No Strings Attached

12

Quinn was sitting on her bed holding a pillow over her chest when someone knocked on the door. Despite Quinn's lack of response, the door slowly opened and Noah peeked his head in.

"Hey." Noah said. "Can I come in?"

Quinn nodded.

Noah entered the room and closed the door behind him. He sat down on Quinn's bed and looked at her.

"I'm sorry I asked you to be my fake boyfriend." Quinn apologized.

Noah shook his head dismissively. He paused for a moment and looked at Quinn. "You okay? You wanna come back inside with me and hear what your mom has to say?"

"No." Quinn said. "Not unless she's done being judgmental."

"She gave me the talk." Noah stated. "You know, the one where she tells me what she'll do to me if I mess things up."

"Really?" Quinn asked.

Noah nodded. "She was just surprised, Quinn. So were we, remember? Everyone is gonna need some time for this."

"I know, but still." Quinn responded. "The first thing she did was ask me if I knew your last name. Which I did, by the way."

"I know." Noah said. "Just come back inside and talk to her. You said she's all you have and I know you don't wanna lose that."

Quinn bit her lip. "Will you come with me?"

"Of course I will." Noah nodded as he got up and put his hand out. "Come on."

Quinn and Noah walked back to the living room and sat down on the couch.

Judy looked at Quinn. "How do you feel, honey?"

"I don't know." Quinn shrugged. "I've been sick and it's still hard to believe, but Noah's been great."

"Good." Judy said. "If you're happy, then I'm happy for you both."

Quinn nodded slowly. "I'll be happy when I'm not sick anymore."

"You'll be okay." Judy promised.

"Yeah." Quinn said, taking a deep breath. "I'm just glad you're not mad."

"Mad?" Judy repeated. "I was surprised, but I'm not mad. A baby is a blessing, sweetheart. You'll see."

"Yeah." Quinn nodded as she looked at Noah, who smiled at her.

"You'll just have to get married before the baby is here, of course, but we can get that done." Judy added.

Quinn and Noah's smiles faded as they looked at each other.

"Mom, we're not getting married." Quinn told Judy.

"We can get it done before the baby's here and have a reception a few months after." Judy suggested.

"No, I didn't mean yet. I meant we don't have any plans to get married at all." Quinn told Judy.

"Why not?" Judy wondered, looking at Noah.

"Because Noah and I wanna focus on the baby and figuring everything out between us and how we're gonna handle things." Quinn explained.

"But it's the right thing to do." Judy noted.

"Not when it isn't what we want." Quinn replied.

Judy looked at Noah.

"I'm gonna get married when I'm ready." Quinn told Judy. "I'm not gonna rush it because of a baby or my mom or anything else, okay?"

"Okay." Judy repeated.

-

At the end of the night, Quinn and Noah curled up under the covers of Quinn's bed together.

"I'm sorry about my mom." Quinn apologized. "She's very traditional and she just thinks she knows what's best."

"It's okay." Noah said. "But listen. I wanna talk about something."

"Okay." Quinn nodded.

"I know you and I aren't even thinking about it, but all that stuff me and Finn were talking about that day about me not believing in marriage and not being able to commit to one girl..." Noah began. "That's not completely true."

Quinn looked at Noah.

"I just always thought after everything with my dad and growing up the way that I did that I would never get married or have kids so I could make sure I didn't end up like him." Noah explained. "But I want you to know that I'm completely committed to this. No matter what happens with us."

"I don't expect anything." Quinn responded. "You can still live whatever life you want and I'll live mine."

"I just wanted you to know that." Noah nodded.

"I know." Quinn smiled slightly. "And thank you."

"Good." Noah smiled back. "Get some sleep."

"You, too." Quinn responded. "Night, Noah."

"Night, Quinn."