No Strings Attached

13

A few days went by and Judy showed no signs of leaving Quinn's apartment.

Noah had to go back to L.A., but wouldn't leave until Quinn's mom was gone.

"Hey, Mom." Quinn said as she joined her mother on the couch. "You're always welcome here, but my roommate is coming home tomorrow so I was just wondering when you're planning on heading home."

"I can be out of here tomorrow morning." Judy said. "I just thought you wanted me here. In case you needed something."

"You're not that far away." Quinn pointed out. "I could always call or come visit."

"You could." Judy agreed.

"And I will." Quinn promised. "Noah and I will visit soon, okay?"

"Okay." Judy repeated. "I'll be out of here in the morning."

"Okay." Quinn said as Noah entered the apartment.

"I made dinner." Noah said, setting the pizza box down on the table. "I hope you two are hungry."

-

In the morning, Judy said her goodbyes to Quinn and Noah before leaving.

"Do you want me to wait until Finn's back before I go?" Noah offered. "So you don't have to be alone?"

"No, I'll be okay." Quinn promised.

"I don't have to leave today." Noah added. "I could stay a few more days or a week."

"The sooner you go, the sooner you'll be back, right?" Quinn asked. "So go."

"Are you sure?" Noah wondered.

"If you ask me that again, I'm gonna smack you." Quinn warned Noah.

"Alright." Noah sighed as he got up. "Keep me updated with the baby. And call or text me whenever you need me, or if you just wanna hear my voice."

"You must really love the sound of your own voice." Quinn noted.

"I've been told I have a good one by a fan or two." Noah joked.

Quinn nodded slowly.

"What is it?" Noah wondered.

"Does your agent or publicist or... whoever know about me?" Quinn blurted. "And everything going on? Do they know why you keep coming to New York?"

"Not yet." Noah answered.

"Then why did you ask me to come to L.A.?" Quinn asked. "When I told you I was pregnant."

"Because I wanted you with me." Noah said. "And I didn't wanna miss any of this."

"Then why doesn't your team know about me?" Quinn asked.

"As soon as they know, they're gonna make me address it before it slips out any other way." Noah told Quinn. "And you're still in the first trimester so I didn't wanna put you in a position where you had to worry about my team micromanaging you or any of this."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Quinn questioned Noah.

"My career has gotten in the way of my relationships before." Noah explained. "I've even had people on my team leak information about where my sister goes to school and stuff about my dad and those are private things that shouldn't be publicized."

Quinn looked at Noah.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about this, but we've kind of had our hands full." Noah pointed out as he sat back down. "But come on, let's talk about it."

"I don't wanna talk about it." Quinn shook her head. "Not yet."

"Then come to L.A. with me." Noah requested. "We can figure everything out and build a life for the baby there."

"My life and my job are here." Quinn reminded Noah.

"So come to L.A. for a break. You can hide out at my place and-"

"I don't wanna hide out anywhere." Quinn said. "I'm not the one who's worried about anyone knowing this."

"I'm not worried. I'm trying to protect you." Noah clarified. He took a deep breath and looked at Quinn. "I'm not ashamed or embarrassed about this."

"You should just go back to L.A." Quinn said as she got up. "We can talk about this more at Christmas."

"I'm not leaving while you're mad." Noah said. "Just listen."

Quinn looked at Noah.

"When I get back to L.A., I'll let my team know about the baby. I'll make sure they know we're not even gonna address any rumors because the second we do that, that's when the public will start speculating things about you." Noah explained. "If they can even narrow it down to you specifically."

"I can't hide out here or in L.A. forever." Quinn stated.

"I'm not asking you to." Noah swore as he got up. "I'm just asking you to trust me and let me handle this."

"Okay." Quinn sighed.

"I'll call you." Noah said. He grabbed his bags and kissed Quinn's cheek before leaving.