his head. "Trust me, I'm like smart," he grinned at the joke.

He noticed the vaguely traumatized took on Quinn's face. He hadn't meant to put that there, just tell her the truth. "Hey," he said, pushing his own guilt aside and moving to perch precariously, on the arm of Quinn's chair. "Look, I shouldn't have put the blame for this on you. I'm sorry," he rested a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's not fair, or even like accurate. When it comes down to it, Puck did this, not you. Puck pulled that stupid stunt - although he didn't actually mean for me to get hurt, I'm almost sure - and Puck decided to heal me, even though he knew how weak it was making him. Yeah, maybe you shouldn't have left like you did, and I shouldn't have been stupid enough to jump off the roof in the first place. But he was the one who had the facts and made the decisions he did, anyway." His head was hurting from all of the thinking, now. "It wasn't your fault that we coulda died. It was ours. Okay?"

His smile didn't fade. "Yeah, that'd be cool. Thanks." He hoped they were as good as she said though, because the ones he'd watched with Kurt already were just plain stupid.

"Yeah," Quinn agreed softly.

"It's nice of you to say," she whispered. "I still feel bad, though. He wouldn't have done that if it wasn't for me, and the fact that I almost killed you - both of you...it's too much," she stared at her feet.

"Anytime," she nodded, still not looking at him. "I just hope you like them."

"Puck's a grown ass man, capable of making his own decisions, Quinn," he said softly. "And like I said, we're fine. No harm, no foul. Even Puck's like feeling better, apparently... Or at least he was, until he saw you... I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I'm sure he's fine. I haven't seen him, or anything. I just mean that seeing you again, it's like big. I'm pretty sure he's in love with you, so I don't know how he's feeling. Hell, he's probably just glad to have you back."

Seeing that he was just making things worse, Finn decided to quit digging holes, and leave. "Anyway," he patted her shoulder again. "I should leave you to your book. I'll come by to get those movies later, or something?"

Quinn felt Finn's slip of the tongue like a knife to the heart, but she did her best not to show it. "I hope so," she nodded slowly.

"Sure," she smiled the best she could. "My door's always open. And if I'm not in, San knows where the DVDs are." She looked up at him seriously. "Thanks again, Finn. You're a good guy."

Finn caught the flicker of pain that crossed Quinn's face before she managed to school it. He might not be smart, but you didn't survive four years of being best friends with Puck, without learning to recognize a micro-expression when you saw one. He gave her shoulder one last squeeze, by way of apology, and stood up.

"You don't have to thank me for anything, Quinn... It really is good to see you. I'm really glad you're back." He smiled at her. "I'll see you later." And with that, he turned on his heel and made his way to the door. He spared her one last glance, before heading down the hall.

Quinn met his glance and nodded as he left, before returning her attention to the crackling fire. She stared into it as if it held the meaning of life, trying to work through everything Finn had told her. Puck had lied to her, clearly, about how bad things were. And despite anything Finn could tell her, it was her fault. She needed to tell him. He would hate her, but at least that would be better for him than wondering what had happened - why she'd left.

She closed her book, sure that she'd read no more that night, and watched the fire until it was embers.