Author's Note: This is my first story, uh, in a really long time. Specifically, this is my first Glee fic. Don't mind me!

"Where did Quinn go?" wondered Mercedes, suddenly looking up from the sheet music in her lap. They had tentatively decided to have a girl's movie night the week before – although they weren't as close as they once were, their bond wasn't going to be broken by a few busy months. It was just… on hold. It was sometimes difficult for Mercedes not to smack the sense back into Quinn, but she know the blonde needed time to heal. The way in which she was going about it just couldn't be more wrong. The hope was that a rom-com movie session would be enough to get back into the groove and provide an opportunity for Mercedes to inquire (as politely as possible) why Quinn thought dating a Bleach Blonde Finn 2.0 was going to help her any. Sure, on the surface Quinn was literally and figuratively back at the top of the school pyramid, but something just wasn't right.

Glee practice had been over for ten minutes, and everyone had split off into little groups discussing their weekend plans. Sam, a few chairs down, looked up with wide eyes and a confused expression on his face. He didn't know.

But Puck did.

While the blondest couple to ever exist was on their way to being the power couple of the school, Rachel and Finn were still the favored Glee club pairing. Rachel was angry at Finn for one thing, he was annoyed with her for something else, so the two were having it out via angsty ballads the whole hour.

Quinn couldn't take it anymore.

Lima, Ohio is ghastly cold place in the winter. But Quinn didn't care. As cruel as Sue Sylvester could be sometimes, even she gave in and had been holding Cheerio practice in the gym. Football practice was over for the day, and no one else was using the field – or so she thought. Clutching a crumpled photo to her chest, Quinn curled up underneath the bleachers and began to sob quietly with her forehead pressed to her knees.

"It's been six months," acknowledged a solid, masculine, and oh-so familiar voice a short distance away. As hesitant as Puck sounded, his tone couldn't help but be filled with warmth when he spoke to her. Even his eyes would light up at the mere sight of her in the hallway. But they hadn't really talked since they signed the adoption papers. Couldn't talk. Wouldn't talk.

They needed to talk.

"You're going to freeze out here, Q." Deftly unzipping his sweatshirt, Puck began inching closer to the blonde seated on the ground. He felt rather like an enormous elephant near a tiny mouse, afraid to crush her or hurt her in any way. Crouching down beside her, he paused, waiting for Quinn to flinch or yell or scream or punch or something to indicate she didn't want him around. But she didn't. Taking the silence amidst the noiseless sobs as compliance, he leaned in to drape the heavy fabric around her shoulders.

It smelled like him. Husky, warm, masculine – him. Slowly, the tears began to calm, and Quinn dragged the back of her hand against her cheeks to wipe them away. "I'm sorry," she murmured quietly once she found the air in her lungs to do so, averting her eyes to the toes of her crisp white sneakers. "Me too," Puck mumbled sadly, pulling his arms back yet remaining hovered close to her. He wanted to wrap her up in an enormous hug. He wanted to hold her close, rock her back and forth, run his fingers through her hair and tell her everything was going to be okay. No one else did, could, or would ever be able to bring out this softer, protective side of him.

"She looks like you," Quinn noted softly and hesitantly, unclenching her palm to reveal the small picture that had been snapped of baby Beth in the hospital. She looked so calm, so peaceful, and just like both of them. "She has my smile," he admitted, looking a tiny bit smug and proud all at once. "But she has your eyes," he added sincerely, and at that moment he lightly settled a hand upon her shoulder. It is a hesitant gesture, because he's genuinely afraid that he is going to break her all over again.

"That's why I haven't been able to bear looking at you." Quinn blurted with her palms pressed to both eyes, because her head is throbbing just as painfully as her heart is. For a long moment, Puck is silent, unable to coherently formulate words in his head. He's been having the same issue. Putting the cheesiness of her pairing with Sam aside, he couldn't look at her for very long without feeling the urge to grab her by the hand and steal her away somewhere they could start anew. But he had ruined her life once. He couldn't do it again.

"I know," he said finally, opening up his arms and urging her to bury her freshly renewed tears against his broad chest. His embrace was a familiar one, strong, comforting, and soothing all at the same time. "I've missed you," he confided, softly, gently stroking the back of her neck with his fingertips. Quinn nodded against him, hesitating only a moment before lacing her arms around his waist. "I've missed you too."

In the meantime, they would remain broken and huddled underneath the creaky bleachers, taking the first step in reassembling the puzzle of their lives and hearts.