No Strings Attached

35

"Quinn, I wanna introduce you to my friend, Mercedes." Noah said as he returned to the nursery. "Mercedes, this is Quinn."

"It's nice to meet you." Mercedes smiled.

Quinn smiled slightly. "It's nice to meet you, too."

"I would've introduced you two earlier, but Mercedes just got back from her east coast tour." Noah added.

"Tour?" Quinn repeated. "So you're a musician, too?"

"I'm a singer." Mercedes nodded. "What about you?"

"I was in my high school glee club, but I don't consider myself much of a singer." Quinn answered. "I'm more of a dancer."

"Well, the three of us should mess around with a song sometime." Mercedes suggested.

"Definitely." Noah agreed. "Although Quinn still refuses to sing in front of me."

"You still have to teach me how to play the guitar." Quinn reminded him as she turned to Mercedes. "Congratulations on your tour. That's really impressive."

"Thank you." Mercedes said. "Congrats on the baby. Puck said it's a girl."

Quinn smiled. "Thank you. Yeah, he's pretty excited."

"I am." Noah replied, smiling at Quinn.

"Well, you look great." Mercedes added. "How do you feel?"

"I'm good." Quinn answered. "I'm bigger and crankier, but less tired."

Mercedes smiled. "Good."

"Mercedes lives a few blocks away." Noah told Quinn. "So I figured maybe the two of you could hang out while I'm working or whatever."

"Yeah, sure." Quinn nodded. "It'll be nice to have a friend close by."

-

Quinn and Mercedes were getting along so well that Quinn decided to invite her to stay for dinner. The trio ate dinner together and then Noah disappeared to work on the nursery, leaving the girls alone in the living room.

"Did you and Noah ever date?" Quinn blurted as she looked at Mercedes.

Mercedes laughed and shook her head. "We're close friends, but it's not like that."

Quinn nodded slowly.

"He's really into you." Mercedes told Quinn. "I've known Puck a long time and I've never seen him like this."

"Like what?" Quinn wondered.

"So committed." Mercedes said. "Like a dad. And a boyfriend. He's never called anyone his girlfriend since I've known him. And we've been friends since he moved here."

"Really?" Quinn asked.

"He really cares about you, Quinn." Mercedes noted. "That's not a bad way to bring a baby into the world."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Quinn agreed. "He's been good to me. And the baby."

Mercedes smiled.

"So if you've known Noah since he moved here, have you met Finn?" Quinn wondered.

"I've met Finn and Rachel, and Finn's brother, Kurt." Mercedes answered. "Kurt and I are good friends actually. He and I text and visit each other all the time."

"Did you get to see him during your tour?" Quinn questioned Mercedes.

"Yes I did. It was fun." Mercedes told Quinn. "Puck said you were living with Finn, right?"

"Yeah, we were roommates for, like, a month." Quinn said. "When all of this was first happening."

"Have you met Kurt?" Mercedes wondered.

"Not yet." Quinn said. "But Finn said he wants to meet me so hopefully I get to before Finn's wedding and the baby."

Mercedes nodded. "Next time Kurt's visiting, I'll let you know."

"Thanks." Quinn smiled, pausing for a moment. She looked at Mercedes. "I'm really glad Noah introduced us. It'll be nice to have a friend in L.A."

"I'm glad, too." Mercedes smiled.